I looked at her arm before returning to her face. “Are we about to have another hug?”
“What’s wrong with little signs of affection?” Cathy asked.
“It’s just...surprising, that’s all,” I answered.
Cathy dropped her arm from me. “I could smack you across the face if you’d prefer.”
“How would that be different from before?” I asked.
“More painful than in your mind,” she smiled, but it faded quickly. “Do you not want me to show signs of affection to you?”
“What?” I said. “No, I was just shocked because it was different.”
Cathy chuckled. “Well everything is going to be different between us because I have my own body now. I’m just trying to slowly learn all these new emotions without it being overwhelming. Female Humans have a more complex range of emotions than you.” She stopped and shook her head. “What am I saying? A head of lettuce has more complex emotions than you.”
“Oh, ha ha,” I said sarcastically.
“I’ve been a bit emotionless since being transferred, out of fear of them, but I have spent whatever free time I get trying to understand them and I’m confident I won’t break down and cry without explanation,” she said. “I hope.”
I wrapped my arm around Cathy and pulled her closer to me. “I’m sure it hasn’t been easy for you to adapt to your new life while fighting off hordes of angry people trying to kill us. If randomly hugging me is going to help you adapt then hug away. We’ve known each other for two cycles and you’ve lived in my head. You are the only person who could touch me without making me feel uncomfortable.”
Cathy turned her face away, but I could see it growing red. “Thank you,” she said.
A knock at the door drew our attention and Natalie entered the room. “Thought I heard some voices,” she said. “You kids have a fun night?”
“A blast,” I joked, pointing at the bottles. “Can’t you tell?”
“You’re a real party animal, Demon,” Natalie replied sarcastically. “When you two have finished, meet us for breakfast. The sooner we get him back to the capital the better.”
*****
Breakfast was short and sweet and we were back on the trail to Riverside within the hour. We determined the Yellow Jackets were long overdue to show up and ruin the party and surrounded Markus in a protective formation. Cathy scouted up front to meet any foe head on, Natalie was in the back to watch over everything and I stood next to Markus to protect him from any incoming arrows. It wasn’t perfect, but it would get us to the capital.
Markus absentmindedly played with Ser Scott’s shield. After the funeral, Markus stated that he wanted to carry his mentor’s shield in his honour. He handed Cathy his old shield to replace her broken one and he hadn’t been separated from the shield since. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had slept with the thing.
“How are you holding up?” I asked.
“Better, if I focus on what we need to do,” Markus answered.
“Understandable,” I replied. “A lot has come at you in such a short time.”
“Yeah,” he said thoughtfully. “Me as king.”
“I guess that means I should be adding, ‘my Liege’ at the end of everything I say now,” I said.
A single laugh escaped Markus. “Let’s not go there. I’ve spent my whole life thinking I was just another person. How can anyone at 17 be ready to rule a province?”
I chuckled. “I felt the same way when it was time to choose my future at the Tower. 18 cycles and not a single clue how the world worked.”
Markus nodded. “What was living in the Tower like?”
I paused for a moment to think. “Unpleasant,” I finally answered. “Give people power and they try to use it over everyone else. The politics of the schools resulted in everyone being divided so unless you knew what you were, it was hard to fit in.”
“Not too different from Thurlborn Peak,” Markus said surprised. “Growing up with the royal family was a pain in the backside. Most of the kids were good. Some liked to flaunt their position to anyone they could.”
“How far did you sit in the succession line?” I asked.
“Pretty far down,” he chuckled. “Not the bottom, but I wasn’t worried about having to take over every time one of my cousins went to battle. I figured I could coast a bit. Train to be a knight. See if I could get command of a legion of troops and run a fort near the border. You know small stuff.”
“Now you are the crown prince, heading off to claim your throne from a power hungry lord so you can stop an evil Mage from seizing control of your kingdom,” I said.
“When you put it like that, I might just have to knock you out and run away,” he joked.
“I don’t know,” I started, “Lady Middleton is pretty quick. You don’t want to piss her off.”
“I’ve watched her cleave a guy in half while giggling,” Markus said scared. “Whatever she wants she gets.”
“Yeah, that image will never leave your head,” I said.
“At least Emily seems normal, for an ex-bandit,” Markus said.
It took me a second to remember that Natalie had given a fake name to hide her Nathan persona. It was getting too difficult for me to remember who everyone was pretending to be. If Markus took up a fake name I was going to have to start smacking people.
“She’s good at what she does,” I answered. “She and Nathan have saved my butt a few times.”
Markus checked the countryside and I looked around too. I had been so focused on talking to the future king that I could have taken an arrow to the butt and not even realised.
The marsh was far behind us with Riverside visible in the distance. If an ambush was waiting for us, it would be close to the gate. Entering the town of our enemy with the person we were trying to protect was a stupid strategy, but it was the quickest way to the capital. I already feared this detour to save Markus had left Desroche with too much time to prepare.
“What’s up? You have a weird look on your face,” Markus asked.
“Just trying to determine where we will be ambushed,” I answered.
“What’s the wager?” he asked. “Inside the town or outside?”
“Last time was inside,” I answered. “I doubt the city guard will turn their backs on something like that twice. Not good for public image. It will probably be outside the gates.”
Cathy stopped to scan something ahead before turning around to rejoin us. “Something interesting up ahead. Looks like a supply cart, tipped over and pillaged by bandits.”
“Interesting,” Natalie said thoughtfully. “Sneaky move.”
“What are you thinking, N-Emily?” I asked.
“Nemily?” Natalie asked.
“I’ve always called you Nemily,” I responded.
Natalie laughed and shook her head.
“Please continue, Ms. Emily,” Markus said.
“I may be mistaken, but I believe the cart is the ambush,” Natalie said.
“I believe we have all figured that out, but remind me to recommend you for a bonus,” Cathy joked.
“Yes, but can you tell me how they are going to ambush you?” Natalie asked. “We’re back into farm country. Not a whole lot of trees to hide in or around.”
“They’ll be hiding in the grass,” Markus said. “Lying down flat.”
“Yes,” Natalie said. “It’s a standard bandit trap and I believe it is meant to look that way. The object is to kill us without it being traced back to Lord Michaels.”
“Kind of too late for that,” Cathy said. “He’s not exactly Mr. Subtle.”
“Yes, there was a failed attack on someThurlborn guards on his castle grounds by a mysterious mercenary group. That is easy to dismiss as overzealous gang activity. I am a highly wanted woman after all,” Natalie said with pride. “However, if that same mercenary group attacks and kills a Lady of the court and heir to the throne, things look a little suspicious. Hence the trap. They will be dressed as bandits, act
like bandits and when our dead bodies have been found stripped of valuables, it will be ruled a bandit attack. No heat falls upon Lord Michaels.”
“I think you deserve that bonus after all,” Markus said. “What should we do? Something similar to our attack on the camp?”
“No, they will be scouting us,” Natalie answered. “They know how many of us there are. If we split up, they could just break up the trap and hunt us down one at a time. We have to walk in there together.”
“And set off the trap?” I asked.
“What’s the best way to disable a bear trap?” Natalie asked.
“Dropping a stick into it to set it off,” Markus answered.
“Exactly,” Natalie said. “You know what the worst way is? Treating it like a wagon wheel. It is what it is. We need to set off the trap to disable it.”
“You’ve got point,” Markus said.
“Fair enough,” Natalie said. “Demon, stick next to Marky here. Arrows are going to be coming at you from everywhere.”
“Done,” I said.
“Demon?” Markus asked curiously.
“I’ll show you why she calls me that during the fight,” I smiled.
Natalie moved to the front of the group and Cathy replaced her at the back. As we approached the wagon, I scanned the area for mental activity. Sure enough, I picked up two groups of five in the grass on either side of the ambush area.
From behind the wagon, a man emerged and tried to look relieved to see us. Tried. He didn’t fit the standard merchant or even wagon rider mould. He was too fit, too young and looked like having his wagon flipped over was just an average day for him.
“I’m glad someone came by,” the man said. “I was attacked by bandits.”
“Worst set up ever,” Natalie said. “Where are the horses?”
It was a good point. A quick look at the wagon and the ground around it showed that there hadn’t been a horse in the entire area.
“What?” the man asked.
“Horses,” Natalie repeated. “You know, to pull the wagon.”
“They uh, ran off during the attack,” the man said.
“You’re terrible and you should feel bad,” Natalie said, drawing her blade.
She rammed the blade through the man’s chest and I spotted the archers rising to their feet. I stretched my arms to each group and released a massive Pulse. The arrows were knocked out of the air and the archers were tossed onto their backs. I immediately started covering my skin in scales and turned to my left.
“I’ve got the left,” I called out.
“Same,” Cathy chimed in after.
“Come on, Marky, we got the right,” Natalie said.
The mercs were climbing back to their feet and I threw two Ice Bolts to knock a couple back down. The other three cocked their bows and fired. I waved my hand and knocked two out of the air before the third one hit me in the shoulder. I hissed in pain and ripped the arrow out of the scales. I enchanted the arrow and sent it back to the archer.
He dodged the arrow and Cathy was after him before he could get a proper footing. The two remaining bandits dropped their bows and grabbed a sword and shield from the ground. They split up and the closest merc charged towards me like he believed he could actually defeat me.
The scales on my hands and forearms were replaced by ice and I waited for the merc to strike. His sword swung from the side and I blocked it with my left, using my right to uppercut him. He staggered back and I advanced towards him, aiming another at his head. He deflected the blow with his shield and we traded strikes and blocks until I connected with another strike to his head.
He was bleeding heavily from his nose but remained on his feet. He stubbornly fought on and after deflecting a few more swings of his sword, I seized his sword arm and started to cover him in ice. He yelped in surprise and after being frozen solid, I swung my fist and shattered him in a thousand pieces.
I turned to Cathy to see how she was doing and saw her watching me. She started clapping and I bowed slightly. We turned our attention to our friends who were finishing up with their lot.
“You know what’s funny,” I said to Cathy. “I felt guilty yesterday about killing, but that didn’t stop me from shattering a man into a thousand pieces.”
“Kill or be killed out here,” Cathy responded. “Nothing wrong with being artistic with it.”
Markus and Natalie approached us and Markus pointed at me and laughed. “Demon. I get it now.”
I nodded and the scales turned back into skin. “It makes a great costume for masquerade parties,” I said.
“You’ll get the first invite to my first masquerade party then,” Markus said.
“We better hurry if we’re going to catch that ferry,” Natalie said.
“Ready to see how comfortable the throne is?” I asked Markus.
“No, but I’ve got a long ferry ride to prepare for it,” he replied.
Chapter 19
To ensure an easy trip through Riverside, Markus borrowed Natalie’s head wrap. It felt unnecessary as the citizens bustled about their business without a second glance, but we couldn’t risk any more trouble. At the docks, the guards watched us suspiciously but never made a move. We boarded the ferry and were on our way back to Thurlborn Peak before anyone changed their mind.
The ferry was a little busier than our last trip to the capital. It seemed as if trade was starting to pick up again as Thurlborn showed signs of coming back from the dead. Markus chose a quiet spot and requested the ledger and some time to prepare. He studied without saying a word the entire trip.
I had to hand it to the future king. At 17 and with the tasks ahead of him, he was taking everything well. No matter what doubts had crept into his head he knew he had a duty and responsibility to uphold. He reminded me of myself when I first left the Tower. Just becoming an adult, but still mature beyond his years. Of course, if Cathy had heard me calling myself mature, she wouldn’t have been able to stop laughing.
When the ferry docked, Markus was already on his feet and heading for the door. We filed in behind him and stepped off the boat. I heard Markus breathe in suddenly as he took in the devastation to the city for the first time.
“It’ll get better,” I said to him.
“It’s one thing to hear it, it’s another to see it,” he said sadly. “Not the ‘welcome home’ I was looking for.”
We stepped out into the market and were recognised by a couple of soldiers. They pressed through the crowd heading straight towards Cathy.
“Lady Middleton, you are under arrest by order of Lord Michaels of Riverside,” the clean shaven soldier said.
“Yeah, about that,” Markus said, removing the head wrap.
“Squire Paul?” the moustached soldier asked in disbelief. “You’re alive?”
“Last I checked,” Markus replied.
“The rumours were true,” the clean shaven soldier breathed.
“If we’re done with this little exchange, I need to get to the castle,” Markus said. “Lord Michaels and I need to have a word.”
“Of course, right this way,” Clean Shaven said.
The guardsmen led us through the crowd towards the Stairway of Kings. The refugees and soldiers moved out of the way and whispered amongst themselves about Markus and what it meant for the city.
“We’re finally getting the treatment we deserve,” Cathy said quietly to me.
“This coming from a Lady of the Court,” I replied.
“Not a very popular one if you remember,” she smiled.
“At least we’ve never had to worry about screwing up your reputation.”
“I could run through the streets in my underwear screaming about how the pumpkins were after me and I think my reputation would be safe,” Cathy replied.
“Sure would be a sight to see though,” Natalie said behind us.
It was a thought I couldn’t get out of my head. The walk up the stairs had been quick and the White Castle called to us for judgement. Lord
Michaels had either prepared for our arrival or we would walk through this easily and Markus would be crowned. Either way, I was happy my head was filled with the thoughts of Cathy in her underwear. It made me feel less anxious.
Cathy looked at me and studied my face. Worried that she could somehow read my thoughts I tried to switch them to something else, but I couldn’t think of anything. I ended up thinking about a bowl of fruit falling out of a tree. Cathy just smiled and shook her head.
We entered the White Castle and were led to the war room where Lord Michaels and Lord Kent were in deep discussion. I scanned the room for Lord Cook or his son, but there wasn’t a trace of them. I feared that Lord Michaels had caught them and eliminated them before we could return. Never before had I hoped to be so wrong.
“What is the meaning of this?” Lord Michaels fumed.
“Just thought I’d come home and see how everyone is doing,” Markus said. “Things appear to be getting a little out of hand.” Lord Michaels looked at Markus in shock. Lord Kent rose to his feet and muttered something quietly. “Where’s Lord Cook? Or his son?”
Lord Michaels straightened himself out. “The traitor has been dealt with. His son, however, remains a wanted criminal to the kingdom.”
“What do you mean, ‘dealt with’?” Cathy asked.
“The Cooks had been responsible for starting fights on the streets and releasing prisoners,” Lord Michaels started. “For treason and trying to put the kingdom into anarchy, Peter Cook was stripped of his title and sentenced to death with a 2-0 vote. I and Lord Kent voted in favour, Peter Cook couldn’t vote and Sandra Middleton was absent.”
“You can’t do that,” Cathy said.
“It is our law,” Lord Michaels said. “In the absence of the royal family, the Lords and Ladies of the Court must govern in place until a new royal family is crowned.”
“But the last member of the royal family has returned,” Cathy said. “The court has been relieved of our duties and must crown our new king.”
“The boy is too late,” Lord Michaels informed. “We have already voted in a new royal family. I will be crowned king tomorrow.”
The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 Page 15