Chapter 4 Diego
“This means we’re now a kingdom with no king?” Aeon snorted.
Phaedra gasped, wide-eyed, pressing a hand to her chest. “That is most unfortunate… but we still have a queen and a prince in the palace.”
“Prince Alexander may be undertrained to rule, but the royal house have no other choice. He’s a rightful heir and very much alive,” Berion said, letting out a chuckle. “I guess we can expect a more lighthearted regime under him…”
Phaedra pursed her lips.
Prince Alexander’s frivolity was common knowledge throughout the realm.
Aeon rolled her shoulders. “That’s just great. That means the kingdom’s coffers will be spent mostly on festivities and sporting competitions… we should develop a tonic that enhances the champions’ vigor and—”
Berion shifted his gaze toward her, beaming. “Good thinking, Aeonice… we must always see the bright side of circumstances and find opportunities. A tonic would be a brilliant idea.”
Aeon bit on her tongue. She had meant to lampoon Alexander’s rule with nonsense, but she knew better than stirring the pot.
Socrates’ barking in the distance alerted her.
“I’d better get back to work at the shed,” she said. “I’ll take an extra bowl of stew, okay? Soc must be hungry—”
“You should not waste a good stew for that damned dog, Aeonice,” Berion barked. “I wasn’t busting my ass working to feed it.”
Aeon flinched. She could hear a vein pulsing in her ears.
“Then you can have it all to yourself,” she said, letting out a harsh breath and bolted out of the house.
She strode through the vegetable field, fuming through her nose.
Socrates met her with halfway with frantic huffing and barking.
“Is he alright?”
She got a bark for an answer.
As they walked into the shed, the man was sitting upright on the makeshift bed of hay covered with Aeon’s woolen cloak, stretching his arms.
“Oh, you’re awake—” Aeon said as she cautiously approached.
He turned and shot her a sharp stare.
“Who are you, and what is this place?” he asked. His eyes burned with rage. His brassy voice didn’t sound a bit grateful that he was alive.
“Relax, you’re safe here… I’m Aeon and this is my friend, Socrates. We found you floating in the marshes this morning… and took you here to tend to your wounds. It’s just a farm shed, sorry… but I can’t let my mother find out about you,” she said and bit her lower lip. “Can you tell me what happened to you out there? You had an arrow buried in your back—”
“How far are we from the castle?” he barked.
“About half the daylight on foot, around the jagged cliffs—”
She wasn’t about to reveal the secret tunnels beneath the caves that offered a faster route to the capital. She and her mother were the only people alive who knew about it.
“And where are we, exactly?”
“We’re at the eastern edge of the Silver Ash Woods, near the fingers of the marshlands.”
“This is extremely remote—” he said, shaking his head. “Why do you live so far away?”
Aeon’s brows shot up. “It was my grandfather’s property… his choice. Now it belongs to my mother. And this offbeat place had been my home since I was born… no complaints,” she said, taking in a deep breath. “What’s your name and how did you get that arrow in your back? Why were you shot at?”
He flashed a weak grin. “Before I give you an answer, I got one last question for you… what’s the latest news from the palace? Is the alpha king alright?”
She flinched. “You haven’t heard?”
“I heard nothing for a couple of months at sea…”
“His Highness died early this morning… the bells tolled long before the sun was up. And that’s not the end of it… I heard Prince Herrick’s voyage was attacked by pirates last night, during the storm… and they believed he died with everyone aboard the ship.”
“So, the alpha king is dead…” he said, blinking rapidly. He pressed his lips together and lowered his head.
“Wait— did you say you were at sea?” Aeon said, narrowing her eyes. “Were you, by any chance, on that ship with Prince Herrick and somehow managed to jump off and drift into the marshes?”
He raised his head, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Yes… I was in that ship.”
“Ooh… can you tell me what the pirates did to overrun the soldiers in the ship? Did you see the prince? Is he really dead?”
“You seem wanting to make sure he’s dead, huh?”
“N— no! Not at all. It saddens me to hear that everyone went down with him… but now that I know at least one of them survived, I’m hoping Prince Herrick made it out, too.”
“Why do you say that?”
“B— because people say he’s a good man… he may be the leader that this country needs.”
“Herrick is dead… and I could have died just the same, if not for you… and your dog. So, thank you, Aeon… for saving my life.”
“You haven’t told me your name…”
“Call me Diego…”
“Diego…” she said under her breath. Uttering his name made her heart skip a beat. “It’s a beautiful name…”
“So is yours, Aeon… I like how smoothly it slides in my tongue as I say it,” he said, flashing a coy grin.
A flush warmed her cheeks. “So— why were you on the ship with the prince? You don’t seem likely a soldier to me—”
“And how were you able to make that assumption?”
She jerked her chin up. “Your hands… they were flawless. I guess you never held a sword or a crossbow in your entire life.”
He chuckled. “Okay, you got me. I— I’m just a friend of the prince. We studied together in Alhambra.”
“So, you held books. You’re a scholar?”
“I was… my time for books is over. Now, I think I have to brush up on my skills at the crossbow.”
“Why?”
“Because the men who attacked our ship were not pirates…”
“How did you know?”
He reached for the arrow that was taken out of his back.
“This arrow is not a standard weapon issued to the soldiers and sentries of the kingdom. This was custom made for an elite force of the Alpha King’s army—”
Aeon gasped. “You mean—”
Diego nodded. “Someone in the palace had planned to assassinate Prince Herrick… and I’m gonna find out who,”