Marie Levesque waved good-bye to her husband and two young sons and set off to Descoteaux, 1883, to clear the family name, restore her father's innocence, and possibly save the life of Princess Madeleine. If there was an answer, she’d find it there.

“Don’t do anything too drastic, you could change the future in unexpected ways,” admonished Mr. Levesque.

“Good-bye, everyone. It will feel like no time has passed.” Marie said her last farewells and marched towards King and Queen Babineaux’s castle. After half a mile or so she could see the grand city of Descoteaux. In the midst of its chaos, she could spot a large palace. She felt apprehensive, knowing the princess would be dead in a matter of hours.

A while later, the young lady set off down the cobblestone street towards the castle. She looked around and saw a bakery, a tailor, and was that . . . the princess? The maiden had loose blonde curls and sapphire eyes. Her blue dress and delicate face were partially hidden by a soft, hooded pink cape. She strode hand-in-hand with a young man with a familiar face. His olive skin and dark hair reminded Marie immediately of her father.

Marie let out a gasp of recognition and ducked behind a row of dresses. She stared in amazement at her handsome father walking with the beloved royal. Her father hadn’t been able to tell her much about the situation, just that he had been convicted of assassinating Princess Madeleine, fifteen years ago on her wedding day, and that was why everyone in Europe shunned their family. They had arrested him just after Marie was born. Even so, Marie was confident that her father was innocent.

After the princess and her companion had passed, Marie questioned the tailor, “Who was the man Her Majesty was with?”

The tailor looked up at her curiously. “Why, you don’t know? That is Jean-Pierre Levesque. He is set to wed the princess this evening.”

“Thank you. Is there any other information I might like to know about this royal wedding?” Marie inquired.

“Well,” the tailor began, “I don’t like to be a gossip, but Bruno D’Aramitz, the prince of France is extremely angry about the whole affair. Jean-Pierre would place a great deal of debt on the country, because the King had already promised Her Majesty’s hand to Prince D’Aramitz in exchange for a great sum of money and an alliance with Switzerland.”

Marie purchased an emerald gown to wear to the wedding and Royal Ball, which was open to the public, and went back to the Inn she was staying at for the time being.

That afternoon, Marie set off to see if Prince D’Aramitz was to attend the wedding ceremony. As she strolled through the old town, she was shoved out of the way by a uniformed guard.
       
   Marie heard a nearby pedestrian say in a hushed tone, “Make way! Bruno, His Majesty, is inside of that carriage!”

Marie held her breath at the sight of the glorious carriage. The golden wheels spun slowly, gliding over the cobblestone street as if it were silk. Deep green velvet draped over the sides, masking the identity of the passenger. Gold swirled intricately around the coach, which was led by four white horses in ornate bridles.

The magnificent carriage passed so closely by Marie that she could hear Prince D’Aramitz’s whispers from inside the carriage. “Nobody will suspect a thing. We have all the evidence on Jean-Pierre. Meet me at the Bonheur bar at midnight.”

Marie puzzled over what she heard. She had already decided she would visit the Bonheur bar at midnight and see what was happening. But what kind of evidence did they have on her father? What would this so-called evidence prove? And who was the other man in the coach?

Hours later, Marie fastened the corset on her new gown and set off to attend Princess Madeleine and Jean-Pierre’s wedding. She felt uneasy knowing Princess Madeleine would be bloodless later tonight, and especially guilty that she knew about it.

When she arrived at the nuptial ball, everyone was dancing merrily and looked absolutely beautiful. However, one couple stood out in particular. The royal couple looked stunning, moving gracefully and artistically. Madeleine’s white dress was adorned with delicate dark red flowers dancing by her ankles and glittering garnets shone in her hair. The couples’ smiles were the perfect accessory.

An hour later, Marie stood with what seemed like the whole kingdom waiting for Madeleine to make her entrance. Seeing as the Princess was almost a half an hour late as it was, Jean-Pierre exited the altar in search of his bride-to-be. Marie caught sight of Prince D’Aramitz slipping away just afterwards.

A while later, the guests were aghast to learn of the princess’s death. The King looked pained as he explained the situation to his frantic company.  “The late Princess Madeleine was running late because her dress was tinted a dreadful greenish color somehow, and Jean-Pierre came back to check on us. He insisted on helping Madeleine into her dress, but she stopped breathing just as he pulled the dress onto her. This is all the information we can provide at the moment. Heredity issues as well as the cause of her death will be announced at a later time.”

At midnight, Marie crept through the empty streets. French flags hung from windows and doorways, as well as black ones expressing mourning. When she finally reached the Bonheur bar, she snuck in through the back entrance. As she suspected, the lights were off, and the bar appeared empty. Marie scanned the room from her hiding spot until she saw two shadows emerge from the darkness of the corner.

“Did you place it in his room?” One of the men whispered. Marie had no idea who was speaking.

“Bruno,” the other began, “We have been plotting this since the day she agreed to marry that fool. I got every detail. I tinted the dress just enough so she would notice the green, too.”

“Yes, Father, I understand, thank you for all the work you have done to kill her. However, the most important thing is that everyone believes Jean-Pierre Levesque murdered her.” Marie almost gasped. Perhaps she shouldn’t be so surprised, the French murderers had a clear motive. She also realized how hard it could be to prove them guilty. Whatever evidence they claimed to have on Marie’s father was ultimately enough to earn him a life sentence in prison.

When the men finished talking, Marie tiptoed out unnoticed. Millions of thoughts swirled around her. How could they have gotten away with poisoning the dress, if that was what they had done, and blaming it on her father? Marie turned back to the Prince and his father once she heard them begin talking again.

“I told you there was someone there. You have got to be more careful, Father, or we will be found out. And I’m sure they will suspect the dress was poisoned.” Bruno seemed to take in his father’s uneasy expression before continuing on to assure him that the dress wasn’t poisoned and so they couldn’t be convicted of poisoning the dress. So the dress wasn't poisoned, Marie thought. In some ways, this made more sense. But then again, how had they killed her, if they didn't poison her?

The next morning, Marie headed straight for the castle to see what evidence she could discover or any medical information the Royal Family might disclose. When she reached the medical wing of the palace, Marie boasted her medical facts, all of which were common knowledge in her time, and claimed to be a medical professor who had come to aid them in finding the cause of the Princess’s death. The family bought it, of course, and thanked Marie for her clear instructions on how to treat a fever.

Marie sat down with the other experts working on the case and asked them what they had discovered so far. They told her that there were no obvious wounds on her body, and that her skin had a strange green tint, excluding her face and neck. Marie decided not to trust what she had heard at he Bonheur bar, after all they had noticed her at first, who was to say they hadn't seen her come back? Marie conducted a search for all the different poisons in the area.

One week later, they had sixteen different types of poison. Marie and the other doctors tested each one on the unaffected skin on the princess’ neck. After each toxin was sampled, the specialists still had no results. Marie, still convinced the Princess had been infected, ordered all the houses in the kingdom to be searched. However, she had a feeling where she might find the missing venom, and she needed to change that.

That night, Marie snuck out to move the absent poison from Jean-Pierre’s room, where Prince D’Aramitz had placed it, to where the Prince and his father were staying.

After the poison was discovered in the room of King and Prince D'Aramitz, Marie conducted a test. When Madeleine’s neck skin turned the same light green as the rest of her body, Marie called King and Queen Babineaux to the medical wing to inform them of the advancements in her case. The D’Aramitz duo were arrested immediately and Marie bid her farewells and gave her final sympathies to the Royal Family and Jean-Pierre.

Marie leaned in and whispered into her father's ear, “See you soon.”