Chapter 25: That love that dare not speak its name
Alexia rushed into the palace atrium to find her sister sitting there enjoying some tea and biscuits. She was honestly surprised to see Iris just having breakfast as if nothing out of the ordinary were happening.
"Iris! What are you doing to try and find Rose? How many of the knights are out searching for her? Where are they looking? You need to put me in charge of the operation, I know Rose better than anyone. Have you questioned that Doem guy and found out what he did to cause all this?"
Iris let out a sight and put the biscuit she was about to munch on back down on her plate. "I see you've heard the news. Why don't you sit down so we can have breakfast together?"
"There's no time for that! And why are you so relaxed? Shouldn't you be coordinating the search parties?"
"There are no search parties, Alexia. At least not by us."
She was stunned. "There aren't? Then what are you doing to try and find Rose?"
"Nothing, at least not officially."
She stood there and stared at her sister speechless.
Iris picked her biscuit back up. "Why don't you sit down, and I'll explain the situation."
"But I need to-"
Iris narrowed her eyes and spoke in a sharp tone. "Sit down, Alexia."
Alexia frowned but knew better than to argue when her sister used that voice. She sat down next to Iris. As soon as she did so a maid came over and poured a cup of tea.
"I haven't sent out any search parties because I received a formal request from King Oriana not to do so. He wishes to treat this as an internal matter and has asked us to ignore it. That's what I'm doing, officially."
"But why would he do that? Doesn't he care about his daughter?"
Iris shrugged helplessly. "I don't know his reasons. I only know he doesn't want us to try and find her."
"What about Doem? Have you at least investigated him?"
"Why would I? He's the victim of an assault."
"He must have done something to instigate it! Rose wouldn't stab someone, not even one of her marriage candidates, unless there were a good reason!"
"I spoke to both Duke Doem and King Oriana late last night and took their formal statements on the matter. They both informed me that when Rose told she was being betrothed to Doem and that they'd all be leaving to return to Oriana immediately following the tournament, she suddenly snapped and attacked him."
Damn it! Alexia thought. Just how crazy in love with me is that girl? "I don't believe it. I know Rose didn't want to be formally engaged, but there's no way she'd resort to violence just because of that." I don't think. "There has to be more to it."
"Well, I could understand questioning Doem's statement, but her father was also a witness. Why would he falsely accuse his daughter of such a serious crime?"
That was a good question. "I don't know, when you spoke to him did he seem a bit shocked by the events?"
Iris considered. "He did appear a bit vacant, but he had no trouble speaking to me." Iris wrinkled her nose. "There was also a bit of an unpleasant odor coming from him."
"I don't think the fact he has body odor really matters here. I mean dad has stinky feet."
Iris nodded.
"I'll bet the king was just too distraught to gather his wits, or maybe Doem is manipulating him somehow. I'm sure that this Doem guy did something to set Rose off."
"There's absolutely no evidence of that."
Alexia shook her head. "My suspicions are always right."
"You haven't even met him!"
"It doesn't matter, I know Rose. There is no way she would attack someone unless she thought he was a threat to either her or to her father." Probably.
Iris pinched her nose and groaned. "Let me guess, Doem is a member of the cult and is hoping to get his hands on Rose in order to lock her up and steal her blood?"
"Hey! Don't say it like it's crazy when that's exactly what happened to me!"
"Alexia, the man is a duke."
"And Zenon was an academy sword instructor and champion of the God of War Tournament."
"Not every royal marriage candidate is Zenon."
"No, this guy's probably even worse. Let me have an hour alone with this guy and I'll-"
"Absolutely not!" Iris snapped. "The duke and the king are both guests and knowing you, you'd probably accuse him of attacking Rose."
"Only if I was sure he did, I'm fair you know."
Iris put down her tea and biscuit and gave her an iron stare. "Alexia, you are not going to meet Duke Doem. You are not going to make any groundless accusations. And you are not going to cause a diplomatic incident that will embarrass father and possibly cost us a good ally. Am I clear?"
Alexia crossed her arms and stared back. "You don't trust my judgement?"
"Can you honestly tell me you're not biased in this situation?"
Alexia frowned, she had to admit Iris had a point given her experiences with Zenon and close friendship to Rose. She couldn't really pretend to be completely impartial here. That didn't mean she wasn't one hundred percent right about Doem, but it did mean there were reasons Iris and others would question her opinion.
"Okay, I get it, I won't go near Doem or cause him any problems." For right now.
"Good."
"I noted you said you couldn't 'officially' investigate Doem. Does that mean you're doing something unofficial?"
"You would immediately jump to that wouldn't you?"
"Answer the question, sis."
She sighed and drank a sip of tea. "I'm having the Crimson Order conduct a very quiet search for Rose. If they find her their orders are to escort her directly here without informing either Doem or King Oriana."
Alexia gave her sister a wide smile. "I knew you wouldn't just abandon Rose."
"This isn't about my personal feelings for Rose, she's your close friend, not mine. I've only met her a handful of times. But I'll admit this situation and the king's reaction to it is suspicious. So, I decided to look into it as obliquely as I can."
Alexia nodded and finally had a bite and a swallow of tea. "I'm sure as soon as we find her, we'll straighten everything out."
"If we find her," Iris said. "Doem has his guards looking for her and has even hired local sell swords to help. He may also add a reward for information leading to her capture. He has a lot more eyes searching than I do, after Glen's death there are only seven members in the Order."
"Last time I checked there were nine."
Alexia frowned. "You and Cid are still students, you aren't members."
"Sure, sure, whatever you say sis," Alexia crammed a biscuit in her mouth and downed the tea in her cup. "I've got to go, bye."
Alexia got to her feet and hurried out.
"Don't cause any problems for father or the country!" Iris called after her.
"Love you too, sis!"
XXX
"We're doing what now?" Poochie asked through a yawn.
They were standing in the lobby of the boys' dorm, and he was his usual disheveled self. Honestly, could he at least learn to comb his hair? Maybe she should arrange for them to live in the palace together so she could force him to learn some basic grooming habits.
"Have you heard about what happened to Rose yesterday?"
He nodded. "My friend Skel came to my room and wouldn't shut up about it."
"Okay, then you know she attacked her fiancé and has gone missing. Her father, the king, requested we not investigate. That means that most of the people looking for her right now work for her fiancé. My sister is suspicious and has sent the Crimson Order to search for her too. The two of us will join in to try and rescue her."
Pooch stood there and gave her some side eye. "I understand, let's go find Rose."
"Huh?" Alexia said honestly surprised. "Wait, so I don't have to bribe you for once? You'll actually help me without whining and complaining for a change?"
"Sure, you're the protagonist in your own story, and I can respect that. Even if yuri was never my thing."
"What are you talking about? And what the hell is yuri?"
"It means I want you and Rose to get your happy ending. It's almost cliché enough to be a shoujo. She stabs her would be fiancé to escape an arranged marriage and you go on a desperate search to find her before she can be dragged off to the altar. All so the two of you can run away together and embrace that love that dare not speak its name."
As Alexia heard this nonsense her cheeks turned red, and she looked around the lobby to confirm no one was close enough to overhear. She then grabbed him by the collar and yanked him close.
"Listen you moron," she growled. "I'm not doing this because I'm in love with Rose. I'm doing this because she's a good friend who's in trouble. I'm not interested in women, and I have exactly zero romantic intentions. Got it?"
Poochie nodded. "Denying your true feelings even as you chase after your love interest, classic trope."
Alexia had no idea what a trope was but was sure she didn't like it.
After punching him in the stomach a couple times Poochie agreed that she and Rose were platonic friends and that he was happy to help because she was his friend too. As the two of them set out to begin looking she thought Poochie said something that sounded like 'femdom' but decided not to ask. He really used a lot of weird words.