The Killer Queen by Noella Briony

Chapter 172

Noella withdrew her gaze, a hint of a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. “Don’t try to cozy up to me,” she said with a chuckle to Xavier, who looked at her expectantly. “Neither Grandma nor I will forgive you.”

Xavier’s spirits plummeted. He knew if Harriet ever found out about his deeds, she’d be furious. Still, he took a small comfort in the fact that he hadn’t crossed any unforgivable

lines.

With a sigh, he lifted his head and gave a wry smile. “Shall we go see Tandy? He should be awake by now. You’ve got questions for him, right?”

The staff at Lockhart Prison had their methods to wake a man up, just as they had their methods to put one down for good.

Noella nodded. “Lead the way.”

With a wave of his hand and a stern face, Xavier barked, “Hop to it! Clean out that room over there. You expect my darling to stand while she interrogates?”

Noella glanced at him nonchalantly and stayed silent. She didn’t acknowledge her ties to Xavier, but she needed him to get to Tandy. So, she wouldn’t refute him. The fact that he had crossed the Schnabel family, not once but many times, was enough to haunt his

conscience.

Lockhart Prison was a maze of layers, from the towers above to the sea below, each with their own brand of cell. Tandy was locked up in one of the underground cells.

As they walked side by side, Xavier led Noella towards Tandy’s cell. “How had Harriet been? Was she alright?”

“Is it considered alright to always be content despite never eating enough, and to have faced illness with almost no money for treatment but no regrets?”

Noella didn’t hide the truth.

When her grandma fell ill, it was her who worked tirelessly. Night after night, she slept barely two hours a night, waking to draw design after design and sewing clothes into the wee hours, with only the stars for company. She was terrified of losing her grandmother.

Vincent wouldn’t spare a dime, always claiming Grandma Harriet had savings. Luckily, Noella made enough money–not only to see her grandma off but plenty to spare, though she still couldn’t keep her grandma alive.

Xavier nodded, absorbing her words. “She’s got a poor memory. If she had never mentioned me before, it must have been that she forgot.”

Noella shot him a cold look. “No, Grandma told me she had a brother. As a child, he was slashed with a knife protecting her, from the corner of his eye to his jaw, scars all over his

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brother terribly but thought

froze in place.

remembered him all along! Only he and Harriet

redemption in his heart was his dearly departed sister.

“She remembered me?”

mentioned a brother, not necessarily

heart racing. Harriet

cell where Tandy was kept was modest, with all the necessary amenities,

bed looking scholarly and genteel, wrapped in a Lockhart Prison blanket, a book

bloodstains on

and dragged over a chair,

his sleeve.

take a seat,” he offered, his voice carrying a hint of affection. “I’ll just stand.*

the fawning Xavier, but she didn’t refuse the seat. After all, why stand

“Xavier, what’s all this fuss today? Coming to see me with such a crowd? And who’s this young lady?”

Magee,

removed his barely intact, black–rimmed glasses and set them aside.

“What’s the matter?”

with a cold edge, “She has some questions for you. You better answer

a violent cough, blood speckling the linen. “Heh, Xavier, look at me. I won’t

spoke lightly, “Hollis is

eyes widened in shock upon

you say? Hollis is alright? Why should I

about his brother as much as Thorpe did if he was willing to meet with the Toxic Monarch and get arrested for Hollis’s sickness..

nonchalantly, the click of

I might’ve left something extra

to their limits. “You!”

you? It’d be quite a hassle for Thorpe to handle

sit still. “You can’t do that; he’s innocent! He’s never done anything illegal. Just

to start like this?