Kam paced back and forth as the maid he worked with watched Edward with scared eyes. "He hasn’t even cried yet. It’s been hours." Looking at Kam, she walked over and slammed a finger into his chest. "What happened? We promised not to hurt the child."

Kam curled his fists and looked at the other who had come with them. "Speak to this idiot. It’s his fault anyway." The maid snapped her head. Before, she didn’t want to know, but it had been too long. It was like Edward wasn’t a real person, but instead a doll with how silent and still he was.

She could see he was tired, but the young child fought with everything he had to stay awake. His closing eyes would shoot open in a panic as his breathing got slightly quicker. The maid stared at the man who dodged her gaze. "What choice did I have? It’s your fault she died. Yoiu aid the sleeping medicine was good."

"Don’t turn this on me." Kam walked over, looking down on him. "I didn’t kill a woman in the boy’s bed."

"What?" The maid looked at the other servant with horror. "Wha..t... What were you thinking?" She paused and rubbed her eyes. "Do you know what you’ve done? My family had cattle, and the butchers wouldn’t even let their kids see them kill the cattle, let alone a woman."

"I wasn’t thinking. I did what was best. We needed to get out of there." The three looked at one another, but the banging on the front door made them all freeze and look at one another. Kam nodded at the woman who removed a wooden floor board and put Edward in. The boy whimpered slightly, and she hesitated to drop him, but the other man came over and grabbed a cloth, stuffing the child’s mouth again.

Closing him, Kam walked off and opened the door. "Forgive our rude entry, but you understand." Issac walked in with a cold smile on his face, his eyes staring deep into the three. They all gulped slightly as a group of guards went and searched the house. They never expected the Prime minister to come personally.

Issac looked around and turned to the three with a smile. "So what are you doing here?" Picking up a small wooden decoration, he looked at it and waited for an answer.

"Nothing, Your Grace," Kam said like a commoner and lowered his head. The other two quickly followed and lowered their heads. Issac chuckled and put the decoration down.

"Three people awake, and you were doing nothing." Issac didn’t look at them and slowly walked around the house as the guards tore through, not sparing an inch.

"We were preparing for bed." Issac glanced at them and nodded. Kam had never felt so nervous in his life. Even when taking Edward, it wasn’t this bad. Looking at Issac, he was too calm. It felt like he was toying with them. That they he knew all the awnsers already.

The second man carefully moved around and positioned himself next to the floor board that Edward was under. "Are you related?" Issac asked, walking to a nearby bookshelf. Knocking on the back of it, he frowned.

"No, Your Grace."

"Two men and a woman alone at night doing nothing." Issac chuckled. "Do you want to be here, My Lady?" Issac asked with a soft voice, and the maid looked at the two. She hated that they ever accepted the job.

"No... No, My Lord." Issac smiled upon hearing her voice but didn’t let her leave.

"Are you perverts?" He said, looking between the two men. "Sharing a woman. I won’t arrest you even if you are a pair of deviants."

"Your Grace. I assure you everyone is willingly here. And it’s not what you think." Issac sighed. A second later, a soldier walked in, shaking his head.

"Arrest that man there. And that one. Take the woman for questioning."

"YOUR GRACE?" Kam shouted out as a soldier grabbed his arms and threw him to the ground. A second grabbed the other worker, who kicked and tried to free himself. Issac slowly walked over and crouched in front of Kam.

"Peasnats don’t say Your Grace; only nobles do it to other nobles. You are getting ready for bed and still wear clothing you would wear to work outside. Finally, two men are living alone with a woman who isn’t related to them, and yet you claim nothing is happening. Do we have to talk more to see why you’re suspicious?"

Kam went forward but said nothing, getting lifted up. His eyes glanced at the floorboard where Edward was sunder, but he said nothing, knowing he would be executed on the spot. The others also realised and were brought away. Closing the door behind him, Issac never realised the other was in the house with them.

Edward wanted to cry out. He tried to reach for the cloth in his mouth, but the hiding place was too tight to grab it properly. Staring up at the gaps in the floor, he tried to call for his mother, his father, the kind adults who played with him. He wanted to cry for Daisy, but thinking of her name made him remember his bed and caused his eyes to fill with tears.

Finally, everything overwhelmed him, and his quiet whimpers came from beneath the floor board as he cried, wishing for someone to help him. He was scared. It was dark and lonely. It was tight and uncomfortable. The pain in his legs slowly got more intense as the man didn’t care how he lay and stuffed him in, not taking his disability into account.

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"Please explain what you were doing with the two men?" Issac asked softly in the carriage and stared at the maid. Despite the display he was putting on, he couldn’t hide his rapidly beating heart from himself. He was nervous beyond belief. He didn’t know if Edward was already out of the city. What if they never found him? What if they did, but he was dead? Every worst scenario played in his head, and he wondered if the coming to pass was his death alone good enough.

The maid realised this might be a chance and looked at Issac with a pitiful look. She didn’t dare say anything about the plan. She was smart enough to know that Issac would kill her if she did. But it was a chance to throw all suspicion onto the other two.

"My Lord. It’s not easy making money as a woman." The maid lowered her head full of shame, having to disguise herself as a prostitute. Issac watched and nodded in agreement. "I know I don’t dress it, but I can’t afford to waste money on good clothes for it."

Issac grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. She was obviously a pretty woman, but her skin felt too good. Slowly grabbing her hair, he hid the uncertainty he felt. Like her skin, it was too smooth, like it had been routinely taken care of. This is impossible for a woman who claims to struggle for money.

Grabbing her hands, he hid the suspicion he had and felt around. ’Slightly calloused. Fine hair and skin but calloused hands. Almost like a servant of the Palace.’ Issac smiled at her. "I understand. We need to speak to the two men before we can do anything, however. I’m sorry, but we must keep you with us until we have an answer."

The maid nodded and bowed, unsure if her plan was working. The fact that Issac hadn’t arrested her yet made her calm down.

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Isra leaned on the bridge, watching the calm flow of the river below her. Her eyes were soft as she hummed a small tune Edward liked. The war had come to a stop as they waited for word from William, but they all knew that it was giving Snowid time. The Laskas were coming; that much was known, but Alfred didn’t rush to crush him.

The boost in morale Snowid emn would have after finally getting reinforcement after a year would be devastating for his troops. "Yoru majesty." A messenger came over holding a letter from Issac. Seeing it, Isra finally smiled and quickly snatched it. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Reading through it, the first half was about a few issues that have popped up around the Empire and other official business that he had to deal with in their absence. Alfred already expected everything Isaac spoke of, so she didn’t worry too much.

Pulling the second page out, her smile softened as she read about Edward. Hearing that he had become a little sad after she and Alfred left was slightly disheartening, but it was enough to know he was safe and sound. Closing the letter, she handed it back to the messenger.

"Give it to His Majesty if you haven’t already." The messenger bowed and ran off, leaving Isra to watch the river again.