The Duke's Bed Warmer

Chapter 177: Audrey???

The morning light streamed through the small window of their room, waking Alina from sleep. She lay curled against Austin, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist. For a short while, she just stayed like that breathing in his scent, then kissed his shoulder. He stirred and opened his eyes with the sleepy smile she had come to love so much.

"Morning already?" he murmured.

"Afraid so," she whispered.

They didn’t want to leave the bed but the road ahead was waiting for them along with the information for which they had ridden so far.

After having simple breakfast at the inn, they mounted their horses.

By early afternoon, they finally reached Aldmere. The part of the city was different from the part of the capital where the palace stood. Here, the streets were crowded and noisy, overflowing with students carrying stacks of books under their arms. Scholars were arguing loudly in the middle of roads, and several merchants were calling for customers from their respective bookstores.

Alina slowed her horse as she looked around.

"This entire city smells of paper and ink," she murmured.

"And arrogance," Austin added dryly.

That made her laugh. Had it been some other time, they would have loved to explore the city, given their love for books. But they couldn’t afford to waste any time. Every passing second was precious to them.

Without wasting any more time, Austin led her straight towards the old archive building Emeric had mentioned in his letter.

The archive building was hidden between the other taller stone buildings. Unlike the lively streets outside, this building was weirdly silent. They dismounted and entered inside holding hands. Most of the furniture was covered with dust making it look like no one seemed interested in cleaning it. Even the wooden signboard above the entrance gate had faded years ago.

Inside, an elderly clerk sat behind a huge desk surrounded by shelves filled with hundreds of files and scrolls. He didn’t even look up from the document he was pretending to read when they stopped in front of him.

Then slowly his eyes moved over their travelling clothes, the dust on their boots and the bags in their hands. His expression hardened immediately.

"We’re closed for public requests," he announced.

"We’re here to see Emeric Ashby," Austin said calmly.

The clerk’s coldness vanished instantly replaced by curiosity now.

"You know Master Ashby?"

"Yes."

The old man leaned back in his chair and looked at them with completely different eyes now.

"He hasn’t been here in three days," he replied, looking grim. "Which is quite unusual for him. And to be honest, I was beginning to worry."

Alina exchanged a quick glance with Austin.

"Do you know where we can find him?" she asked.

The clerk hesitated but then scribbled an address onto a piece of paper and slid it across the desk.

"He has inherited a residence from his uncle here. If he’s not here, then he is most probably there," he said. "And if you see him, tell him he still owes me three borrowed manuscripts."

"Thanks and we’ll let him know," Austin replied as he took the paper.

The house was located in the quieter side of the city, far away from the university crowds. It wasn’t small but not very grand either. It was definitely not something you’d expect from someone of Lord Ashby’s stature.

Austin knocked but no one answered. Then they heard someone running inside and the door opened.

Emeric looked exhausted. His hair was a mess,l and his sleeves were rolled unevenly. His hands were covered in ink stains, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes making him look like he hadn’t slept properly in days.

The moment he saw them, relief flashed across his face.

"Thank god," he muttered, grabbing Austin by the sleeve. Then immediately dragged both of them inside. "Get in quickly."

Alina looked around and immediately understood why he had sounded so afraid in his letter. The entire hall was a mess. Books were stacked on chairs and floors. Papers were scattered almost everywhere. Ink bottles sat uncapped beside half-finished notes. A plate with untouched food was resting near several old documents.

"This is horrifying," Austin whispered as he looked at the disaster his hall was.

Emeric looked offended.

"I’m committing treason for you people," he replied. "The least you can do is to show some gratitude."

Alina laughed. Though he looked unstable but his humour was still intact.

Austin ignored him and pushed aside a pile of books before making Alina sit and then sitting himself. Emeric too sat in the chair across from them and ran his hand over his face tiredly.

"Why did you ask us to come to the archive building, if you were here?" Austin asked.

Emeric sighed.

"I had plans to go there," he replied. "But then it felt too dangerous. And I knew the clerk will give you my address once you mention my name."

"How confident," Austin said.

"Of course, I am," he replied. "Or how do you think I retrieved those files. You two have absolutely no idea how difficult those last two files were to retrieve," he muttered. "Now I understand why Crane hid them inside his private archive instead of the royal records."

Austin and Alina became serious immediately.

Emeric reached towards the table beside him and lifted a thick stack of documents tied together with a ribbon. He put it in front of Austin, and stared at it.

"Why did you say you couldn’t come to Ravenmoor with the files?" Alina asked.

Instead of answering her, Emeric pulled out a sealed document from the stack. His fingers lingered on it for a second, then he handed it to Austin.

"Read this one first."

Austin broke the seal and began to read. Alina watched him as his eyes moved across the page. Then suddenly, he froze. His face turned pale. His eyes moved back up again, reading the page again from the beginning. But his expression remained the same as the paper slipped from his hands.

"Austin?" Alina called.

He didn’t answer. Alina looked down and noticed his trembling fingers. Fear crawled into her chest.

"What is it?" she asked again.

But he still didn’t answer. Alina then turned towards Emeric.

"What did you find? What’s in the paper?"

Emeric took a deep breath before answering her.

"Audrey is not the king’s biological daughter," he replied.