Kalel
The castle is busier than usual today. The maids are rushing around with scrolls and supplies for the war room, their hair frazzled from what looks like an early-morning start, and their eyes wide with worry.
I glance out the windows from the second story and watch the knights assemble in the left-side courtyard.
They are in battle formation, equipped with swords and shields.
Bright beams of light reflect off their armor, making it difficult to see them clearly.
What’s happened that has King Achill organizing like this?
There’s no way the Alzhorian army is even remotely close to penetrating the veil.
He knows how important it was today to show Alira that everything is fine.
I even talked Tessa into attending the lunch today to help show my wife that everything is fine beyond the veil.
I grit my teeth. Alira’s going to be worried and start suspecting something is wrong.
The night of my wedding, King Achill told me that we were right in our suspicions of the demigods following us to our kingdom.
King Borlin charmed Alira’s necklace so that they could track our movements.
They have an entire army waiting outside the veil but with no way to get in.
We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to keep it a secret from civilians for this long. Alira cannot find out.
My stomach is in knots as I speed up my long strides a bit more.
I need to figure this out before the king does anything stupid.
Sure, he may be strong and have a lot of experience on the political side of the kingdom’s operations, but he’s nothing other than a heartless fiend when it comes to managing his army.
He’d let us all die in one idiotic move, sending us unknowingly into the caves of trolls or the den of a sea monster.
No. It’s always me who must keep him level-headed when it comes to our defenses.
After King Achill’s father died, it’s been up to my predecessors and me to keep him in check.
But of course, the commanders before me didn’t last long after the hierarchy change.
Like I said, Achill would send his best knights to places he had little to no knowledge of.
Death after death until he decided someone more unkillable, like me, was the perfect fit.
I’m just grateful our foolish king listens to me.
The heavy wooden doors open slowly, with a knight standing guard on each end and protecting the king’s quarters. I nod at them and receive a respectful bow of their heads. “Commander Lornhelm, King Achill is waiting for you in his study,” the one on the left says.
“As you were,” I order and move toward the farthest room to the back left side of the small library.
King Achill’s private quarters are a gothic poet’s paradise.
Tall dark oak shelves reach more than ten feet to meet the ceiling.
All his books are faced with the pages out, making it impossible to tell which is which, and yet the king knows each one like the back of his hand.
Skulls and half-burnt candles are spread throughout the library, making each shelf just different enough to know where you are.
The walls are covered in black-patterned wallpaper with floral designs throughout it that saturate the room entirely. The darkness and clutter make my bones feel heavy just walking in here. It’s a methodical and intimidating space, like you are walking into the lair of a genius potionist.
When I round the corner to the back row, I spot King Achill waiting for me.
He holds a golden goblet and sits leisurely in a deep-purple wingback chair.
The cream-colored fur of his cloak nearly matches his blond hair, which is mussed and reflects the stress I was picking up from the maids.
At least his maroon court suit is pressed and sharp.
You can tell a lot about a person’s state of mind by how they are dressed.
Especially when it comes to King Achill.
I dip my head in a bow and press my right arm over my chest. “You summoned me, my king?”
He lets out a long sigh and swirls his goblet one more time before taking a big swig and setting it down on the small circular table at his side.
A bit early for him to be drinking.
“As you know, the demigods have been outside the veil for three months now, unable to even so much as throw a rock at our protective veil around the kingdom. Those golden-blooded beasts have been irritating, but not intolerable. Well, the situation has changed.” King Achill draws his hand down his face slowly and keeps his palm covering his mouth as his eyes scour the map that’s spread out on the coffee table before him.
“Changed, Your Majesty?”
King Achill finally lets his fatigued gaze find mine. “They’re digging to see how far down the veil reaches.”
That makes my muscles flex. We know there’s next to nothing that can penetrate the veil’s powers, but I have no knowledge of how deep into the ground that power extends.
It could be a few feet, ten, maybe a thousand, but the likelihood that it does have an opening somewhere along it is high.
Every defense has a weak spot, even one that’s powered with the golden blood of the demigods.
Sweat breaks out across my forehead. “We need to deal with them soon, then. I can have troops out there by nightfall. We’ll keep them distracted enough that they can’t continue to focus on digging, but I don’t know how long we can keep them distracted for…
maybe another month at most.” Sweat beads down my forehead and my breaths become shallow.
King Achill regards me for a few seconds, eyes glassy from his bourbon, so I’m not sure he’s even thinking straight.
He finally nods. “Yes, let’s move forward with that.
I want you at the front of these attacks, Kalel.
And I want your wife thrown into the dungeon beneath my palace until they are all dealt with. ”
My jaw slackens, and I take a step forward.
Adrenaline rushes straight to my head and makes me feel sick.
“King Achill, I swear to you that Alira is no threat to you or our kingdom. She has lived peacefully here for three months already, and she’s harmed no one.
I beg you to reconsider.” I drop to one knee and bow my head to him.
King Achill chuckles, the leather of his wingback chair creaking, suggesting that he’s leaned forward the way he usually does when he’s feeling particularly cruel.
I cannot count the times I’ve seen him do it while giving out harsh punishments to civilians.
I can envision the hollowness in his eyes perfectly, the cruel way he gets people to bend to his will.
“She’s lived peacefully beside us because she knows nothing of the war right outside our veil.
They’ve been knocking for months, Kalel.
Sooner or later, she will hear it. Or what of our little secret of the flowers, hmm?
Do you truly think that she could love a man who planted the bones of demigods for their divine power?
It’s not a matter of if she finds out, it is when.
” He stands and circles around me. His long beige cloak drags on the floor behind him as he sets a hand on my shoulder.
“I’ve been very clear to her about respecting the gardens and not taking any of the flowers.
I will assign a higher guard to her while I am away fighting the demigods.
Please, King Achill, I will have less weighing on my mind if I know she’s safe in my palace.
I will do whatever you ask, just please leave her be,” I beg him with my head still lowered.
He saunters his way back across the room to his chair and leans against the top of it. “Look at me, Kalel.”
I do, keeping my expression blank and locked with his.
“I will give you this one mercy, because I’m not an idiot.
I know you will not fight well with her lingering in your every thought, but heed my warning: If there is so much as one slipup from her, I’m taking her down to the dungeon myself.
I won’t risk her being the downfall of our veil from the inside.
She’s the most powerful weapon they have, and they don’t even know it. ” King Achill shakes his head.
“Thank you, my king. Your generosity knows no bounds.” I hate every word leaving my lips, but I’m not about to tarnish the deal I just managed.
“Don’t thank me. You’ll see soon enough that she can’t be trusted. And when you do, it will be too late. Go. Ready your knights and make sure I don’t catch your wife doing anything treasonous.” King Achill leaves on that, walking back through his library and leaving me kneeling on his floor.
I fist my hands and force myself to my feet. Alira won’t like these new arrangements, but I’m going to make sure she understands how important they are. After all, it’s only temporary. We’ll send the demigods fleeing before she grows suspicious of anything.
I can’t let her find out about any of my secrets.