Chapter 22

Chapter

Twenty-Two

ORION

T here is something different about tonight. I can’t place why exactly, but I have this feeling in my gut that I have learned to trust over the years. Something is wrong.

The hairs on my arms stand on end, and no matter how much I try to push the ominous feeling away, it grows until it is impossible to ignore. Growling under my breath, I push up from my bed in the barracks and quickly tug on my uniform. I’m technically off duty, but there is no way I can sleep with this nagging feeling in my stomach.

Stalking from the building, I head straight towards Joha’s palace, walking around the perimeter and checking for signs that anything is amiss. Nothing. Everything is suspiciously quiet. With a tightness in my chest, I enter the palace and head straight towards the king’s bedchambers.

All of the guards are stationed where they should be, every one of them alert and greeting me with a respectful nod of their heads. None of them dare to question why I’m here when I’m off duty and not in bed. This isn’t the first time that I’ve been to check on the king in the middle of the night, and it won’t be the last. I don’t stop until I reach my destination—the door to Joha’s bedroom.

“Anything to report?” I ask roughly, looking between the two guards stationed in the doorway. No one should be able to enter the room without passing these two, so if anyone has come or gone or anything untoward happened, they would know.

The guard on the left shakes his head slightly but otherwise doesn’t move, as per protocol. “No, sir. All is quiet.”

Turning to focus on the other guard, I tilt my head to one side as I scan his face. He must feel pressure under my scrutiny, something that is shown by his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, but otherwise, he doesn’t move.

“The king retired to bed several hours ago and has not left his room since, sir.”

Glancing between them, I weigh their words and slowly nod my head. The king’s guards, who are stationed by Joha’s bedroom, are chosen due to their diligence and hard work and are rewarded by being closer to the king. Although Joha hates having his every move watched, he agreed to the guards being outside the door if he could have complete privacy in his bedchamber. It was also agreed that the guards were to be as unobtrusive to the king as possible. As such, these guards are like statues, silent and unmoving unless needed.

I believe them, yet I am still unable to shake this feeling of something not being right.

“I’m going to check on the king. As you were,” I tell them and reach past them to open the doors.

Entering Joha’s chambers as quietly as possible, I make sure the doors are closed behind me before passing through into his bedroom. However, I’m almost immediately brought up short when I see the king’s empty bed.

A combination of panic and dread holds me captive for a moment as I stare at the space where I should have found the king sleeping. It only takes me a second to break out of it, and I curse as I race forward, touching the sheets, only to find them cold. Wherever the king is, he’s not been in bed for a while. With my heart in my throat, I force myself to calm down so I can focus on what needs to be done.

If I thought he was in danger, then I would immediately call the guards to help me find him. Gods, I would wake the whole cursed palace if it meant I could find him safely. However, this is not the first time he’s wandered from his room during the night to get some air, and if that’s what this is, then it would cause more problems than it’s worth to get everyone involved in a search party.

Taking a deep breath, I consider my options. There’s a known assassin staying in the palace and playing princess, and that should give me the answer I need right there, but for some unfathomable reason, I trust her not to hurt him—even if that’s only because it suits her own purposes to have him alive and on her side.

If I hold off and delay getting help, resulting in Joha getting hurt because of how long it takes to find him, then I would never forgive myself. The very reason I’m here is to keep him safe. However, his physical safety is not my only priority, but his mental state too. If Queen Mother found out that Joha goes for midnight strolls, it would have severe consequences and take away the little freedom he currently has.

That would destroy him.

Gritting my teeth, I do one final sweep of his rooms, confirming that he’s not here, and then I make a decision that I could live to regret. Cursing, I storm from the king’s room, shut the doors behind me, and ignore the guards there. They’ll probably be wondering about my foul mood and the fact that I was in Joha’s room for less than a minute, but they don’t dare say anything. They are too professional to do that. Besides, I don’t exactly have a reputation for being warm and fuzzy.

Joha better be alive because when I find him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. He’s been so reckless recently. People are trying to kill him, but he seems to think he’s safe when he’s here because of his guards—guards that he currently doesn’t have with him.

Anger fuels me as I storm through the grounds, not caring about the cool night air against my skin. Thankfully, I don’t have to search too hard for him as I’m pretty sure I know exactly where he will be.

There’s one place on the palace grounds that he finds the most peaceful, and I would bet a year’s salary on him being there—the lake. It’s quiet, and for a while, you can almost forget the rest of the palace exists. None of the staff or residents of the palace go there, either too busy with their work or worried about staining their exorbitant clothing. Nature isn’t something that seems to attract the lords and ladies. That’s probably another reason why the king likes to disappear to the lake, knowing he’ll get some peace. I’ve found him there on several occasions without his guards when he needs to escape, and with everything that’s happened today, I can’t say I blame him.

Winding my way through the maze of palace buildings, I head towards the lake when I hear a strange noise. Frowning, I slow my pace and listen for it. I hear the sound again and freeze, trying to make it out. It’s almost like a cross between a drag and shuffle, but I don’t know what would cause it. There aren’t any guard patrols around this part of the palace, and no one should be wandering around at this time of night. Tilting my head, I attempt to work out where it is coming from.

There.

There is a small clearing between two unused back buildings. It’s almost completely closed in by the structures, and the space is only really used as a cut through to reach other parts of the grounds more quickly. However, I’m sure that’s where the noise is coming from, and despite my burning need to hurry and find Joha, my gut is telling me I should check it out.

As quickly as I can manage while trying to stay silent, I hurry over and walk along the side of the building until the wall opens up into the clearing. I peer around the corner, and my eyes widen and my chest goes tight at what I see.

Joha, the king, is covered in blood and attempting to drag a body across the clearing.

Moving faster than I have in a long time, I race across the space until I’m at the king’s side, pulling him away from the body and looking for the source of his injury. Content that he’s not going to die on me immediately, I glance around for any threats, scanning the dark corners of the clearing and the rooftops in case the attacker is still around. There’s a dead body at the king’s feet, and I doubt very much that Joha was the one to kill him. While I know the king has the skill, he’s not the type to unless he has no other option.

Assured that we’re alone, I turn my attention back to the king, scanning his body once more. My heart pounds so loudly that it almost drowns out all other sounds, but I force myself to focus. The king needs me. “Your Majesty, you’re hurt. Tell me where the injury is. We need to stop the bleeding,” I order, my voice even and smooth, not showing even the slightest hint of fear. “I need to go raise the alarm.”

Joha has just been staring at me in a state of shock since I appeared at his side, resembling a fish as his mouth opens and closes without any sound. However, this seems to snap him out of his daze, and he grabs onto my arms and pulls me to a stop.

“Orion, no! I’m not injured. You can’t tell anyone about this. You have to help me hide the body.” He’s pale, all the blood having drained from his face, and his eyes are wide, but his grip on me is strong. Relief floods me knowing that he’s not injured, but it quickly vanishes as I absorb the rest of his comments. Hide the body?

Feeling exasperated, I frown and shake my head, gesturing to the large patch of blood on his clothing. “Joha, you’re covered in blood and you’re dragging the body off.” I trail off as I notice the dagger lying on the ground beside the body. My heart sinks as I make the connection. The wolf symbol carved into the hilt of the blade is unmistakable.

That dagger belongs to a guard.

Leaning down, I gently roll the body over and sigh when I recognise the face of one of the palace guards. My head hangs heavily for a moment as I process this. I’ll have to discover his name and find a way to contact his family to let them know of his passing.

“A guard is dead, Joha.” Sighing again, I push up from my crouch and meet the king’s gaze, knowing I’m about to say something he won’t agree with. “Someone needs to know.”

His expression shifts into one I’ve seen many times before, his stubborn streak showing as he moves past me and grabs the dead guard’s arm. “No. I am sorry, friend, but I cannot allow that.”

He only gets half a step before I grab the back of his shirt and haul him to a stop. If anyone else tried a move like that, they would be tried for treason with me at the head of the trial, but there are some perks to being the king’s best friend and head of the guard.

“Have you lost your mind?” I bark out between clenched teeth, anger burning hot in my stomach. I firmly believe in respecting the dead, especially a guard who has given his life to protect his king, so seeing said king dragging his body around is infuriating. “What in the underworld are you doing?”

Finally losing his composure, Joha shakes me off and jerks his hand towards the body. “This man tried to kill me, and now I need to hide his body!” Anger laces his tone, but I hear the undercurrent of shock that he’s trying to hide. Now that I look more closely, I see his hand trembling slightly.

As a soldier, my mind processes things differently and I’m able to compartmentalise, removing the fear from a situation so I can focus on what needs to be done. That skill can make me appear like I don’t have feelings or that I’m cold-hearted. In most cases, I don’t care, as that is what helps me survive. Occasionally, like right now, I have to remind myself to switch that off so I can understand how others might be feeling.

Joha was almost assassinated tonight. He could have died.

A flare of panic bursts in my chest so hard it almost takes my breath away, followed quickly by fury that threatens to overtake all. I want to rage at him that this is exactly what we’ve been trying to avoid by forcing him to have guards with him at all times, but I know now isn’t the time. I might be his protector, but I will always be his friend.

Huffing out a sigh, I step forward and place a hand on his shoulder again, but unlike last time, this is a gesture of support. “You’re okay, Joha. You’re alive. Tell me what happened,” I coax, needing to get through to him. The longer we’re out here, the more at risk we are of being found.

Joha meets my steady gaze with a wide one of his own. He’s lost in his own mind right now, and I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat.

“You are sure he was a guard?” he finally croaks out, looking down at the body again.

Releasing his shoulder, I cross my arms over my chest and grunt in answer. “Yeah, he’s new, but I recognise his face.” I try not to be impatient or shake him and hope answers fall out, but we really can’t risk being out here much longer. “What’s going on here, Joha?”

Sighing, the king puts his hands in his pockets, his expression reluctant. “I was unable to sleep, so I snuck out and went to the old training ground to let off some steam.”

My blood pressure shoots through the roof at his comment and my whole body tenses, but I don’t interrupt him as he continues his story. He tells me about how Alyx found him and goaded him into sparring with her and how he was followed when he was returning to his room. When he tells me of his cloaked rescuer, I think I’m going to have a heart attack. Someone tried to kill the king, but before they could, someone else killed the would-be assassin. If this person was friendly or of honest intent, then they would have stayed around to make sure the king was safe, not hidden their identity and threatened him.

There are some serious lapses in security that allowed all of this to happen, and I will get to the bottom of it. However, what worries me the most about this whole story is the sparkle in his eyes when he speaks of Alyx. This is an assassin, someone who is only here to help him because he is the highest bidder and it suits her, and he’s talking about her as though she’s a shiny new toy. This is only going to get Joha hurt or killed.

By the time Joha finishes his story, I’m pacing, and he’s watching me with a resigned expression. He knows he’s in big trouble. He’s been at the end of my dressing downs on more than one occasion before, so he knows it’s useless to protest.

There is so much I want to say, and my mind is a twisted mess as I try to understand the absolute stupidity that caused him to leave his chambers in the first place.

“What if someone saw the two of you sparring?” I say through gritted teeth. “That was beyond careless. She’s an assassin, Joha!” Seeing the stubborn set of his jaw, I know I’m not getting through to him, so I take a deep breath and try to focus on what’s important. “I’m assuming that the guard’s attack was another assassination attempt courtesy of Queen Mother. Do you have any idea who the cloaked male who saved you was?”

Shaking his head, Joha raises a hand and brushes back his usually pristine hair. “I didn’t recognise his voice, and I had no idea he was there. I think it’s safe to assume that he wasn’t from within the palace.”

Wonderful. We have a dead guard turned assassin and strangers with deadly skill from the outside wandering in and out of the palace grounds as they please. I need to speak to the guards and increase security around here as soon as possible. We’ve obviously become too lax.

Sighing, I rub my hand over my face. “Go back to your rooms, and for the love of all that’s holy, don’t leave until I come for you in the morning. I’ll sort this out.” We both know I’m referring to the body.

A look of profound relief floods his face. He trusts me to handle this with discretion and doesn’t question me further. The less he knows about what I’m going to do next, the better.

Uncharacteristically quiet, he nods slowly in agreement and turns to leave.

“Joha,” I call before he gets far. “This isn’t the end of this. We will be talking about this.” My no-nonsense expression tells him how serious I am. His safety is one thing I won’t compromise on, and I’m not afraid to shout at the king if it means he won’t do something this stupid again.

Looking sheepish, Joha nods, turns, and jogs towards his rooms. Waiting until he’s out of sight, I roll my shoulders and neck, wishing I could escort him back. However, I have a job to do.

Growling down at the body, I prepare for a long couple of days. I need to discover if there are any more traitors in the guard, in my guard, and I need to make sure the palace is properly protected. An assassin was killed by an assassin.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I bend and lift the dead guard, throwing him over my shoulder. Usually, I’d have more respect for the dead, but this man attempted to commit treason, and I have zero respect for people who try to hurt my king.

Where was Alyx during all of this anyway? It seems convenient that she disappeared during the attack. I’ll deal with that in the morning, but for now, I have a body to bury.

Checking that the coast is clear, I cross the clearing and head to the place that I’d been heading to anyway, and the only place where you can hide a body without anyone finding it—the lake.