Mattox confessed he hadn’t been there yet. Thanking the man, he hurried around the corner, spotting the guard currently keeping duty in front of the doorway.
“Is my mother inside?”
“I saw her go into the clinic,” the soldier admitted.
He took off for the medical clinic, wondering why she would be there. She wasn’t sick, as far as he knew. She’d been in perfect health earlier that morning. Maybe she’d gone to visit someone there.
Atty was exiting the clinic when he got there. Seeing him approach, she graced him with a warm smile. “I saw you leave earlier. Where’d you go?”
“I saw a member of Edge’s entourage leave the main hall, so I followed her to see where she was going.”
“Edge from Vega City?”
“Yes.”
“The female?”
“She’s his daughter.”
“Oh.” That one word had an odd inflection behind it.
Getting closer, he held up the pieces of the arrow he’d sliced in two. “You and Father need to see this.”
When she glanced down at it, he saw her eyes widen. Her face paled slightly, and she stared up at him. “Where’d you get that?”
He looked behind him. “Let’s take this inside.”
Atty whirled around and opened the clinic door to hurry inside. Mattox followed her.
The waiting room was empty, but the sound of the door had alerted Iain. The doctor walked into the room from the back. “Mattox? What’s up?”
“Into the next room,” Mattox directed, indicating one of the side examination rooms.
Closing the door behind them, he handed the pieces to his mother, who stared at them again in disbelief.
“Her name is Caralas Edge, Battle Princess of Vega City. I was showing her around the compound. We were outside on the practice field when I saw the arrow coming from the direction of the tree line. It was aiming for her. I managed to divert it with my knife. Once I got a good look at it, I had to bring it to you.”
Iain stared at the pieces. “I don’t understand. So somebody made a bad shot.”
“No.” Mattox emphatically shook his head and pointed an arm in the direction of the field. “There’s nobody out there right now because Dad has every guard working double shifts during the conference. We were over in the swordplay section. The archery area is on the opposite end of the field for exactly that reason, so that there aren’t any errant shots.Andall the targets faceawayfrom the compound. That arrow came from the direction of the tree line, between the sword field and the first set of campsites.”
“Are you certain it was aimed at her?” his mother questioned.
“Positive. She was headed on her way back to her campsite. We were approximately ten, maybe twelve yards apart from each other when I caught sight of it. It came from my right, going left.”
“Damn good thing your reflexes kicked in,” Iain remarked. “So what are you thinking? That somebody is trying to kill her? Maybe it was mistaken identity.”
“I asked her if she had any thoughts about it,” Mattox admitted. “She hemmed and hawed. Never answered me specifically, but she didn’t seem surprised it happened. She claims she has no proof.”
Atty held up the pieces. “This isn’t proof?”
“Not unless I can say for certain who shot it.”
His mother nodded. “She’s right. But that’s not the worse part of it.”
“What do you mean?” Iain asked.
Holding up the bottom portion, Atty pointed to the feathered end. “See these? See the two blue rings right next to the fletching? Those rings are called the crest. They identify who made the arrow, or who the arrow was made for.”
