The Broken Kingdom

by Andrew G. Wood

  The fact there were two dead men in his home did not seem to bother Lord Oakley. The fact they had managed to get within striking distance of the prince was somewhat more concerning, especially as one of them was recognised as someone who used to be in his service only a few months before. A man that had once worked in his stables had merely disappeared, and it had always been assumed he had moved away. Evidently, the man had been targeted and persuaded into some devil worshipping pact that existed even in the small region of Scarwood. Clearly, both invaders were members of some cult, identifiable not only by their black attire but also by the tattoo mark on their forearms. While this was an eye-opener and a shock for Lord Oakley, he had always suspected there were such people on his lands. Knowing they might exist and actually finding them were very different things, and despite having searched many of the areas around Garley, his soldiers had always drawn a blank.

  As the area outside the bedrooms slowly cleared, and the soldiers that had amassed there had dispersed, Edward went in to see Luca. While it had been him and Samuel who had taken all the plaudits, Edward knew that Luca must have played some part being as it was the prince that had raised the alarm. As to how the intruders had managed to get inside the keep walls and then break in via the outer kitchen doors, was something for Lord Oakley to discover, as to how Luca had managed to alert them was something he needed to find out.

  On spotting both Edward and Samuel walking in through the door, Luca felt a sigh of relief. However, spotting her brother was injured, Nerina immediately ran over to him to investigate further, calling her mother to help.

  “It’s just a nick,” Samuel said dismissing the line of blood running across his arm.

  “Nevertheless, it needs to be cleaned and covered,” his mother said in a tone that suggested the actions that followed were not up for negotiation.

  While Samuel was being cared for, Edward wandered over to where Luca was standing. Now cleaned up and found to be injury free, the blood on his hands must have been that of one of the attackers. With the knife from the kitchen having been found on the floor, Edward needed answers to one or two questions.

  Keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard by Lady Oakley or Nerina, Edward asked Luca what had gone on.

  “I assume you have an explanation as to why you were out of your bed and dealing with intruders?” the young man asked.

  Luca gave a somewhat bashful looking grin, “It’s a long story, but the fact of it is, that I wandered downstairs to the kitchens to get a drink and a little snack.”

  Edward didn’t speak and listened as the young prince divulged his story of events.

  “It was brave of you to try and take on two attackers. Stupid, but very brave,” Edward replied after listening to everything Luca had to say. The two looked at each other as if each was waiting for the other to say something.

  “I guess I owe you my life. It is I who is supposed to be keeping you alive, not the other way around,” Edward eventually said.

  “I’m sure you would have done the same for me,” Luca replied, finding it hard to accept that he had done something so out of character.

  A few weeks ago Luca knew he would never have put himself in such danger, not for anyone. Yet for whatever reason, he had felt the need to help, something he didn’t quite fully understand. Edward, after all, was just a guard, doing a job that he was paid for, or at least Luca assumed he was paid. Was he? Luca had never seen anyone hand over any money to Edward, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.

  “Come on, we should all try and get some more rest until morning,” Samuel suggested walking over towards Luca and Edward with a new linen bandage around the top of his arm.

  “Thank you, both of you,” Luca replied, looking at both young men for any kind of response. Samuel merely smiled, “I’ll stay in your room with you two, just in case. I think father has now positioned guards at the top of the landing and bottom of the stairs. If there are any more intruders around, they will not get through so easily next time.”

  The three boys walked out of the room and across the landing area towards Luca’s bedroom. As they walked, Luca heard Samuel and Edward discussing who was staying awake first and who was resting. While it didn’t seem fair that one of the two had to remain awake as he slept, Luca suddenly felt his body feeling the after-effects of all the excitement. Lifting his hand up to his mouth to cover a yawn, he sauntered over to his bed and lay down, watching as Edward now locked the door to his room. Samuel was seemingly the one who was going to stay awake as Edward walked over to his own bed.

  “I’ll wake you in two hours, then we can swap,” Samuel said, to which Edward gave a nod of his head in confirmation.

  Luca closed his eyes, and though he was certain he would not fall asleep, he felt heavy-eyed and tired. As his mind tried to work out and relive what had taken place in the past hour or so, he felt the thoughts and images fading away.

  Chapter 12. The Morning After.

  Luca was awoken by the sound of two people talking quietly in his room. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know it was Edward and Samuel, and listened in to what they were saying for a while before showing them he was no longer sleeping. Although talking at no more than a whisper, Luca managed to get the gist of what they were discussing, and unsurprisingly it was the series of events just a few hours earlier. With the sun now creeping in through the small window in his room, Luca judged he must have slept much better and somewhat longer than he thought he might do.

  Making a louder than necessary yawn to give away the fact he was now awake, Luca stretched his arms up and turned to look in the direction of the two young men in his room. Both were sat on the edge of the bed used by Edward, both dressed and seemingly had been awake for a while. Not wanting to remain in bed, Luca threw back his covers and sat up on the edge of his own bed, as both men in the room wished him a good morning. Luca gave a bit of smile and got to his feet, glancing around in search of his clothes. He sighed when he spotted them dropped on the chair in the corner, just where he had left them the previous day.

  Despite everything that had gone on during the night, the fact that he was again going to have to wear the same clothes as he had worn the previous day concerned him more. Luca had always worn clean or new clothes, every day. His staff had ensured they were washed and cleaned, and put out for him, even helping him dress at times. Yet that now seemed just another thing from the past, just one more thing he had to endure. With a somewhat gloomy outlook for the day, Luca quietly got himself dressed, all but ignoring the others in the room as they appeared content to continue their earlier conversation. Luca held the shirt he had worn for the previous two days up to his face and sniffed it, just to check it didn’t smell too bad. While he thought he could detect the scent of the previous evening's meal, Luca knew he had little option but to put it on anyway.

  Venturing down the wooden staircase, Luca spotted guards strategically positioned around the building. Lord Oakley was clearly keeping to his word, and from what little he had seen thus far, Luca had noticed that the man was only using his own soldiers to do so. Although not really feeling like eating in the main dining room with everyone else, Luca couldn’t really be bothered to arrange otherwise. Feeling somewhat sullen, he felt his being there needed to come to an end. If he was to be king, then he should be in the palace, in the capital of the kingdom, but alas, until such time as Lord Oakley was willing to escort him back there, he knew he was stuck in Garley. His recent feelings of happiness and enjoyment now seemed to have been replaced by the older ones of scorn and discontent.

  Knowing now more than ever, he would not be allowed to merely wander around, Luca thought he was little more than a prisoner. True, he had some freedom of movement, but with strange food, a small uncomfortable bed, a room barely big enough for one, never mind two, and clothes that were both ill-fitting and unwashed, Luca felt all his troubles returning. If people trying to kill him wasn’t bad enough, the fact that he also had to put up with
all these other things was really getting him down. He feigned a smile as he entered the dining room and duly took the seat that the others had seemingly left for him.

  Both Lady Oakley and Lady Dalby were there, as was Clarissa. However, Theo and Nerina were both absent, but two empty plates at the positions they usually sat at indicated they had both been there. Luca sighed as a bowl was placed before him and two dollops of porridge were unceremoniously plopped down into it. Luca glanced up to see the face of Madine serving him and just turned his head away not being bothered by the fact that the woman clearly hated him. Somewhat apologetically, Lady Oakley explained the reason behind the rather poor breakfast, using the previous night’s intrusion as the excuse. Apparently, Lord Oakley wasn’t allowing any of the staff into the kitchen until he was absolutely certain there were no more intruders to be found.

  Picking up his spoon, Luca dipped it into the porridge thinking that his breakfast looked more like something fed to the pigs than to a king. However, in his sullen state of mind, he had no energy or desire to say anything, and quietly spooned the gloopy mixture into his mouth. The others at the table were happy to talk among themselves as Edward and Samuel once more regaled in their heroics during the attack. While it was true that Edward had acknowledged and thanked Luca for helping, his personal bodyguard was quite happy to take the praise being offered to him by both older Ladies and the much younger Clarissa.

  Not wanting to sit there for any longer than was needed, Luca shoved his chair back and got to his feet. Not bothering to excuse himself from the table he stood up and trudged over to the door, knowing the second chair he could hear scraping on the floor would be Edwards. In fact, Luca didn’t even bother glancing back to check it was him, knowing that Edward would follow wherever he went.

  “Wait up!” came a female voice.

  Somewhat surprised, Luca stopped in his tracks. While he knew the voice was Clarissa’s he was intrigued to know what she wanted. Cousins they may have been, but the pair of them had barely spoken to each other in the time they had been at Garley.

  “I have something for you. It is very special, but before I hand it over you must promise me to wear it always,” the girl said. Although a couple of years older than her brother, Clarissa looked very much like her mother. Somewhat shorter, and a little heavier in her build she didn’t look much like Theo, aside from her fair hair.

  Luca didn’t reply, and after a few seconds, Clarissa asked again.

  “Make a promise that you will wear it always,” she said again.

  Not knowing what it was, but hoping it was perhaps something nice, he half-heartedly made the vow. Somewhat wide-eyed, he waited impatiently as Clarissa dipped her hand into her pocket.

  “I made it myself,” were not really the words to inspire Luca into thinking it was going to be anything very special.

  With an expectant, somewhat excited look on her face, Clarissa held up a strange looking necklace. Made up of several wooden beads looped onto a long leather strip, she lifted it up towards Luca’s head. Stepping beside and behind him she then lifted it around his neck and tied a knot at the back. “Now wear it always. Do not break your promise to me,” she said the words as if he had signed and agreed on some kind of binding contract.

  Luca rolled his eyes back, and after pretending he was grateful was glad to see Clarissa head back to the dining room.

  Luca spotted Edward looking his way from the dining room door and starting to head his way. Not wanting him to see the rather lame looking necklace his cousin had just given to him, Luca quickly tucked it under his shirt and out of sight.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Back to bed,” Luca replied.

  “You could have least let me finish my breakfast,” Edward said sounding somewhat annoyed with him.

  Luca knew that Edward was taking his time to eat, probably just so he could gloat about his heroics, but said nothing and started heading up the stairs towards the landing. With Edward tasked with being his protector, Luca knew the young man would have no choice but to follow.

  As the pair entered the room, Luca glanced back out of the door to see two of Lord Oakley’s house guards taking up a position just outside the room.

  “You’re very moody this morning,” Edward said deciding to sit down on his own bed.

  “I am not,” Luca said sharply, denying the accusation.

  “Why don’t you go to sleep, perhaps you’ll wake up in a better mood.”

  “I would do, but someone keeps talking,” Luca snapped somewhat sardonically.

  Edward left it at that, merely giving Luca a long hard stare, before shutting his own eyes as if resting.

  Luca lay on the top of his bed, which was even more uncomfortable than usual being as the covers were still a mess. While he had been having breakfast, nobody had been to make his bed or tidy his room, something that would have happened at the palace. After fidgeting about for a bit, he finally managed to get comfortable, turning away, so he didn't have to look Edward’s direction. As he lay there he thought about removing the tacky looking necklace that Clarissa had made him promise to keep on, but as he yawned, he reconsidered, thinking to himself that he would take it off later.

  Lord Oakley and Lord Dalby had finished their little meeting to discuss the security of the prince. They knew now that the enemy was aware of his location, and although the pair of them had discussed moving Luca, they had agreed that for now, he was probably safest where he was. Due to the previous night’s attempted attack, Lord Oakley would now have guards on duty all day, every day. Moreover, while his own trusted men would keep the keep and yard safe, Lord Dalby’s would help patrol the town with some of the soldiers he had brought along with him.

  Both noblemen hurried along to where the messenger birds flew in. With the news having just been delivered that a message from Lord Romley of the Northern Marches had just arrived. Strapped to the leg of a falcon, the man had sent them a small note rolled and slipped into a small metal canister on the bird’s leg. After carefully removing it, the messenger handed the tiny coil over to Lord Oakley.

  Written so small the nobleman could hardly see it, he strained his eyes, holding the paper up slightly as if casting more light upon it might help him see.

  “Lord Romley is with us. Princess Imogen is also alive and well. Brenthellin banners called. Full message on route.”

  The note was only brief, but carried important news for both him and Luca, something he felt he should relay as soon as possible.

  Kowing a more detailed message would be delivered by a horse and rider, probably in the next few days, Lord Oakley digested the news he had received. Lord Dalby walked alongside him and reiterated his delight in Luca having yet another ally.

  “I think all the nobles will support his claim. Well apart from Lord Elthan, obviously. Our problem now is the fact he is getting Princess Elysia to call her father’s banners.”

  “I thought about that also,” Lord Oakley replied, unsure as to how his small force would cope if such a large contingent were amassed and sent against him.

  “I will have my ship go back and bring some more troops to help. Perhaps we may have to consider moving his majesty after all?”

  “The troops would be welcome, but I think Luca should stay for now. Let’s see what happens.”

  Luca was somewhat rudely awoken by Edward shaking him.

  “Hey, wake up, Lord Oakley needs to speak to you, urgently.”

  Luca groaned and grumbled slightly, before yawning and stretching out his arms and legs.

  “How long have I been asleep?” he asked.

  “About an hour or so,” Edward replied.

  Luca made a ‘pfft’ sound indicating his displeasure at not being given longer to rest.

  “What’s so important, anyway?”

  “I don’t know, he didn’t tell me did he?” Edward replied somewhat sarcastically.

  It appeared to Luca that his and Edward’s relationship had taken several step
s backwards, just as he had begun to think that perhaps they might even be friends. Clearly, that thought had been way off the mark. Anyway, Luca knew he had no friends, not even back at the palace, and as far as he was concerned, that’s the way he wanted it. Having friends seemingly wasn’t suited to him, and from now on he was happy to look out for only himself.

  Luca headed back down the stairs once more shadowed by his guard Edward. Knowing that Lord Oakley would be in his study they headed that way, making the short journey in silence. Although there was another guard just outside the door, Luca paid him little heed and merely walked by and let himself in without so much as a knock. Lord Oakley didn’t seem to mind as he immediately got to his feet and welcomed Luca into the room, gesturing for him to take a seat opposite. As was becoming the norm, Luca’s uncle, Lord Dalby was also there, standing off to one side.

  After Edward had followed him in and closed the door, Lord Oakley didn’t delay in saying what he wanted. Initially apologising for the breach in security the previous night, something he assured Luca would not happen again. Luca was just beginning to think he had taken a wasted trip to the man’s study when Lord Oakley produced a very small piece of paper. Luca watched as he placed it down on the study desk in front of him to look at. With such small writing, Luca strained his neck, moving his face to within a few inches of the tabletop before he could see what had been written.