Page 47 of The Final Battle

Chapter twenty-six

Cassarah

“Not here,“ Abbott instructed as he carried me past the king into the sitting room.

Instead of placing me on the couch, he sat, continuing to hold me against his chest. All my guardians but Jade joined us, taking up positions around me, subtly making it so if the king tried anything they could intercept.

“Look here, I’m the king and when I ask what’s happened I expect to get an answer,“ King Thomas demanded, as he squared off with us.

None of my men spoke, not willing to share anything with the king unless I divulged the information first. While I still didn’t trust myself to stand on my own two feet, I shifted so my back was against Abbott’s, using him for support. “I’m glad to see you’ve pulled yourself together, your Majesty. While this wasn’t the plan or our doing, Sir Roulf is no longer with us. There must have been a trap set on him that if he shared things he shouldn’t have or got caught, he would self-combust.“

The king’s face went pale and he stumbled back a step. Had I misjudged the king’s feelings? Did he truly care about Roulf? I’d just assumed it was a means to getting a physical need met.

“Did he…“ the king paused and cleared his throat. “Were you able to get any information out of him?“

I nodded. “It seems that the Lost King has indeed hidden a powerful object here in Creisal and it’s in the mausoleum of your summer home. We will need to head there directly and without anyone knowing our true agenda. It would be best if we also came up with a reason for Sir Roulf to go missing so suddenly.“

King Thomas wiped a hand down his face as he paced the room. “Yes, as far as I know no one knew he was involved with me. Now that the queen has declared our marriage to be closed, it is within my rights to send him away if he continues to persist. He wasn’t born of Creisal, he hailed from Utros and returned with the queen when she came back. They didn’t become lovers right away, that happened more naturally, or so it seemed. It’s been far shorter for the two of us, but he wormed his way into my bed soon enough.“

“Very well, that takes care of that issue, what about taking a visit to the summer home. It’s becoming winter in most other countries but here and in Sheca it tends to remain mild,“ I mused aloud trying to get my brain to engage with the matter at hand. Instead, it just kept replaying Roulf’s screams begging me to end it.

“That won’t be hard at all, the queen went up there all the time, no matter what season it was. She would say that she’d had enough of court life and leave with her personal attendants,“ King Thomas shared.

“So, it’s safe to assume the attendants are also tied to the Lost King,“ Cole muttered. “He wouldn’t risk them going out there being so close to something so powerful if he couldn’t trust or control them.“

“Is anyone going to tell me what it is?“ the king asked.

I took a deep breath and stood meeting the king’s gaze head on. “Please understand that what we learned could end this war. I have no problem telling you, but I won’t do so with so many eyes and ears around that we can’t trust. In situations like this, it’s safe to assume the walls are listening and that information is just too important to let slip out.“ Clasping my hands together in front of me to keep them from betraying how unsteady I still was, I forced a smile. “I believe it’s about time for us to have lunch. We wouldn’t want to draw any more suspicion than I already have bursting into your chambers.“

“Yes… What exactly are we going to say about that?“ he drawled.

“It’s simple really, I’m a woman and simply lost control over my emotions, fearful that I was being attacked in my rooms. Overwhelmed with fear, I came in demanding to speak with you to place more guards outside my rooms while I’m not there for protection,“ I explained. “That is something no one will have a hard time believing. Women are always underestimated and assumed flighty.“

“Did you get attacked in your room last night?“ King Thomas asked, suddenly concerned.

Before I could answer, Jade strode out of the bathing room wiping his bloody hands on a towel. “Yes, it was one of your own people posing to be her father. They used dark magic to copy his likeness after having killed him in his home back in Norden.“

The king gaped at Jade, then looked back at me like I was going to correct the story. “It’s true.“ I glanced over at Cole. “Where is that man, by the way?“

“He had the same spell on him that Roulf did. We locked him away and when we went to go check on him, he was dead and burnt to a crisp,“ Cole answered. “While we didn’t know if your parents were still alive or not, I was worried we’d lose out on information with the man ending up dead, but it seems we got it anyways.“

“Things have been cleaned up in the bathing chamber, so there shouldn’t be any reason for people to connect things that happened here,“ Jade informed me.

King Thomas spluttered and strode to the bathing area, only to return a moment later. “It doesn’t look like anything at all went on in there.“

Jade gave the king a patronizing look. “Yes, your Highness, that would be the whole point. If you sent the man away, you can’t leave evidence around the place that he was killed here.“

“Is this the type of thing they teach you mercenaries?“ King Thomas snapped. “You just kill people and make it so no one ever knows?“

Sensing what might be the real reason for his irritation, I walked up to the king and placed my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to say goodbye to him. You will just have to trust me when I tell you that you wouldn’t want to see him that way. The spell was destroying him from the inside out and I highly doubt he would have wanted that image to be the last thing you think of about him.“

The King’s shoulders sagged at my words. “I know I shouldn’t mourn the loss of a man who was using and manipulating me, but I just can’t seem to wrap my head around that yet.“

“When this is all over, there will be time for us to mourn those we’ve lost along the way. Right now, we need to put on a good show and enjoy a meal together. We can talk to the queen and see about getting out to the summer home,“ I said, speaking to myself as much as him.

The loss of my parents I couldn’t lock away last night, but now it was tucked away behind a door in my mind. Eventually, it would be opened and I would allow myself to feel that pain once more, but now wasn’t the time.

“Yes, you’re right,“ King Thomas agreed, clearing his throat and dabbing at his eyes. “Come I believe my wife will be waiting for us, she’s rather overly punctual to these sorts of things.“