Fake Princess
CHAPTER 106
“ Well, we are all here.” Paula observed us, with her hands placed on her hips. “ We have to go out and find out if anyone else on the road is hurt. Echoes, come with me. We'll get the equipment. Devan, Amelia, you stay here and clean your bodies before you help. There's no point in making the neighbors more afraid than they are now, and you both look like you're rolling around on glass.”
A few hours later, Devan and I sat in one of the empty rooms untouched by the storm. We both wore a lot of bandages; devan kept touching the bandages. My things were piled on the floor or scattered to dry, I was too tired to arrange them in a new room. Two papers coming from the library, blown and tangled by wind and rain, lay on a low table with four books holding the ends straight back to the way they were.
“ The doing Melani,” furious Devan. “ You know that, and I know. On this street only Paula's house was hit by such a big storm, and your room was the worst. We have to tell Paula.”
“ No.” I cut across, trying not to frown as the movement pulled the incision in my skin. “ It seems Paula does not think of it as something strange, no one on this street thinks of it as strange.”
“ That's not a regular storm!”
“ I know. But we don't have any evidence, and if we tell Paula we suspect Melani, we should tell her everything, too.”
“ And I agree to do it,” Devan said. “ Now there is no reason not to do it. We know it wasn't Omar, so Paula wouldn't have chosen her friend over us. And you never said she was close to Melani.”
“ I know, but..” I shook my head, feeling confused. Devan was right, we had to tell Paula, but there was something I couldn't explain preventing me from doing it. “ It could harm Paula,” I finally said.” If Melani finds out Paula already knows, she will try .... do something to her.”
“ Maybe he didn't try to kill me,” stubbornly I insisted, even though I knew it was impossible. “ Maybe he was just trying to scare me. In order not to interfere.”
In a fit of annoyance Devan breathed upwards until his hair was blown over his forehead. “ It doesn't matter. Today you scared him to the point of acting rashly. If he is scared, he can be more dangerous. After realizing it didn't work to stop you, he would definitely try again. And the next time he won't fail. The woman was already at the end of a plan to reclaim her family's throne. He won't let a girl get in the way of that plan.”
There goes. We got back into position before the storm overturned my room. I looked at Devan. His face was completely honest; I could see anxiety and fear emanating from him. Devan will not give up.
“ Now we can tell it,” Devan is adamant. “ King and queen. Paula's. Someone who can help us. Tell me why we can't do it.”
I shook my head. “ Please, Devan. We can't tell anyone. Paula—dia could get hurt. While others, we still don't have enough evidence. They won't believe it; they won't believe it. We mustn't draw attention, must make Melani think we're afraid to report it, then, when she doesn't expect it, we sneak into Saremarch and look for—“
Seriate