From his position, it was obvious Merrick was not alone as Elijah could see the back of the other person’s shoulder. They leant up against the wall with their arms folded, wearing a hood. Looking at their shadow, Eli could see that they were standing with their legs crossed with both feet flat on the ground.
His guardian stood facing him, clearly visible, which made lip reading a lot easier. “What do you mean I need to go back to Castle Aebarrow?” Merrick said, waving his arms in the air. He frowned and tutted.
Merrick was a tall man with broad shoulders. His jet-black hair and light olive skin were native to Rheanydd, although most of the people here had darker skin. He stood out because of his piercing blue eyes that made every woman catch her breath, and his pointed ears because of his half-elf heritage. Women would swoon at the sight of him, and men stopped when they looked at him. He was taller than most men and strongly built; it was never wise to pick a fight with him.
The companion shifted in his position and responded similarly with arm movements. Merrick’s expression grew darker and with each passing second his muscles went taut.
“No, no. You know I can’t go back there, Daighu. It doesn’t matter that Roderick and I are best friends; I haven’t spoken to him since we made him king. I’ve had a more important part to play.” Merrick paced in front of the hooded figure. Elijah did not know what Merrick was talking about, nor why he was being so secretive about it. “You need to leave, Daighu. I won’t be dragged back to Adelith, for any reason.”
Finally, his mentor’s companion pushed himself off the wall and moved to stand in front of Merrick. Elijah crept closer to listen.
“Merrick, I don’t think you realise the severity of the situation. The prince must return to the castle for the agreement to stand. This is not a request. You know the deal Hector made. Twenty years of protection, while the prince is in Adelith. If he’s not there we will not protect him, and if I can find him, so can the Agents of Cyran. He’s not the missing prince any longer.”
Severity of the situation? What prince? Who are the Agents of Cyran? Elijah screwed up his nose. Frowning again, Merrick sighed and took a step back, shaking his head.
“Are you going to dishonour your best friend’s memory by refusing our request?” Daighu said, stepping back into the shadows.
“Shut up.” Merrick clenched his jaw. “My loyalty to Hector is never in question.”
“Then take the boy back. Accept the position and we will help keep him safe. Rumours have already spread about Prince Kane still being alive.” Daighu tried to touch Merrick’s shoulder, but he turned away.
Merrick’s shoulders rose and fell. “Fine. We will go back, and you lot, had better uphold your side of the bargain.”
Before disappearing around a corner, Daighu walked away, then glanced back at Elijah. His burgundy eyes caught the sun as he pulled his hood forward and disappeared. Eli was certain a smile teased on his face, but the stranger moved too quick to see. Standing up, Elijah caught Merrick’s attention.
“Eli? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, Merrick, there you are. I was looking for you,” Eli said, jumping up and walking towards him. “Who were you talking to?”
Merrick shook his head. “Hmm?”
Eli gestured behind him. “The person you were talking to. Who was he?”
“No-one. Just looking for directions.” He put an arm around Eli’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s get the forge warmed up.”
Did he just lie to me?
2
Messenger from the King
Wiping his brow with the back of his forearm, Elijah grimaced at the ash dirt on the back of his sleeve. He was glad to see the sun setting behind the stone walls of their village, as the temperature was dropping with each passing hour and he welcomed the cooler air.
As they finished up their afternoon’s work, Elijah noticed a man standing in the gateway to Dewfalls. He was plain looking and wore a pinafore with the Adelith Royal Crest over his shirt and trousers. Eli knew all the Royal Family crests in Tarkos as Merrick had given him history lessons as bedtime stories to get him to sleep as a child.
A shady meeting and now a royal messenger? What is going on today?
Pain ran along his head, and he blinked hard before rubbing his temple. Miss Parquin had given him some medicine to take for it, but he’d run out a few days back. He’d thought nothing of it as he hadn’t had a headache in a few days, but this one felt different.
The man was now walking towards them and a vision of guards wearing the same royal crest flashed into his mind. They were cut down and then it ended. Elijah stumbled and shook the vision from his mind.
Looking back, Elijah noticed the man was older than he had first thought. A greying beard and a mess of hair showed he hadn’t had the time to take proper care of himself.
“Excuse me,” the Adelithian shouted as he walked closer. “I am looking for Merrick Walcott. King Roderick Caderyn sent me to deliver a message.”
Elijah wasn’t sure if Merrick had heard the man’s shouts over the noise of the smelter, so walked up to the gate wiping his dirty hands on his trousers. “Sure, I’ll grab him for you.”
The man nodded his head in thanks with a weak smile. Eli moved into Merrick’s line of sight, next to the opening of the smelter, and waved his hand. Merrick looked up from the weapons he was creating. Elijah pointed to the man standing at the gate and nodded his head in the messenger's direction.
“Who is it?”
“A messenger. He says he has something for you from King Roderick.” Merrick’s eyes widened at the name of the king from the neighbouring realm.
“Must be important then.” Removing his gloves, Merrick put them together and slapped them against the back of his hand as he walked over to the messenger.
“Can I help you?”
“Merrick,” the man said. Eli’s uncle folded his arms, waiting for the messenger to continue. “His Majesty, King Roderick Caderyn asked me to deliver this message.” The man pulled out a scroll of paper and read. “Merrick, it is with great honour that I extend to you a request to join us at Castle Aebarrow as Captain of the Guard. I need the best to train the Elite for protecting Princess Sienna. Please make haste to Adelith and we look forward to welcoming you home.”
Silence hung in the air as the messenger finished reading. He paused and looked up as if there was more to the message. He handed the paper over to Merrick and Elijah couldn’t stop his feet from moving forward to see what was on it. There were more words than the messenger had just read, that was for certain, but he was too far away to make out any of the fancy cursive writing. Eli didn’t want to give away the fact he was trying to see.
“Thank you…” Merrick rolled the paper up and stuffed it in the front of his apron. “Sorry, what was your name again?”
“Nolan.”
“Well, Nolan, come inside and I’ll get you some food and drink. It is a long way from Adelith to Rheanydd.” He turned to Elijah. “Turn off the smelter, Elijah, and tidy up a bit. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”
He nodded to Merrick and turned to put things away, but as soon as the door to their home closed, Eli stopped. He couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling inside him telling him he needed to know what was going on. Especially after Merrick had lied to him. It was too much of a coincidence that two people would request Merrick’s return to Adelith on the same day.
Looking behind him, Elijah could see Merrick and Nolan through the window and crept closer, before sitting down underneath in a bush. He was out of view from anyone who would walk past, his dirty brown top blending into the dying plant leaves. The window shutters were open, allowing for the sound of the conversation to come out.
“Nolan, please sit down. You have come a long way,” Merrick said, followed by the scraping noise of the chair being pulled out.
“Thank you.” There was a brief pause that made Elijah want to look in, but he knew they would see him. “Merrick, I have some mo
re personal news as well. Magda, she, she’s passed.”
“Passed? You mean…” There was another pause.
Nolan cleared his throat before continuing. “It seems they are back, and they found her.”
“How? I thought the elves had control of the situation?”
“We knew it was a matter of time. They wanted to deal with him in their way, but we’ve recently learned that he escaped almost immediately from them. He’s been in hiding for years.”
“Why did he wait so long?”
Elijah looked up over the window ledge and saw Nolan shrug his shoulders. Merrick’s back was to the window.
“We can only assume he thought that the child was dead until now. Two boys have already been murdered. Now that Magda has been found, Roderick wants you both at the castle for protection.”
Merrick nodded his head. “When is her funeral? I’ll need to collect some of the letters I sent her and… make sure that it was the Agents of Cyran.”
There’s that name again. Elijah turned and sat back down on the ground. Something wasn’t right. He crawled to the side of the house.
“I’ll need to think about it.” The chair made a scraping noise on the floor as Merrick stood up. The door opened and his uncle stepped out. “Elijah, dinner is ready.”
“Coming!” He grabbed a cloth and made it look like he was washing his hands as he walked to the front of the house. His uncle’s eyes focused on the distance. Turning to see what he was looking at, Eli’s eyes landed on the man Merrick had been talking to earlier. He was in the shadows, and the dimly lit lantern adding nothing to aid Elijah in identifying them.
Is that the same man from before?
Daighu nodded his head and turned away, disappearing into the darkness.
Creepy.
“Food is being served. Inside please,” Merrick said, closing the door behind him. “You’re right, Nolan. I can’t refuse the king.”
“I am?” Nolan frowned for a moment. “I am, yes. King Roderick will be most pleased.”
Merrick served three bowls of ragu and Elijah dug into his almost immediately. His uncle scowled at him, but the hunger had already taken over. Once the first few bites were in his stomach, he slowed down.
“Is there anything else we need to know about coming to the castle, Nolan?”
He shook his head as he finished his mouthful. “Nothing other than your brother, niece and one of the other guards will meet you in Crossroads to escort you back to the castle.” They shared a knowing look, and Merrick nodded.
“Are you coming with us?”
“No, I have another message to deliver in Galaun.”
Merrick nodded. “Well, you must stay here tonight. You have come a long way.”
3
Crossing the Border
Elijah had tried to fight when Merrick told him they would leave first thing in the morning.
“You don’t even know what I am going to say,” Elijah pleaded as Merrick continued to pack his bag. “It’s a good idea, a compromise.”
“I don’t need to hear it, Elijah. We are going to Adelith. You and me.” He swung the bag over his shoulder and headed to the door. “Pack a bag and bring it out.”
“Merrick, I want to stay. I’ll stay with Josefyr, he won’t mind. Then I can partake in the race.”
His uncle spun on his heels to face him. “The race? The Hollom Horse race?” Elijah nodded with a gulp as Merrick’s face darkened. “When were you planning on telling me about this? How long have you been planning this?”
“I-”
“No, don’t answer. I already know it’ll be as long as you’ve been learning to ride with Josefyr. That sneaky…”
“Don’t blame Josefyr. It was my fault. I asked him to teach me to ride for a race.” Elijah looked to the floor and bit his tongue. “I was going to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
Elijah felt his emotions boil. “I would have, had you not lied to me about the person you were talking to.” He flinched as the last words came out, knowing he’d stepped over the line. Eli looked up at his uncle.
Merrick hesitated, his eyes moving from Eli to the door. “Get your bag. We are leaving.” His uncle stopped at the door on his way out. “If you don’t get on Keela, I will tie you to her and force you to come with me either way.”
Elijah took a deep breath and did as asked. Throwing things into a bag without thinking, allowing his frustration to release. He walked out of the house he had lived in for nine years with a frown on his face and gave Merrick a glare every time their eyes met. Hopping up on Keela, the mare seemed to feel his emotions and whinnied as he settled into the saddle. He squeezed his legs, urging her forward after Merrick and Wes.
Neither of them spoke as they rode on. Elijah wasn’t sure when exactly they crossed the border, but the drop in temperature signalled the change in the weather. Rheanydd was warm, and the sun shone for most of the year, but from what he had heard about Adelith, he’d be experiencing more cold cloudy days and rain. The wind caused him to shiver, and when Merrick called for them to stop; he added another layer over his thin shirt.
He slid off his saddle, before moving around to stroke Keela’s nose. He pulled out a couple of mints from his pocket and gave them to his mare as a treat. She’d been with him for six years. Merrick had given her to him as a present from his parents. Apparently, before they died, they had sent her to Merrick and told him she was to be a gift for one of his birthdays.
Eli had discovered that mints were her favourite when she stole them from his pocket, when he’d been gathering his breath between morning training sessions. Ever since Elijah had picked up one of Merrick’s swords, and been caught swinging it around, his uncle had been training him to use it before working at the forge. In the last three years the training had got more intense, and Elijah usually spent a lot of days practicing his swordsmanship, riding with Josefyr when Merrick popped out or helping Merrick in the forge.
“Let her graze, boy,” Merrick scolded, his rough voice firm in what he said. Rolling his eyes, Elijah stopped attending to his horse and let her eat the grass at his feet. “We will only stay until the horses have drunk enough water and then we will move on. I have a funeral to attend and then you can meet Jaxon.”
Elijah cocked his head to the side. “It will be strange to finally meet someone you’ve told me so much about.” Merrick smiled. “Why did you agree to do this?” The question left Elijah’s mouth before he could stop it.
“Because King Roderick is my friend, and he asked me for a favour.” He paused and frowned.
You didn’t sound thrilled when you first found out. “Right.”
“I think this will be an excellent opportunity for the pair of us. You could become part of the guard too… If you want to, that is.”
“Why would I want to do that?” Elijah scrunched up his nose.
“You might get placed on the Elite… No, you’d need to do the tournament for that.” Merrick’s voice trailed off.
“Sure, guarding a spoiled princess sounds fun.” Silence hung in the air between them. “When did you meet the King?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Curious as ever I see.” Merrick’s eyes held a warning of caution, but Elijah didn’t know when to stop and smiled at him with a hint of mischief. Merrick rolled his eyes. “We grew up together as kids. Him, Hector and I were inseparable, much to Tamien’s dislike. I almost took part in the tournament once. Here,” Merrick threw a water pack at him, “water your horse, Eli.”
“Why didn’t Tamien like you?”
“He hated mongrels.”
Before Elijah could ask more questions, Keela nudged him with her nose, and he gave her another treat. Running his hand down her nose, he wondered how today was going to play out. Having a guarded escort into the Castle would cause unwanted attention. Elijah hated being in the centre of it all and hoped few people stared.
Turning away from Merrick, Elijah let Keela drink from the water pac
k before letting her graze again. A few moments passed, then Merrick announced it was time to move onto their meeting point.
A crowd had already formed as they rode through the archway into the town of Crossroads. Although a small village, it seemed to have a big open centre, and the buildings were all centred on it, the openings in and out made it seem kind of like a compass.
Merrick pulled the horses to a stop near the Tiger’s Head Tavern and tied them up outside. His uncle nodded towards the congregation of people around the centre of the town, and they moved to join them. A few people next to him were crying and others were just standing with their heads drooping as a coffin was carried up to the top of the pyre.
“Merrick?” A woman to Elijah’s left asked. “Is that you?”
“Sylvia? Yes, it is me.” He stepped forward and pulled the old woman into an embrace. Her greyish hair was tied back with a pin and her eyes fell on Eli as she turned her head. “I never expected to see you here.”
Standing back, they broke their embrace and looked at each other. “I was passing through anyway, but when I heard about her passing, I knew I had to come and pay my respects. She has done so much for me over the years.”
The old woman nodded, a hint of a smile teetering on the corner of her mouth. “Magda will be glad that handsome face is here.” She cupped his chin and then let go.
Elijah turned his attention away from their conversation and peaked between a few people’s shoulders. There seemed to be a stand with a painting on it. Moving away from Merrick, Eli got into a better position to see more clearly, but as his eyes landed on the portrait, pain erupted in his head. He tried to ignore the pulsating drum above his eye, but images flashed through his mind.
They were such short, sharp bursts he could hardly make any sense of them. Except she was there. The woman in the portrait was above him. Carrying him. He rubbed his forehead to relieve some pain. He knew this woman somehow, and something in his heart ached.
Kingdom of Lies (The Kane Saga Book 1) Page 2
