He rolled his eyes at me but didn’t push it, knowing I was being nice with how I worded it. This man was his friend, but I was in the business of making sure everything went smoothly and that Vance was the one to ascended the throne. I couldn’t have traitors in our midst, and anyone in the castle could be a traitor. The palace and its court were where traitors came from. I’ve seen family members in court turn on each other for the king’s favor, so I wasn’t putting that past anyone.
“Anyway, he showed me some historical books he saved from before my father’s reign and it looks like King Oberan had a daughter and she may have had a child. The records only show that the king, the rebel leader, and the king’s daughter died in the slaughter that night. Nothing was said about a child or even the possibility of a child.” I focused on what he was saying, but something about the story had the back of my mind tickle with familiarity. I think my father might have had something to do with the king and his daughter that night. “If this child, well now a grown person, is alive, then we have a way to get my father off the throne with little bloodshed.”
He got animated as he told me about the ritual to check the blood of a person of the royal line and how no one, not even the priests of light or the nobility, could go against it because it was so ancient.
One thought came up for me that I felt like he wasn’t thinking about, “If we find this heir don’t you think they will want to be the one to rule….?” The whole goal was that Vance was to rule. At least, that was my plan.
He shrugged his shoulders, “We really don’t know now, do we? Maybe they will want to be on the throne? If that’s the case, they could take me on as an advisor, right? Maybe they won’t. Maybe they don’t want the throne at all, but we need to do this because it’s the right thing to do. We need to let this person know Onisea is their homeland. A place that is rightfully theirs to call home. I know I would want to know if it was me. I would want the choice, even if I loved the life I had.” He rubbed his hands together as he looked down. “It’s what’s best for the people. We need to reset this place, make it so that everyone’s lives can be better.”
This was why Vance should be king. Once I find this missing royal, I’ll make it my mission to convince them to see that Vance was the right choice for the kingdom, after they helped us get his father off the throne.
“I wish my father was alive.‘’ I blurted out, thinking only of trying to solve this puzzle. He was alive at the time, and King Oberan’s assassin at that. He would’ve definitely seen a child if the princess had one. Then why didn’t he tell me that? Maybe he didn’t trust me with that information? My father was always a puzzle to me, always knowing the answers ten steps ahead of me.
My friend looked at me with mournful eyes. I’m sure he was remembering how I fell apart that day he told me about the truth of my father’s death. I really didn’t want anyone to remember how weak I was that day. I hurried to say, “So he could tell us if she had a child. He was alive and should’ve known that information.”
He nodded; his mouth pulled shut tight as his eyes gave me a skeptical look. I was sure he was reading my insecurities about my relationship with my father, and I really didn’t like it. My voice came out a little harsher than I intended, “So what are we to do with that information?”
He gave me a beseeching look, telling me he didn’t want to fight with me, so I took a deep breath and nodded for him to continue. “About that,” his face broke out into a wide grin, “Mason told me about a spelled book that the head librarian has that keeps track of all the names and descriptions of the descendants of the royal lines.” I could see him buzzing with excitement in his seat. When I said nothing, he kept going. “The head librarian will let us look at it if he finds usworthy, which I’m sure we are.” He rushed out that last part, but I had a feeling he wasn’t done dropping the shoe yet, so I waited with an eyebrow raised. “Aaaand he’s on the far cliff side of Invitis.” And there it was.
“The badlands.” The gasp and hesitation in my voice bleed out unintentionally but I was taken off guard. I repeated it just making sure we both understood what he just said. He nodded sheepishly, but his eyes shined with excitement.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine with you there. We could even bring along that other assassin, Ajax, as backup, but I’m sure we don’t need him.” He rattled off like he was already packing for this trip, which he wasn’t. He couldn’t.
“We?” I rattled out and his back went straight as he looked at me, puzzled by my question.
“Yes. We. As in me and you.” He looked at me confused with what I was trying to get at, which I now realize I was going to have to rip the band aid off.
“Vance, if this is the path we need to take to find this heir, and get you on the throne, then I think we should go forward with it,” he smiled, glad that I agreed with him but I knew that would not last for long. “But I think that in order for us to do this quickly and efficiently, you will need to stay here.”
His face fell, lips turning into a thin line, and I knew he was getting ready for a fight. “No. I want to go. I want to find this heir to convince them to come here and help. If you think about it, it would have a lot more pull coming from the current prince of Onisea.”
Oh, so he was going to pull out the prince card?That’s fine. I will just pull out the cold assassin card. “No, you will not.” The finality in my voice made him jerk back like I physically hit him.
He opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off as I raised my hand. “I can name off at least five reasons that you can’t go.” I ticked off each finger as I sped along, “One, we are going to one of the most dangerous places in the country and I’m already going to have a hard enough time guarding myself, let alone you. Two, you don’t have enough experience against magic and this place will be crawling with the worst of the worst of both fae and Humans. Three, we don’t know if the heir is even alive. Four, your father would never let you be gone for one to two weeks, as that is how long a journey like this will take, there and back. And five, you are needed here.”
I leaned forward, wanting him to understand that this was a huge reason, too. “The people need to see someone in leadership that they can hope for. They need someone here working in the shadows against your father. They need you now more than ever.” He looked hurt by my words, but I saw a flicker of uncertainty.
“I know you want to go, Vance. I know you've always wanted to leave Onisea and see how other lands live, to spread your wings and see what you can do without the pomp and circumstance, but now is not that time.” My eyes scanned his face, trying to read all of his tells, but all he did was look down at his hands, sitting still as he took what I said in.
“I’m sure you’re going to takethemwith you.” His venom and disdain snapped out through his voice before he shook his head and looked up. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go for me and the people, or for you?!”
The poison in his voice had me lean back in my chair, my face turning blank even as my heart hurt, not understanding where this was coming from. “What the hell does that mean?”
He laughed a mean and cruel laugh that sounded nothing like him at all. “You think I don’t see how you look at the three of them.” My eyes flew wide and my blood pumped faster. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping my feelings locked up tight. Now I was worried.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to keep my voice even, not putting any inflection on any word, hoping this conversation would die off.
“Oh, really?! You think I can’t see your smile whenever Zayden says something stupid or the appreciation on your face when Rykon gives good insight or the heat in your eyes when you and Ajax fight? I see it all and I just can’t figure out why. Why do you care for those men?” His chest was heaving as he abruptly stood up, the chair clattering to the floor behind him. “Why do you see them, see all of their faults and issues, and still feel drawn to them, when I’m right here? I’ve been right here beside you since we were kids, waiting for you to finally see me, but all I feel is you slipping away more and more each day, tothem.”
His body was wound up so tight I thought he would break before I saw a flash of pain piercing his eyes. He turned immediately and ran for the door, slamming it behind him, leaving me stunned in my seat.
I should’ve gone after him. I should’ve told him that whatever he was seeing wasn’t true, that I felt nothing for those men. That I was using those men, but as soon as I told my legs to move, to get up, and chase after him, they refused. Immovable.
I sat there all night, going over everything in my head, trying to figure out how to fix it. He was one of my only friends, besides Ruby, and I didn’t want to lose him, but I didn’t want to lie to him either.
Thoughts went round and round in my head until I concluded that it all didn’t matter. Those feelings right now were a moot point. We needed to focus on what we were trying to accomplish because it was a dangerous and hellacious quest. Taking down the king was going to take all of us.
I felt icy chill run through my veins as my face relaxed and I settled into my assassin role, pushing all my feelings about the situation down into that void space inside of me, letting them all go. This was where I needed to be in order to see this job through. I didn’t have time to think of friends with hurt feelings or boys that don’t love me back. I needed to focus on what I could do and what needed to be done. That was it.
