Chapter l335

Chapter 0335

By the end of the third day of searching, everyone is dead on their feet. Nicholas, Julian, and their men had searched most of the palace, with very few exceptions, like the King’s quarters.

Since Veronica said the talisman had to be close, most of the places 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 Nicholas 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 Nicholas and Julian at once! I have a potential lead.”

Ten minutes later, 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,” Nicholas said. “I will look over here.”

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’d come 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 b*dy and I crumbled. I dropped my forehead down to the ground.

Nicholas 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.

2/2

+15 BONUS