An attack within royal quarters

With strange suddenness, it was over, their quarters looking as though some vicious monster had played in it. It wasn't far from the truth. Blood covered the floor of the upper level, spattering the walls and dripping onto the lower from the mash of bone and meat that had once been a human body. Vomit from the princess and excrement from the body perfected the foul display.

Garnett had sent her husband to bathe, intending to join him once the necessities were handled, and such heavy necessities they were. A wash of her face and hands was all she had time for, using the cold water to compose herself. Fear, for the moment, was gone, though none could say that the princess looked well. Girding herself up, she yanked hard on the pullcord thrice to call Christoph for the steward would know what to do.

Waiting for him, she composed her story, injecting fury and fear into her countenance, while shock was naturally present. Trembling, she explained to the steward how their guards had been dealing with the disturbance at the square, and that none had been assigned when they returned. Unaware of the servant cleaning their bathing room, they had entered their quarters, only to find Demetrias flying out in a mad rage, screaming that he would kill the Crown Prince to avenge Prince Ilgnuit. Tears crept from her eyes as she told the story, delicate disposition allowing the covering of her face to be believable.

How easily the lie came to her lips, the princess weaving truth and fiction into a story that none could refute for none had witnessed it save the three of them. Righteous anger at the failure to protect herself and her husband poured from the girl, Garnett bemoaning how they had all, herself and Uhtred included, become complacent for they had not faced threats within the castle.

Uhtred's response to such a threat was, of course, to protect them even if he was a servant, angered at such a betrayal to them. It was treason right in their midst! And they both had been threatened, though the servant had been too foolish to have a weapon on him. He'd gone for the fire poker though, and Uhtred had been quick to protect them both. Hands gestured helplessly toward the mess, and the steward took over from there, accepting both the story and the tasks needed to set things right, wisely choosing not to pry further.

And while they bathed, an army of servants scoured the room, dragging away skins and rugs to burn for blood would not come out of them, removing the remnants of a shattered chair. Investigations into servants began, and guards were upbraided, some earning vicious punishment for they were deemed responsible in endangering royal blood.