After we got out of the door, he turned around. “I’m going to find another option. If my father was a usurper, then that might give us an advantage I didn’t know about.” I nodded, wanting him to get to his point. “I… I’m glad that you…recruitedthem.” He sighed out like it pained him to admit. “Even with all the fighting, I’ve learned about how the people of the city operate and think by just watching them. At first, I had my doubts….” He had the respect to look sheepish, “but I should’ve known that you were right. You’re always right.” He looked at me with those eyes that sparkled, but I just didn’t know why they sparkled at me.
I ignored them, nodded my head and said the only thing that came to mind, “When you find something, let me know and we will look into it. Remember that we are here to do the dirty work. If something needs to be done outside of the castle walls, we will take care of it. You focus on what you're good at, the politics, and we will take care of the rest.”
He looked at me, searching my eyes for something, but I didn’t know what. I never knew what he was looking for when he would look at me like that. He was the type to always search for answers instead of asking for them. He finally shook his head and smiled. “Thank you. Talk to you soon.” He turned, put up his ratty hood from his common clothes disguise and walked away into the cover of night, leaving me feeling unsettled but I have no idea as to why.
Chapter 2
AsIheadedbackto the palace, my mind going all over the place with possibilities, a strange singular thought broke though the rat maze in my head. I was going to miss being in my common clothes. They were so light and functional. I didn’t have to wear the layers and layers of clothing that I normally had to wear at the palace. It was always so much linen and silk that it felt stifling. Making it hard to think when I always felt so overheated. To be fair, I was always thinking and that might be half the problem.
Currently, I was thinking about my father and what I just learned. How he had the audacity to burn books and ruin history for his own gain was telling of his character and cruelty. How he knew he was wrong and attempted to cover it up. That he did all of this more for himself than for our people. It caused my stomach to clench.
If he was a usurper, we might have a shot at convincing the nobility to turn their minds for the right cause, right? If there’s anything I’ve learned about the nobility, it’s they liked their legacy and being a part of the ‘true’ first settlers. If the previous king’s line was of the original royalty, then we might have a shot if my father didn't kill out the line. We might be able to do this without bloodshed or war.
I thought about it again. Well, maybe a little bloodshed. I had Mika in on this and it seems no matter what we did, blood always followed her. I laughed as I remembered a time when I was squeamish over the sight of blood and she came into my room covered in it after a job. That gave me nightmares for weeks but soon I got over it, reminding myself that she was on my side.
As my feet hit the cobblestone streets, my mind took me down memory lane and I started to think about when we were kids and would get into mischief, which for Mika was always some sort of training, with me tagging along and eventually getting hurt while trying to catch up to her. Most of the time it ended with me bleeding, but I was fine with it. In my head, I used to call it my ‘battle scars with an assassin’ to boost my ego. Now, it was just the toll of hanging out with my best friend. The best friend that I was in love with. My shoulders slumped at that thought because I knew she didn't love me like I did her.
Once I made it across the first outer wall, I clenched at my cloak and hood, holding it so tightly to my face that I could barely see out of it, but they couldn’t see me. I couldn’t get caught. It would ruin everything if I did. I was too determined not to see this through, not to try as hard as I could for what was right.
A chilly breeze flew by, whipping my cloak around as I tried to get to the back section of the wall that Mika showed me I could climb. As I got closer, I saw this group of people sitting along the wall. I squinted my eyes and realized it was a family; a man, woman and two little girls with raven colored hair. The closer I got, the more I noticed things about them. I could see all of their clothes were baggy with holes, practically falling off of their shoulders. Huddling against the wall were two small girls, shivering against the freezing night air. The man next to them looked down at the ground, lost and dejected. The woman next to him was rubbing his back, whispering into his ear, but he still wasn’t moving or taking his eyes off the ground.
This was the problem with the kingdom. That because of your hair color, you can't get a respectable job, one to feed your family with. A man with midnight hair couldn’t get work mucking out stalls just because of the idiot priests that spout out all their bullshit about how dark colored hair made you evil, and people believe them. A father and mother, who just want to provide for their family, can’t, because you are looked down upon and treated less than by society. Because something you were born with, something you can’t control, determines your character and worth. It disgusted me. Infuriated me.
If I didn’t need to keep a low profile, I would’ve done more, would’ve made a bigger gesture for all to see and know that some of us in the castle had a heart, had a soul, but all I could do was drop five gold coins like I didn't mean to. I let the coins slip from my fingers as I passed the girls, hoping they would pick them up and show their parents. I heard the clinging of the coins against the street and a shuffling of feet. I smiled as I kept walking but not a second later and I heard a small voice behind me, “Mister. Mister. You dropped these.”
I stopped, my back going rigid as my heart in my chest broke even more. I clutched the hood around my face as I turned around and saw the smallest of the two girls holding her shaking hand out with the five gold coins in it. She was so weak that her head bobbed as she was trying to look at me. I couldn’t bend down and look her in the eyes or else she would notice that I wasn’t a common person and I couldn’t take that chance. I lifted my hand over hers and closed it around her small, frail hand, slipping two more coins into her hand as I did it. “You found it, you can keep it.”
The look she gave me made me want to bend down and give her a hug. Her wide eyes and trembling figure almost collapsed as she opened her hand and looked down at the seven gold coins in her hands. That amount of money would make it so they could get off the streets and have hot food in their bellies for at least a couple weeks. As she was star stuck staring at the money, I quickly turned and made my way down to the section that was covered in darkness and shadows as I felt around for the bricks I could use to hoist myself up.
I looked back down the way, watching the small girl go up to her family, the coins in her palm outstretched, showing her father and mother what she had. He seemed to turn his head and look in her hands. His eyes got wide as he had tears built in his eyes when he looked up at the girl. The woman cried out as she circled her arms around the man and the two girls in a big family hug. Soon the woman wiped her face and started to pull up the man to his feet, trying to be the strength of the family as she corralled them together and made them get up and walk down the alleyway towards the inn.
I watched them until they disappeared, my heart both hurting and feeling light. I turned back to the wall, my fingers finally found the rough grooves I needed to hold on to as I climbed up. When I reached the top of the wall, I swung my leg over and sat there for just a second, looking at the spot where that family was. I enjoyed knowing that those two girls would get to stop shivering tonight. I treasured that moment, knowing that I helped four people, a family, not be homeless, not to feel like they are alone and dejected. Tilting my head up, smiling at the moon before my thoughts solidified and my curved lips slowly turned into a thin line. It was then, sitting on that wall overlooking the kingdom, that my resolve hardened.
Destroying my father was the necessary thing for the betterment of our people. What we’re doing had to be done, with peace or bloodshed, because it was the right thing to do.
I worked my way up to the castle, trying to keep out of sight. As I got closer to the main castle wall, I realized I had got there just in time for the castle workers’ shift change.Perfect. I slipped in with the group being ushered through.
I thought I was good until a guard yelled out, “Hey, you with the hood! What are you doing?”
I closed my eyes, trying to decide if running and disappearing would be the best outcome or letting them know who I was and coming up with some vile story about why I was outside the castle walls. Nobility and people of “higher” birth never went out of the castle walls for something wholesome. Before I decided on what I was going to say, I felt a hand land on my shoulder, “This is the new stable boy. We told him to keep himself covered because he has some darker streaks in his hair and we didn’t want to upset the king or the priests.”
I heard the guard grumble before he said, “Fine. Just keep him covered until he gets inside the stable. Make sure he stays in the back.”
“Will do,” the voice rings out as he circles his arm around my shoulders. “We got your back, your highness.”
I stiffened underneath him, afraid that this person might use this knowledge against me, but I had no choice at the moment but to follow or else the guards would come for me again.
When we finally got into the stables, I took my hood off as I looked at the person who covered for me and I realized it was Easton, the man who taught me how to ride a horse when I was a young child.
“As soon as the guards change, in about ten minutes, you can head back up to the castle.” His kind and gentle smile was still in place as he turned to work on the horses in their stalls.
I took a step forward, not able to keep the threatening tone out of my mouth as I said, “How did you know it was me?”
He didn’t look at me, instead grabbed a brush and smiled as he brushed the horse down at the back. “I’ve known you since you were a boy. I can tell when it’s you, your highness.”
Before I could stop the idiocy from slipping through my mouth, I whispered, “You notice me?”
He did a full ninety degree turn as if I slapped him, “Of course, your highness. We all have.” He looked around before he whispered, “All the servants have seen you, watched the man you have grown to be, and we all support you.”
