“Oh yes, I can. I went to school and learned how to read, so of course I can read it.” Scarlet rose to the balls of her feet, her free hand reaching for the paper while Commander Hudson stuck his arm up, holding it out of her reach.

“You don’t have the clearance.”

“To hell with clearance.”

As they continued their struggle, I walked behind Commander Hudson and stood on top of a box laying on the floor close to his right foot. It gave me just enough additional height to snatch the file from his hand.

Commander Hudson and Scarlet stared at each other, baffled. Hudson let go of her wrist and, flipping her blond hair to one side, she blew at a lock that had fallen on her face.

“What are you doing bringing her here, Scar?” Commander Hudson asked. “How on earth did you even get in here, anyway?”

“I made a mental note of the passcode the last time I was here with you,” Scarlet answered.

Hudson took a deep breath to calm himself down. I’d thought Pure Royals like her got special treatment, but it seemed like Scarlet was no exception when it came to needing a certain level of clearance for this kind of thing.

“Anyway.” She walked over to me and I handed her the file. She opened it up and placed the contents on top of a wooden desk. “This should be what we came here for.”

I peered over Scarlet’s shoulder and read the contents.

January 1867

Lady Isabelle Stavros (18) reported the unusual click she had with two men: Mr. Jonathon Chance (21) and Lord Icarus Christoulakis (24). She was able to read both men’s minds, however, only Lord Christoulakis was able to read hers, possibly because Lord Christoulakis is a Pure Royal, like Lady Stavros, while Mr. Chance is a Regular.

June 1867

Lady Stavros and the two men were called to meet the queen in her chamber.

Three Court Guards were on duty: Travis Hawke, Todd Warwick, and Typhon Lincoln. Additionally, the usual four Palace Guards were guarding the door of the queen’s chamber.

A scream echoed from inside the chamber, and when the Palace Guards burst in to check on the queen, it was discovered that Lady Stavros had disappeared.

Witnesses to the occurrence were sworn to protect the secrecy of that night under the queen’s order.

– the report continued to Classified files –

– the queen’s authorization needed –

“That’s it?!” Scarlet angrily rampaged through the rest of the file. Some photos dropped onto the floor.

I bent to pick up the photos and then froze. Commander Hudson bent on his knee and took the photograph from my hand. He looked down at it with narrowed eyes then looked up at me.

“What is it?” asked Scarlet.