by Aaron Oster
He stopped talking as he saw both Katherine and Arnold staring at him with shocked expressions.
“What?” he asked, wondering if he’d said something wrong.
Katherine was the first to compose herself and flashed him a dazzling smile, that made his mouth go dry and all coherent thoughts vanish in an instant.
“It’s nothing, dear boy; just give me a moment to confer with my man over here.”
He nodded dumbly as Katherine grabbed Arnold by the arm and pulled him to a corner of the room.
“Did you hear what that boy just said?!” she hissed, all traces of her smile now gone.
Arnold nodded.
He’d heard the legends and knew well what the implications were, if what this boy said was true.
“Did you know about this?!” she hissed again.
Arnold shook his head in the negative.
“All I know is that Lord Simon ordered me to hunt him down after he killed some city guards and fled with his daughter.”
“Damn that Simon! Of course, he would be so short sighted!” She tapped a manicured fingernail against her lip for a few moments before making her decision.
“I want that boy alive! I don’t care how many men you have to take. Do you understand!”
Arnold swallowed hard, but nodded once again.
“If I may be so bold as to ask, Princess; what exactly do you want him for?”
Katherine smiled then, a brilliant flashing of perfect white teeth.
“I thought that would be quite obvious. I don’t have a husband yet and I can’t think of anyone more suited to the role than a supermage. My father has been sitting on his throne for over four hundred years and I think it’s high time to get rid of him. He’s constantly sending us to the front lines, while he cowers back in City One! Then takes all the glory for himself when we succeed. My brothers have grown sick of him as well, but none have dared to oppose him so far. If, however, I had a legendary supermage as my husband, they would gladly back me in overthrowing him.”
Her smile widened and she almost vibrated with suppressed glee.
“I was against this pointless war, but this presents the perfect opportunity! No one will think it suspicious if he dies now. This couldn’t have worked out better!”
Arnold was completely dumbfounded; and at the same time; terrified for his very life.
He had just overheard the king’s daughter planning treason; which meant that he would now be stuck going along with what she said, or she would kill him. He could always try approaching the king with this, but that was too big a risk to take. How the hell did he keep getting himself into these situations?
Katherine’s excited expression melted away an instant later and she grabbed him by the collar; yanking him off balance.
“You will go after him. Tonight! I don’t want any delays! And if you harm so much as a hair on my future husband’s head; I’ll tear your manhood off and shove it down your throat. Do I make myself clear?”
Arnold nodded vigorously; and Katherine’s smile returned as she released him.
Crazy bitch!
“Great news,” she said, turning to face the boy, who was sitting quietly while they’d had their hushed conversation. “You’ll be heading out after Morgan tonight. Arnold will fill you in on the details.” She gave him a wink, then turned and walked out the room.
The boy’s eyes were glued to her shapely backside as she left and only after the door closed behind her, did he look up at Arnold.
“Don’t let her fool you, kid,” Arnold said with a snort, as he also headed for the door. “She’s like a snake; pretty to look at but deadly if you get within striking distance. We’ll be leaving in five hours; I’ll send someone for your things.”
The boy nodded and Arnold opened the door to leave, when he seemed to remember something.
“Oh yeah; forgot to ask your name.”
He didn’t really care to know this boy’s name. The Princess didn’t have to say it, but she’d spelled it out clearly enough- this boy was a witness and they didn’t need any loose ends.
The boy seemed to perk up at this and grinned at him, the first smile he’d shown since Arnold had walked in.
“The pronunciation is a little tricky; but I’m sure you won’t mess it up the way Morgan did.”
He hopped out of bed and offered Arnold his hand.
“My name is Grub, and I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Hey, this is Aaron; for making it to the end I award you with 5 points to intelligence!
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Anyways, I hope to see you all for Rise to Omniscience, Book 2, which I’ll be releasing in September!