The False Prince (Fall Of A King Book 1)

by Fuller, James

  "We heard ya the first time," another one barked back. "We are assassins. We have trained our entire lives to do this very thing - we understand the stakes better than you do."

  "Yes, I guess you are right," Uvael muttered, trying to hide his nervousness. "Well then, you are all clear on payment then? Whichever one or ones make it back here with the target's head gets a thousand gold. If you work together then you will have to split the reward any way you like - that is not Dragon Cove's problem." The mention of the large reward had the men's eyes glistening with anticipation and greed.

  "All right men, go do your job and may the Creator grant you much fortune," Uvael ordered, giving them a bow of his head.

  "Ahh, luck is for women," one of them muttered on his way out.

  "Wait, Pavilion, I need to speak with you," Uvael called to the last assassin about to exit the room, who stopped to regard him.

  "What is it now, old man?" Pavilion asked with more than a hint of annoyance.

  Uvael looked around and out the door to make sure the others had left before answering. "You know you have a great advantage over these men. You know your part in this, Pavilion. You are the only one who stands a chance - you let the other four do their thing and when this evil Wizard is distracted, you finish him."

  "I know what I am to do, I fully understand the plan," Pavilion replied callously.

  "Good, we cannot afford any mistakes. If you have to kill the others, then so be it. They are nothing but vile criminals anyway," Uvael whispered to him. "This false Prince must be killed at all costs. If the only chance you get will blow your cover, do it and get out of there as fast as you can. If you are captured, make sure you give them this ring," Uvael told him, handing him a small crafted ring with Uvael's own personal symbol. "This ring should buy your freedom or, in the least, will send word to me so that I may explain your actions."

  "And what if it does not?" Pavilion asked, not caring either way.

  "Then know you died for a great cause and I will be sure your name goes down in history as a hero, not a villain," Uvael assured him.

  "It now matters not anyway," the assassin replied, walking out the door.

  "You will have a thousand gold coins, more than enough to start a new life, Pavilion - do not give up yet," Uvael called to him, but he was already gone.

  *****

  Nicolette's shoulder flexed with the strain of pulling back on the bow. Her fingers brushed the corner of her mouth and she halted her draw. She adjusted her aim a finger's span to the left to counter the light breeze coming off the Serpent Sea. She exhaled slowly and before she drew another breath, released the barbed shaft. Within a moment, she heard the familiar thud of her arrow hitting the straw target.

  "Another great shot," Zehava gasped in awe. "That makes four out of five so far."

  Nicolette quickly notched her next arrow, repeating the sequence, but this time she did not hear the rewarding sound of her arrow striking the target.

  "Too high," Zehava told her. "Seventy yards is a hard shot for anyone."

  Nicolette snatched another arrow from her quiver and let fly. The arrow cut through the air effortlessly and embedded itself into the straw target just outside of the bull's eye. "Last time I released while I was exhaling - threw off my shot."

  Zehava looked from the target back to Nicolette several times. "You are a natural, Highness. Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

  Nicolette gave a small bow, in jest. "I used to hunt with Rift and my uncle Marcus often. They refused to take me with them until I could shoot near as well as them. So I practiced as often as I could, until I could hold my own with them."

  "Well, hold your own you do," Zehava chuckled.

  "I think she is a better shot than you, Zehava." Dahak laughed.

  Zehava held his arms out in defeat. "I cannot argue that fact - I know I could not have hit that last target in two shots."

  "What is it?" Dahak asked, seeing Nicolette's anxious expression ... as if waiting to speak.

  "You do not need to call me by my title. We are friends, and I would not want friends to place me higher than they are."

  "Well, you are the Queen," Dahak replied earnestly. "We swore an oath of…"

  "I know of the oath soldiers take!" she snapped back, and then quickly softened her voice. "I do not want our friendship and time spent together to be based upon oaths and titles."

  "I understand what you are saying," Zehava said. "We will try our best to remember."

  "Thank you."

  "Think you can hit those targets a score more times?" Zehava winked, handing her another quiver of arrows.

  By the end of the afternoon Nicolette's arm was so sore she could hardly hold the bow upright, let alone pull the string back. As with most of the evenings recently, Nicolette made her way to her chambers early, where a warm bath and a fresh bed awaited her and her tender body.

  A tear rolled down her cheek at the thought of Meath - how she missed him. She prayed he was all right and safe. She could hardly believe any of the trackers who sought him, had not found him. The trail had gone cold several miles from the Sheeva River, in the northeast.

  As soon as Ursa returned and explained his plan, they would leave to go find Meath. She knew her aunt and Rift would try to stop her - she was determined to go along for the search no matter what. Ursa would be back on the morrow she prayed, he was already two days late, and that was not like the great Wizard. She hoped he fared well and had not encountered trouble. He was their only hope in finding Meath and saving her kingdom. Although she knew it was wrong of her, she feared more for Meath than her kingdom and her people. She knew Ursa would not stop until he found him, not like everyone else who had given up the search and presumed him long gone or dead. No, she would not believe any of it. He was still alive - she could feel it.

  *****

  "My goodness, you are filthy," Jewel gasped. "I do not know why you feel the need to do this my dear, but if it is what you need to do then I hope you achieve your desired results."

  "Thank you - now what is it that you wanted, Aunt? Is Uncle all right?' Nicolette asked, fearing the worst, for her aunt was clearly a mess and would not bother her during her training otherwise.

  Lady Jewel sighed. "No, it is not your uncle. He has gotten worse, but he has not passed over. That is not why I have called you here. I believed since you are now Queen of Draco Kingdom, I should inform you that due to Ursa being overdue, we had to take action. We have sent assassins to Draco Castle to remove this false prince," Lady Jewel said, pacing the room, looking up at Nicolette every once in a while to gauge her reaction.

  "But what about Ursa - what about when he does get here he has a plan and sending these assassins ruins it?" Nicolette questioned.

  "Well dear, then we will have to figure something out when the time comes, but we could not stand by and do nothing any longer. Ursa himself said if he was not back that we should do what we deemed best," Jewel answered, stopping to stand right in front of her niece.

  "And how do you know this was best?" Nicolette asked bluntly.

  "I do not." Jewel sighed deeply, doubt lining her face. "But I have to believe it is. With your uncle on the verge of death, and Mathu still too young to rule Dragon's Cove, I must make these choices. As hard as they are, they need to be made. You will find out in time with the choices you will be required to make as Queen. Sometimes you will make the right ones, other times you will not." Jewel finished and Nicolette could tell her aunt was having a hard time with all of this, as anyone in her shoes would.

  "I am sorry for arguing with you - I, too, am at a loss about all this." Nicolette replied, giving her aunt a reassuring embrace. "I am sure the plan will work."

  "All we can do is pray, my child," Jewel said. "You really should go and talk to Rift. He is deeply wounded - both in spirit and in honor. He could use uplifting words from you to set him back in the right mindset. He is your Champion and he needs to be reminded from you."

  "I kn
ow, I was thinking much the same thing," Nicolette sighed. She had known that she should seek him out and talk to him, but she had just been so preoccupied of late, that it was always forgotten.

  "I also want you to know I am deeply sorry about Meath," Jewel continued.

  "Then why is there no one out there looking for him?" Nicolette questioned, her anger flaring again at the topic.

  "I told you - the trail died and they could not pick it up again. I am sorry there is nothing further we can do. He is in all our prayers - I am sure he will find his way back to us," Jewel said sympathetically, wishing there was something more she could say to ease her niece's mind.

  "Of course there was nothing more that could have been done," Nicolette replied, her voice tipped with rage. "They must have just disappeared." She turned and walked out of the room.

  *****

  Dahak rounded the corner to the royal garden and was not surprised to see everyone waiting for him already. "What is it? What happened?" he asked clearly seeing something was wrong by the solemn look on everyone's face.

  "They have completely given up the search for Meath," Zehava answered bitterly.

  "What?" Dahak gasped out. "Why? It has not even been that long - how could they give up so quickly?"

  "I know why," Nicolette said, drawing everyone's eyes towards her. "My Aunt knew I was willing to give up everything, leave everything and everyone behind to be with Meath. But if he is gone, and never comes back, then she does not have to worry about me making such bold moves again."

  "That is horse dung!" Zehava barked out angrily.

  "What are we going to do?" Dahak asked. "We cannot just let this happen!"

  "There is only one thing to do," Shania exclaimed. "We go find him."

  "We go find him," Nicolette repeated, her gaze steel as she looked over her companions. "If you want no part in this, I will understand. Just walk away now."

  "I am in," Dahak answered instantly, no hesitation in his tone.

  "As am I," Zehava added. "When do you want to leave?"

  "Right now." Nicolette reached behind the smooth marble bench and retrieved two packs of supplies. "We just need a way past the castle gate guards." They all paused and looked at one another, until Dahak began to laugh.

  "I have an idea," Dahak said eagerly.

  *****

  "Where do you boys think you are going this evening?" One of the three guards at the gate asked the small departing group.

  "We all have tomorrow off duty, so we thought we might sneak into the city for a few pints and maybe a whore or two," a young, new recruit replied and his group of friends behind him agreed with various hoots and cheers.

  "We were ordered not to allow anyone out at night until everything has settled down," the guard replied.

  "Really? Come on, give us a break," the young recruit bellowed out.

  "Ya, we have been busting our balls for nearly two fortnights now and this is our first reprieve," another added.

  "We have our orders," the guard said, grim faced.

  "Come on, Randal," another one of the gate guards cut in. "You remember what the first two fortnights were like as a new recruit."

  The first guard laughed aloud. "That I do, that I do."

  "Remember how pissed you were when we tried to sneak out for a few drinks and maybe a taste of flesh?"

  The first guard's jaw firmed as he fought some inner moral battle. "All right, all right, I will let you all into the city." The small group cheered. "BUT! You all need to be back within these walls before sunrise, before my shift ends, or it will be my ass on the line."

  "You got yourself a deal, Randal," the young recruit said, clasping the guard's hand in thanks and they quickly filtered out of the castle gates and onto the road into the city.

  "And for the love of the Creator do not cause any trouble!" Randal called to them, but was sure they did not hear him. "Why do I get the feeling I am going to regret this later?"

  "Do not trouble yourself about it." His comrade patted him on the back. "You did the right thing."

  *****

  Ursa sat stirring the small cook fire under the wayward tree he had been lucky enough to spot from the road before nightfall. He was glad to have found it for the ground beneath it was relatively dry. It had rained on and off for the last two days and nights and even though it did not look like it would rain this night, it was just comforting to know they would be dry if it did.

  Talena lay beside him, the light of the fire glistening in her eyes. Ursa had been lucky to be able to force-heal her fatal wound before she choked to death on her blood or bled out. The only negative side effect so far was her voice had not returned. Ursa prayed that it would come back in time. But she seemed to accept the issue without complaint.

  "We will reach Dragon's Cove tomorrow," he told her, handing her the water skin, hoping it would help sooth her throat. "And it would appear we will make it before the enemy. Though I feel the stirring of energy in the air, something drastic is coming, more so than we already know." Talena nodded in agreement to his feelings. "How are you fairing?"

  Talena smiled and shrugged, letting him know she was managing as well as one could expect.

  Ursa's chuckle was heartfelt. "It was a dim-witted question, I know - I am sorry. Tomorrow will be a busy day. We should sleep."

  Talena curled up into her bedroll and watched the remaining flames of their small fire burn out, her hand gripped her magical staff tightly as she drifted off to sleep.

  *****

  "Lady Jewel, Ursa is back!" a servant shouted as he ran into the room where Lord Marcus rested and Lady Jewel spent most of her days.

  "Thank the Creator," she whispered to herself, getting up from her husband's side.

  "Ursa, thank the heavens you are all right - we were getting worried," Jewel proclaimed, glad to see her friend well. "What impeded your hastily return?" She embraced him tightly.

  "Nothing worth discussing, I am afraid. What of the coming army?" Ursa asked bluntly, truly doubting they had any idea of the coming danger.

  "What army?" Jewel asked, confusion apparent.

  "We need to ready the army!"

  *****

  The castle and city were alive with activity as Dragon's Cove whole army was assembled and prepared for the coming of an army they had not even seen yet. Scouts had been sent out in every possible direction an oncoming army could march from.

  "I am to assume since I was late in returning that you have acted as was discussed?" Ursa asked once they were in private.

  Jewel glanced over and regarded Talena then back to Ursa.

  "Talena is trustworthy, and possibly the final piece to solving our problem."

  "We hope to have the problem resolved shortly. We sent five assassins to Draco Castle to dispose of the false prince - one of the assassins is Pavilion," Jewel explained.

  "When did you send them?" Ursa asked, wishing he had made it back in time.

  "Yesterday morning. We are confident in their ability to get this job done without much concern," Jewel said.

  "I pray they are." Ursa told her, recalling the only time he had ever met the Gifted assassin, Pavilion.

  "Who is the girl you have returned with?"

  "Talena was Master Solmis' final apprentice." Ursa explained everything he had learned on his trip and Jewel listened eagerly to every detail.

  "That is quite the destiny she has put on her shoulders," Jewel remarked. "Will her voice ever come back?"

  "I cannot be sure, but I hope," Ursa started to say.

  "Y..esss." Talena managed to say. "It… will."

  "Thank the Creator!" Ursa beamed with relief then turned back to Jewel. "I must speak with Antiel, Lepha and even Meath so we may strategize our defense if there proves to be an army marching toward us." Jewel's face went ashen at the mention of Meath's name. "What is it? What happened?"

  "Meath was taken not long after you left," Jewel explained, guilt in her tone for not telling him sooner.

&
nbsp; "What?" Ursa bellowed, jumping from his seat. "What do you mean he was taken? By whom?"

  "Two Wizards, several miles northeast of the castle."

  Ursa shook his head in disbelief. "Two Wizards - but why? And what do you mean several miles outside the castle? What were they doing outside the walls?"

  Jewel's demeanor changed, her back stiffening. "They were running away together," she answered bluntly. "They were going to leave it all behind and just escape together."

  The words hit Ursa hard and he slumped back into his chair. He had not truly considered the thought that Meath would actually go as far as to try to run away with Nicolette. Nor the possibility that she would agree to such an act.

  "We acted as quickly as we could, and sent out the best we had to track them down. Their trail went dead after they crossed the Sheeva River on the northern side of Sheeva Lake. I am sorry Ursa," Jewel told him regretfully. "At some point I would suggest talking with Queen Nicolette, for further details since she was there to witness it."

  Ursa rose from his seat again and motioned for Talena to do the same. "Yes, send word to her that I have returned and would have word with her. I shall be in my room." Ursa turned to leave, Talena in tow. "When the scouts return with news, send for me." Jewel nodded.

  Ursa collapsed at his desk, no longer able to hold back his emotions. Tears began to cascade down his weathered cheeks. He noticed a folded piece of parchment on his desk and reached for it. It was from Meath:

  I am sorry father, but I had to follow my heart. I hope you will understand and forgive me with time. We will see one another again someday, of that I promise,

  Meath.

  *****

  Ursa crumpled the parchment and threw it against the wall. "You half-witted, love-drunk fool!" He bellowed and in a fit of rage swept his arms across his desk hurling the contents across the floor. He looked up to see Talena still standing there looking at him with remorseful eyes. "You knew?" he asked resentfully. "You knew he had been taken and yet you did not tell me."

  Talena's eyes went to the floor. She could not bear to look into his eyes. "C…ould not… tell you."

  "WHY!" Ursa screamed, rushing over to her and pulling her head up, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Why? Why could you not tell me?" he begged. "He is my son!"