Chatper 335


    Chapter 0335


    By the end of the third day of searching, everyone is dead on their feet. Nichs, Julian, and their men


    had searched most of the pce, with very few exceptions, like the King’s quarters.


    Since Veronica said the talisman had to be close, most of the ces they had searched would be too


    far, but they still felt it necessary to scour every nook and cranny. Anything to help save Elva.


    Elva, who was growing weaker and weaker in the bed. She was so pale. She hadn’t opened her eyes


    in several hours. She hadn’t said a word to me in days.


    Her weakness only drove Nichs further into his determination. But without sleep, his thought process


    seemed sluggish. He started bringing Veronica things that didn’t make sense, like the adornments from


    the banisters or the cutlery from the kitchen.


    Anything Jane could have touched was on the table for him at this point.


    Veronica continued to implore me to think on the past.


    It hurt. But for Elva, I did. Yet every hobby or every item I remembered Jane attaching herself to as a


    child, she ripped out of her life as a teenager.


    Still, I continued to think. And remember.


    And then I remembered when Jane taught herself how to sew. She’d been clumsy with it, stabbing


    herself with the needle. But her diligence had been something to be admired. I recognized that, even


    as a child.


    Once, I had h ooked my chin over her shoulder from behind and looked down at her work.


    “Whatcha doing?” I had asked.


    Initially she’d tried to hide it from me, but after a pout she’d never been able to ignore, she gave in and


    showed me.


    “Mom wanted me to get rid of my sk ipping stone, but it’s the best one on the block.” Jane lifted the


    garment she’d been sewing and then I could see it was her jacket. Inside, she had stitched in a piece of


    fabric, a crude inner pocket that our Mom might not have noticed.


    Maybe a rock wasn’t too far from the mark, after all.


    Could that be the answer then? Was the item a rock? Or… no, was it stitched into one of my


    garments?


    I jumped to my feet at once.


    “Remember something?” Veronica asked.


    +15 BONUS


    I called for the guard. “Please bring back Prince Nichs and Julian at once! I have a potential lead.”


    Ten minutester, the three of us plus Charlotte stood in my walk in closet.


    “How weil did you search the gowns?” I asked Charlotte.


    “I looked for any that were new or off-looking. We checked every pocket.”


    “This pocket would be secret,” I said, “Likely stitched inside the dress.”


    Charlotte frowned. “No, we didn’t think to turn the dresses inside out.”


    “Let’s do it, then,” Julian said, and reached for a gown.


    “You take that side,” Nichs said. “I will look over here.”


    N?velDrama.Org ? 2024.


    Charlotte and I did the same, splitting one of the racks. We carefully and thoroughly searched every


    dress. We tugged at every lose string. Julian cut into a few of them with a knife, any spot that looked


    suspicious.


    By the time we were finished, every garment of clothes in the closet, both Elva’s and mine, was ripped


    up and thrown on the floor.


    A waste that would have been well worth it had we found the talisman.


    As it was, we’de up empty. 1


    “Sh it,” I cursed, and my legs gave out. I slumped down to the carpet. I tried to hold back the tears, I


    knew they wouldn’t solve anything. But I was so tired, so bereft, I couldn’t hold back.


    So bs racked through my body and I crumbled. I dropped my forehead down to the ground.


    Nichs was at my side in an instant, down on his knees beside me. He held back my hair and


    whispered soothing gentle words to me. I couldn’t hear them.