One Of Us Did It

Prince Dominic

As Prince Dominic had expected, the party was not his style. The dancing was too intimate for him and was a very good reminder of how no one in the entire school other than his sister was willing to share his space. It was not his fault that they would all rather dance with their preferred partners and hardly spare him a glance despite the chaos he had caused by fighting the son of the Prime Minister in the dance hall. It was no ones fault really, nature had just being a dick and dealt him a bad hand and left him to figure out how to exist in a world were being born without magic was synonymous to committing every crime in the law book.

Taking a sip from his wine, he took a sweeping glance around the room, ignoring where he a non Saint had taken on a Saint and had won with a landslide. It wasn't that he was not proud of himself for taking the dick-head down a notch or two, on the contrary he was rather pleased with himself, however there were consequences to standing up for himself. If he knew his father, which he did, he was very certain that he was going to send an Inquisitor to punish him for daring to harm a Saint with his 'poisoned' hands. It didn't matter that he was the fucking Prince of the land, being a non Saint had made him below a slave which meant he didn't have rights like the rest of the free people walking around Syera. Self defence on his part was a crime in the eyes of the law, which meant that if Edward had being successful in killing him right there and then in the party, the prick would have been given a fucking reward and not a death sentence for harming someone of royal blood.

His quiet introspection as he stood at one corner of the room led him to miss the exit of five individuals, Edward, Domnica, Derek, Elswyth and Curtis. At first he ignored their shared absence after all they were all friends with one another, well at least a couple of them were tighter with each other while outright hating the other individuals.

Curtis and Elswyth were lovers so it was not alarming to find them not there, in fact he could bet his fortune that they were at the moment making out and about to do the nasty. Derek was best friends with Edward and seeing as the kid had been humbled by the Prince of the Land, he was sure Derek had gone to comfort him or give him a pep talk, whatever it was he could do in order to prevent the very unpredictable Saint from doing anything ill advised. His missing sister however, that did not sit right with him. She had made it her duty to never leave his sight unless if she was angry or with friends, seeing as her friends were in the hall, he deduced she had to be angry. An angry Dominica was not one he wanted unleashed on anybody at the moment least of all the erratic and equally angry Edward.

Releasing a sigh as he came to the conclusion that an angry Dominica and an angry Edward was a recipe destined to make a bad cake, he hurriedly finished his drink and left the hall in search of his sister.

His sister has and would probably always be the only person he was sure loved him. Ever since his parents had birthed him, they had made it pretty obvious to him and the rest of the nation that they wouldn't mind an accident happening to him, not just some silly accident like losing a limb or going blind or something as petty as that. No they had always wished for more serious accidents like drowning, burning, falling from a very high position or a good old stabbing in the back by some thief trying to take not just his coins but his life, anything really that would guarantee his death and exit from their lives.

It was quite sad really, living his whole life with the knowledge his own parents hated him. It was a lonely existence made pleasurable by a sister who loved him intensely, the very same sister who was at the moment no where to be found. Part of him wanted to protect his sister even though he knew very well how powerful his sister truly was, the other part of him wanted her to be unleashed against all the enemies he could destroy but shouldn't because of how fragile his political value was. Times like this when he had an enemy he wished to put down, he wanted to put the dick and his sister in a ring and leave them alone for a couple of minutes for them to sort themselves out, but then again he had to think about the political fallout; would his sister's reputation survive being branded a mad-princess that murdered boys that pissed her off?

As he walked down the hallway noticing how silent it was, completely devoid of guards and Saints, he couldn't help but wonder what on earth incited the dumbass called Edward to fight him in public. He could perhaps see him just being rude to him for a long time while they both resided in the Tower, he could see him continue to take every opportunity afforded him by the King, to torment him physically and emotionally in perpetuity, but that fucker didn't have it in him to commit regicide or even take him on, not when his sister had been right there.

Pushing aside that line of thought, he decided to focus on the task he had at hand; finding his sister. As he walked down the hallway he noticed the various gas powered bulbs invented by some Saint that was among the richest Lord in the land, said light bulbs had already been adopted all over Syera and had given the man not just wealth but fame even though the dude came from literal nothing. Dominic had tried to get a job as the old man's assistant but due to his stigma, the man had refused as did every single person in the nation, it was actually a miracle that he was even attending school in the Saint Tower; a school that taught the Saints everything they needed to know about the magic they had been born with. He supposed that he would have to thank his sister for that miracle.

After checking three empty classrooms, he became a bit nervous to find no one else in the hallway. Perhaps the celebration of his father's birthday was that big of a deal that the entire student population would rather dance and laugh and drink than find a room to fuck their brains out? Or there was something afoot, something he was yet to see or take note of, or he was just being paranoid; an empty hall way was after all always the start of a bad recipe for his day or night.

Just as he shook his head in bemusement, seeming to find the nation's love for his father very confusing when all he'd known from the old man was hate and an instilled paranoia which he always battled every moment of his life, his thoughts were brought to an abrupt stop when he heard hurried whispers from one of the classrooms in the hallway. He waited a moment to know if it was indeed a couple of horny teenagers about to do the nasty in one of the classroom but no further whispers came out, what he heard however were the sounds of nervous breaths. With his interest piqued, he walked towards the room he certain was the source of the breathing and whispers and proceeded to open it only to see four students backing the door as they stared at the ground.

"Uh, hello?" Any other night, he would have simply walked past the classroom, unmoved by whatever could be happening within and simply gone on his merry way. However tonight was the night he was looking for his sister therefore, inspecting rooms where he heard voices in, was on the table.

At his call, his sister whom he had been searching for for the past minutes, turned around and faced him with a grim look on her face. She looked him dead in the eyes as he took in the room that also consisted of the missing Saints from the party while also walking towards him as one approached a skittish animal about to bolt at any moments notice. There was something about the air, something about the body language of the people in the room, something was wrong with the shaking Elswyth and the Curtis that stood strong as well as Derek that looked as guilty as one did when they had just committed a very heinous crime.

Time stood still as he noticed a knife on the floor dripping with blood next to a body that was on a sitting position with his back against the wall. It didn't take a genius level intellect or an amazing ability to deduce, for him to know that it was the body of Edward, and from the behaviour of the four witnesses in the room, he knew that one of them did it. He didn't have the time to begin to analyse who could have killed Edward, and frankly it didn't matter. It did not matter whether it was his sister, Elswyth, Derek or Curtis that had killed the son of a bitch, because in the end, the dick-head was dead, and he was glad nevertheless, there was now the problem of what would happen when this news came out.

Who would the Chief Inquisitor believe actually murdered the boy, his sweet sister? That was not possible not even in any alternate time-line, his father would rather blame it on Dominic than have his daughter tried as a murderer.

Then there was Derek, the poster boy for every desirable bachelor, no one would even entertain the thought that he could be the culprit, neither would they suspect Elswyth or worse Curtis who knew the laws of the land. Frankly if anyone walked into the room and found them all there, questions wouldn't be asked, eyebrows wouldn't be raised because one glance in and they would know who did it; Dominic, the Prince of the nation who had not even been there when the crime had been committed, simply because he had had an altercation with Edward in the the party.

As the gravity of the situation struck him, he fully entered the room and quietly closed the door behind him to think. He knew one thing for sure, Edward should not be found, it would be better if they suspected he was dead than to actually find him dead; better for him and his sister, who would never forgive herself and her father should he be blamed for a crime she possibly committed or knew who committed. So first things first they had to get rid of the body.

"Dominic, it was an accident." Dominica said to him while her fellow suspects looked at her and him with the guiltiest of looks.

"Obviously it was an accident." Well he was not sure it was, the stab wound was in multiple places for this to be considered an accident.

"Yes it was an accident, but what do we do now? I think we should report this, turn ourselves in and face the punishment for our crimes." Derek said in his usual righteous tone.

"Yeah and have me hang for this, no thank you." Dominic said in a precise voice. "What happened here would live and die with with us."

"What do you mean?" Curtis asked.

"I mean we are going to get rid of his body and make it seem like he went away on a much needed vacation." Dominic said as he approached the body with the calm that was not in him or any of the suspected murderers in the room.

Edward being dead at this time was not a good thing in any alternate time-line or universe, he had just after all had a very public fight with the boy and had won, then watched him storm off the room before following him thereafter only for the Saint to wind up dead. Any Inquisitor in the nation would just call it an open and closed case and have him arrested, and of course the joy it would bring his father should he be found guilty; the old man would finally have a legitimate reason to be rid of him without any political consequence.

On a normal day when he was so depressed that he wished to be dead so as to be in peace, he would have taken the blame for this, anything to ensure his sister was never seen as a killer as well as allowing him to leave this world peacefully; however this was not a normal day. This was the day his father turned 40 and he would be damned before he gave his father the greatest gift he could ever hope for; his death.

Other than him not wanting to wish his father a happy birthday in style, he knew without an iota of doubt that his sister would rather have herself tried and executed for this crime than have anything happen to him especially since he did not commit this crime.

"We could say that it was the three of us that did it." Elswyth said nervously, obviously not willing to mention his sister among their gang lest he flare up and does something they would rather he didn't.

"Well congratulations to the three of you then, I will ensure we are not exposed for this, I will make sure none of us get to die for this, or worse." Dominic said as he tore a part of Edwards clothes and used it to wrap the knife that was laying by the corpses side.

"Why would you help us?" Derek asked in confusion. "We are not friends and have hardly exchanged two words with you other than 'Prince Dominic' so why the helping hand?"

"Don't flatter yourselves, I am doing this more for me and my sister than for you". He said as he looked at Dominica who had not said a word since she had claimed it was an accident. To say that he was worried would be an understatement, he was shit scared.

Any one of them could have done this, but it wouldn't matter in the eyes of the law, their pristine reputations would protect them which would make him the best suspect, his sister who loved him as much as he loved her would rather die than have him take the fall for something he didn't do, which meant that she would turn herself in before he woke up in the morning if he ever decided that he should be the fall man. Her dying while he lived was not in his cards, vies-versa, which meant that he had to come up with a solution as soon as possible.

"There are three ways to get rid of the body, by fire, by water and in the forbidden forest. We can't burn his body tonight, the smoke would attract attention which would lead to me getting arrested and killed, which my sister would not want happening so get the thought of framing me for this out of your minds." He said with steel in his voice as he looked them all in the eyes. "If that is not enough to discourage you from being dimwits, then know that I have information on all three of you that could ruin your families' life."

"We would never..." Derek began.

"Oh shut the fuck up Lord Righteousness, we are not friends to begin with so I get it if you are having any of those nonsense thoughts in your heads, I am simply discouraging you from acting on them." Dominic said as he once more looked at his sister who was still in shock. "The next way to get rid of the body is by water. We could drown him in the rivers that run around our school but that would be discouraged." He said as he kept watching his sister in concern, perhaps seeing on of her friends do this had given her a trauma.

"We would not want to put a corpse in our only source of water in the Tower." Elswyth said in understanding as she hugged herself tighter with Curtis' arms not leaving body. "So we put him in the forbidden forest?"

"Yes." Dominic said with a nod. "The wild animals would do all the work for us, all we have to do is just sit back and let them rip the body of Edward into pieces. If his body is then eventually found in anyway, well, no one would ever think he was murdered by a human, thereby protecting us." He finished before once more looking at his sister who was still very quiet, almost as if dreading the consequences of what had just happened in the room.

Moving closer to his sister he grabbed her shoulders tenderly while looking at her face in concern. This was not a good sight on his usually strong sister who had challenged his father when his father had entertained the thoughts of sending Dominic to the army while sending his precious daughter to get an education. This girl looked freaked out albeit in a controlled manner, like she had just seen a ghost or had just done something so wrong on so many levels that she was scared to come to terms with that.

The thought made him turn around and look at the three Saints who looked more worried than freaked out, it was almost as if they had watched her do something and were far more interested in protecting her than judging her. No.

"No, you didn't do this right?"

"I ... I am s... sorry. I saw him start a fight with you after calling you an abomination and I just could not stand the sight of someone beneath you daring to publicly humiliate you." She confessed with tears running down her cheeks so fast and freely that he had to pull her into a hug as she wept so hard he could feel it. "I'm sorry I was just s... so angry that I followed him here and stabbed him multiple times." She finished with more tears running down her cheeks and soaking his shirt.

He knew his sister loved and was protective of him, but for her to kill for him... well that was new. He would never hurt her or turn her in for something like this, frankly he would say good riddance and kiss her in joy, but he couldn't say or do any of that, not when there was a body rotting on the floor beside them. A body they had to get rid of.

With her confession came a realization, six students left the party for some air however only five of them would return, an Inquisitor would be sent by his father to find out why and this Inquisitor would do everything within their power to find out what happened. One of them did it while the others were a witness, making them accessory to murder should they not report it as Derek had suggested they do. Dominic now had a very serious job to do, he had to protect his sister from the Inquisitor while also ensuring the witnesses who neither he nor his sister had had the pleasure of exchanging anything more than two words at any given time prior to this incident, didn't turn her in in fear of what the Inquisitor could do to them should the truth come out.

One thing was certain right now; one of them did it, good luck to whoever wanted to find out who.