CHAPTER 31.She fell off the stairs >>>>>

“Seems like she fell off the stairs while going down,” one of the guards pointed out as everyone gathered around Thalia's corpse. Everyone except Beth,she wasn't present.

The whole place was filled up; Madam Estelle, Lyra, Prince Dominus and his sisters, along with some other slave maids.

“How long has she been here?” Madam Estelle asked, her voice low and edged with grief.

“I’m not sure,” the guard shook his head painfully. “I just noticed her when I passed by, so I can't tell how long she has been here.”

“Give way!” a loud voice shouted, and everyone turned to see who it was. It was Brevin, and a pathway was quickly created for him as he made his way to the front to see what was causing the commotion this morning.

Once he reached the front, he paused, his eyes narrowing at the corpse lying on the floor. He didn’t know Thalia very well, but she stood out from the other slaves because she was plus-sized. He swallowed hard, looking at her body sprawled across the cold ground, her limbs twisted at an awkward angle she had fallen from.

Her eyes were fixed to the sky, once whitish but now red, with only trails of blood on her cheeks. A faint smear of blood trailed down one side of her mouth, and her lips parted slightly as if caught in a breath that never came. Thalia’s hair, usually tied neatly behind her, was now matted with dust and the sticky warmth of her own blood.

Some of the younger slaves held their aprons tight, their eyes wide with shock, while others, who were her friends, their eyes brimmed with hot tears.

Brevin strode forward, then bent low, sticking out one of his fingers to feel the blood. “This happened a couple of minutes ago,” he said. “It didn’t happen just now. I would say it was about an hour ago.”

“What are you thinking?” Prince Dominus asked, standing still with his jaw tight. “It doesn’t look like she fell on her own. Madam Estelle said someone like her wouldn’t ever commit suicide.”

Brevin touched the blood between his fingers again, staring blankly at his brother. If there was one thing he was good at, it was dissecting issues like this. He knew it was no suicide. It also wasn’t a slip-and-fall case; the stairs were too shallow for anyone to slip and fall easily. That left him with one option–she was pushed down from there.

“I think she was pushed!” Lyra burst out angrily. “Thalia wouldn’t commit suicide; I’m sure she was pushed down from there, my lord.”

“By whom?” Brevin turned to her, his voice firm. “Who do you think pushed her?”

“I don’t know, but the girls said one slave was the last to come out, and I asked Thalia to go call her down when she didn’t come down early for work.”

Brevin tilted his head to the side, staring blankly at Lyra. “Call names and stop beating around the bush!”

Before she could say another word, the thud of approaching footsteps grabbed everyone’s attention. When they turned, it was Rex and Akira who were coming.

Once Dominus set his eyes on her, he gulped slowly, his gaze sweeping over her figure as she came closer. Meanwhile, Akira’s heart pounded in her chest as she hastened her steps, forcing her way through just to see who it was. She had no idea who it might be, but to her, suicide wasn’t really an option.

Since she had come here, all the girls had been acting as if staying in the Northern Palace was the best thing that ever happened to them. They seemed happier being slaves here than fighting for their freedom, which made her doubt that any of them would want to commit suicide. This only fueled her curiosity about who it was.

“Pathetic loser!” Rex cursed when he saw Thalia’s corpse. He stared at her for a split second before shaking his head. “More reason why I hate those damn lowborns. They’re just a bunch of losers who can’t take a little pain.”

The tension in the air only increased with Rex's remarks. He let out another dry laugh, one that seemed to get on Prince Dominus's last nerve, but he clenched his fists into a ball, trying to hold himself back.

“Just look at her,” he scoffed, circling the body as if he were inspecting it while everyone watched. “Didn’t have the guts to face another day, huh? Such a weak wolf. All that fat and still no backbone.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd, some narrowing their faces to the ground, others looking upward to avoid eye contact.

Cierra and Aurora’s lips curved into small smirks as they tried to suppress their laughter at their nephew's remark. They were his biggest fans.

“Rex, where the hell did you grow up?” Brevin cleared his throat, raising his gaze to Rex.

“What does it have to do with a pathetic loser ending her life, Uncle?” Rex asked, laughing.

“I’m just a little curious where you grew up. Didn’t they teach you not to speak ill of the dead?”

Rex cocked his head, smirking. “She’s a slave. Just another replaceable face among hundreds. Speak ill of the dead? You’re acting like the pack lost something precious, Uncle. She’s just a slave, nothing else. We’d move on right now, I guess.”

Brevin swallowed hard, his expression a shade of crimson. “Slave or not, she is still a part of this pack. She served the pack with loyalty. Do not speak ill of the dead,” he pointed out.

Rex let out a roar of laughter. “Come on, Uncle, why are you so concerned? Was she one of—”

Brevin cut in, his voice edged with authority. “Show some respect for the dead. If you can’t manage that, then at least keep your mouth shut.”

Rex turned to him with an exaggerated, mocking gasp. “Oh, here comes Uncle Saint Brevin, the moral compass of the North.” He clapped slowly, smirking. “Tell me, Uncle, is this where you shed a tear and give a speech about honor? Or should I wait for you to honor her, keep her ashes, and do a proceeding like my dad did for his favorite slave back in Night Vale?”

Prince Dominus's jaw ticked immediately as he snapped, “Enough, Rex!” He turned to Captain Zain at once. “Zain, take my son back to his quarters right now!”

Without wasting any more time, Captain Zain ushered Rex out of the gathering despite his muttering. Meanwhile, Akira’s heart was slamming against her ribs as she shoved past the cluster of slaves and guards. The murmurs only increased with each push to the front; she just needed to see.

“Move,” she muttered, pushing past two younger slaves who hesitated before stepping aside.

When she finally broke through to the front of the crowd, the sight hit her like a physical blow, freezing her in place. She gasped, stumbling back into the arms of one of the guards.

“There she is, my lord,” Lyra pointed toward Akira, who was oblivious to the earlier discussion. She didn’t notice any of the stares or pointing fingers. Her breath caught in her throat, her body trembling from head to toe. She couldn’t believe it was Thalia lying dead in a pool of her blood—the same Thalia she had just seen that morning.

She shook her head, still in disbelief that it was Thalia who had committed suicide. “No…” The word escaped her in a strangled whisper, though not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

Her knees buckled slightly as she shook her head, as if refusing to accept what was in front of her.

“She was the one who left the slave quarters last,” Lyra told Brevin.

Once Brevin's eyes darted to Akira, his heart dropped to his stomach.

“Goddamnit, not her,” he murmured to himself than to the crowd.

“She must have pushed her down,” Madam Estelle's voice rang through. “She has always hated Thalia from day one.”

Brevin tilted his head to the side, swallowing hard before fixing his gaze on Akira, who was oblivious to the whole conversation. She was still shocked, trying to piece together why Thalia would commit suicide. Thalia was Lyra and Madam Estelle's favorite; she picked the chores she wanted to do, unlike most of them who were forced into any task. Thalia was like a mini daughter to them, so it was still unsettling to Brevin that she would even harbor the thought of killing herself.

“So you think she over there, who is still in shock, pushed her down?” Brevin questioned.

Madam Estelle nodded vigorously. “Yes, my lord, I am very, very sure of that.”

Brevin swallowed hard, his eyes flickering back to Akira. She wasn’t just another slave to him. Not exactly his cupbearer, but his friend. He found a little more comfort in her company than in anyone else's in the pack.