The King's Secret

by Maryam Durrani

  “Try to land a few blows up here,” I instructed, pointing at

  the area above my shoulders. “The legs aren’t the only place

  you should be aiming. I figured out your strategy; it’s time to

  change it. Confuse me.”

  She kicked up high. I grabbed her boot, thrusting my arm forward, and suddenly, a shock of pain ran up my arm. I let out a cry of pain as Ashes flew backward, slamming against the door. I gripped my right shoulder.

  Now I had to come up with a new one-armed strategy.

  She rolled to her knees, pushing herself off the ground.

  “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” I grumbled. “Come on. Do your best.” I curled my fingers inward, inviting her to attack.

  Her eyes fell on my right shoulder as I rolled it, and I knew she had found an opening. As she lunged for my right arm, I let her grab it.

  I wasn’t going to let her win, but I wanted to see if I could handle the pain. As she pushed me onto the ground, locking my arm behind my back, my arm burned white-hot.

  Get out of this, Adalia. You can’t lose to someone whose name means a bird made from ashes.

  With one final attempt to be freed, I kicked backward at her knee. She shouted in surprise, reaching down to grab it automatically. I spun around, kicking her legs out from under her as she crashed onto her back. Ashes tried to get back up, but I was already there, locking her arm behind her back. She let out a grunt of pain, and I exhaled, pushing a lock of loose hair behind my ear.

  I let myself take a rest, laying on my back, spread-eagled.

  “You seem out of shape,” Ashes chuckled, sitting up on her knees. She looked down at me.

  “I’m not.”

  She rolled her cinnamon-brown eyes. “Whatever you say, Assassin.”

  “We’re done for today, Ashes,” I replied, sitting up with a

  groan.

  “What?” she protested, holding out her arms. “All you taught me was to aim somewhere else.”

  “That’s because you were too stupid to realize I’d already assessed your moves. That’s why you ended up on the floor, not me.”

  “You’re horrible!” she yelled as I walked out.

  Ashes was good. Her stances and tactics were almost perfect. She lost because I’d thrown her off—which she had only allowed me to do because she wanted to listen to every piece of advice I was going to give her.

  If I spent enough time with her, she could very well become me. The only thing left for me to do was to figure out if that was dangerous, or if it would be helpful to Astodia.

  I had been dangerous.

  I couldn’t let her become that.

  Lost in my own thoughts, I headed to my chambers—or Xavier’s, for that matter. I was in the mood to irritate him.

  I smiled to myself at the thought.

  As I took a turn, I froze. The sounds of thuds and grunts echoed through the hall, and I frowned. Quickening my pace, I followed the sounds down a corridor. There was another thump, and I recognized it as the sound of a fist connecting with flesh.

  Taking a turn, I saw two figures standing in the dark, one of them holding the other against the wall. I saw a flash of white-blond, and immediately recognized who they were.

  Lance and Jax.

  Lance had the side of his arm pressed against Jax’s throat, fist pulled back to land another blow. Jax gripped his arm with

  both hands, struggling to breathe.

  As Lance got ready to strike, I stepped into the corridor, particularly into the steady glow of moonlight for added effect. I had to do what I could to get their attention.

  “What the hell is going on?” I demanded, resting a hand on the hilt of my sword. Lance’s head whipped towards me, anger in his green eyes. “Lance, step away from him.” He looked back at Jax, working his jaw. “Lance.”

  Angrily, he pulled his arm back. As he did, Jax grabbed onto Lance’s shoulders and pulled him down, bringing his knee up at the same time, and slammed it into Lance’s stomach. He fell to the floor, all the breath knocked out of him.

  “Damn . . . you.”

  Jax wiped the corner of his mouth on the back of his hand, smearing blood across his pale cheek.

  Lance’s hair was disheveled, a bruise forming on his jaw.

  “What’s going on?” I quickly stepped between them before anyone else could make another move.

  Jax smirked, a mischievous glint in his crystal blue eyes.

  “He’s angry that I’m better than him at everything. You’re not such a big shot anymore, are you?”

  Lance lunged again, but I stepped in front of him, pressing my hand against his chest.

  “That’s the reason?” I asked in disbelief, raising an eyebrow. “Lance,” I said, taking a step back and crossing my arms over my chest, “that’s incredibly childish.”

  “But he’s–”

  “Better with his sword than you are? I think there are better ways to deal with that than trying to kill him in the middle of the hallway.”

  “Better with the sword, archery, hunting, fencing, chess,” Jax said, counting off his fingers, “whittling—”

  “Whittling?” I snorted.

  “—climbing, probably even sewing . . .”

  “I don’t sew,” Lance scoffed. “But of course you would.” He gestured to Jax’s hands.

  Now, it was Jax’s turn to take offense.

  “What’s wrong with my hands?” Jax looked down at them self-consciously, and I noticed how slender his fingers really were.

  Jax stepped forward, but I jabbed him in the chest. He doubled over, coughing.

  They were being ridiculous.

  I held my arm out as Lance took a step forward, hands curling into fists.

  “Again, both of you are being childish.” I felt like a mother trying to resolve an argument between her two children.

  I mean, I understood why Lance was acting up. Our return was a lot to take in, and now Lance, who was second in command to Taj, probably felt humiliated in front of the Knights as he kept getting pummeled by this beautiful, elegant creature.

  I snorted at myself.

  When I actually stopped to think about it, Jax really was a sight for sore eyes.

  “Let’s be respectful,” I said, taking a step back again so that there was a clear space between them. “Jax, don’t purposely embarrass him in front of the Knights —”

  “Does that mean I can accidentally embarrass him—”

  “Shut up. And Lance, instead of throwing a tantrum like a toddler, try training to become better.”

  “Okay, mother,” he mocked.

  I stared at them expectantly.

  “What?” they asked in unison.

  I raised my eyebrows, gesturing towards their hands.

  “Well? Shake on it.”

  After muttering profanities under their breaths, Jax hesitantly held out his hand, which Lance reluctantly took.

  “Watch your back,” he warned. And with that, Lance spun on his heel and marched off, disappearing as he took a left down another corridor.

  “He was overreacting,” Jax rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair to set it back in place.

  “I’ve known you long enough to know that you definitely provoked him.”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “I don’t pick sides,” I said, turning to walk away from him.

  “That’s a lie, and we both know it!” Jax called after me.

  I walked to the corner of the room to rest my sword against the wall when suddenly the door slammed open and Xavier barged inside, kicking the base of a bedpost and stepping back, bending over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Xavier’s hair was disheveled as if he’d run his hands through it a million times in frustration.

  I didn’t make my presence known until I watch him pull out his knife, his eyes searching the room for something to rip into. I had to save the mattress—I had learned that it was actually importa
nt to keep them in one piece the hard way.

  “Xavier,” I called gently, trying not to startle him.

  He swirled, his sad, golden eyes falling on me.

  “You have to leave,” he said, pointing at the door as if he didn’t want me to see him in this situation.

  “What happened?”

  “Adalia—”

  “I'm sure you know very well that I’m not going to leave.”

  I strode towards him, holding his face in my hands so that I could look into his amber eyes.

  “What happened?” I repeated.

  “I heard them talking.”

  “Who?”

  “I usually don’t let it get to me.”

  “You didn’t hurt someone, did you?”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “No, of course not.”

  “Good.” I patted his chest. “You’re better than that. Tell me, what were they saying?”

  “The worst things about me, you. Adalia, I made a bad choice coming here. People are finding out. I have to leave.”

  My heart dropped. Calm, collected Adalia washed away. As I watched him pull away from my hands, I gripped the bedpost.

  “If you leave, I will shoot you in the leg before you make it down the steps,” I said through gritted teeth. “Don’t you dare.”

  “Adalia, this castle, these corridors,” he said, gripping the front of his tunic, his eyes almost wild, “it’s suffocating. They’re haunting me.”

  “And don’t you think I’ve been trying to deal with that too?” I shot back, watching him pace around the room.

  “The way Lorelle looks at me . . . I can’t stand it. Like she’s won something—”

  “I can’t either!” I fumbled with my words, panic rising up my throat, “But I learned it’s not my place—”

  “I was going to be king!” he bellowed, both hands clasped over his head, palms pressed to his hair. “My father had been preparing me for it for more than twenty years, and I just gave it up. I thought I could handle being back, but this is nothing like I imagined. When I leave this room, I feel their eyes on me. I hear their whispers, even when I know they’re not say-ing anything.”

  “I know what you’re going through—if you just listen to me—you’ll regret leaving if you go now.”

  “I don’t think I will,” he shook his head. “I have to get out of here. I feel like I’m drowning.” As I opened my mouth to reply, he turned and faced me. “This is nothing like you’re situation Adalia. You left willingly. I had to leave.”

  “You didn’t!” I yelled, feeling myself snap. All the anger I had held towards him was finally coming out. “You didn’t have to fake your death, Xavier! You left me alone, and I left because you weren’t there with me anymore. All because you thought I’d chosen Lance over you—”

  “They killed my father!” he yelled back, the tone of his voice matching mine. “I know he was a shitty person, but he was my father! What did I have left?”

  We stood there, our chests rising and falling. I felt the heat again, the anger flaring up in me. I saw the anguish in his eyes.

  One of us had to leave.

  I turned on my heel, marching out and slamming the door behind me. I exhaled, letting myself relax. The cold seeped through the stone walls, through the thin fabric of my tunic, and into my skin, dimming the fire.

  I couldn’t leave Xavier like this, not when he was so angry. He could make impulsive, reckless choices, and I had to stop him.

  Turning to the door, I gripped the knob, ready to push. At the same time, the doorknob turned, being yanked open from the inside.

  Xavier stood in the doorway.

  “I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I should’ve told you how I felt

  sooner.”

  “I’m sorry too,” I said, relieved. I reached up, wrapping my

  arms around his neck. Xavier pressed his warm cheek against mine. “We’ll figure things out,” I said softly. “No impulsive decisions. If I wake up to find you gone in the morning, I’ll turn over the kingdom looking for you. You should get that idea out of your mind.”

  “Fine; for now—only because you asked,” he smiled.

  I should’ve realized what Xavier was going through. Thankfully, now I knew, and nothing felt better than knowing.

  ELEVEN

  “Tell me about Phoenix,” Xavier asked, sitting on the chair across from me. We were in the process of eating an early, peaceful breakfast. The weather was cold enough to give a person frostbite if they walked around barefoot, but the sun still shone brightly as a last effort to help humanity survive the day.

  “Call her Ashes. It makes her blood boil,” I smirked. Xavier grinned. He sat on the sofa beside me, legs crossed. I did the same on the opposite end, only a foot of space between us. He took a sip from the hot bowl of soup which he gripped tightly, warming his hands.

  I popped a grape into my mouth, leaning back against the arm of the sofa. “She is an outstanding fighter,” I said, stuffing another grape into my other cheek. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

  Xavier chuckled as I grinned, three grapes in either cheek. I held back a snicker, one of the grapes popping out and falling into my lap. Xavier nearly choked on his soup, setting it on the table beside him.

  “So,” he said, wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin, “you like her?”

  “Yeah, right,” I scoffed. “I’m nowhere near that.”

  “You’re not going to give her a chance? To be liked by you,

  I mean.”

  “Why would I? She’s nothing to me.”

  “You gave Jax and Isabel a chance.”

  “They jumped out of a carriage to help me fight off bandits, while Ashes sat back and watched.”

  Xavier raised an eyebrow. “Is that a metaphor for something?” he said, laying sideways and fitting his body between the back of the couch and the outside of my leg. He didn’t fit, nearly pushing me off the sofa. I had to hang my other leg down for support as he buried his face into my thigh and wrapped his arms around my leg, pulling it against him.

  “No!” I scowled, chucking a grape at his ear. He grumbled. “She was literally there. Xavier, she followed me.”

  “Did she? She must adore you,” he drawled, voice dripping in sarcasm.

  “Is the fact that someone actually likes me such a surprise to you?”

  “Of course.”

  I was ready to hurl another grape at his head, but suddenly, a hard knock at the door saved his life.

  “Come in,” I called with a groan, letting my head roll back over the arm of the sofa.

  To my annoyance, Ashes stuck her head in.

  “Speak of the devil,” I murmured, earning a pinch from Xavier.

  “Ow!”

  “Hello, Xavier,” she greeted. He raised a hand and waved without lifting his head. A smirk formed on her lips as her eyes fell on me. “Assassin.”

  “Ashes,” I waved her over. “What is it?”

  “One of the Knights found something. The queen wishes to speak to you immediately.”

  “Give me an hour. I’ll be there.”

  “She says it’s urgent—”

  “Do you know the definition of an hour? I said I’ll be there.

  If she needs me that badly, she can come here herself.” I grumbled the last part so only Xavier could hear it. I pushed myself off the sofa, glad I was wearing my boots. “I haven’t finished eating breakfast—” Xavier yanked me back, and I landed on the sofa again.

  “Do you have to go?” he whined.

  “You mean playing with your breakfast,” Ashes gestured to the grapes scattered across the floor, and I scowled at her.

  “And you’re still here, why?”

  She grumbled something, her head disappearing as she slammed the door behind her.

  “I’m glad I’m not her,” Xavier said lazily, lifting his head.

  “Don’t forget,” I said slyly, leaning down to grab another grape, “you were in her place once.”

  I wat
ched as he recalled the memories from his days as a prince and mine as an assassin.

  “Don’t send me back there again,” he said with a shudder. I laughed.

  I entered the throne room, finding Lorelle standing before a row of Knights.

  Ashes stood on one end, Lance on the other. Today, Lorelle had her hair held back with three braids on each side of her head, connected from behind. A new crown glittered on her head, matching her gold earrings.

  Her dress was a traditional red and gold, a sign of loyalty to Astodia. The train spread out behind her, reminding me of the way Queen Celeste often wore her dresses many years ago. Her head turned to me as I walked in, respectfully giving her a curtsy. As I bent my knees into one, I realized just how mockingly I’d done it and quickly got back up.

  Lorelle ignored it.

  “Come in, Adalia. We weren’t going to begin until you arrived.”

  I had two choices. Stand beside Lance, or get my ear talked off by Ashes.

  “Hello,” I greeted, stepping into line beside Lance.

  “Why were you late?” he asked under his breath, staring straight ahead.

  “I was going to take a whole hour, but I decided not to piss the queen off more than I’ve already done.”

  “I respect that decision. Although, it looked as if she was about to rip off your head when you walked in. And a curtsy? Really, Adalia?”

  I held back a snicker, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lance doing the same.

  “I’ve gathered you all here today, because Phoenix and I,” she said, gesturing to Ashes who simply beamed, “have come up with a tactic against our enemies for the war.”

  Ashes reminded me more of a snake than a bird. She was slithering around my body, suffocating me as she took my place. I scowled at her, and she smirked in return.

  “Back when I was a part of the rebel army against King Sadim, we had built a series of underground pathways below the kingdom. They had been old, abandoned mines from many years ago. They were useless, drained, and so we transformed them to our benefit—a place to hide and protect ourselves when we were,” she glanced at me for half a second, “threatened.” Threatened by me, the King’s Assassin. “We can still use that to our benefit. I had every exit and entrance closed off, but I have already put people to work opening them up again. We can create new entrances. This will give us an advantage.”