Chapter Fourteen
I strained to hear more, but the men moved out of earshot. I had a sneaking suspicion that the pair of men continuing down the hallway were the spies I was after, but I needed to be sure.
It looked like I had a new target for my sleuthing, but I’d have to restart the day to get ahead of them. I would get to know the three new hires as well as I had the rest of the palace staff during the previous run throughs.
Chime.
I woke up in the scratchy bed provided to the new hires, and I shot a glance over in the direction of the two men I’d caught whispering. They yawned and stretched as Miss Gervine came to the door, but then we all lined up once more in the common room. The two men eyed each other before they locked their gazes in a forward position, and I wondered if they were related since they both shared similar builds, brown hair, and dark-colored eyes.
The third new hire was a woman with long black hair that hung to her waist, but I had a feeling she would be tying it back shortly. Nobody bathed often in medieval times, least of all the servants, so some horse shit flung into her hair would linger.
Was she one of the spies?
I’d have to spend the morning getting to know all the new hires better before I included her in my accusations, and that meant I needed to go to the stables. I waited silently while Miss Gervine assigned my women to the role of kitchen maids, but then she turned to me with a sneer.
I’d already soured her opinion of me the night before, so there wasn’t much more I could do to get on her good side, but I knew she’d have a different attitude toward life by the end of the day.
“And you. You will be--” Miss Gervine was about to assign me to the role of page, but I lifted my hand to interrupt her mid-sentence.
“Ma’am, I can’t read or write,” I argued. “Please keep that in mind when deciding what job I should do.”
“You can’t read?” Miss Gervine huffed and lifted her eyebrows, but then it looked like she was having some internal debate.
More evidence that the king had made some note I was to be assigned well. I’d have to talk to him about that if I ever did this kind of thing again. I couldn’t have him interfering with the way my abilities worked, and I needed to be in total control of the outcome.
“No, ma’am,” I confirmed in a mock-sad voice. “Never learned it as a kid.”
“Very well,” she sighed. “You’ll have to go to the stables, and I’ll just have to find myself a different page.”
“Thank you, Miss Gervine,” I said in a submissive tone, and I ignored the curious glances from my women when I said her name.
The palace steward finished assigning the rest of the new hires to their new roles, and this time I was heading in a different direction from my women, so I pulled them to the side to explain myself.
“Looks like we’ll be working in different areas this time,” I said in a low voice, and I watched the other new hires leave over the women’s shoulders. “Which means I’ll need your help today.”
“Anything,” Zenda breathed.
“We can handle it,” Caelia added.
Akina merely nodded in agreement, but her metallic gaze flicked eagerly to the hallway. I knew she was ready to start her tasks for the day, but if we were going to pull this off, then it needed to be a group effort.
“Just for funsies, I want to set up Miss Gervine with the baker, Dael.” I grinned. “That woman has the world’s biggest stick up her ass.”
“How do we do that?” the suddenly interested Akina asked.
“The three of you will stick love letters into their meals,” I instructed. “Zenda, grab some supplies from the palace library, but try not to bring too much attention to what you’re doing, and help the other girls draft the notes. Then it’s as simple as getting them to the right place at the right time.”
“We’re on it.” Caelia gave me a curt nod.
“They’ll be in each other’s arms before bedtime,” Zenda promised with a mischievous smile.
“I’ll do whatever you need, Bash,” Akina said. “But can we go now? We are already late.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Have fun.”
We parted ways in the hallway outside the servants’ quarters, and I planted a firm goodbye kiss on each of their lips before I headed toward the stables. I was lagging far behind the other new hires who were going in the same direction, so I jogged a little to catch up to them.
“How’s it going?” I asked once I rejoined the group of new stablehands. “Looks like I’m working with you three today. What are your names? You can call me Bash.”
“Well, Bash,” one of the men said. “I am Lark, and this is Noa.”
“I am Asther,” the woman mumbled, but then she lengthened her gait to get ahead of us. “And we are late for our first day.”
Touchy much?
I’d get to know her better before I reset again, but my main focus was on the two men I’d overheard whispering about robbing the treasury. I had caught them in the middle of their scheming, but they had no idea I knew the truth.
Who were they working for?
What were they after?
I would get to the truth, and I’d have fun doing it, but first, I needed to get to work. We continued the rest of the way in silence, but I noticed that the quiet Noa kept himself no more than a pace behind his companion, Lark.
Were they brothers?
Or just partners in crime?
I tucked away my musings as we arrived at the stables, and the Head Groom, Brommel Bauchy, was waiting for us in front of the building. The man still smelled like barrel-aged Bourbon, and it made me miss the morning routine I had as a page where I got to drink with the Chief Chamberlain.
But I would face this new challenge head-on just like I did everything else.
One hundred percent completion was the goal, after all.
Being a stablehand wouldn’t be that hard, anyway. All they had to do was muck out the stalls and feed the animals, and I could do that with my eyes closed. I mulled over a couple of ways I could make the day more interesting, but I wanted to stay close to the other new hires at the same time.
After Brommel finished describing our duties for the day, he divided us up into pairs, and I was stuck with the woman, Asther. I didn’t think she was involved in the plot to rob the king, but I needed to be sure.
I followed her inside the stables, and we worked together to fork sheaves of hay into their feeding bins. She was quiet as we worked, and as I’d predicted, she’d pulled her hair back with a leather strap.
“So, Asther,” I said in a casual voice. “Where are you from?”
“Vallenwood,” she sighed, but she didn’t volunteer any other information.
We finished the task of feeding the horses, but it took us almost an hour to get every stall. There were dozens of horses in the king’s stables, and I resisted the urge to visit the horses we’d brought from Bastianville. They were being well taken care of by the other two stablehands, so I satisfied myself with a glance in the direction of their stalls.
Then I followed Asther back to the tool room at the far end of the stables, and I wondered briefly how old she was. She had the vibes of a much older person than she appeared to be, but she wasn’t the most attractive woman I’d met.
I wasn’t getting anywhere with her, anyway, so I needed to figure out how to separate the two men from each other. They were like two peas in a pod, and I had a feeling I wouldn’t get anything out of them while they were together.
“Hey, so, this isn’t working out,” I said in a fake frustrated tone. “I think I’m going to ask for a new partner.”
“Alright.” Asther shrugged, but her face showed her confusion.
I went to Brommel Bauchy, and I plastered a sad look on my face. His confusion was obvious the second I approached, and he paused what he was doing to face me.
“Why aren’t you working?” the Head Groom asked in an all-business voice.
“Listen, I need a different partner,” I said, and I splayed out my hands in surrender. “I just think I would work better with one of the other stablehands. Maybe Lark?”
“This is highly unusual,” the Head Groom said as he crossed his arms over his chest. He mulled over my words for a long moment, and I was worried he would demand my reasoning, but then he nodded slowly. “Alright. Since it’s your first day, I’ll make this one exception. Go find Lark and Noa, and tell Noa to work with Asther. Does that work?”
“Thank you, sir.” I bowed my head respectfully.
I turned on my heels and hurried to the other side of the stables where Lark and Noa were raking the training yard and scooping up stray piles of horse poop. I lifted my arm in greeting as I approached, and the two paused their work to narrow their dark eyes at me.
I noticed their body language and movements were well in sync with each other, and they gave me the impression of military experience. Lark was obviously in command over Noa from the deference the younger man showed him, and if there was a weak link, Noa was it.
I decided to switch up the Head Groom’s orders a little bit so I could get some one on one time with Noa.
“Brommel sent me. Lark is supposed to go inside to work with Asther.” I cleared my throat and jerked my chin toward the stables. “I’ll help Noa with the rest of the outside chores.”
The two exchanged a long, loaded glance, and I held my breath.
“It’s fine,” Lark finally said with a dismissive lift of his hand in the younger man’s direction. “We’ll meet up later.”
“That’s not how he said it would go,” Noa argued.
“Forget about it,” Lark hissed, and he stomped off without another word.
“What’s up?” I asked, and I lifted my hand in a friendly gesture as I plastered a broad smile on my face.
“Up?” Noa looked up at the sky in confusion, and I resisted the urge to laugh.
“Never mind,” I said. “Let’s get back to work before we get in trouble.”
“Yes, of course…” Noa gazed after his departing companion for a long moment, but then he shook his head and muttered something under his breath. “We wouldn’t want that.”
“You two are pretty close, huh,” I observed as we continued to scoop up the stray droppings in the training yard. “Lark and you. You knew each other before coming to work here.”
Noa didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I waited for him to complete his task before I spoke again. We both heaved the loads in our tools onto the manure pile, and I gestured for him to wait.
“I don’t mean to pry, it’s just something to do to pass the time,” I said in a comforting tone. “I’m an open book if you want to return the favor.”
“You are not from this land, are you?” Noa asked with a lift of one eyebrow. “Where do you come from?”
“An island far away,” I said, and in a manner of speaking, I was telling the truth. The continents on Earth were little more than gigantic islands, and right now, the world I’d been born in felt like a thousand lifetimes ago.
“I am from Vallenwood,” the man countered with a nod of his head. “Born and raised.”
“Oh, yeah?” I chuckled. “That’s cool.”
“The temperature changes based on the seasons,” Noa began to explain as if to a child. “How long have you been in Sorreyal?”
“Not long,” I said in a vague manner. “Let’s get back to it.”
Noa nodded in agreement, and we headed back to the training yard to finish the job. It wasn’t horrible work, and I enjoyed the repetitive motions giving me a mini workout.
The God of Time had to maintain that godly figure, after all.
Sweat soon dripped down my brow, and I swiped it away with the back of my hand. I watched Noa work tirelessly for a moment, and then I crossed the distance between us.
“You don’t have to work so hard, you know,” I said in a friendly tone. “No one is watching us.”
“Someone is always watching,” Noa said in such a low voice that I almost didn’t hear him.
“Are you trying to convince someone of something?” I asked in the most casual way I could. “Pretending to be something you’re not?”
Noa stood up stiffly and turned to stare at me, and an odd expression flashed over his face. I couldn’t tell whether he was deciding to kill me or lie to me, but then the expression shifted into a blank stare once more.
“I am nothing more than a stablehand,” the younger man said in a practiced manner. “Same as you.”
Yep. Motherfucker was definitely a spy.
A bad one, but still.
Noa and Lark were apparently planning to rob the king’s treasury, and I needed to find out all of the details. I needed to know when they were going, and what they were after. If it was just gold they were seeking, they could have robbed any of the palace staff or other nobles in the court. They left all kinds of expensive shit laying around. The only thing that made sense was that these two were after something specific, and I had to find out what it was in order to stop it from happening.
After mucking and raking the training yard, the two of us headed inside to do the same thing to the countless stalls inside the stable. Once the inside stalls were mucked out, we replaced the water tubs for every horse there, and only after that was done did we get another chance to speak.
“How do you like working in the palace?” I asked in the same friendly tone I’d adopted from the start. Then I wiped my brow and sighed. “It’s hard work, but I’m hoping it pays well.”
“Indeed,” Noa chuckled, but I caught a gleam of something in his dark eyes, and I wondered if he was thinking about his plot to rob the king.
We headed back to the palace for our morning meal, and the second we were rejoined by Lark and Asther, the two men began to whisper to each other. I overheard little, but Lark glanced in my direction multiple times.
My women served us lunch during this run through, so I didn’t get a chance to conspire with them. After the meal, however, Lark and Noa headed in the direction of the servants’ quarters, so I waited a few minutes and then followed in their wake. I watched them turn the corner in a different direction, though, and I realized that was where the treasury was located.
Were they scoping out the job?
Only one way to find out.
I continued to follow just out of sight of the two stablehands, and they made every turn that led to the treasury. Then I stopped at the last corner, and I squatted down against the wall.
“This is the only door,” Lark was whispering to Noa when I finally caught up enough to hear them.
“Only one way in,” Noa agreed. “Who has the keys?”
I stayed tucked safely out of sight behind the corner, but I could clearly hear the two men’s voices. Was Noa just now learning the true nature of their presence in the castle? Who was the mastermind behind the plot?
It obviously wasn’t Noa, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t Lark, either. There was only one way to find out, but I wasn’t ready to reset to my save point just yet.
I’d caught them more than once plotting to break into the king’s treasury, and that would be good enough for King Fred to convict them. Whatever their fate, I would need to bring them before the throne first, and in order to do that, I had to reveal myself.
I wondered if I could count on the guards’ help? There were always multiple guards stationed near the treasury, but none had spotted me so far. I was in a suspicious-looking position, and I was bound to be questioned if I stayed where I was for much longer.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming toward me, and I hurried silently back down the hall to peek around the previous corner. It was four guards returning from their lunch break, and I realized there was a tiny window of opportunity between their shifts where no one was watching the hallway to and from the treasury.
I stood at my full height, and I returned to the hallway in front of the treasury, but the two men were nowhere in sight. They must have left in the other direction, but that merely led to the treasurer’s chambers.
Had they gone inside in search of the key to the treasury?
I rushed to the door, and I entered the room in a rush.
“Get out of here!” Arnoch’s voice called from the bed, and I glanced over to see him kneeling behind a very curvy woman while she was on all fours in front of him. The grimy and dingy room stank of sex, and I winced immediately after realizing what was going on.
“My bad,” I said, and I backed out of the room. “I’ll, um, leave you to it.”
“You there!” a guard called out from down the hallway. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”
The two spies had disappeared somewhere, but I’d have to deal with that later. I was about to be caught trespassing in the treasurer’s chambers, but I didn’t want to have to deal with that. I’d already visited the constables’ office once, and I didn’t feel the need to make a repeat visit.
Chime.
The day began yet again, and I was deep in thought when Miss Gervine finally snapped at me to pay attention. She gave me a page’s duties once more, but I didn’t care about my lists of tasks for the day. All I needed to do was catch the two wannabe thieves red-handed, and then I could bring them before the king.
After how hard I had to work to prove the guilt of the former Duchess of Mistvale Keep and her court wizard, Zorya, I wanted there to be zero reasons for the king to doubt me this time.
I pulled my women to the side as the three new hires went in the direction of the stables, and I quickly filled them in on everything I’d learned.
“So, I know who the spies are,” I said in a low voice as we headed toward the kitchens together. “But it’s not who you would think.”
“How would you know so quickly?” Akina asked. “You haven’t even met everyone who works here yet.”
“Oh, I have,” I chuckled. “Well, the important people, anyway. There are no spies in the king’s long-standing staff, and they’re the ones who hold positions with any power.”
“Who are the spies, then?” Zenda asked, and she glanced around to double-check we were alone. “One of the guards?”
“In the long run, guards have very little power and authority within the day-to-day operation of the castle,” I explained. “They’re mostly grunts who perform a set schedule each day.”
“So, it wouldn’t be a beneficial position for a spy,” Caelia mused. “Besides being able to get closer to any targets, there’s really no power or authority there.”
“Exactly,” I agreed with a nod. “I was surprised when I discovered that the spies are actually the other new hires sleeping in our quarters with us.”
“Really?” Akina’s eyes widened. “But they only just started working here.”
“That’s my point,” I said. “They are doing the same thing as us. They got the job as a disguise in order to get closer to their goals. Namely, robbing the treasury.”
“What makes you think they are the spies the king is searching for?” Zenda asked. “They sound like common thieves, and the problems in Vallenwood have been happening for a while.”
“Yeah, I think they’re actually working for someone else,” I said. “It could be a coincidence that these thieves attacked while the capital was already in trouble, but I suspect it’s all connected. There’s a mastermind behind the plot, but I don’t think it’s one of those men.”
“What do you need from us?” Caelia asked. “How can we help?”
“Well, I have another idea for how you three should occupy yourselves today.” I grinned. “We’re supposed to be making Vallenwood a better place, right? And where better to start than the palace and its staff. So, while I ferret out more information from these spies, I want you three to set up the baker and the palace steward. If you slip love notes into their lunches, then they will discover their newfound affection for each other.”
“Brilliant,” Zenda giggled.
I reminded her to get supplies from the library, and I instructed them all to be careful to stay unseen while planting the letters.
Then we went our separate ways, and I headed toward the guards’ barracks. I used the servants’ hallways, and I arrived a short while later. It was a simple enough task to take their sacks full of dirty laundry as if I was sent to fetch them, but then I pulled out one of the uniforms and put it on.
The girls had been right about one thing.
The guards had better access to the targets.
I waited until the guards changed shifts in the morning, and I joined the group of four as they walked toward the treasury. No one questioned my appearance among them, or asked if I was sure if it was my turn to guard that hallway, so I just rolled with it.
I stood against the wall outside the treasurer’s chambers, and I kept my back stiff for hours as I waited for the two wannabe thieves to arrive. The other guards headed toward the dining hall to eat their lunches a short while later, but I stayed where I was. Then Lark and Noa stepped into the hallway, but they spotted me immediately and began to turn back.
“Must have taken a wrong turn,” Lark muttered. “First day, sorry.”
“Stop right there,” I commanded. “You were planning on robbing the treasury.”
“No, sir,” Lark argued with an adamant shake of his head, but then he turned his head ever so slightly and muttered to Noa. “Run.”
The pair took off in the opposite direction, and I ran after them as fast as I could. When I was a few paces behind them, I launched myself into the air after them. The three of us crashed to the ground, and Lark sent a defensive kick to my groin. I rolled to the side just in time, but that gave Noa an opening to get away from me.
Lark was always looking out for the younger man.
“Stop right there,” I said again as I straddled the thief in my arms. “I am Sir Sebastian, the Archduke of Sorreyal, and the God of Time. I have caught you red-handed twice! I think that’s more than enough evidence to bring you before the king.”
Lark hesitated in my grasp as he was about to punch me in the unguarded throat, but Noa kept running down the hallway.
“Call him back,” I instructed as I repositioned my grip a little tighter around Lark’s arms. “Tell him to come back and surrender.”
“Noa!” Lark let out a strangled cry. “Come back, Noa.”
“Much better,” I said, and I released my grip a little bit. Part of the guards’ uniform was a pair of ancient-looking shackles, and I clipped them around Lark’s wrists before I hauled him to his feet.
Noa appeared at the end of the hallway an instant later, and I made sure to keep a tight grip on Lark to prevent him from running away to his companion. They obviously cared about each other, and I intended to use that to my advantage.
“Walk slowly forward,” I said. “And he won’t get hurt.”
“Please, just don’t hurt him.” Noa stepped hesitantly further into the hallway, and he held up his empty hands.
I ripped off a strip from Lark’s shirt, and I used it to lash Noa’s hands behind his back. Then I pushed the two men in front of me as I made my way to the throne room. We had to go through all of the maze-like corridors to reach the great hall where the king resided over the day’s business, but the guards let me through immediately. Then I remembered I was still wearing one of their uniforms.
The God of Time strikes again.
I considered whether or not I should make a new save point since my dual goals were already being accomplished, but in the end, I decided against it. It was good to have a fallback at the beginning of the day just in case.
I would be the one to decide when time ran forward.
The audience chamber was full of supplicants, but they parted to allow me entry as soon as they caught sight of the guard uniform I wore. I pushed the two men all the way to the front of the room, but I stopped beneath the dais holding the throne.
“You might want to clear the room for this,” I said in a low voice, but then I spoke in a louder volume. “These men are criminals and deserve the full weight of your judgment.”
“Please, clear the room,” the king said to his herald who stood off to one side of the dais.
The man nodded before he descended the steps to the audience chamber, and a few moments later, everyone was herded toward the double doors. Once the room was clear of eavesdroppers and onlookers, I forced both men onto their knees before the king.
“Why, what is the meaning of this?” the king asked in a confused voice, and I couldn’t tell if he realized who I was.
“I found your spies.” I pulled off the helmet of the guard’s uniform, and I pressed my lips together into a thin white line. “I caught them red-handed trying to plot and break into your treasury. They are guilty.”
“When did this happen?” The king leaned forward to get a better look at the two men.
“We haven’t done anything, Your Majesty,” Lark protested in an innocent voice. “This man is delusional, we just took a wrong turn.”
“Their first attempt was going to be later today,” I said. “But I thwarted them before they could make the effort.”
“Your power never ceases to amaze me,” the king breathed with an awed shake of his head, but then he pushed himself out of the throne and descended the steps of the dais. “Who are these two? Where did they come from?”
“They haven’t given up much information,” I said. “The smaller one claims to be from Vallenwood, but I suspect that’s just a cover story.”
“Get the information out of them,” the king instructed. “By whatever means necessary.”
“You realize what that means?” I asked in a cautious voice.
“Yes, use torture if you need to,” the king said. “But make them talk.”
“They’ll talk without going to those lengths,” I promised. “Trust me.”
The king nodded, and he resumed his seat on the throne once more.
“Proceed,” he said, and he gestured with his hand for me to continue.
I cleared my throat and stood in front of Lark, but then I grabbed him by the hair to force him to look up into my face.
“Who are you?” I asked in a firm voice. “Where are you from?”
“Noa didn’t lie,” Lark spat out. “We are from Vallenwood. His Majesty has met us before, but he doesn’t deem peasants worth the time it takes to memorize a face.”
“So, you’re angry at the king,” I said, and I stood to the side so Lark could look up at the throne. “Tell him why. Explain the choices that led you here.”
“He knows what he has done.” Lark swallowed hard. “Kill me if you must.”
“I’m not going to kill you if you talk,” I pointed out.
Lark looked at the king and then back to me, and he shook his head as much as he could within the grasp I had on his hair.
“What if it’s Noa we are talking to?” I asked with one lifted eyebrow, and I let go of his head to stand in front of his companion.
I reached for Noa’s hair, but then Lark inhaled sharply.
“Wait,” the would-be thief said in a choked voice. “Don’t hurt him.”
“Then talk,” I said.
“We grew up together in Vallenwood,” Lark admitted with a sigh.
“No, Lark, don’t!” Noa hissed.
“Let him speak,” the king commanded in a loud voice.
“As I was sayin’,” Lark went on before he swallowed again, and he flashed his companion an apologetic look. “The two of us grew up dirt poor in the backstreets of Vallenwood, but all that changed when we met up with a man with a plan.”
“We swore, Lark,” Noa sobbed out. “He’ll do worse than kill us.”
“So will they,” Lark hissed back. “We’ve been made, Noa. Time to save our own heads.”
“You don’t want to die,” I said. “So keep going. What man?”
“We never saw his face, and we usually just dealt with his friend,” Lark admitted. “But he says he’s a god. He can do some awful things to anything alive, so I am inclined to believe him.”
“A god, you say?” I inhaled sharply. “What did he call himself?”
The thief was silent for a long moment, and he mouthed some words to Noa that I couldn’t make out. Whatever was said, Noa seemed to calm down a little, so I wasn’t worried about it.
“The God of the Plague,” Lark supplied at long last.
“Sir Sebastian!” The king stood up in a hurry. “We should call for the guards. We must arrest these two immediately.”
“Wait,” I urged. “They could still have more to say.”
“Very well,” the king allowed, but he had a flustered look on his face as he returned to his seat and continued to listen. “Continue.”
“So, the God of the Plague sent you here,” I said. “Why?”
“If we don’t,” Lark said in a solemn tone. “Then we will not be spared when he unleashes the plague.”
“You’re following him out of fear?” I shook my head. “Why not just bring it to the king?”
“We’ve come to the king before,” Lark snapped. “It did no good to no one.”
I shot the king a loaded glance, and he shrugged one shoulder slightly. He obviously had no recollection of ever seeing these men before, and yet they’d been hired by his palace steward to work in the stables. It really showed how separated the nobility were from those who served them.
Good thing the God of Time had come to save the day yet again.
I would clean up the king’s mess and deal with the God of the Plague before he could attack the capital city of Sorreyal, but that didn’t answer all of my questions.
“Wait,” I said as I turned back to the two prisoners. “What were you looking for in the treasury?”
“That’s enough, Sir Sebastian,” the king said in a booming voice. “Guards!”
I turned to face the king with a confused tilt of my head.
Why was he protecting the prisoners from further questioning?
What was he hiding?
“Your Majesty,” I argued. “I’m not done with them.”
“They’ve said enough to convict them,” the king repeated. “I’ve heard what I needed to.”
“Fine,” I sighed, and I watched as a horde of guards led the two men to the dungeons. They would be questioned more by the constables, but I doubted they’d be forthcoming again with the treatment they’d received from the king.
Once the king and I were alone, I climbed the steps to the dais, and I knelt at his side. The position reminded me of Gríma Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings. I wasn’t here to spread poison, of course, but the God of the Plague was. I had to stop him at all costs, and then maybe the damage he’d already done would be healed.
There was only one way to find out, but first I had to learn the king’s secret.
“You’re hiding something,” I said bluntly. “I don’t like that. We’re on the same team, aren’t we?”
“You and I have always been allies,” the king assured me in a soft voice. “But there are some things I cannot speak of, even to you.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “Not good enough for me.”
“Sir Sebastian,” the king murmured with a reluctant expression. “I can’t…”
“I have done more than enough to prove my loyalty to Sorreyal,” I said, and my voice had a sharp edge to it. “I have killed a dragon, fought fires, saved missing children, and defeated foreign enemies. Your lands are safer because of me, and the only thing I have asked of you is total transparency.”
“I do this to protect not only myself, but the entire kingdom,” the king argued as he refused to meet my gaze. “It must be kept between me and the Royal Mage.”
So, Viceroy was also in on whatever the king was hiding from me.
“Do you not realize that the secret is already out there?” I shook my head in awe at his blindness. “The thieves were after something, and you know exactly what it was.”
“You thwarted their plan,” the king reminded me. “My treasury, and the entire palace for that matter, are safe now.”
“How do you know that?” I questioned. “If the God of the Plague sent them, then he will send more. It’s only a matter of time before you are under an internal attack once more. Will you turn to me again? Or will you face the problem head-on while we have the chance?”
“I can’t,” the king insisted as he stared at his feet. “You have to understand.”
“I am not going to walk away until you tell me the truth,” I persisted. “I have done more than enough for this kingdom to have earned that much from you.”
The stubbornness of the king was only outmatched by my own, and he was playing a game he couldn’t possibly win. I was patient, and I could always reset again to a point in time before I had even told him who the thieves were.
I was the one in control here, but I figured I would try one more time before I tried a different approach next time.
“Your Majesty,” I said in the calmest voice I could muster. “Please.”
The king avoided my eyes for a long moment, but after a silent pause, he let out a weary sigh.
“This cannot leave this room,” the king said in a firm voice. “Trust no one, not even your wives.”
“I can tell them anything,” I argued. “You can trust them like you trust me. Completely.”
“You do not understand the potential danger we are under just having this item in our possession,” the king continued in a dark tone. “I ordered Viceroy to destroy it, but he said that could affect the entire city with the release of that much magic at once.”
Some kind of magical device?
“What is it?” I pressed.
“A magic-infused crystal with the ability to poison any weapon it is fused to,” the king explained. “It has the potential to kill us all in the wrong hands.”
My thoughts went straight to the idea of the God of the Plague gaining possession of such a weapon, and my stomach dropped.
The king was right.
Thousands would die if the crystal made its way into the wrong hands.
I had to get to it first.