(I’m inserting another part of chapter 1 of my story A Gala of Knives and Shadows, I guess this is part two of the aftermath of my last post (the accident), anyway enjoy!)

…

As I’m investigating the ballroom I find a piece of dark cloth that was stepped on by the people in the ballroom. I picked it up and held onto it for now since it’s at least something that could lead me to the assassin. I walk around some more to see if there’s any other clues but find none, but just as I’m about to leave the ballroom I spot something on the floor. Dirty footprints leading away from a section of the ballroom wall, a wall that’s actually a secret passage leading into tunnels that end outside of the castle. We have them in case of an emergency, like a fire. Then I start to wonder, if these footprints are leading away from the wall then that means that the assassin used the tunnels to get into the castle. As for the lights I can’t think of how they would completely turn off unless someone turned them off themselves from outside the castle.

I slowly start coming back to reality and realize that I’m still standing in the ballroom and head for the door. Just then two policemen enter the ballroom.

“Hello miss, are these your parents?” A blonde haired police officer asked motioning to the ground where my parents still lay dead.

“Yes…” I ask, my voice shaking a bit from trying to hold back tears.

“We’re here to take your parents away from the scene. We’re also very sorry for your loss.” The brown haired police officer said, with a sad look in his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to go find out who murdered them?” I ask, desperate to find out who it was that murdered them.

“We would but we have a lot on our hands right now with other cases. We’re terribly sorry miss.” The blonde haired police officer said.

“Oh…ok.” I say, sad and a bit irritated by his response.

“Good day, miss.” The other one says.

“Good day.” I say as I’m leaving the ballroom.

I start going up the grand marble staircase to my bedroom and close my door behind me. “If they won’t help me then I guess I’ll have to do it myself.” I tell myself as I’m walking around my room irritated. I changed out of my gown and put on a forest green long sleeved shirt, tight black pants, a brown corset with a belt holding a bag attached to it, dark brown arm cuffs, brown laced boots, and a black cape. I then put my hair into a messy braid and started packing my bag.

I decide it’s best to pack a book about edible berries in case I run out of food. I also pack two blankets, one I can fold to make a pillow, and the other I can use to cover myself up and keep warm. I then go down to the kitchens and grab some crackers, bread, and some water in a small bottle. I also grab some bandages from one of the cabinets just in case. Lastly, I head up the stairs into the weapons room near my parents bedroom and grab a brown handled dagger from the case it was in and hook it onto my hip belt. I pause mid step as I’m about to head out of the weapons room door and wonder if this is a good idea. I could get killed by who knows what in the forest, or I could die from hyperthermia since we’re in the middle of winter. I could even get lost, run out of food, and starve to death in the middle of the forest where there wouldn’t be another village for miles. I stopped thinking those terrible thoughts and focused my mind on one thing, do this for your parents Odette. Not you. Not anyone else. Do this for them, you know they would do the same for you. With that thought in mind I leave the weapons room and start heading down the corridor and down the grand marble staircase. I glance at the ballroom on the right one last time and wonder if anyone else in Shadowfen knows that two of the wealthiest people in the village are dead except for their only daughter, or rather if they’re worried at all about the situation. After all, people don’t care about anything else in this world except money and wealth. With that thought in mind, I walk out the doors of Roseshire Palace.