Chapter 12
“Unfortunately, there is no indicator of who those men were yet.”
Corinne stood off to the side in the small council chamber, watching dawn break over the mountains through one of six windows. The king and queen sat at the table alongside the full six-member council and Prince Aryel, and Captain Ekhana stood as he reported the findings of the city guard.
“And there was no…” Councilor Dresden hesitated. “Dark magic involved?”
Captain Ekhana looked to Corinne, and all eyes followed his. She tried not to wilt under the gaze of so many powerful people.
“No,” she said. “They were skilled fighters, perhaps trained assassins, but ordinary as far as I could tell.”
King Theo sat in seething silence while Queen Erina fidgeted with the end of her braid, her face pale.
“Do we think they are connected to the threat we received three weeks ago or not?” she asked, her voice cutting.
“It’s hard to say,” Captain Ekhana said slowly.
“I don’t want to be told what we don’t know, and what cannot be done, Captain Ekhana,” the queen said. “Have your guards continue their investigation.” She turned to Corinne. “And you—send word to the monastery as soon as this meeting is finished.”
Corinne nodded, hoping that afterward, she could finally get some sleep.
“I would encourage you all to be on your guard,” King Theo said, standing, and the others followed suit. “Prince Aryel will not be leaving the castle grounds for the foreseeable future, and I suggest you all assign guards to your children as well. A threat to my family is a threat to us all.”
Morning light crept slowly into the room as the councilors departed, and Corinne lingered behind, waiting as Aryel had a quiet conversation with his mother. Her cheeks warmed when she caught the last bit of what he said.
“…Can’t she sleep a bit first? We’ve been awake all night—”
“If you were so concerned for her, you wouldn’t have snuck out in the first place when I strictly told you not to,” Queen Erina snapped. “She will keep watch over you, as is her duty.”
Aryel sighed as his mother took his father’s arm and left the room, leaving Aryel, Corinne, and Captain Ekhana alone.
“Do you know your way to the courier room, Corinne?” the captain asked.
She shook her head—that was not a place Orana had shown her.
He turned to a nearby guard, who stood at attention when he approached. “Please escort Prince Aryel back to his rooms.”
The guard nodded, and Aryel shot Corinne an apologetic look before leaving. The fact that he’d at least tried to vouch for her made the entire situation a little less terrible. She rallied what remained of her energy and followed Ekhana into the corridor.
By the time they reached the courier room at the top of a tower in the east wing, Corinne feared her legs might fall off. She resisted the urge to ease her fatigue with magic; at this point, it would only tire her out further.
A small man with paper-thin peachy skin sat at a little desk in the circular room, riffling through a mountain of papers.
Several servants cleared the room upon Captain Ekhana and Corinne’s arrival, carrying notes they’d retrieved from the doves roosting in a small house-shaped structure by the singular open window.
“Good morning, Fael,” Ekhana said, and the man looked up at him.
“Morning, morning, Captain. What can I do for you?”
“Corinne here needs to send a message to the monastery.”
Fael looked around Ekhana’s form to assess Corinne.
“Very well. Write your note and I’ll get it sent out,” he said, going back to his papers.
Corinne exhaled. She wasn’t sure she could’ve handled prying questions.
Ekhana gestured to one of several small tables on their left, which had piles of blank parchment, quills, and ink, before departing.
It took Corinne far longer to draft the note than she’d expected.
What was she to say? The prince and I were at a party in the woods, and we got attacked in the city on our way back.
Guilt settled in her heart. What had she been thinking last night?
She should have insisted they go back, should have dragged him away from that gathering, noble witnesses or not.
She kept the message simple and rolled it up after signing her name. Fael took it wordlessly. Despite her exhaustion, Corinne lingered, a thought nagging at her.
“May I ask you a question?” Corinne asked, and Fael raised an eyebrow. “The note received threatening the prince’s life…did you all keep it?”
Fael shook his head. “The Lightguards requested it for investigation, so it’s with them now.”
Corinne nodded with a sigh—it made sense, even if she wished she could have seen it herself.
After thanking Fael, she set off to return to her station. You can sleep tonight, Corinne, she told herself. She could make it through, even if the thought of standing alertly outside Aryel’s door for another full shift made her want to cry.
When she arrived at the alcove, though, it wasn’t the guard Captain Ekhana had sent with Aryel that stood by his door, but Danai.
“Corinne,” they said, eyebrows shooting up.
“Danai, what are you doing here?” Corinne asked, her voice low as she approached.
“We heard what happened last night,” Danai said. “I can stand guard here for a few hours if you want to get some sleep.”
Corinne could have kissed them. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” they said, smile bright. “I got plenty of sleep last night, and today is my day off.”
“Danai, you don’t have to—”
“Just for a few hours,” they said. “I’ll wake you, I promise.”
Perhaps it was her utter exhaustion that made her constitution so weak, but she agreed. “Wake me by midafternoon.”
“Will do.”
Corinne hesitated a moment before placing a hand on Danai’s shoulder, and their mouth lifted in a lopsided smile.
“Thank you, Danai. Truly.”
“You’re welcome. Now go to bed.”
Laughing a little, Corinne stepped into her room. She quickly scrubbed herself clean in the shower and buried herself in her blankets the moment she was dry enough, sleep taking her almost instantly.
Aryel only adhered to his afternoon and early evening schedule, attending an additional meeting with Councilor Toro before he was summoned to a dinner with nobles.
Corinne didn’t envy him, but she was grateful for her own reprieve—numerous guards would be present at that event, and another guard was set to take over the night shift upon Aryel’s return.
So she sat in her room in solitude, reading through the tome with noble family histories again, this time putting several faces to the names.
Petros and Elys belonged to families who didn’t own land, but rather businesses in Vytanos. Corinne rubbed at her eyes as she glanced over the few names she’d written down of nobles with holdings closer to the Shadowlands. She hadn’t met any of those mentioned, and it wasn’t much to go on, anyway.
Perhaps Vera was right, and she shouldn’t bother trying to figure out who the spy might be. Losing sleep over it would only make her struggle to carry out her duty. With a yawn, she closed the book and placed her list in her nightstand drawer before once again surrendering to the call of sleep.
The next morning found Aryel in a particularly foul mood.
Before, she might have attributed it to his generally temperamental nature, but now she couldn’t help but wonder if Lana or perhaps some other noble had mistreated him in some way at the dinner last night.
He didn’t snap at Corinne, at least, but he didn’t speak to her, either.
The tension in his body grew even more pronounced as they approached the throne room.
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” Corinne said, in an attempt to dispel some of that tension.
“Great.” His voice was flat, emotionless as he stepped inside.
Corinne suppressed a sigh as the doors shut behind him.
The empathetic Aryel from two nights ago had morphed back into the obstinate prince she’d come to expect.
A bit of worry prickled at the back of Corinne’s neck as she headed for the dining hall.
She’d let her guard down in front of him in a way she hadn’t with anyone except Vera.
What if he no longer trusted her, thought she was unqualified to be not only his protector, but a Lightguard at all?
What kind of Lightguard collapses in panic after successfully executing their duty?
Corinne shook her head as she walked. Stay the course. Be the Light. Her heart slowed again after she’d repeated it to herself four more times.
The moment Corinne entered the dining hall, she regretted it.
Of course, news of an attack on the prince would travel quickly, and the eyes and whispers that followed her as she hurried toward her usual table made her stomach turn.
Danai, Nik, and Iliana were already seated, their conversation halting the moment Corinne sat down.
“Can I help you?” Iliana asked over Corinne’s shoulder, narrowing her eyes at a guard who was gawking at Corinne.
They scurried off, and to Corinne’s relief, others went back to their meals and conversations.
Iliana nudged Corinne’s shoulder with hers. “Are you all right?”
Corinne met her gaze, then looked to Nik and Danai as a servant placed a plate before her. She wasn’t certain she could even eat now.
“I’m…well enough,” she said.
She truly didn’t know how to answer the question. Physically, she was perfectly fine, but the rest…she hadn’t really let it sink in yet.
“What happened?” Danai asked at the same time Nik said, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“What Nik said,” Iliana said, shaking her head at Danai.
“No, I don’t mind,” Corinne said, keeping her voice low. She glanced around to ensure there were no other eavesdroppers or gawkers before explaining the prince sneaking out and the subsequent events of her evening two nights prior.
“See, this is why I’m not upset that I don’t get invited to those gatherings,” Danai said, stabbing a sausage with their fork. “All that theater, and for what?”
Corinne refrained from sharing the fact that she’d threatened a noblewoman, unwilling for that particular detail to be overheard. When she told them about the attackers, all three of them leaned in closer.
“Sounds like you took care of them easily,” Iliana said. “Which isn’t surprising. But Goddess, what a nightmare.”
“I hope the guards can find out more,” Corinne said, shaking her head. “If there are more assassins in the city or around Ashera. Or who is giving them orders.”
“I’m sure they can figure out something,” Iliana said. “Nik’s father has trained them well.”
“As soon as I find out anything, I’ll let you all know,” Nik said.
A servant approached from Corinne’s right, and Iliana threw them a withering glare. The girl’s face paled, but she quickly bowed and held out a rolled-up note.
“A message came for you, Lady Corinne,” she said, her voice soft.
Corinne thanked her and took the note, bewildered. Lady Corinne? She was no noble. She looked to the others with a raised eyebrow, and they all laughed.
“I suppose she isn’t sure what to call you,” Danai said.
“What does one call a Lightguard?” Nik mused as Corinne opened the note.
Corinne,
This is harrowing news. You are hereby summoned to the monastery to report more on this incident. We will await your imminent arrival.
Priestess Bria
Corinne’s heart picked up speed. It didn’t give her confidence that the Priestesses were so worried about the attack that they would call her away from her assignment.
Though perhaps if she spoke with them directly, they could use her information to discover more about the plot against Aryel’s life.
“Speaking of your father, Nik, I have to go find him again,” Corinne said, sighing.
“Is everything all right?” Nik asked.
“I’ve been summoned to the monastery,” she said. “I’ll see you all later.”
They each bade her good luck, and Corinne set off to find Captain Ekhana.