“I think he was dead,” Elijah said, answering for her. “I didn’t actually check the body.”
Leon raised his eyebrows and frowned. “I suspect if we go back, he won’t be there either.”
Elijah nodded his head in agreement. The three of them stood in silence for a few moments before a nurse came bustling along with a tray of food and medical items.
“Out of the way please,” she said, barging Sahab to the side and turning to Gianna. “Neipton, here’s your food. Take these tablets and I’ll be back to redress your wound.” The nurse disappeared as quickly as she appeared.
“Isn’t she great?” Gianna stuck her tongue out after the nurse had left.
“Sarcasm? I didn’t know you had it in you Gianna.” Leon laughed. “I’m sure she’s simply fed up with seeing your face.”
Gianna shook her head. “I think she enjoys seeing me in here.”
“We had better check in with the princess.” Leon tapped Sahab on the shoulder and nodded towards the door. “I’ll be back later.”
Gianna ate her food slowly. Her hand shook as she brought the food to her mouth.
“Do you need help?”
“No.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. “Why are you here, anyway? Not going to check on Sienna with the others?”
Eli raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to suggest, but I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
She sighed. “Look, you’ve already saved my life. Let the nurses do their job and let me feed myself.” He stepped back away from her. “Sorry, I’m in a lot of pain.”
“It’s okay. I wanted to ask you though, before I go. Do you remember what you said to be before you passed out?” Looking out of the curtains, he saw Merrick speaking with the nurse.
“No, sorry.” Gianna leant forward with no hint of pain. Her eyes met his. “What?”
He pointed to her wound. “What did they do? You know, to patch you up?” Merrick had the same look on his face that Jaxon had when he said he could smell magic. Has it been used here too? Gianna shrugged and went back to eating her food, waving him out of the room. “See you later, then.”
Merrick was gone by the time Elijah left Gianna’s side, and as the doors to the infirmary closed, he felt empty. Like he knew he should do something, but he didn’t know what. He wanted to speak to Merrick about the letter he read; he wanted to find out more about these Agents of Cyran, and he wanted a better explanation for his headaches than nightmares.
He rounded the corner and bumped into Lilliana. “Oh, I’m sorry. Hey, it’s you.”
She flattened down her skirt. “Yes, Lilliana, we have met before.”
“No, you were the girl coming out of John’s room after talking about the missing prince. You were also there when we got attacked and they accused him of being said prince.”
She grabbed his hand. “Shut up and keep your voice down. The walls have ears.”
“I have questions I think you can answer. Please, I only need a moment of your time. It was you I saw in the streets.” Lilliana hesitated and then shook her head. “I know it was you, and I know you’re working with them. They threatened to come here.”
“Not now.” She stepped away from him. “I’ll find you later.” He watched her hurry away from him without looking back. Stunned for a moment, he waited until she was completely gone from view before heading out to the library. If she wouldn’t tell him who this prince was, he would find out for himself.
Inside there were a few scholars looking at books on the closest tables to the doors, but Elijah headed straight to where he had met the librarian. The table was empty, so he started searching the shelves. The history section was bigger than he expected, full of tales from long ago. Nothing on the Royal Lineage, though.
As he was climbing the ladder to get further up, someone came around the corner.
“Can I help you at all? What is it you looking for?”
“Oh.” Elijah slid down the ladder and landed neatly on the floor. “Hello, yes, I am looking for a history of the royal family.”
“Well, my boy, you are in the wrong section.” The librarian smiled with his mouth closed. He differed from the first one, didn’t slur his words or have anything weird about his eyes. Elijah wondered if he’d replaced the person before. “You’ll want to come over to the royals section. It has everything from Lineage to Etiquette. I’m Osmar, by the way.”
“Elijah,” he replied, following Osmar. The librarian grabbed a couple of books and handed them to him.
“These cover the basics, but was there anything specific you wanted to know?” Osmar asked.
“They have given me a place in the Princess’s Elite Guard, so I wanted to know more about them. I can’t protect something I don’t know,” Elijah said, hoping that was convincing enough.
“Ah, yes, you should find everything you need in the books I’ve left there. Is there anything else?”
“I’ve been here before. And there was another man? I think his name was Buisan? I wondered if he was around?”
“I’m afraid he is not working today.” Osmar shook his head. Although Elijah detected a hint of fear behind his eyes as they flickered to the floor.
“I’ll catch him another day. Thank you for your help,” said Eli. Osmar nodded and walked away quickly.
Elijah watched the librarian walk away and couldn’t help but notice he had a limp. He dipped on the right-hand side and hunched his shoulders when he moved. Turning his attention back to the pile of books in front of him, Elijah spread them out, so he could see all the covers and titles. There was a wealth of information in front of him, but there was one book he noticed which tempted him more than the others.
It had been at the bottom of the pile and was bigger than the rest. They’d embellished the black leathery cover with the Royal Families’ crests, all five of them. He traced Hector Kane’s family crest as more images flashed through his mind. He’d seen the lion-head before. Pain crept along his head as images of a man with sandy blonde hair fell into view. He was standing in front of three boards with different lion images on. Blinking away the image, he focused on the book.
Inside, the thick edges were old and worn from years of handling. Elijah smiled at the sound of the pages turning. The first Royal Family, the Terrathorns, were a large family. Elijah flicked through several pages of their family and found that they spanned seventeen generations of Royals before the last set of twins died in an accident and the king’s sister took power. As she was already married, this brought through the name Irion to the throne. Next was Stargi, the shortest of the royal lines with only three generations.
All the paintings that had been done of each member’s face fascinated Elijah. The book included all their extended family too, but only the Royals were painted.
“What are you looking at?” Eli jumped at the sound of Lilliana’s voice. “Sorry,” she said, bringing her hand to her mouth to hide her laugh.
“The Royal Lineage.” Her eyes darkened at the words. “I didn’t think you’d come find me so I thought I would try to figure out what the story is with this legend of a missing prince.”
She cocked her head from the side. “You really don’t know, do you?” He shook his head, and she sat down next to him. “This is Hector, he was king before. Valerie was his father’s ward which is why Roderick could become king, he’s the youngest son of another royal family, he would never have got it otherwise.” She pointed to the portraits going through them one by one. “Rhohesia, his wife and queen. They supposedly had a son.”
“I know this bit.”
Scowling at him, she continued. “No record was ever kept, although she had a couple of miscarriages which were documented. Then someone close to them betrayed their trust and revealed they had a son, but they were keeping him hidden because of The Master.” Lilliana looked around them and lowered her voice. “He was hunting for a boy with a mark on his shoulder, the one who would stop him from becoming a god.”
Elijah tried to stop his laughter. “You’re not serious? People actually believe this nonsense?” He studied her for a moment. “Oh gods, you do. Well, have you actually checked if John has a mark on his back? Or did you think because he was a prince in Adelith that you’d start rumours and stir things up again?”
“It wasn’t us who started the rumours. It’s not like that, anyway. I’m trying to save him.” She leant back into her seat. “I was born into the Agents of Cyran, before they were corrupted. I didn’t choose it.”
“Are you an elf then?”
She pulled her hair back to reveal her ears. “I don’t like to have them on show. Roderick has a dislike for elves since one of them killed his best friend, his wife and child. Hector was good and kind.” Lilliana looked down and took a deep breath in.
“Hey, it’s alright. Nothing is going to hurt you here.”
“You’re sweet, but you can’t help me. If anyone finds out, they’ll put me to death for treason.”
Elijah thought for a moment and then put a hand on hers. “Not if you’re a double agent for me.” Lillian looked at him, her body stiffening. “You tell me their plans and I will keep you safe.”
“Elijah? Are you in here?” Merrick’s voice filled the air. He looked around to the left and by the time he looked back, Lilliana was gone.
A scholar who had been scribing something was scowling, and the sounds of shushing filled the air. He silently laughed to himself and put the book down as Merrick came around the corner. “Eli?”
“Over here, Merrick,” he said, waving his arm to get his guardian’s attention. “I actually wanted to ask you a few questions.” Like why were you writing secret letters to Magda. Who is she? Am I this missing prince everyone whispers about? Why did you never tell me?
“That unfortunately will have to wait, the king has called a meeting,” Merrick said as he approached the table.
“Right okay. Osmar?” He appeared next to Merrick, seeming to come out of thin air.
“Yes,” he said, lowering his head in respect.
“I have to go, but I’ll be back. Can you keep the books for me?” He noted Merrick was looking curiously at the books on the table.
“Of course.” He did not look up as he spoke, and it made Elijah uncomfortable.
“Wonderful, now we really need to go.” Merrick put his arm behind Eli and tried to move him forward.
“Alright, alright. You know I am capable of moving myself?”
“Yes Elijah. However, when the king wants you there ten minutes ago, it’s best to move with haste,” Merrick said. His tone indicated he was annoyed, but he didn’t show it in his face. Eli nodded and moved quicker out of the library.
“What were you looking for in the library, anyway?”
“Etiquette and the history of Adelith’s Royal family. I wanted to try and be a better member of the Elite.” He paused. “Did you know Hector?”
“Yes, I did. He was my best friend.” They turned the corner and walked towards King Roderick’s study. “If you have any more questions, those books don’t answer, remember you can always come to me. I will always take care of you Elijah, I promise.” There was a sincerity in his eyes. “But right now we need to be inside that room.” Merrick gently slapped him on the back of the shoulders, and they stopped outside the door.
14
Bad Memories
Inside, the atmosphere was tense. On the left, a crowd of people gathered around the table. It looked as if they were moving pieces around a map. One of them slapped a hand away and moved it back to where it had been. On the right stood some of the king’s guards, along with Sahab. Behind them was a chart which showed the castle grounds.
“Ah, Elijah,” King Roderick said, looking up. He gestured for them to come closer. “Precautions are being made after today’s attack. We know they threatened to come here, and we will put in place extra protections for the prince and princess. That means tonight you and Sahab will watch over Prince John.”
Elijah’s insides dropped. He cleared his throat and bowed to King Roderick. “Of course.”
“I’ll take over in the early hours, so you can get some rest. It’s been a long day.” Merrick nodded to King Roderick. “Is your leg giving you any pain?” Elijah shook his head. He’d almost forgotten a blade had nicked him, twice.
“Good,” the king said. “Jaxon can switch with Leon and Melvin.”
Merrick placed a comforting hand on the king’s elbow. “We will take care of it Roderick.” The king nodded and sighed. “They won’t get to her.”
“This is your fault.” Roderick pointed at Merrick and the room went silent at his words.
Elijah caught his uncle’s eye as he nodded to the door. “Roderick, you don’t mean that. We have done nothing, someone else created this mess. No-one is going to hurt them. I promise.” The king looked past Merrick and directly at Elijah. His eyes narrowed, and he nodded.
“You should never have left Merrick. We wouldn’t be in this mess now if you had stayed.”
Merrick clenched his jaw. Looking around, everyone froze, their eyes on the conversation unfolding in front of them.
“I had to leave,” Merrick said calmly. “You know that. I couldn’t stay, not without my girls. Anyway, the Agents of Cyran were supposed to have been dealt with by the elves. God knows they promised us that much.”
King Roderick slammed his fist onto the table. “This is how he felt, isn’t it? Helpless. Worried.” The king looked up at Eli. Merrick stepped closer, but Roderick held up his hand. “No, I’m fine. Let’s continue with the plan, protection is the priority. We don’t know how many of them are here, or coming.”
“Let’s get through tonight and then we can worry about who is working for them. Elijah, Sahab, go to John’s room, now.”
Without waiting for further instructions, Eli tugged on Sahab’s arm and left the room. The pair of them walked in silence for most of it.
“What’s wrong?” Sahab asked as they turned the corner to the corridor John’s room was on. “You’re never this quiet.”
Eli shook his head. “I was just thinking about what Merrick and the king said. Do you know anything about Cyran?”
“The Agents of Cyran have been around for years. My parents used to tell me bedtime stories about them.” Sahab smiled. “Their leader is some lunatic with about fifteen different names, and it’s rumoured his intentions are to control the whole of Tarkos through some ritual, but it needs dragons and they’ve not been around for years. They’re a legend.”
“What, so he kills random people, hoping they know where the dragons are?” Elijah knew stories like this. A man wants power and goes crazy attempting to get it, then ends up dead.
“No, he got some old crone to tell him his future. She was part of the travelling caravans. They used to come once a year but after they assassinated the royals Roderick put a stop to it.”
Shivers ran down Elijah’s spine. That was one cruel story.
“How did he know it was that family, though? It could be anyone, couldn’t it?” Elijah asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
Sahab shrugged and shook his head. “No-one knows the intricate details. Probably because it’s all made up. The only thing that is true is that Hector and Rhohesia Kane were assassinated, and their son lost to legend. No-one knows if he was real, if he’s dead or if he still lives. People like to gossip and make up stories though.”
Once they reached the princes’ door, they positioned themselves on either side. Elijah leant against the wall, one leg crossed behind the other, and looked from left to right. He had an excellent view of the corridor and window.
His eyes were closing when shouts came from inside the prince’s room. “Calm down? Calm down? Are you crazy? I am not this missing prince of Adelith,” the prince shouted.
Elijah’s ears pricked at the mention of the missing prince. He pushed himself off the wall and looked to Sahab for direction. Putting his hand to his mouth,
Sahab made a ‘sh’ expression and moved closer to the door. Elijah followed suit after checking there was no-one coming down the hallway.
“Will you at least hear me out? Someone has been looking into the royal family’s history. They made an attack on you and Sienna. It’s happening again, John.” Elijah couldn’t hear enough to figure out who it was talking to the prince, but he could tell the speaker was male.
“Fine, sit. Explain, fast, before I throw you out. Or call the guards.”
“I’ve received word from one of my Agent friends,” said the other voice. Elijah was certain he had heard the voice before. “He’s after the prince again. Someone has told him the prince still lives, and he is not happy.”
“Right, okay. And who is ‘he’? You keep saying it, but you never mention their name.”
“I don’t know it,” admitted the familiar voice. “Hardly anyone knows it, because when you learn it, he kills you. But none of this will matter, if he thinks you’re ‘the prince’ you need to marry Sienna.”
“Marry the princess? That is your solution to my possible demise? Marry a princess I’m not sure I actually like and then die?”
Elijah looked at Sahab, who was grimacing at the prince’s words. Anger rose in Eli as he pressed his ear closer to the door. How could he say that? Did he lie before? He was here to ask for Sienna’s hand in marriage. If he doesn’t like her, was it purely political or had John started to have feelings he wanted to hide?
“Her family will protect you. If you marry her, it may be enough to put him off. The lost son of King Hector is supposed to be dead. So, if he is alive, he would need to stay hidden, not parade around his new kingdom. You will be untouchable.”
“Yes, and that worked so well for Hector, didn’t it? He was king after all.” The prince scoffed.
“I’m going in there,” Elijah whispered.
Sahab hands stopped him as he reached for the door. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Prince John-”
“I don’t care, we need to know who that person is. They have information the king should know.”
Kingdom of Lies (The Kane Saga Book 1) Page 10