Chapter 27 (T) - The Assassins' Targets

  Xander and I pull away as we hear the sound of glass shattering from outside the room. King Edrick sprints to the door before the rest of us have time to respond, and charges into the hall with the rest of us behind him. As he looks up and down the hall, I try to open the door to the room Dad’s in.

  “The- The knob won’t turn!”

  “What?! Get out of the way!”

  King Edrick shoves me aside before I get a chance to protest, and with a single kick, tears the door clear off its hinges. On the other side, a lit candle on the windowsill lights the room. Someone lies still on the floor below the broken window. A dark pool is slowly forming under them. Not far off is Dad, looking exhausted, one hand on the bed frame to hold himself up, the other pointing his red-stained sword directly at us unwaveringly.

  “Dad? Dad?! What happened?!”

  “Tessa…?” His eyes get wider, and after a moment, he relaxes somewhat and lowers his sword. “What’s… What’s going on?”

  “I- I- I was coming to see you! But everything was quiet, and I heard a noise from the room across from here, and someone tried to kill me!”

  His eyes open about as wide as I think they can. “Wh-what?! Someone tried to- ?!”

  “Y-yeah… If Xander hadn’t got there in time…” I trail off. I really don’t wanna think about that right now. “But forget that, what happened to you?!” Dad sighs, and sits on the edge of the bed. His hands are shaking.

  “I woke up here in this room. It was dark, so I lit a candle. I couldn’t create a flame with my magic, but luckily there were some matches next to it. I was staring out into the darkness, when I heard footsteps in the hall. I turned to the door, but right then this man came through the window.” He gestures at the person on the floor, where Zach is checking him for a pulse. “He had a dagger drawn, but he seemed surprised to find me awake and on my feet. He attempted to impale me on his blade, but I managed to draw my own and strike first. His head hit the window and he collapsed, and not a moment later the door bursts open… and here we are.”

  Zach looks up from the body on the floor. “So… assassins targeted two of the councillors on the case tonight…”

  Dad looks over at him. “Ah! Councillor Aldritch?! Is he alright?!”

  The king nods, and gestures to me and Xander. “Thanks to these two, the assassin never had a chance to harm him..”

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  “Wait a sec… Hey Zach, when you say ‘two of the councillors on the case’, do you mean…?” Zach goes pale. Crap, I forgot I wasn’t supposed to talk about this.

  Dad glares down at Zach. “Steele, you didn’t-”

  Zach sighs. “...I… may have let a few things slip…”

  Dad looks pissed for a moment, before hanging his head and holding it in his hands. “...Wonderful… And what am I supposed to do now…?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean, Aranae?” the king asks. “Your daughter saved this town from a Daedalus fire beast only a few days ago, and now she is responsible for thwarting an attempted assassination of a Marillan Councillor. There’s nothing you can do to stop her from getting involved now.”

  “I… I know, but I- I have to protect-”

  “You have to protect her? She’s already going to be in Daedalus’ sights, after tonight. How is leaving her ignorant of the threat we face going to ‘keep her safe’ now, exactly?” I can hear Dad’s heart racing, but he doesn’t say anything.

  Xander pipes up. “Umm… Tessa? You were saying something about the councillors?”

  “Oh right, that. Zach, you said there’s three councillors on this case, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “And two of them got attacked tonight?”

  The king staggers back as he realizes what I’m saying. “Dammit! Someone might go for Isaac too!”

  “The fastest way to get to him is by wyvern,” Zach says.

  “Then there’s no time to send anyone else!” Without another word, the king bolts from the room.

  Dad tries to get up, but stumbles, and Xander catches him with his good arm. “Sir, are you sure you should be up and moving?”

  “I- I don’t have a choice. I can’t just sit here… being worthless. I have to- I have to do something to help.”

  “Dad, stop. You literally just woke up in a hospital. Your magic doesn’t work yet. You’re going to stay here and rest.”

  “Tessa, I- I’m fine. I can-”

  “No, Dad. You overtaxed your magic. Even if you did feel fine, which you clearly don’t, you’d still need rest. Isn’t that what you told me the other day? ” I can see the displeasure plain as day on his face”

  “Throw my own words back at me, will you?” He hangs his head again and sighs. “...Fine… You’re right… I’ll rest.” He looks back up at me. “But you look like you’re about to keel over. You need rest too, okay?”

  I smile in relief. “Yeah yeah, I know. I’ll go home and get some rest when I can. But I feel like the knights are gonna have lots of questions when they get here, so I’ll probably have to answer those first, though.”

  Dad smiles back. “I suppose so.”