The King's Secret

by Maryam Durrani

  “Where did you see it?” I asked.

  “How did you know it was a drakon?”

  “So it’s true, then?” Quinn asked, his eyes wide. “I wasn’t imagining it?”

  “Answer the questions first,” Ashes ordered, and I started counting to ten slowly, breathing in and out evenly to prevent myself from slicing her in half. I relaxed my grip on the hilt.

  “I knew what it was because of stories, of course. Everyone knows about dragons, but they’re a myth.”

  “Wrong. They were just extinct,” Ashes interjected.

  “Drakon,” I corrected him. “They’re older and more powerful.”

  “I saw the dragon—drakon—” he quickly corrected, “—while I was hunting. Alone. The sun was setting. It was head-

  ing towards the east.”

  “That’s probably when it found Illkis, didn’t it?” Ashes asked me. I nodded.

  “Illkis? It found Illkis? You mean—”

  “There’s no Illkis anymore, Quinn,” I confirmed. He seemed to deflate.

  “Is the castle safe?” he asked. “It must be safer than here. Emeline and I would like to join you back. If you could put in a good word for us—”

  “Unfortunately, Quinn,” I said morosely, “we’re heading towards Dystalphi.”

  Quinn sighed, running a hand through his short hair.

  “Then we’ll go alone.”

  “It’s too dangerous, especially in times like this.” I pulled

  off my gloves, rubbing my face. “There are wolves, blizzards . . . you wouldn’t last a day out there.”

  “Then what do you advise we do?”

  Suddenly, the door behind us burst open. I slid out my sword, Ashes doing the same. We stood back, ready to attack.

  It was only Emeline, her blond hair whipping around her face as she shut the door behind her, cheeks flushed.

  “It’s getting windier,” she said, rubbing her arms. Quinn eyed our swords, striding towards Emeline, and pulled up her hood.

  “How many times have I told you not to walk around without your hood? You’ll get sick.”

  My gaze flickered between them. I cocked an eyebrow, and Emeline’s cheeks flushed an even deeper red than they already were.

  “Did you tell her?” she asked Quinn, who shook his head.

  “She’s clever enough to figure it out herself.” He turned to Emeline, holding her shoulders. “I told Adalia about what I

  saw.”

  Worry flickered through her eyes.

  “He’s not crazy, Adalia. I believe him.”

  “I believe Quinn as well,” I held up a hand, assuring her. “That’s why Ashes—Phoenix,” I corrected myself, “and I are here. Illkis was attacked, and we had to make sure the others were fine.”

  Emeline glanced fearfully at Quinn with big, blue eyes.

  “Others? Meaning Valnorn? Is it heading our way, Adalia?”

  “I . . .” I ran a hand through my hair, trying to think of an appropriate answer that wouldn’t send the village into chaos and confusion. “We’re tracking it. If there are any signs that Valnorn is in trouble, we’ll evacuate the village immediately.” When I saw her shoulders tense, I added, “ten guards will be here in a few days’ time with enough materials to help in case of an emergency. Valnorn is small, so I doubt you’ll be in way’s harm. Don’t worry,” I reached out, patting her shoulder. “This is my job.”

  “Believe it or not, that does make me feel better. It was really great to see you again, Adalia,” Quinn said with a smile, holding out his hand. “I apologize for earlier. I just had to make sure we were safe.” His eyes trailed towards Emeline as he spoke.

  I took his hand, nodding. “I understand. Many frightening things have been occurring in the past few months. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

  The village was small, so many of the Knights doubled in rooms at the inn.

  I ended up sharing with Ashes.

  We lay side by side, cold air seeping through cracks in the wooden boards that made up the floor and walls.

  The bed was scratchy and uncomfortable, the woolen blan-

  kets too heavy and probably itchier than the bed itself.

  “How do you know them?” Ashes asked. She stared up at the ceiling, blankets pulled up to her chin.

  “Emeline and Quinn?”

  I felt a movement as she nodded.

  “Five years ago, Valnorn was attacked by a neighboring village called Ashbourne. I was supposed to fix their rivalry.”

  “At that young of an age?” Ashes asked, bewilderment coloring her voice. “How is that possible?”

  “That task was only training. I’ve done worse. At sixteen, I fought a war against Crea when the king ordered his men to raid our town—Aylesbury, it was called. Aylesbury was lo-cated right on the border of Crea and Astodia, and the king

  wanted it from us badly. Aylesbury was the largest town we had and the greatest center of trade, Illkis a close second. I remember the moment I saw his men appear over the hill as they approached us. It was my first battle, and I was, to be honest, afraid.” I stared at the ceiling, at the large spot where rainwater had caused the wood to start molding.

  “Were you outnumbered?”

  “Yes, actually, which was a surprise. Crea was never one for a great defense; the king only cared about how majestic his kingdom looked from the outside.”

  “Then?” she asked, turning on her side to face me.

  “We underestimated them and lost a lot of men. I never made that mistake again.”

  “Who won?”

  “They did,” I admitted. “Only because I surrendered.”

  “Why would you do that?” she frowned. “I thought you were—”

  “I know—the greatest assassin, warrior, whatever you want

  to call it. But I had to be smart about it. The ratio was three men of theirs to every one of ours. We had a chance to win, but what was the point if we would lose most of our men on the way?” I shook my head as I went back, the scene playing in my mind if it was just yesterday.

  “So you let them have Aylesbury?”

  “I let them have their fun for a year. Besides, I had more important things to worry about.”

  “What happened after a year?” Ashes was completely engrossed in the story. I turned my head towards her and found her staring at me with wide, attentive eyes.

  I turned my head back towards the ceiling, letting out a small laugh.

  “Do you really want to know?”

  She nodded eagerly.

  “Alright,” I said with a sigh, hiding a smile, and I continued the story. “After a year, I gathered up my men. I conquered twelve villages near their border. By the time word spread and the king found out, I was waiting with forty men right next to Aylesbury where we’d fought a year ago.”

  “Forty? How many did they have?”

  “Three hundred.”

  Ashes sat up with a jerk. “That’s one of your men to almost eight of the enemy!”

  “Remember that hill?” I asked, and she nodded. “Well, I split forty men. Ten archers waiting on each side of the hill, and twenty cavalrymen stood right behind me. When they attacked, they underestimated us. Instead of their backup waiting,” I explained, “they decided to attack at once without listening to orders. That’s when I gave the signal to the remaining twenty at the base of the hill, and they took the enemy by surprise from each side. They were corralled, and we had the up-

  per hand.”

  “But why? You wanted to save their lives the first time which is why you surrendered—why only forty men when you could’ve brought six hundred and easily won?”

  I turned on my side, facing her. “I brought forty so that he knew our power, so that he would never dare attack us again.”

  “And did he?”

  “Never. Not until the day King Sadim died, and not even after.”

  She lay back down, her eyes wide in wonder. “And the king of Astodia . . . He just let you d
o this? Create plans and do as you wished?”

  “King Sadim never allowed me to do something unless he

  knew he could fix it if I made a mistake. He planned it that

  way. Aylesbury was nothing to him. He wanted to put me through every situation possible, so I would always be prepared to make a decision without awaiting his orders.”

  “Is that how much he trusted you? I’m shocked.”

  “It amazes me when I think about it sometimes, too,” I said, frowning. She propped up her chin, elbow digging into the scratchy mattress.

  “There must have been a reason, Adalia. It’s as if he knew you’d never turn against him. He put you in control of everything.”

  “Maybe he had a lot of free time,” I suggested as a joke, and she scowled.

  “I’m serious. Have you never thought about it?”

  I swallowed, turning my attention back to the moldy ceiling.

  “I was too loyal for my own good. In all the years I worked for him, I never once questioned his orders. I never wondered why I was doing why I did—I killed rebels because they were bad for the kingdom.” I paused, trying to put sentences together in a way that would benefit her and hopefully keep Ashes from repeating my mistakes. “I was too blind because

  he gave me a home. That’s all.”

  “You know, after King Sadim was killed, your existence was revealed across all the kingdoms. That’s when I first heard about you,” she admitted. “After that, I decided I would do my best to find and learn as much as I could from you. I wanted to be like Adalia, the King’s Assassin.”

  I laughed. “Why? Without the king to give me my orders, I was nothing.”

  “That’s the difference between you and me. I don’t need a king to order me around. Or a queen. Not even a princess.”

  The smile left my lips as fast as it came.

  “That’s the good thing about you, Phoenix.” I closed my

  eyes, exhaustion suddenly washing over me. “You have what I always wanted. Freedom.”

  She was silent for a while. Then, she giggled. I opened my eyes.

  “What?”

  “You called me Phoenix.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You did.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  I turned my back to her as she smirked to herself, and couldn’t help but smile.

  SIXTEEN

  Day Sixteen.

  We left Valnorn at dawn. I paid the stable boys for taking care of the horses, and bought as much as we could from the merchants.

  We were being followed.

  I didn’t make it obvious, nor did I alert anyone—except Taj.

  “How do you know?” he asked quietly. I continued looking forward.

  “Shadows are moving in the woods. Don’t look back now.”

  “How do you know it’s not an animal of some sort?”

  “Do you think an animal would want to follow us for a mile? And besides,” I said, lowering my voice, “they’re on either side. They move too skillfully through the trees.”

  “Do you think they’re bandits?”

  I nodded. “Be prepared. Do you have a signal for your men?”

  “Yes.” Taj pulled on his mare’s reins, slowing her to a stop.

  “What’s wrong?” I heard Lance ask. Taj dismounted his horse, circling her.

  “She’s limping. Help me check her hoof.”

  Messages were exchanged through glances between the Knights as Taj lifted up the back hoof, resting it on his knee. Lance dismounted, sitting beside Taj, his back towards the for-

  est.

  I made eye contact with Ashes, reaching for my sword. She understood, reaching for the bow strapped to her steed.

  It took them two seconds, I presumed. One to signal each other, and the other to surround us.

  There were about twenty of them. They jumped out of the forest, hoods pulled down to cast a shade on their eyes, the lower halves of their faces covered with black bandanas.

  Now, all the Knights had dismounted, the sound of swords unsheathing filling the crisp winter air.

  The bandits circled us, covered in thick layers to protect themselves from the icy wind. My hand brushed against the knife in my belt.

  I pulled my hood lower, trying to blend in. The bandits’ focus was on the Knights, so I had it easy.

  One of them stepped forward. When he spoke, his voice was deep and gravelly, a tinge of mock behind his words.

  “Hand over whatever you have, and we’ll try to make it quick.” A rumble of laughter passed through the bandits.

  Taj’s deep brown eyes found mine. He was waiting for my signal.

  “Do you really want to take that chance with us?” Lance asked, stepping forward. The bandit who had spoken yanked out his sword, holding it towards Lance.

  “Keep your distance.”

  “We’re the Knights of Astodia.”

  “And we’ve destroyed caravans on this trail. We have killed Dystalphi’s greatest warriors.”

  Ashes snickered.

  The bandit’s head whipped in her direction.

  “Dystalphi’s greatest warrior is nothing compared to our weakest one.”

  “Is it really your place to speak, girl?” he spat. “Fine. I’ll

  make this easy for you. Give us both of your women and all your gold, and we’ll let you off easy this once.”

  I turned, slowly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two of them reach for Ashes.

  Before anyone could register what was happening, the knife was buried deep in the bandit’s throat. He gagged, scrabbling at his neck. Behind me, Kay was the first to act. He lunged, sinking the blade of his sword into another bandit’s chest.

  The bandits shouted, and the next thing I heard was the sharp clangs of metal against metal as the two sides collided.

  Nine warriors against twenty skilled outlaws.

  Two bandits attacked me at once. I ducked as a sword cut through the air above my head, and with my shoulder, I knocked one to the ground, burying the sword in his abdomen. As I turned to deal with the other one, an arrow suddenly protruded from the left side of his chest. He landed face-first in the snow, and behind him, I saw Ashes lower her bow, looking for a new target.

  “Watch out!” I shouted, pointing over her shoulder. Ashes fell to her knees, sliding her leg behind her attacker’s legs and causing him to bend forward. That gave me a chance to pull out another knife, aiming with my left hand.

  The blade buried itself right above the bow of his collarbone. I turned back, noticing Lance fighting three bandits at once. I ran towards them, slicing my sword against one’s back. He let out a cry of pain. As he moved back I lifted the sword, his clanging against mine. I raised my boot, smashing it into his stomach.

  Lance appeared behind me, swiping his sword, injuring the

  bandit’s arm. I swirled around, taking Lance’s back and fought

  off another one.

  Ashes mounted her horse. It reared as she pulled the bow-

  string taut, three arrows hitting their marks one after another. I grinned, a surge of proudness rising up in my chest.

  I faced the last one, staring him down. He fell to his knees.

  “How many more of you are there?” I asked, kicking the sword out of his grasp. He whimpered.

  “Just us.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I swear . . .”

  “It doesn’t matter. We’ll find them and kill every last one of you.”

  “I surrender. Please spare me,” he begged.

  “You’ll die out here alone,” I told him. “It’s better if I do it now.” I raised my sword, the sharp tip pointing at his chest.

  But before I could bring it down, Lance stepped in front of me.

  “Let this one go,” he said.

  I turned to Lance. “What if he goes back to his people? They’ll know how many we are, and come prepared.”

  “We’ll be long gone by then. Who knows how far he’ll ma
ke it?”

  “We can’t take any chan—” Before I could finish the sentence, I heard the whip of a bow being released. An arrow pierced through his neck, and the last bandit fell back, sinking into the snow.

  My head snapped towards Ashes, alarmed.

  “What—”

  “I ended the argument. There wasn’t any reason to let him go. He’d only cause more trouble for us.”

  As the Knights remounted their horses, tending to their wounds, I couldn’t help but stare at Ashes. I stood in the blood-

  streaked snow, blood dripping off the end of my sword, staring

  at this girl, and I saw . . .

  Myself.

  Yes, I was thinking about killing him. Would I have ended up doing it? There was a huge chance I wouldn’t have, partially because of Lance, and also because I knew it wasn’t the moral thing to do. He was alone, and Lance was right when he said we’d be long gone before they found us again.

  But Ashes hadn’t thought.

  So I wondered, going through a list of reasons she might have killed that man for.

  One. Her free will. Maybe she was just annoyed of him, or angry they attacked us.

  Two. She wanted to prove that she was strong enough to make her own choices.

  And three. She wanted my approval—the most dangerous of the preceding reasons because it wasn’t exactly my approval she was looking for.

  She was proving herself to an assassin.

  My mind went back to our conversation at the inn.

  You know, after King Sadim was killed, your existence was revealed across all the kingdoms. That’s when I first heard about you. After that, I decided I would do my best to find and learn as much as I could from you. I wanted to be like Adalia, the King’s Assassin.

  “Hey!” Ashes called. I realized I was still staring at her, my eyebrows furrowed together. “We’re all waiting.”

  I glanced around. The Knights stood in formation behind Taj. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, and sheathed my sword.

  I clicked my tongue, calling Walnut over, and grabbed onto

  her saddle, pulling myself up.

  I had to be careful. Phoenix was talented, but she wasn’t

  clever. She didn’t think things through, and I feared that that

  would be her ultimate downfall.