Chapter 9: I am the new spy - Ep 2 - part 3
The note said that I should walk on The Street of Stones. Only that. No specific meeting point.
The day after receiving the secret message, the Queen called me into her office.
"Tell me the truth, Daymara, can you read?" Her Majesty asked me bluntly.
My soul almost fell out of my body.
"Your Majesty ... er ..."
The question took me by surprise.
"So?" She insisted.
"No, Your Majesty," I lied. "Where did you get such a thing?"
"Because of this." She responded by showing me a small rolled scroll. "It is a note that was addressed to one of my maidens."
That note is not the same one I received. Did they send it to other maids? I thought.
"May I ask what does the note say, your Majesty?" I asked trying to look innocent.
"You do not know?"
"No, Your Majesty."
The Queen narrowed her eyes. She held my gaze. I lowered my head.
"You can back out," she instructed me.
"Your Majesty…," I said goodbye.
«What was that about?»
I expected to get answers on the night of the date. I was walking down The Street of Stones as instructed when suddenly I felt a cloud of dust hit my nose. I shook my face and everything immediately started spinning.
My legs shook. I lost my strength and fell to my knees. My eyelids weighed on me.
Poison…
I tried to scream for help, but I only made a choking sound. Everything went dark and I fell.
...
I don't know how long I was asleep, but I woke up in a closed and narrow room, only lit by a candle in a corner. I found myself tied to a chair and I noticed at least half a dozen Ashaasins around me.
«What were they doing there?»
My first thought was that I was going to be tortured.
"Tell the chief she's awakened," one Ashaasin said to another.
How do they know who is who? With those black fabrics that cover their heads, it is very difficult to tell them apart.
The Ashaasin came out through the only door in the room.
"What are you going to do to me?" I asked.
Unanswered.
"Why am I here?"
Unanswered.
"Do you know that I am a maiden in the service of Her Majesty the Queen Antonete?" I insisted.
The only door in the room opened and Lord Malek De Fiore entered. The Master of Spies of the Crown.
"You and I know that you are not a maiden," he told me as soon as he entered.
"Lord Malek?" I asked confused "Is this because of you? I demand to know what all this theater is about! "
"All this is for the Crown. The King's safety is at risk. "
"What? Why?"
"We suspect that the Queen Antonete is involved."
"The Queen? That is not possible…"
"Oh, is not?" Lord Malek stared at me.
"I imagine you have evidence ..."
"I cannot reveal that."
"What do I have to do with all this? Why am I tied up? "
"We cannot let you go until you swear to assist us in our investigation."
"Assist you?"
"We need you to spy for us."
"No," I snapped.
"You should reconsider that denial. Remember what we said in the message: we know your secret, ¨maiden¨ "
«My secret…»
"Why don't you guys spy on her? Isn't that your specialty?" I asked them.
"We cannot. It is… against our principles," Malek replied.
«Against their principles... »
Sure. They cannot spy directly on the royal family. The laws of the Crown and the code of the order of Ashaasins prevent them. So they turn to a third party like me to spy for them.
"What do you say, maiden?" Malek insisted.
"Stop saying maiden in that tone," I demanded.
"But are you really one?"
"Of course I am!"
"Mmm ... I think not"
"I AM a maiden !!" I exploded. "I will not tolerate doubting my virtue !!"
Lord Malek gave me a crooked smile.
"I am not an expert on female anatomy, but I am almost certain that if you have a child, you no longer have virtue."
"No, no, no ... it's not like that ..."
"No? Didn't you have a son? "
"Yes, but ..."
"Then you lost your virtue," he interrupted me.
"NO!" I screamed so loud my throat hurt. "I didn't do it for pleasure!! I did not give up my virtue! They stole it from me! "
Lord Malek was silent. Expressionless.
"I didn't… wanted…I was forced." I continued. "I felt a lot of fear and pain ... and disgust ..."
"Only Queen Catherine knew, may her soul rest with the Saints," added Lord Malek.
"Yes," I confirmed, "she helped me hide my pregnancy."
Lord Malek nodded.
"We know where your son is," he stated.
"What?"
"Just as you hear it."
"Is he alive? Is he okay?"
"Yes. Both," he confirmed.
I smiled. It was the first time I felt happy in a long time.
"What about Queen Antonete?" I asked for.
"What about her?"
"She will not be easy to fool. She intercepted one of your messages," I warned them.
Lord Malek chuckled, almost inaudible.
"We expected her to intercept that message. It was a trap, for the real message to get to you. "
«Crafty»
"Didn't you try to contact other maidens?" I asked for.
"Not. Only you."
"Why me?"
"We know you can read," Malek began to explain. "You can intercept messages and correspondence from The Queen, unlike the other illiterate maidens. You were loyal to the late Queen Catherine, so that may motivate you to clarify her death and furthermore… there is your secret. "
Lord Malek crouched down to be on the same level as me.
"If you help us, I promise you in the name of the Supreme and all his children the Saints, that we will not reveal your secret, that your son will lack nothing and that justice will be served for the murder of Queen Catherine, may her soul rests with the Saints."
I didn't have to think about it. Not that I had many options either.
"I agree."
A small smile spread across Lord Malek's face.
"Now untie me, please," I asked.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
LuchinSilva
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Gifts
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received Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone