Each step towards the carriage was a step closer to safety, but the hooded figures were getting closer. Now only two arm’s lengths between them. Elijah felt a bead of sweat dripping from his hairline.
The hoods moved forward and disappeared into the crowd that had been following them. As they walked around the corner to the royal carriage, the same voice called out.
“Princess, please, I must speak with you. He’s not what he seems.”
Ignoring the cries, Gianna opened the carriage door only to have a hood jump out of the carriage. The prince let out a high pitch scream as they reached for him, but Leon blocked their path. He moved quickly and bashed the attacker on the head, pushing them to the floor.
“Move the princess to safety,” Gianna called out as she grabbed the prince and stuffed him inside the carriage. Sahab reacted and came up behind the princess, then shuffled her into the carriage as well. The horses neighed as Gianna smack their rears, springing them into action. Leon punched the hooded man in the face and then ran to catch up with the prince and princess. Leaping onto the back of the carriage.
Another scream let out as the crowd dispersed, leaving the Elite and their attackers in full view.
A pair of hands clamped down on Elijah’s arm as he stepped forward, an icy blade touching his throat.
“That was a stupid move.” He laughed internally as his eyes met the man handing the knife. The first thing Merrick had taught him was how to get out of a situation where they were unarmed, and your attacker had you by the throat.
He held up his hands and took a step back. “Mine or yours?” The hood stepped forward, nicking his throat with the blade. “What do you want with him?”
Gianna landed a swift kick to one of the hoods as they pulled out their sword. She drew hers out as she turned and locked blades with another.
“None of your business,” spat the hood in front of him. “If we don’t take him here, we will take him at the castle. You won’t stop us.” The man’s threat made Elijah’s hair stand on end. He knew they would come for him.
Sahab blocked a stab to Gianna’s left side, and they manoeuvred back to back, defending against their four attackers.
“You’ll lose here, and you’ll lose there too. I’d give up now.” Elijah shrugged. He stepped away from the blade at his throat one more time and tightened his grip around the hilt of his blade. Keep him chasing Elijah, distract him. “Answer my question, what do you want with the prince?”
“To kill him.”
In one swift movement, Elijah pulled out his blade, pushed the hoods knife away from him, ducked underneath and landed and punch to his gut. He fell to the floor as he grunted, caught unaware and cursing. Elijah landed a kick to the head before moving to the man who had Sahab in a neck hold.
Gianna’s opponent ran off, tripping over the one who had Sahab causing him to let go. The three of them stood together, back to back, waiting for the hoods to attack.
“We will be back for the prince. You are marked.” The man stood and threw something at Elijah, which he dodged, and as it hit the ground, smoke filled the street. Some of the crowd screamed as they all dispersed. As the smoke cleared, they were alone.
“What the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know. Sahab, are you alright?” He nodded, rubbing his throat. “They seemed to want the prince for something. We should head back and tell the king what happened. They said they’d try again at the castle.”
Gianna smiled at him. “That was brilliant, you know.” She walked past and pulled Sahab into a quick hug before continuing to speak to Eli. “I’ve never seen anyone get out of having a sword to their throat like that before.” Moving her head to the right, she frowned. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s only a scratch.” He pulled the collar of his shirt up to cover the wound.
They mounted their horses and rode off after the carriage. Barely out of the village they came across a carriage on its side with no horses and the doors open.
Pulling his horse to a halt, Elijah dismounted and ran to the carriage. His feet moved of their own accord as they moved him around the carnage in front of him. Outside, two of the wheels were missing, and inside the seats were ripped, but there was no-one around.
“They were a distraction.” Elijah slammed the door of the carriage shut. “While we were fighting, they came after them.” And now we’ve lost them. The king is going to kill us all.
“The horses aren’t here and I don’t see Leon lying around anywhere,” Gianna offered, looking around. “I doubt he would have let them take them without a fight.”
Sahab looked at the ground. “Some of these tracks are deeper than others. The horse was carrying more weight.”
A neigh came from behind them as a horse carrying two people rode up to them. Atop the horse was Leon and Sienna. She slid herself off and Elijah rushed forward but stopped himself before reaching the princess.
He took a deep breath before speaking. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“Thank the gods you’re okay,” Gianna said, taking the princesses hands in hers. She cupped the princesses chin and made her look up. “This is enough excitement for one day, we should get you back.”
“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Sahab asked, gesturing around. “Where’s John?”
“That’s Prince John to you.” He appeared from a different direction.
“What happened here?” Elijah said, not being about to contain his curiosity.
Prince John looked to Leon, who looked at Sienna, and the three of them looked to the ground.
“Well?”
“None of us thought to check who was driving the carriage. He turned it over as soon as we were on the road.” Leon rubbed his shoulder. “I jumped off and fought him, but more of them arrived and I knew I had to focus on getting them out. We got on the horses and rode until we found somewhere to hide. When they were gone, we came back.”
Elijah’s hair stood on end as a woman came into view. Her blonde hair stuck out from underneath the hood she was wearing. Eyes bloodshot, she stumbled towards them.
“Lilliana?”
12
Agents of Cyran
Elijah took all of five steps forward before hell broke loose. Lilliana had turned at the sound of her name, but her focus wasn’t on Elijah. He moved forward to reach for her and an arrow struck his arm, scratching the top of his wrist. Flinching, he pulled his arm back to his chest and when he looked back, she was gone.
“Elijah!” Princess Sienna screamed. The horses reared as more arrows flew through the sky.
“Get her out of here,” Gianna called, mounting her own horse. “Sahab, get the prince and follow Leon.”
Three people appeared at the entrance of the village and walked towards them. Leon had already kicked his stallion into a gallop. Sahab lifted himself up onto the prince’s horse, but the hoods were already too close. One of them stepped in front of the horse.
“You should have died eleven years ago, prince. Today, we rectify that mistake.”
Ignoring the pain in his wrist, Elijah pulled out his sword. He moved towards the man in front of the prince’s horse.
“You may have bested me once, but you will not best me again,” the hooded figure snapped, meeting Elijah’s sword.
“If we are going to keep meeting like this, you could at least tell me your name,” Elijah sniggered. Sahab took the chance and kicked the horse to move.
“We are the Agents of Cyran, and we will kill the prince.”
There’s that name again. Cyran. He was sure that Cyran was one of the Elven gods though, but he may be mistaken. A library trip would be needed if he survived this.
“And you are?” Elijah prompted once more, blocking an overhead attack.
“Tathaln.” The Agent of Cyran spat as he spoke. “Remember, it as you die.”
Elijah wiped the spit from his eye and cocked his head. “That’s called cheating.” He watched as
Tathaln’s facial expression changed. Lunging forward, Tathaln narrowly missed Elijah’s side as metal hit metal. One step forward and a well-placed punch knocked the Agent of Cyran off balance and Elijah ran his sword across his back. The cut wasn’t deep, but it hurt enough for his opponent to cry out.
“Gianna?” She ignored him as she gave chase back into the village. “If I let you live, you will keep coming after him, won’t you?”
Tathaln was on one knee, a hand on his back, wiping the blood and checking his hand. “We will come for as long as it takes to kill the prince of prophecy.” He took a deep breath. “We thought he was dead. He died along with his parents. Rumours spread. The Master returns and so does the prince. Only one can live.” Standing up, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. A smile crept across his face.
“Why must this prince die?”
“He is the key to the master’s ascension.”
Elijah furrowed his brow. They all sound crazy.
Tathaln lunged forward, catching Elijah off guard and scratching his thigh. He fell to the ground and looked up.
“Elijah!” Gianna called, appearing by his side. “I lost the one I was chasing. You seem to do alright, who is this?” Gianna kicked the Agent of Cyran where he was bleeding and with a cry of pain he fell to the floor.
“Attacking the princess is treason, the penalty is death.”
Gianna leant forward, reaching out to grab the man, but he stood up and bolted quicker than Elijah could blink. She moved before he did and went after him.
By the time Elijah had caught up to Gianna she was lying in a side road, back against the wall, her hand covering a wound on her side which was bleeding. Tathaln was lying on the floor, not moving.
“Gianna. What the…? I wasn’t that far behind you. What happened?” He bent down to her and tried to look at the wound.
“They know magic.”
“Shush now. Stop talking nonsense.”
The body beside him grabbed his leg and whispered. “Ju jeni sehrlisen.” After the words, the body went slack and Elijah moved away from it. He shook his head as it buzzed to life.
Peeling Gianna’s hand away from the wound, blood poured from it. I need to seal it. “I’ll be right back.” He went to walk away and then turned to his friend. “Don’t die.” The only way is to cauterise the wound shut. He flinched at the thought of causing her pain, but he knew it would save her life.
Dashing from the alleyway, Elijah ran as fast as he could to the nearest shop. As he turned another corner, he found a blacksmith. Eli said a silent prayer and dipped his sword into the fire pit. Waiting for it to glow red hot took too long and Elijah’s hands began to sweat, but as soon as it was ready, he sprinted again back to his friend.
Gianna had slumped to the floor by the time Elijah had returned. Her eyes were shut and hands limp, allowing the blood to flow out freely. Taking extra care, Elijah pulled her onto her back and lifted the fabric to see the wound. He hesitated slightly. With an intake of breath, he pressed the piping hot blade to Gianna’s wound and grimaced. She cried out at the sizzling noise of burning skin.
“Ah!”
“You’re welcome. Let’s get you home.”
They safely took Gianna to the infirmary before Elijah was descended on by Merrick, Jaxon, Leon and Sahab. The four of them fired questions at him, and it was hard to figure out what each of them wanted.
“Shut up, all of you,” Elijah snapped, holding up his hands. “I can’t understand anything when you’re all talking at once.”
Jaxon mouthed sorry and stepped back. Sahab closed his mouth, while Leon looked like he was ready to pounce with a thousand questions. His uncle did exactly what Elijah expected - nothing.
“What happened to Gianna?” Leon asked, his brow creasing.
“Honestly, I don’t know. She ran off after one of the hoods and when I found her, she’d been stabbed. I… I knew I had to stop the bleeding long enough to get her back, so I went to the nearest place I could get fire and burned the wound shut.”
The rest didn’t need explaining. Leon seemed to understand as he nodded along with what Elijah had said. “Come on Sahab, let’s see if she’s okay.”
He ran a hand over his face. I’m getting sick of seeing this place. Leaning up against the wall, he prepared himself for the inquisition coming from his uncle and his brother.
“Tell us what really happened. She wasn’t just stabbed, was she?” Jaxon asked. “I can smell that stench anywhere.”
“Stench?” Eli scratched his cheek. “I don’t understand.”
Merrick sighed. “Of course you don’t, see this is why I do the talking Jaxon.” He stepped forward. “Elves can.. how do I put this… detect magic.” Merrick put a hand on Elijah’s arm and pulled it back almost instantly. “We can tell someone used it on Gianna.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Jaxon cleared his throat. “Magic is not something to be proud of having in Adelith.”
“Why?” Elijah couldn’t stop the words from leaving his mouth.
“Ever since Hector and Rhohesia died at the hands of a sorcerer, King Roderick hasn’t really allowed magic to be practiced. Most people who have it, practice it in secret. Never out in the open.”
Elijah looked to Merrick, who had his arms crossed and a hand to his mouth. His eyes filling up.
“And the previous family, what happened to them?”
“They were killed in a fire.”
Pain spread across Elijah’s head as images flashed before him. The roar of a fire and the sound of a woman screaming filled his ears. He was standing behind something listening to them repeatedly ask ‘where is the boy’ but the woman wouldn’t say. They clamped a hand to his mouth. His legs gave way and Merrick caught him.
“Are you alright?”
“Huh? Yeah…”
Jaxon looked to Merrick, his lips pressed together. “Where did you go?” His uncle scowled at the question.
“I saw nothing, it was dark and I could hear screams. Probably a remnant of my nightmares from when I was a kid.” Jaxon nodded and turned to Merrick. “That’s all it was. You were saying?”
“Back to Gianna. Did she say anything strange to you?”
Elijah tried to think back through the haze of his adrenaline rush. “She said ‘they know magic’ before she passed out, but that’s the only thing that I can think of.”
Jaxon clapped his hands together and shot his fist up in the air. Merrick scowled at him and Jaxon settled down. Elijah pressed his lips together and cringed at Jaxon’s inappropriate gesture. “Do you think they’re part of the group that showed up recently?”
Merrick shook his head. “There’s no evidence that an insurgent group even exists. What did they look like, Elijah?”
“Normal people.” Eli shrugged. “They were just wearing hoods to cover their faces. They called themselves Agents of Cyran.”
Jaxon looked up, eyes wide, and the colour drained out of Merrick’s face.
“Cyran? You’re sure that’s what they said?”
Eli’s eyes darted around the floor as he tried to recall the memories. “Yes, that’s what Tathaln said.” They looked between each other and sighed. “What?”
“Tathaln is an elvish rebel, well-versed in magic and blinded by the will of whoever runs the Agents of Cyran. They’ve all been brainwashed into their leader’s imaginary world,” Merrick explained. “Jaxon, go and tell the king, he will need to know immediately.”
Jaxon nodded and headed off. Elijah wracked his brain for some more information. An image of Lilliana sprung into his mind.
“Can I ask you something?”
Merrick arched his right eyebrow. “Of course.”
He thought about what to ask. Did he share his thoughts about Lilliana, or did he ask about the letters to Magda and the missing prince? Fear of the truth twisted his insides, and he changed his question at the last moment.
“Do Sienna’s handmaidens go to the village
on their own?”
“If they are getting something for the princess or she gave them some free time, they might. Why?”
“I thought I saw one of them today, when the hoods attacked.”
Merrick slapped him on the back of the shoulder. “I’m sure it was a coincidence. Let’s check on Gianna.”
13
The Royal Lineage
He saw the floor first, a deep brown with golden slivers through it. Consistent with the colours of King Roderick’s emblem. The walls were light lemon to match the gold. It was a large room with sections divided off for patients to have some privacy, and the back windows let in a lot of natural light.
A nurse came over to them and quickly patched him up. The cut on his neck had stopped bleeding a while ago, all that was needed was to clean the wound and bandage his leg.
Elijah heard Sahab’s laugh and tried to move forward. The nurse made him stand still until his leg was bound and then let him go. Stepping through the gap in the curtain, he smiled when Gianna caught his eye. Sahab and Leon were standing on either side of Gianna’s bed.
“You two are such charmers,” Gianna said. Her eye lit up a little as Elijah stepped inside. She winced as she moved her position. Merrick patted him on the back and nodded as he left.
“Did you at least get the guy that did this?”
“Elijah will tell you what I did.”
“Of course, Eli is going to back up your story, he can’t let you look like a fool,” Leon said with a smirk.
“Or make you look less heroic, right?” Elijah snapped back. “I wasn’t there, but when I turned the corner, he was lying on the floor.”
“You killed him?” Sahab asked, directing the question at Gianna. She shrugged. Elijah could see the pain across her face as she moved.
Kingdom of Lies (The Kane Saga Book 1) Page 9