Perfidious

“That was kind of the point.” I chuckled, but the little movement hurt. “So how did you find us?”

  Lexon nodded, as though he was getting to that part. “I stopped at a village nearby, asking if they’d seen anything strange lately. They said they had seen a boy flying around east of there a couple times, but they didn’t know of any winged creatures that lived in the area. I assumed that it was Greyson. I’m also guessing that’s how the shapeshifter found you.”

  “Well, you just missed the fight,” Greyson said, limping over. He extended his hand to Lexon. “You know so much about me; I feel I should introduce myself properly.”

  Lexon shook his hand and turned to me. “I already like this boy. But is everyone alright? Where is the shapeshifter?”

  “Dead.” Keira said, still standing apart from the group.

  Lexon looked her over. “You, I do not recognize. What’s your name, dear?”

  “That’s Keira. She’s a newer addition to our group,” I told him.

  Lexon smiled at her, knowingly. “Hmm. Interesting.” Then, he turned so he could face Greyson and myself. “But what prompted you to come all the way out here? As far as I know, the shapeshifter wasn’t after you until after you’d left.”

  Kalvin answered before anyone else. “It’s a long story, but this seemed the best place to hide from those who oppose the king’s heir.”

  I knew he was talking about Erlan, but I was glad he wasn’t blunt about that fact.

  Lexon’s eyes widened slightly. “Best place to hide?” He stood up and turned to Greyson. “My young king, you should be showing yourself to the world, gathering support and expressing that you only mean to help. Remain hidden, and rumors will spread. You want to be upfront about the change you wish to create. Show others you mean to restore the peace your grandfather created.”

  Greyson nodded. “I completely agree. I already talked to Noah and Elisia about it, and I was gonna talk to the rest of the group this morning, but then we were attacked.”

  “Well, if you wish, I could help you make a speedy return?” Lexon offered.

  Noah looked at him questioningly. “How—and why—would you do that?”

  Lexon turned to him, looking more human than I had ever seen him. “Well, there are three of us here that can travel long distances quickly. We could each carry a person. As for why, I was loyal to the old king, King Lawrence. That loyalty extends to his grandson, not those current monsters residing on the throne.”

  Greyson grinned proudly. “Well, I appreciate your loyalty. We might have to wait until later in the day to travel though. I am still weak from healing everyone, and I haven’t fully healed Elisia yet.”

  Lexon nodded. “Okay. Then, we leave at sundown. That will provide your shadow with the best amount of darkness, but for us with wings, still enough light to see.”

  Greyson healed my remaining injuries the best he could, but he needed more rest. He slept nearly the entire day. We decided to leave our bags at the camp to limit the weight everyone would have to carry. Kalvin immediately took charge, telling everyone who to go with.

  Lexon picked me up with one arm as we shot into the air. Greyson followed closely behind with Noah. I looked back to see Keira and Kalvin dissipate into the shadows, just a black mist below us jumping between silhouettes. The whole trip would probably take about three hours flying at top speed.

  Knots twisted around in my stomach as I debated what to do when I got home.

  31

  Once we were just outside Coalfell, I told Lexon to set me down on the outskirts of the village. He frowned but complied with my request. I waved at Greyson to continue.

  Lexon set me down. “May I ask why, little Elisia?”

  I whispered to him so no one else would hear. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want anyone to see you. You still have your position at the castle, which may come in handy someday. No one in the village can see that we know each other or that you helped us. Make sense?”

  He nodded slowly. “I trust your judgement.” And with that, he turned around to take off.

  “Wait, Lexon.” I called, and he turned back to face me. “Do you by chance know of a way to lie to an elf who can detect lies?”

  “Hmm,” he gave me a puzzled look but didn’t question me. “I have heard rumors that a person can lie without detection when they have an herb called yarrow directly in between them and the elf.”

  My eyes widened. There was a chance my plan would work. “What does yarrow look like?”

  Lexon scanned the ground and grabbed a small bunch of tiny white flowers. He handed it to me. “It looks like this. It's found almost everywhere, but if you plan to use this, I have to warn you. I have only heard of common yarrows working. I would ask your whisper friend if you have questions. He’d probably know more.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, Lexon.”

  I ran off to join my group, who I found already outside the Elders tent. Greyson summoned the Elders under the pretense of an emergency. We paced as we waited. They took their time, but they finally beckoned us into the tent.

  As I walked in, I saw the annoyed faces of the Elders.

  Drithro spoke first. “Elisia, we were in the middle of dinner.”

  Greyson stood in front of me to speak. “I’m sorry to have interrupted you, but we have an urgent request.”

  Yima answered. “We are eager to hear, King’s Heir.”

  Greyson cleared his throat and seemed to hesitate. Yima nodded encouragingly to him.

  Greyson took a deep breath and spoke clearly. “The Council knows of my existence. I don’t think we can wait until I am older to create an army. I wish to make the area outside this village my base. My request is that you would grant me the privilege of your support.”

  The Elders’ eyes widened, and they began to discuss amongst themselves. Several minutes later, they returned their attention to us.

  Enmah answered him. “Because we are the leaders of this village, we cannot support you. That being said, we won’t stop you. We will need to make an announcement tomorrow informing people that you are here and will remain close by. Having you so close could put their lives in danger, and we want to make sure they know the risk by remaining in this village. This is all we can do for you.”

  Greyson nodded his head in understanding.

  “We would also like to speak to the king’s heir in private.” Drithro demanded.

  The remaining four of us were promptly shooed from the tent. I walked out and pouted. I should have fought to stay. I was about to complain to Kalvin, but his gentle hand grabbed onto my arm and pulled me away from Noah and Keira.

  He walked around a house into a little alley. Kalvin let go of my arm and took a deep breath. “Okay. So, before everything turns upside down, and we start risking our lives for the stupid king’s heir, I need ya to know somethin’.”

  He looked at me with soft eyes, and I felt the sincerity in them.

  I stayed quiet.

  “I don’t want ya to just ignore what ya heard Keira say the other night. At the time, I appreciated ya doing that. But things have changed. I don’t like ya thinkin’ I flirt with every girl that comes along.” Kalvin smiled and took both of my hands. “Like I said before, I really only see you. That was the truth.” Kalvin spoke as though he was going to run out of air.

  He continued before I could speak.

  “I’m not done. I’ve had feelings for ya for as long as I can remember, and I can’t get over the fact that the stupid prince is comin’ in and trying to steal ya away from me. So, you know what.”

  He took a step towards me and snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me into him.

  There was a moment where he stopped moving less than a centimeter before his lips touched mine. I felt my body move forward, and our lips collided before I could process what was happening.

  Passion and intensity sparked between us.

  My arms found their way to rest on his upper chest, and his grip tightened around me.
Both of our pulses raced.

  I ran out of air and had to pull back.

  There was silence between us as he held me, looking in my eyes, searching.

  I barely whispered, “Kalvin…”

  It snapped him out of whatever trance he was in as he let go of me and took a step back. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to overwhelm ya or complicate things, and I won’t do that again. I just needed ya to know all of it.”

  Kalvin shrugged his shoulders and smirked at me.

  My immediate reaction was to punch him in the chest. As usual, he acted like it hurt him, even though it didn’t.

  I giggled. “You’re a dork.”

  “I’ll take it as a good sign that ya didn’t run away from me,” he said, then dramatically fell over, as though I really did damage to him.

  We were both laughing by the time Greyson and Noah walked to us. Greyson gave me a look that I didn’t understand as I collected myself and asked what the Elders said.

  “It wasn’t anything too important. It was just a long warning about the fact that I need to be careful who I trust from now on. The one with the blue skin said that you two should also be my closest allies.”

  I felt a spring of guilt in the pit of my stomach, but I tried to ignore it.

  Kalvin broke the silence. “That’s because my father taught me everything he knew.” He turned to me, and I showed him the best smile I could muster. “And Elisia can really put battle plans together like no other. She’s a clever one.”

  Noah looked around. “Where’s Keira?”

  Greyson pointed back at the tent. “She wanted to talk to the Elders about possibly staying in the village.”

  I spoke up afterwards before I decided to back out of my plan.

  “Do you guys wanna walk me home?” I asked.

  Everyone looked at me with wide eyes.

  Kalvin was the first one to speak. “Are ya sure ya want to go back there? Erlan knows you’re working with Greyson, and he seemed like he was going to lock ya away for not listening to him.”

  Greyson chimed in before I could speak. “As much as I hate to agree with him, Kalvin’s right. You should stay in the village, away from your parents’ house.”

  I held up my hand and decided on how much I was going to tell them. “I kind of have to. My mom is probably freaking out because of how long we’ve been gone. I also don’t know how much my dad has told her about what happened. I have to go back to make sure she understands. If the end result is that I stay in the village, then I will have to pack up some more clothes and stuff to come back tomorrow.” It felt wrong to lie to them, but I knew it had to be done.

  Kalvin tilted his head and studied me but didn’t say anything. Noah was the first to speak. “Well, whatever happens we should start heading home. I have no idea how my parents are reacting. I haven’t had my phone on in days.”

  Greyson nodded in agreement. “We should take Elisia back first.” He gave my arm a gentle squeeze. “I’m not letting you go back alone.”

  I gave him a small smile that was already laced with guilt.

  1915 - 2000

  * * *

  There was a lot of confusion on the day that King Lawrence was killed. The assassins attacked on the night of September 21, 1915, the awful deed committed by the morning of September 22.

  The monsters knew they needed someone to replace the king; otherwise, the human treaty would be broken. The assassins established leadership over Perfidious within the year and cobbled together a Council of five purebloods along with new high-ranking generals and court officials.

  Rumors spread about Queen Miranda escaping with her unborn child on the night of the attack. Half-breeds hoped that the new Council wouldn’t deter from King Lawrence’s policies but soon realized how foolish that was.

  Half-breeds started to die by the dozens within the mountains, and the Council of purebloods did nothing to stop it. The old Guard was disbanded, but most of their numbers remained loyal to King Lawrence and continued to look for his lost heir.

  By 1997, the Council destroyed the rest of the secret camps the Guard had established in order to train new members. All rumors eventually ceased about the king’s heir. However, many still believed that the widowed queen had survived and wished the heir would one day reclaim the throne, reinstating peace in Perfidious.

  An excerpt from The King's Legacy:

  A Complete History of Perfidious

  32

  We walked through the trees in silence. I waited until we were within Kalvin’s hearing distance of my house. I stopped walking and turned to him.

  “Can you hear if my father is home?”

  I looked around the ground as Kalvin listened. Thanks to Lexon, I knew what yarrow looked like. It was everywhere. I spotted some behind me and casually grabbed a bunch of little white flowers, clutching as much as I could in my fist to keep it hidden. Kalvin had a tight expression on his face. He definitely didn’t want me going in there.

  “Yeah, he’s home. He’s talking to your mom.”

  I nodded and continued walking. Right before the tree line in my backyard, I turned my head to Greyson.

  Searching for reassurance, I asked him, “Do you trust me?”

  Greyson responded without hesitation. “With my life.”

  “I’d never betray that trust. Remember that,” I said as I took a deep breath and steadied myself before exiting the forest.

  Once I was well into the clearing of my backyard. I turned around and raised my voice loud enough for my father to hear. “Greyson, just leave me alone!”

  All three of them stopped in their tracks as they looked at me. Greyson slowly shook his head. “What are you—”

  “I said leave me alone! I want nothing to do with your stupid plan to help Perfidious.” I took a few steps to my house.

  The stubborn boy took one step towards me. “What’s this about?”

  “I almost died this morning because of you! Just stay away from me!” I heard the back door open. “My dad was right. I shouldn’t have gotten mixed up in all of this. I should have just listened to him.”

  Kalvin almost looked angry. “Elisia!”

  I looked Greyson straight in the eyes. “Did you even hear what I just told you?” I saw realization flicker over his features. “Leave me alone!” I yelled again as I ran inside, past my father.

  I saw my mom’s worried eyes, but it was my father who spoke. “Elisia?”

  I turned around to look out the back door. Greyson was dragging the other two away. He looked back once before disappearing into the forest. Then I turned to face my father.

  He looked at me with disbelief. His words were demanding and harsh. “What was that all about? Where have you been?”

  I stared at him dead in the eyes. “You were right. I made a mistake. I want nothing to do with the humans or stupid Greyson. I want to take on my responsibility as your daughter and work with you in the castle.”

  Then, I prayed the yarrow worked.

  Acknowledgments

  I want to thank my mom for making time to help me make sure everything was in order. I couldn’t have gotten this far without her. I also want to thank my best friend, Annie, for lending an ear when the storyline wasn’t going the way I wanted to. She really helped me calm down and think of details from a different point of view.

  I also want to thank all of my editors. They didn’t just help me with my manuscript, but also helped me learn more about self-publishing and gave me the confidence that it wasn’t as scary as it may seem.

  * * *

  - P.T. McKenzie

 

 

 
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