21
I’m beginning to think my work here will have nothing to do with my skills as an assassin and more the fact that I can turn invisible. But I suppose the King would have other assassins at his disposal.
“Go on.” I say to the King.
“Do you remember the artifact that you so graciously stole from me the night we first met? The one that you told me is actually crucial to the prophecy?”
My eyes go wide before I’m able to stop them, how long had he known? Is that why he couldn’t share more when I told them of the prophecy?
“Relax love, I’ve known for a while and I don’t mind. I stole it back in fact.”
The way he says it so casually shocks me, I had given the artifact to my commander as soon as I returned back to base. If he had stolen it from Hidale’s base on the front lines, it wouldn’t have been an easy task.
“How?” I breathe out.
He looks at me, slightly coy. My guess is that he’s trying to decide how much he can share with the assassin. Just like the other night when he had chosen not to share this with me.
“You remember the members of my royal guard?”
Anger rises from my stomach and reaches up to tense my shoulders as I remember the hands that were on my neck all those nights ago. I look away, no longer wanting to meet Xander’s gaze.
As if the King reads my mind, he says the man’s name, Desmond.
My gaze shoots back across to the King and I narrow my eyes at him.
“I wish I had the chance to kill him myself that night.” I seethe.
“I should have given it to you.”
Surprise flickers across my face, sending my brows high.
Xander gets up to pour himself a drink from the cart next to the couch.
“He may have been a member of my royal guard for a long time—but I don’t take treason or attempting to murder someone in their sleep lightly.”
I watch as Xander grabs another glass from the bar cart and fills it. When he’s done, he walks over to me and hands me the glass of amber liquid. I take it and return a tight smile.
“If he was that type of person, why was he part of your royal guard?”
Xander stands in front of me, taking a sip of his drink and staring into the fire.
“Every member of my royal guard serves a purpose. I use my power on them frequently to see if they’re trustworthy but sometimes it’s not as effective.”
“Not as effective how?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
He glances at me from the side, face still turned toward the fire. I see the orange flames light up his skin, highlighting a light stubble recently grown and the blue of his eyes.
“I can’t share that yet, I hope you can understand.”
I take a drink from my own glass in response. The amber liquid burning my throat on the way down. Seeming an appropriate feeling to encompass my emotions right now.
I do understand but it’s getting harder to work for the King with all the unanswered questions.
“Wait—” I say quickly as a thought crashes through me. I look over at Xander who finally turns his head to face me. “Desmond didn’t use any powers on me, why not?”
Xander’s expression changes in an instant, almost looking flushed or slightly shy.
“He did use his power on me.” I breathe, realisation hitting me.
“What is it?” I snap after he doesn’t say anything further, this is something I should be allowed to know.
“I suppose he’s dead now, no harm in telling you.” The King says, almost too casually.
I watch as Xander takes another drink. “My thoughts exactly.”
Xander sighs before continuing. “Desmond, used to have the power to put people to sleep.”
I clench my jaw as I realise what really happened that night.
“That's why I fell asleep.” I say, no question in my voice.
Gods, I knew I wasn’t that useless.
Xander smiles slightly to the side.
“He must have known you were too stubborn to sleep around enemies and took his chance on his first watch.”
“And we still don’t know why?” I mean other than the fact that I killed his friends but that surely wasn’t the only reason.
“In case you don’t remember, I killed him before I could find out.” Xander bites out the words, like he hates himself for it.
“I acted impulsively.”
I cross my arms, tucking the glass in my hand above my elbow. “Well, I’m not complaining. I would have just killed him the second you got him off me anyway.”
His smile doesn’t meet his eyes as he takes his next sip.
“So Desmond helped you steal the artifact back? By putting the guards and soldiers to sleep?” I push, seeing how much I can coax from him.
Xander nods softly. “I had the help of him and Alistair.”
He tilts his head to the side in thought, before adding, “and I guess Fray too technically.”
“What are their powers?”
“Fray is a tracker and Alistair is classified.”
“Right.” I mutter, taking a sip of my drink.
Now I know that Fray’s a tracker, it makes sense that she’s in the King’s royal guard, her ability is very useful.
“We’re getting off topic.” The King says abruptly.
“All I had meant to tell you, was that the artifact has a piece missing, I want the other piece so I can complete it and help the Nytherin when the time comes.”
“And what does it do? How could the Nytherin use it?” I dare ask, sometimes he surprises me with what he’s willing to share but he did just shut me down when it came to telling me Alistair's abilities. I guess it’ll just depend on how much I could fuck up for him with this information.
Xander clears his throat. “The artifact is a tool that can be used to finally kill Hidale, that’s why Hidale’s army wanted you to steal it originally, only he had no idea there were two pieces.”
“Finally?”
Xander nods but looks away. “It’ll help the Nytherin finish him off anyway.”
“Yes, but what do you mean finally?” I ask, surely he could answer me this?
“Hidale isn’t easy to kill.” Xander says with a pointed look at me before taking another sip of his drink. “Trust me, if he was easy to kill, I would have done it decades ago.”
I open my mouth to ask another question, ask him to share more than the vague information he just gave me.
“Maeve.” He says sternly, “I cannot share anything further with you at the moment. It’s not something many know, especially when Hidale doesn’t go to the front lines or engage in battle.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “How long will it be before you trust me?”
Xander looks up at me, his eyes softening ever so slightly as he meets my gaze.
“Like I said the other night, it’s not just about you, there’s so many lives at stake. I cannot risk it just yet.”
He sighs when he notes the unamused expression on my face and adds, “all in time love, I'm sure.”
I ignore him to ask my next question, one that he should be able to answer.
“Do you think the Nytherin will want to help us kill Hidale?”
The expression in Xander’s eyes changes from guilty to curious and playful and I start to wonder what he’s picked up on.
“Us?” He muses.
Of course it’s that. I shift my gaze from his, my cheeks heating ever so slightly.
“You’re paying me to help you kill Hidale, aren’t you?” I state, a small attempt at deflection.
“That is true.” He says, before running his free hand through his messy dark hair. “I suppose I don’t know if they will be inclined to help us.” He looks up at me and smirks when he says the word I regret. “However, I have a good suspicion that they won’t want to run from this.”
I push off the wall and make to leave.
“Always so confident.”
I hear him chuckle as I go to walk out the door.
As I open the handle, I’m met with an extremely angry looking Cole on the other side.
“What’s going on?” I ask hesitantly.
Cole tears his eyes away from me and looks behind me to where Xander stands.
“There’s word of an attack on more centaurs, just outside the wall.”
Anger takes over Xander’s features, gone is the playful King from before.
“Well, love.” He says looking towards me, biting out the words with clenched teeth.
“I guess you’ll get to see Cole in action sooner than you thought.”