The king sat up fully as he began hacking worse than I had seen him thus far. When he tried to breath, it worsened. He thrust a hand out and grabbed my shoulder for support, but the coughing would not stop.
The door burst open, and the maid, having heard his distress, came rushing back to the king’s side.
When Xavier pulled his hand away from his mouth, it was coated in blood.
The maid unstoppered a vial and forced the king to drink it. A few seconds later, the coughing subsided, and Kaci eased him back onto the bed.
Turning his head, the king looked at me as his eyes began to flutter. “Do not… let him… become… king,” he said, slipping into an unconscious state.
I gasped and placed my hand on my chest. “Is he…?”
Kaci placed her fingers on his neck. “No, he’s still with us, but his pulse is faint.”
“Go, fetch Rady,” I told her.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she spun and dashed from the room.
Grasping the king’s hand once more, I whispered, “I won’t let you down.”
A few minutes went by, and the king remained stable but otherwise still unconscious. Rady returned in a panic. Coming up beside the king, he shoved me out of the way. When he had thoroughly checked him over and was assured that the king was not in immediate danger, Rady breathed a deep, slow sigh and stepped back from the king's reposed form.
“What happened? Tell me everything,” he said, turning to me.
Everything?
Rady’s eyes fell to the dagger in my other hand.
I sucked in a deep breath as panic flooded my veins. I hope he doesn't think I was trying to—
“You were the one used the dagger?” he asked.
My eyes went wide. “Wait… you know about the dagger?”
“The king asked me to examine it this afternoon. He told me about its properties.”
“Then you know…”
He nodded.
I glanced between Rady and Kaci. Here I was being forced to trust people again, right after I’d promised myself that I was doing this alone. I didn’t like it, but what choice did I have? The one measure of comfort I held onto was the concern that Rady showed for the king. If he had been on Lucian’s side, I don’t think he would have been this relieved to find the king still alive.
“How much did you hear?” I asked Kaci.
Her lips wrinkled, and she shrunk away from me.
“It’s okay, speak truthfully,” I said.
“All of it, my lord,” she said.
With her corroborating my story, I felt comfortable enough telling it. I explained to Rady what I told the king and everything I had heard between Lucian and Alton.
Rady frowned once more and put his hand to his chin. “This… this is critical. What proof do you have?”
I held out my hands. “None. I just know what I heard.”
“It’s a very serious accusation,” he said in a flat voice.
“You don’t believe me?” I asked.
“I didn’t say that, but you can’t go flinging this type of thing around without any evidence. It could get all three of us killed.”
“What do we do then?” I asked.
“Keep quiet for now. I’ll check the security cameras in the halls. Perhaps it caught them together, and we’d have at least something to back your claims,” Rady said.
He turned to leave when I remembered what had caused this whole mess: Alton and her control over me.
“Wait!” I said.
He paused. “What is it?”
I pointed to the device in my head. “Can you take a look at this?”
“Sure, let me get a few things. I’ll be right back.”
He was gone only a few minutes. When he returned, he had a bag in hand that he set down as he had me take a seat on the settee at the end of the bed.
“Let’s see what we have here,” he said. “Hold still, please.”
He took off the faceplate and set it on the bedside table. Over the next few minutes, he tinkered around in my head. Most of it was fairly painless accompanied by a decent amount of pressure. A few times, though, he nicked something he shouldn’t have, sending jolts of pain down my spine.
“Oh my,” he said.
“What did you find?” I asked.
“I’ve seen neural transmitters before. We have some basic models that we’ve grafted into some of our top Champions on the front lines, but I’ve never seen anything this complicated,” Rady said.
“Is it bad?” I asked.
“Quite the contrary,” he replied. “This should prove to be quite the boon for you. A lot of the features in there were disabled, and one of the codes was actually set to hijack your brain remotely. That could have been bad had anyone discovered its existence.”
I forced a chuckle. “Wow,” I said with mock surprise. “Glad that didn’t happen.”
“It’s okay. I’ve removed the aggressive component and turned on the full capabilities of the device,” he said while reattaching the faceplate. “You should be good to go. Give it a try.”
I tapped the device, and a complete display filled the right side of my vision.
AREN HALLAND
LEVEL 11
AFFILIATION: ALLYRIA
PROFESSION: GUARDIAN
110/110 MP
4,700/11,000 EXP
2 AP AVAILABLE
0 FAME – UNKNOWN
660 RIFKELS
Relief washed over me when I saw that my affiliation had been fixed. I could finally trust that Alton would have no further sway over me. In addition to the normal readout, a health bar ran across the top of my vision that showed me how much damage I could withstand. Lastly, a small circle at the bottom displayed three white dots.
“The radar feature is new and just launched on all of our models yesterday. I’m not sure how you got it already,” Rady explained. “It shows you any persons that are near you. When a dot turns red, it means that person bears you ill will.”
“That’s… awesome,” I said.
“Don’t ask me how it works, though,” the Chief Engineer said. “Best I can figure, the magika stone that fuels the device somehow senses malicious intent and responds appropriately. From what I have gathered, it’s a lab-manufactured version of the Detect magika that myself and other Engineers use.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but a red dot appeared on the map. A moment later, the door burst open, and Lucian strode in. I quickly tapped the neural device, closing the read out.
“There you are,” he said, looking straight at me. “Come on. The peace summit is about to start.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” I said.
Rady nodded in agreement. “The king is in no shape to engage in even the friendliest of conversations, let alone a debate.”
“The ambassador and his guests have traveled a tremendous distance for this evening. The broadcasters are standing by. We can’t simply cancel,” Lucian said. “Besides, my father’s presence will not be necessary. I will speak on his behalf.”
I blanched. Lucian would most certainly not be speaking for the king. “No,” I said.
“Excuse me?” he asked, blinking.
“I will speak for the king,” I said.
“Father would never—”
“I heard it straight from the king’s own mouth, Your Highness,” Rady said. “He would like Aren to take his place.”
I smiled and mouthed a subtle, “Thanks.”
“Nobody will believe you have the king’s blessing,” Lucian said with a snort.
“Then you will have to make them believe,” I said.
Lucian clenched his jaw. “Come on then.”
“Give me a moment,” I said before turning back to Rady.
“It’s fine, go. I’ll make sure everything here is taken care of. Your father is in good hands. Come find me when you’re finished,” he said.
I nodded and followed Lucian, taking one last glance at our father's weakening form.
The peace summit awaited.
Eighteen
The council chambers buzzed with activity.
Servants hustled back and forth, putting the finishing touches on the room. A few tables and chairs decorated the outskirts of the room, where a more formal semi-circular table sat in the center. The crew had their cameras pointed at the empty table, waiting for the broadcast to begin.
Lucian stepped up to a servant that stood a little taller than the rest and whispered in his ear. The man barked orders to the other servants, and several of them hurriedly raced over to a large, gold-trimmed chair that sat at the middle of the center table. Four servants hoisted the mammoth throne but not a throne and carried it out of the view of the cameras.
Once that was out of the way, they adjusted the remainder of the chairs to compensate for the king’s missing place.
Shortly thereafter, Bella, Hayden, and Izaiah walked in. Izaiah’s gaze caught my eye, and he immediately looked away and darted off to the other side of the room. I almost thought I caught a look of remorse on his face. He was the only person in here who I could directly tie to the poisoning of the king, but I still had no evidence.
Next, I looked at Hayden. His jaw was tight, and the glare he gave me could have killed the living dead. He calmly walked to a point along the wall and took up his post.
Bella was the only one who smiled at me. She’d changed out of her soaking wet dress and back into her guard uniform. Her hair was still damp, so she had it wrapped up in a bun, but otherwise, she was as vibrant as I’d ever seen her.
“I’m glad you came,” she said as she drew near.
“Did you think I wouldn’t?” I asked.
“I wasn’t sure what you were going to do,” she remarked. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if you ran away like you did the last time things got difficult.”
“Ouch,” I said, wincing and still wishing I had my memories back.
“Sorry. I thought I was over it.”
“Clearly, you’re not,” I replied. “Besides, I’m not going anywhere without Claire.”
“How is she?” Bella asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. They say she’s fine, but she’s been through a lot. And she has yet to wake up.”
“She’s strong, she’ll pull through. I’m not sure about the king, though,” she said.
“I just came from his room. It’s not good, Bella. And I know for sure that Lucian is to blame.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” she said. She glanced over at Lucian, then whispered, “I talked to Hayden and Izaiah. If it comes to it, we’ll back you over Lucian. This wasn’t what we signed up for.”
Before I could speak, the ambassador, Alton, and two more advisors from Balgyra entered the room, drawing my attention. When I turned back, Bella was gone. I scanned the room and found her hidden in the shadows along the wall opposite where Izaiah stood.
The Balgyran representatives sat on the right side of the table, and Lucian motioned for me to follow him to the left. Several members of the king’s council also joined us, making their way to the surrounding tables. We all sat at once except Lucian.
All the cameras and several lights pointed at him, giving him a glow like a heavenly being. No doubt Allyria would see him as their savior, but I knew him for what he really was—an angel of death.
The man at the center camera held up three fingers then counted down and pointed at Lucian when he reached the end.
“Good evening,” he said to the camera. “It is my privilege to welcome you to this momentous occasion. For the first time in a hundred years, representatives from Allyria and Balgyra will meet to discuss the future of our kingdoms and seek to end this hostility between us.”
Lucian held out his hand toward the Balgyrans, and a red light on the primary camera disappeared while another camera on the opposite side of the room lit up, switching to a view of the ambassador and Alton.
“Ambassador Frederic Basinger is here representing the president of Balgyra, along with Chief Engineer Klara Alton, and two delegates from the president’s cabinet,” Lucian said. He turned, facing me and the king’s own council. “From Allyria, we have the Minister of Commerce, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Magika. And for the first time, the king has invited a representative from the Oathbreakers to be here with us, who many of you may recognize as none other than my own brother, Aren.”
I could practically hear the gasps and cries of outrage all across the country. A surge of fire rose up within my own heart at his declaration. He did not announce me as the king’s delegate, but as an Oathbreaker. True, I had originally been brought here to represent them, but we’d just agreed I would speak for the king.
Already, he’d gone back on his word. I couldn’t stand by and let this slide or I would lose every bit of power I had gained.
Lucian continued, “As you have no doubt noticed, my father is not presently with us. He became ill at dinner and has been forced to resign to his chambers for the evening, but I spoke to him just moments ago and he has asked that—”
I stood, shoving my chair back loudly. “The king has chosen me to speak on his behalf.” This time there were very audible gasps from the Balgyrans, as well as a few of the servants still in the room.
Lucian glared at me and finished his sentence, “The king has asked that Aren speak in his place.”
“Outrageous!” Ambassador Basinger said as he bolted to his feet. “Does the king seek to insult the whole of Balgyra by appointing this illegitimate whelp as his representative?”
“Frederich,” Alton said sternly through the side of her mouth.
“Don’t you Frederich me,” he snapped. “It’s bad enough Xavier Halland is not here himself, now he has to appoint someone his people view as a criminal to entreat with us? It’s ridiculous, and I’ll not stand for it.”
With the cameras still on the ambassador, Lucian flashed a devious smile at me. As soon as the light opposite him turned red, though, his face grew serious. “What would you have us do, ambassador? Throw him out? My father had invited him long before he knew he would not make it this evening.”
“I’m not saying that at all,” Basinger said. “I would not presume to dishonor my host in such a way. I’m merely suggesting that someone else speak for the king, someone like you, Crown Prince.”
I sucked in a breath and stood there with my hands clenched. This whole conversation had likely been preplanned from the start. The disagreement cast Allyria in a poor light and gave Balgyra the upper hand.
It would then make them less agreeable to any demands and increase the odds that negotiations would fail. And if they failed, Lucian would have all the support he needed from the council to launch a formal strike on the Balgyran president.
Was the ambassador in on it? Or was Lucian’s agreement solely with Alton, who sat there quite amused, but otherwise calm and silent?
“I’m sorry, Aren, but as I don’t see any other choice, I will have to ask you to reclaim your seat,” Lucian said. “I will speak for my father and for all of Allyria. You may still, of course, represent the Oathbreakers in matters concerning them.”
That was a fancy way of saying not at all, because I doubt Balgyra cared what happened to Allyria’s criminals. Xavier seemed to want to legitimize us or partner with us in some way, but without him here to say so, I couldn’t see Lucian raising the issue.
No, this conversation would exclude me as much as possible. Now that Lucian had made his powerplay, I didn’t even know why I was here. As I took my seat once again, I glanced back at Bella standing directly behind me. Remorse was painted on her face, but all she could do was shrug.
Lucian himself sat down shortly thereafter, and the peace summit began. I tuned it out after they started debating the minutia of import taxes. Perhaps Lucian was better fitted for this. He fell right into the conversation, arguing and fighting the ambassador at every turn.
If he wanted the talks to fail, he cer
tainly wasn’t acting like it. I guessed that it was all a show. He couldn’t be seen as too compliant. With all of Allyria watching, he had to speak with their best interests in mind if he hoped to have their support once he ascended the throne.
If he became king, I reminded myself.
The Minister of Commerce finally quieted himself, and the conversation shifted to magika. I sat up a little straighter in my seat as they began to debate.
“On this I will not bend,” the minister said. “Balgyra must abandon its pursuit of the forbidden wells and immediately cease all experiments that pervert the use of magika.”
“Absolutely not,” Alton said as she herself perked up for the first time as well during the conversation. “I’ve spent too long and given too much of my time to just throw away all my research. We’re on the cusp of a breakthrough!”
The minister added, “That brings me to my other condition. We must agree to share all technological advances freely and openly.”
“Ha!” Alton scoffed. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you were the more advanced society. You think that we’ll freely give you all that we’ve worked so hard for, all the while crippling our ability to push even further into the future?”
“Then it seems we are at an impasse,” the minister said.
“What say you, Lucian? Where would His Majesty stand on this matter?” Basinger asked.
Lucian opened his mouth to speak when the door opened and drew his attention. A servant rushed over, leaned down, and whispered in Lucian’s ear. Lucian’s face fell as the man spoke.
The man finished his message and then darted out of the room as quickly as he’d come.
Standing, Lucian placed his hands on the table. “I have just been informed my father has suddenly passed away.”
A collective gasp echoed throughout the room. A spike of fear rose up within me. If I didn’t do something, Lucian would be crowned king, and then we were all doomed.
“The court physicians cannot confirm the cause of death, but preliminary tests revealed that—”
“He was poisoned!” I shouted as I stood.
More cries of shock followed my declaration. Lucian took a deep breath and shook with rage.
Sworn Guardian: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Forbidden Magic Book 1) Page 14