“She’s so weird.”

“I don’t think she’s that bad.”

“Have you ever had a conversation with her? If it’s not being on my ass about training it’s about the history of soap or some other trash.”

“Really?” the other voice said, followed by a laugh. 

“Shhh,” a third voice interrupted. “Don’t let her hear you. She might start telling you the history of grass!”

The other two joined in on the joke.

Tia Hinor, one of the most recently graduated knights-in-training. Youngest daughter of Captain Aisda Hinor of the Royal Army’s second battalion and Lieutenant Commander Albertus Hinor of the Royal Navy. And an average history aficionado. 

Tia turned the corner of the building and walked past the small group of knights; her former classmates. She turned to them and gave them a nod-greeting. They nodded in return.

“You don’t think she heard us, do you?” One of them whispered to the others.

“Zephyria, I hope not. She’d beat my ass during sparring.” 

Of course I heard you. Tia replied in her head. And of course I’d beat your ass, your parry is weak.

It wasn’t worth it to argue with them. The facts were that she graduated at the top of her class, an indication of her magnificent skills. It didn’t matter to her that this didn’t match her social skills; you weren’t going to talk down an opponent in battle. It also didn’t matter that she had yet to find someone who shared her similar love of the history of countries. It didn’t. 

But sometimes it did.

________________________ 

Tia had led them to the Hinor family’s library deeper inside the manor. Her and her younger brother had inherited their mother’s love for reading, but since the latter’s death, she’d been the only visitor. As they walked in, the glow from the afternoon sun shone on the walls lined with books; two stories of ancient and modern literature with two ladders that reached the ceiling.

“Every detail I have gathered from three years ago is in here,” Tia said, closing the doors behind them. “We can talk in here without interruptions. No one comes here anymore.” There was a slight sadness to her last statement. 

Aris and Irwin each took seats at one of the tables, looking at the books already sprawled out on top as Tia disappeared into another room: Legal Defenses and Advocacy Techniques, Nobility and Legal Privileges Through History, and Royal Decrees and Legislative Changes. 

Was she reading all of them at once? Irwin and Aris both thought at the same time. 

The young knight returned carrying a stack of books and papers followed by maps tucked under her arm. She said from behind the pile, “I had to hide these. The maids still come in here to clean and I couldn’t have them telling Father what I was doing.” 

She dropped the books on the table with a loud slam, followed by the maps that she gently unfolded next to it. 

“This,” Tia pointed to the books and papers. “Is all of the information I could collect on the kingdom’s previous murder trials, execution procedures, and the so-called evidence they had against my mother. This,” she pointed to the maps. “Is a map of the region they were stationed at along with the official transcripts of…the interrogation.” 

Irwin spoke up before it could get more awkward. “How did you manage to get the official transcripts?”

“One of the Minister of Justice’s aides owed me a favor from when we were classmates,” she answered, and then pointed to the last untouched scroll. “Along with the schematics to the palace dungeons.” 

“Why would you need those?” Aris asked. 

Tia merely shrugged as she replied. “I don’t. I haven’t found a use for them yet but it was safer for me to just keep them.” 

Aris nodded as she picked up the papers from the top of the stack. 

“Let’s start with what we know. Would you like to give us a run-down?” 

Tia nodded, rummaging through the papers to try to find a specific one. She pulled three pages out and placed them in front of Aris and Irwin who both looked at the first one; Evidence Log: Isolde Casweld Murder. As the two read through the details, she knight began speaking: 

“I made a copy of the evidence log while no one was looking, not that it was particularly difficult. There were only three things on there: a letter from my mother to Vice Captain Casweld, a list of broken objects, and the murder weapon.”

“It says that the letter showed the motive your mother had for killing him?” Aris questioned. 

“Apparently, my mother and the vice captain were having a disagreement about where the new military outpost should be. Hardly a reason to kill someone,” she explained with an eye roll. “But they threw a few insults around so the matter was blown out of proportion.” 

“The broken objects must be evidence of a struggle,” Irwin commented. “Although that could’ve come from anyone who broke into the camp too.”

Tia nodded, glad that they thought the same thing. 

“‘The murder weapon was an ornate dagger belonging to Captain Hinor,’” Aris read aloud. 

“Which was kept in a trunk along with my mother’s other personal belongings,” Tia sighed. “That is usually unlocked because she always misplaces her keys.” 

“While all of this seems to point to your mother,” the black-haired girl began. “It’s all circumstantial.”

Irwin nodded and said, “Where was Captain Hinor during this?” 

Tia’s face darkened slightly before she took away the first page to reveal the second: Witness Statements.

“My mother along with some other knights were in charge of scouring the perimeter while the vice captain stayed behind. Despite that, someone said they saw her return without her partner early,” she set her mouth in a hard line before continuing. “Unfortunately she did return without her partner. She said that she had disappeared but she never returned and they didn’t find a body so they just assumed she couldn’t handle being a knight and ran away.”

It’s oddly convenient that her mother’s only alibi suddenly disappeared, Aris noted. She looked closer at the witness statement.

“You didn’t manage to get the witness’s name?” 

“That’s the thing, there was no name.”

Irwin and Aris both widened their eyes at this. 

“These statements are just from what I’ve heard over the years from the second battalion so I could’ve missed something, but I’ve never once heard someone mention the name of the source.”

“It could be that they just don’t want to be known as a whistleblower,” Aris suggested.

“The thought had crossed my mind,” the blue-haired girl admitted. “Maybe they were scared House Hinor would go after them.”

Irwin put a hand on his chin, thinking. “But even so, it wasn’t like the group sent out to the outpost was that large. Someone would’ve been able to figure out the identity eventually from a process of elimination.”

“And it’d be even more obvious considering it was someone who wasn’t assigned to patrol,” Aris added.  

“We need to find the original copy of the witness statements,” the marquess suggested. “It shouldn’t be too difficult. The list of knights should be short.” 

Aris nodded and flipped to the last page: Captain Aisda Tia Hinor Interrogation Transcript. She looked up at Tia to try to gauge her feelings. The latter continued to stare at the piece of paper with a neutral expression, unblinking. Aris tried to read it as quickly as possible. 

It seems they repeatedly asked Captain Hinor why she killed Vice Captain Casweld but all she said was that she would never betray her fellow knights. The warden resorted to-

She stopped reading. Whoever was creating these transcripts must’ve had a very strong stomach.

Dear Zephyria. 

Tia spoke as her gaze lingered on the transcript, but her eyes began to fog over. “She never stopped telling the truth. Not even when she could’ve stopped the torture. She would never say she killed her comrade.” 

She looked back up, making eye contact with Irwin and then Aris. 

“I don’t believe my mother did this,” she said. And for the first time, her voice had cracked a little. “Sometimes I wish she did, just so all of these feelings of helplessness and guilt would just go away. But that’s not Captain Aisda Hinor. That’s not my mother.” 

Why does Tia feel guilty over her mother’s death? Aris questioned. But now was not the time to ask her this. 

“Tia, we believe you,” Irwin spoke up. “We don’t think Captain Hinor did this either.” 

“And we’ll help you prove it,” Aris added. She would. They all would until this was resolved. 

It wasn’t the first time the king had killed off someone who was standing in his way. But they would make sure it was the first time he got caught for it. 

Tia nodded, a sniffle escaping her. 

“Our first course of action should be getting the original witness statement,” Irwin offered. 

“All witness statements are kept in the archives of the High Court,” Tia informed. “All statements are kept there for at least thirty years.”

“How do we get in?” Aris asked, reorganizing all of the papers. 

“The public isn’t allowed in the archives. Only court scribes and the Minister of Justice himself are.”

“Anyone know a scribe we can bribe?” Irwin asked. “Hey, that rhymed.”

Tia rolled her eyes and smirked slightly. “Is the honorable Marquess Basileus suggesting we commit judicial corruption?”

“Would you rather I abduct a real scribe and sneak in using their credentials?”

Aris rolled her eyes and mumbled. “Like anyone would believe you were a court scribe.” 

“Why? What’s wrong with me?” Realizing the type of response he set himself up for, he quickly added, “Forget I asked.”  

“If only one of us had the ability to ask for an official tour of the archives for research purposes,” Tia commented, eyes floating towards Aris. 

Yeah, if only, the latter sighed. Wait.

She looked up to see that Irwin and Tia were looking at her with the same smug smiles. 

“You both are aware I’m not a real student working on a thesis, right?” She tried to clarify.

“Of course,” the marquess waved his hand dismissively. “But my paperwork is just good enough so that they don’t know that.”

“All you need to do is to request a tour and you’ll have a reason to be in there legally,” Tia piled on. 

“And while you’re in there, you can leave a window open slightly so I can sneak in, illegally,” Irwin finished. 

One look at the hopeful look in their eyes made it almost impossible for Aris to refuse. It wasn’t a terrible plan but it was risky. If she or Irwin were to be caught, they’d face severe consequences. Not to mention it could just as easily be traced back to Tia, who just wanted to clear her mother’s name. At that point, the dowager marchioness could also be implicated and then it was only a matter of time before they find Sae…

She shook her head to stop her thoughts from spiraling. They needed to start somewhere and this was their best shot. 

“Fine,” she finally spoke. “What do I have to study first?”