The Duke's Masked Wife

Tobias bit his tongue to refrain from cursing at the women after no one wanted to speak up. "Your catty moments at these events are normally ignored but to attack someone is where a line must be drawn. A Duchess was injured inside the palace. A crime befitting of imprisonment or as the old laws would have it, getting the hand the stone was thrown with cut off. If no one wants to come forward, I will have to interrogate all of you and it will not be pretty."

The women chattered amongst themselves trying to find the culprit. No one wanted to be on the king's bad side or spend the day getting interrogated.

"Eleanor is it?" Tobias looked behind him at the woman who led him there. "Identify the women you saw."

Eleanor stepped in front of Tobias and one by one, she pointed at the women involved in the matter. She remembered them as Sophia's friends who she once said shared the same brain as Sophia.

Tobias stared at the four women who found difficulty in breathing. "Which one of you threw the stone?"

"It was Sophia-"

"Liar!" Sophia exclaimed, turning to the woman who was once her friend. "Do all you have nothing better to do than lie on my good name? I did not harm the Duchess."

Ava, the young lady who exposed Sophia, shook her head. Now that the king was involved, she could not keep it a secret. Her father would beat her if he was to be informed of this. "Sophia was the one to throw the stone but it was not meant for the Duchess."

Eleanor felt uncomfortable when Ava looked at her, pointing out that the stone Alessandra was hit by was meant for her.

Sophia stomped her foot down, angered by the lies being spewed. If Alessandra had not stepped forward the rock would have hit Eleanor and they wouldn't be in the position. The only reason all of them ran was that the stone hit Alessandra instead of Eleanor. The king would not be present had Eleanor been the one hit.

Sophia only wanted to get back at Eleanor for what was said at the table. Had Emma been present, Sophia would have targeted her instead. It was just a small stone that should not cause that much damage. 'The Duchess is overreacting,' she thought.

"Is what she said true?" Tobias asked the two others who shook their heads as they vouched for Ava's words.

He didn't think highly of the three even though they weren't the ones to harm Alessandra. They had most likely thought it was funny at the moment and pushed for the stone to be thrown. It wasn't too long ago that Hazel was walking with Alessandra and could have been the one stuck so it added to his rage. Tobias was only keeping his cool in front of the other women not involved with the stone-throwing and looked afraid.

"Guards!" Tobias yelled to the men outside. "Arrest this woman here," he pointed at Sophia. "And have her chained in the dungeon. No one is allowed to visit her-"

"Your highness," Sophia said, dropping to her knees. She had worked too hard for the status she had now for it to be ruined. Getting thrown into a dungeon would sully her and if she were to get out of this unharmed, she would be made an outcast. Even by her husband. "I didn't mean to aim it at the Duchess. She stepped forward at the wrong time. Please," she touched his leg.

It took all his strength not to fling the woman off of his foot. "Get off of me," he said the words in a low tone. "Did you honestly think I would go, oh it was not meant for the Duchess, let me set you free. You injured someone. Someone you didn't intend to hit and instead of checking on that person you ran. An apology would have saved your life. You will learn to live well without your hands."

Sophia's eyes widened upon hearing her punishment would be to lose her hand. She could not remember the last day someone was given this punishment. "My king," she cried, gripping him tighter. "I will apologize to the Duchess. Please! I-I cannot live without my hands."

'It is better than not living,' Tobias thought as he tried to wiggle her off his foot. Though the punishment was harsh it was not the worst she would face. He would stop Edgar from killing her but Edgar had plenty of ways to make someone kill themselves.

"Fucking dammit,' he cursed, having no choice but to roughly yank her off of him but the woman keep bawling and crawled back to his feet.

The guards Tobias called upon rushed to separate Sophia from the king. They grabbed her arms, dragging her away from being close to the king and to the dungeon that awaited her.

Sophia thrashed and turned in their hold, trying her best to escape. "I'll apologize," she cried. "Let me speak to the Duchess! Bring my husband!" These were the last words heard from Sophia as she was taken out of the room.

Eleanor almost felt bad at the state of Sophia crying her eyes out. Almost. The woman deserved it for harming the Duchess who had done nothing wrong and worst of all, trying to throw a stone at her in the first place. If Eleanor's father were to hear of this he would not let the matter go easily.

"The three of you are banned from the palace for the rest of the year," Tobias said to the three remaining women. The palace was already full of people who stood by, watching bad things happen, and would do nothing. It didn't need these three being added to the list. "Your families will be informed of what happened today. Leave the palace at once."

Tobias proceeded to walk out of the room not wanting to hear any more crying. Someone had to become strict with these women as their hatred for one another was turning deadly. Had it been Hazel who was struck he would have all four of the women hang. He was being lenient with the three as Edgar would take care of them. He wasn't going to do anything further to steal Edgar's revenge on those who were involved in his wife being hurt.

'I don't want to be around when Edgar returns,' Tobias thought as he left the room.

Meanwhile, Eleanor enjoyed the fear and panic in the women's eyes. Not just the three but everyone else. The realization of how much they could lose if they harmed the Duchess was settling in. This was not the usual women going at each other like normal. Now there was a husband involved who would not hesitate to ruin their life for his wife and Alessandra had a good relationship with royalty.

Eleanor enjoyed how the balance in the social world was going to shift soon since Alessandra was proving without even trying that she should not be messed with. Someone who was once bullied was rising above everyone else. Eleanor didn't like Alessandra being hit by something meant for her but she was glad Sophia was dealt with. Sophia had her fair share of bullying women and getting away with it.

'I owe her,' Eleanor thought since Alessandra got hurt because of her. If Alessandra were to ever need Eleanor to find out information from the red light district, have her back in future gatherings, or whatever she needed, Eleanor would not hesitate to help her. From this day on, she was loyal to the Duchess.