Page 41 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

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.

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