Page 33 of If the Shoe Fits (Rainbow Tales #2)

What Helpin did next shocked everyone there, especially Xander. The Prince's Steward strode into the house, demanded to see the painting of Duchess Vesmalden, and then compared the image of the ring to the one Xander wore.

Straightening out of his examination, Helpin declared, “It's true! This man is the son of the late Duke, making him the legitimate heir to this estate.”

“No,” the ex-Duchess whispered. “No. This can't be happening. It can't. I am the mistress of this house.”

“Not anymore, madam.” Helpin waved at his guards. “Take her into custody. The King will decide her fate.”

“No!” the soon-to-be-ex-Duchess Patricia screeched as she was carried from the room, her feet dragging and hands curled into claws.

It was as if her mask had been torn away and the monster beneath was freed at last. Just like Xander.

“What about us? We can stay, right, Xander?” Elmer asked, his eyes wide.

“We're still your brothers,” Hubben added.

“My brothers ?” Xander cocked his head at them.

“Do you beat each other? Step on each other's hands when one of you is trying to pick something up? Do you pour hot tea on each other or ridicule each other for the way you look?” He leaned in and whispered, “Do you covet each other's bodies and touch each other intimately without permission?”

The men went pale, staring with wide eyes at Xander until the last accusation. Then they lowered their stares.

Xander stepped back. “You are not my brothers. Not by blood or love or any bond that would endear you to me. Be gone from this house. Oh, and leave all those nice things you bought with my money. They belong to me now.”

“Well said, Your Grace.” Helpin narrowed his stare at the men.

“But we have nowhere to go!” Elmer wailed.

“You can't do this before the King has ruled,” Hubben said.

Helpin pushed a finger into Hubben's chest. “I am the representative of the Prince, and I have just determined the truth here. I have stated who the Duke is. The King's ruling is only to determine punishment.”

Hubben gaped at Helpin.

“Please, Xander,” Elmer tried once more. “You can't cast us out. Our mother could have cast you out, but she didn't.”

“Your mother stole my inheritance! She beat me. Despite what she did to me, if either of you had even once shown me a sliver of kindness, I would return it now tenfold. But not even when I was a child, mourning the loss of my father, were you kind to me. You mocked me and hurt me. Now, you want mercy? Well, here is my mercy—you may leave without me demanding that you be arrested along with your mother.”

“For what?” Hubben cried. “It was all her! She's the one who told us to treat you like a servant so that you'd think you were one. ”

“Shut up!” Elmer hissed at his brother.

“Ah, yes, I shall remember your confession, Hubben Kluss ,” Helpin said.

“That's not my name. I took the name Vesmalden.”

“Take is correct. You stole that name, and I will make sure it is stripped from you both when I present all my findings, including your confession, to His Majesty.” He waved to a man in his entourage.

“Take the painting. I want to show it to the King as soon as possible. You two should prepare yourselves to face His Majesty. He may want to hear your confessions himself.”

“We . . . we haven't done anything,” Hubben whispered.

“I suggest you take the mercy Duke Xander is offering you and leave while he feels generous,” Helpin said. “But do not flee the kingdom until after the King has ruled upon this matter.”

“But what will we do?” Elmer asked.

“Find a job.” Helpin looked them over. “Quickly. You two won't do well sleeping in the woods.”

“In the woods?!” Hubben shrieked. “Xander, please!”

“You may stay,” Xander said.

“What?” Alma gaped at him.

“Oh, dear goodness’ sake, thank you!” Elmer exclaimed. “Brother, we—”

“Do not ever call me that.” Xander held up his hand. “You may stay as servants . There is a position open now, you see. You will be required to chop wood, care for the horses, clean the stable, and do whatever else needs to be done.”

“Work?” Elmer could hardly form the word. “But we don't know how to do any of those things.”

“Which is why you will earn only one salary together until you've proven you can earn two. You will learn to do all those chores, or you will starve. Servants who don't work aren't paid.”

“Xander, this is insane.”

“What's insane is that I'm considering keeping you on. Now, do you stay or go? It matters little to me.”

Hubben burst into tears.

“Stop it!” Elmer slapped his brother's face.

Hubben went still.

Elmer squared his shoulders. “We will stay. At least until we can find other work. Thank you, Xander.”

Xander lifted his eyebrows. “You're welcome.”

Helpin looked around the room. “Well, Duke Xander, it seems you have some work to do yourself.”

“I do?”

“Yes, you need to reconfigure your household. I imagine there will be some things for you to learn as well—about running an estate. If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask me. I believe the crown owes you some help for all you've endured while we remained unaware.”

“Thank you, Helpin. And please convey my gratitude to Prince Leovar.”

“Of course.” Helpin bowed. “I still have to present the evidence to the King, and I know he will want to see that ring and you in person. You will need to report directly to him on everything that has occurred. Until then, nothing is completely settled, but I believe you may rest assured that it will be.”

“I can't express how grateful I am.”

“An injustice has been done under the King's nose. It is we who are grateful for your understanding.” Helpin held his hand to his chest. “My prince was right. You are a good man, Your Grace. Now, I will leave you to put your house in order. The King will probably summon you soon.”

“I will prepare for that.” Then he remembered that this wasn't the purpose of Helpin's visit. “Wait, why were you here? You said you came for another reason.”

“Oh!” Helpin fluttered his hand. “I forgot with all of this excitement.” But then he blinked, his expression shifting into blankness. “It's nothing that concerns you. Uh. It doesn't matter. I've seen everyone here. I can rule your household out.”

“Rule us out?”

Helpin cleared his throat. “It's about the Prince's . . . his intended.”

“Oh. Yes. Her.”

“You know about her?”

“Yes, of course. He told me.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Helpin let out a breath. “Then you know we're searching for her.”

“Yes. I thought the King sent someone to her kingdom.”

“Well, yes, he did, Your Grace. And the messenger returned with distressing news—there is no Duchess Cinderella of Higferen.”

“Oh?” Xander tried to look surprised.

“No, but the King isn't giving up. It's all about pride now, you see? The King cannot allow a woman to deceive him like that.”

“You don't say,” Xander drawled, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes.

“Yes. So, now we're searching our kingdom for the missing so-called duchess.”

“You don't think she's a duchess?”

“How could she be? She lied about her kingdom. We're assuming she's a noblewoman, but I wouldn't be surprised to discover that she's a maid who stole her mistress's dress for the night.”

“A maid?” Xander glanced at the servants. “That's why you wanted all of us here.”

“Yes.”

“But why me? Why the men?”

“The King ordered that those of us searching for the girl verify that all the servants were accounted for in every household, even the men. Just in case someone was trying to hide her, claiming she was a he.”

“I see. And how would you verify it was her?”

“Oh! She left a shoe behind.”

“A shoe?”

“Yes, and it's as distinctive as your ring. Would you like to see it?”

“No, that's all right. I have no interest in women's shoes.”

“Oh, but it's fascinating. Look.” Helpin waved at a woman who was carrying the box he'd been holding earlier.

The woman opened the box and angled it for Xander to see. He already knew what was in there. So, he wasn't surprised when a shaft of sunlight flared over the shoe and set it to gleaming. Just like its twin, hidden in the stable, it seemed to taunt him. Or was it winking?

“Isn't it lovely?” Helpin asked. “Although it looks terribly uncomfortable.”

“It wasn't so bad.”

“What was that?”

“Oh, I said, 'Yes, terribly bad.'”

Helpin stared at Xander for a moment before motioning to the woman to close the box. “Well, I'm off to see the King, and then I must continue this ridiculous search.”

Xander nodded, not trusting himself to say another word. Helpin waved at his entourage and swept out the door. His people flowed after him, taking the painting of Xander's mother with them.

“I hope they give that back,” Xander murmured.

“Oh, my boy!” Alma rushed over and hugged him. “I'm so happy for you!”

“Alma.” He hugged her, but then set her back.

She blinked. “Xander?”

“Alma, you are no longer the cook here.”

“What?”

“You are now my chatelaine. That is, if you want the position.” He leaned in to grin. “It comes with a really nice room. Or it will be nice once we get Elmer's things out of it.”

Alma squealed. “Oh, my boy!”

Xander hugged her longer this time. “Thank you, Alma. You have gotten me through this. You and so many others.” He stepped back to look at the other servants.

“Thank you all for doing what you could for me. I promise you that things will be better around here now.” He glanced at his stepbrothers, then at the head groundsman.

“Garth, could you give Elmer and Hubben something to do? I need to prepare to see the King.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Garth said.

Xander blinked. “Now, that will take some getting used to.”

“We are all here to help you through this,” Alma said.

“I'll just get these boys sorted.” Garth motioned at Xander's stepbrothers. “Come along. You've got a lot to learn.” He looked over their clothes. “Do you have anything sturdier to wear?”

They looked at each other.

“They can have my old clothes.” Xander grinned at Elmer's horrified expression. “I think there are some that are baggy enough to fit Hubben.”

“Don't worry, Hubben.” Garth smacked Hubben's back, sending him stumbling forward. “You're going to lose weight soon.”

Hubben whimpered.