“That won’t be a problem,” Cynster sneered. He lunged forward, but Merrick stepped to the side, dodging his attack. Elijah didn’t understand. His eyes became heavy and dropped as Jaxon stood up with his arm around Eli’s waist.
“Come on, we need to get you back to the infirmary,” Jaxon said.
“No, we can’t,” Elijah took in a ragged breath, “leave him. I won’t.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
A sinister laugh echoed around the room. It was so loud that it echoed all around them. Elijah felt Jaxon look behind him as they tried to walk towards the stairs leading out of the room.
“What’s happening? Why is he laughing?”
“Shush Elijah, your friends are helping Merrick. The sorcerer won’t win,” Jaxon said, not slowing his pace. Eli felt him look back a few times as they moved. It did not fill him with confidence that Jaxon was concerned for them. Even if he didn’t say the words.
“I won’t leave them,” Elijah insisted and struggled against Jaxon. He managed to free himself from his grip and fell to the floor. His body unable to carry his weight. The paralysis Cynster had induced still tingled along his limbs.
“You can’t save them right now.”
“Yes, I can.” Determined to do something, he spoke the words that had been drumming in his head since Cynster attacked him. “Akwele seo fortush.” The words coursed through his body and he felt the same pushing sensation that had happened in the main hall leave through his hands. He watched as Cynster went flying. He hit into one of the pillars and a cracking noise echoed through the room.
Merrick stood still, eyes wide, staring at Eli. The Agent of Cyran groaned as he pulled himself to standing. For a few moments, no-one knew what to do. They looked from Cynster to Elijah and back again.
“You do have magic,” Cynster said, looking up at him. “The Master will be pleased I found you.”
“If you manage to get that far,” Merrick said as he lunged forward.
“Kutsuda E zezë.” Cynster waved his hand towards Gianna and Sahab. A black and purple mist appeared and as it dissipated two hunched over humanoid animals stood in their way.
“What the hell are those?” Sahab shouted as he readied himself for an attack. Elijah watched as his energy depleted.
“Oh, for god’s sake, they’re just trolls. Cut off their heads!” Merrick lunged for Cynster. The sorcerer moved out of the way, dodging the attack and reaching for his own weapon.
Jaxon grabbed hold of Elijah and dragged him along the floor as part of the roof fell in front of him. “Listen to me, we are going to leave, and they are going to win. If you’re here, you will be a distraction to them.”
Eli would have argued, but his body was out of energy and his eyes were slowly closing. As much as he wanted to help his friends, he knew Jaxon was right. If he stayed here, he would probably die, and his friends might go down with him.
A roar caught them both off guard, causing Jaxon to almost drop Elijah’s arm as he tried to pull him up. One troll had Sahab pinned to the floor. Jaxon hooked Elijah’s arm around his neck, and he stood up. Gianna jumped on the back of the troll and sliced through its neck, the point almost touching Sahab’s nose.
“Thank you!” His friend shouted from beneath the troll. “Now get it off me.”
“I’m. A. Bit. Busy,” she called as she ducked the swing of the other troll. “You’ll have to get yourself out of that one.”
Jaxon started towards the stairs, but Elijah couldn’t find the strength to move his feet. As they got closer to the bottom, a light appeared above them. Someone had opened the door and was coming towards them.
“Elijah!” Her sweet voice sounded so faint Eli forced his eyes to see if it was real. A pair of hands grabbed him from the other side and lifted his arm. Swinging his head around, Elijah looked at his new companion and saw Buisan.
“Come on Master Kane, we need to get you out of here.” The librarian nodded to Jaxon, who started walking again, and they climbed the stairs.
Kane? Did he just call me Kane?
“Up we go.”
“Wait. What about…”
“They will be fine,” he heard Princess Sienna say, confirming that she was there with him. “Merrick has the Agent of Cyran’s sorcerer pinned to the wall.”
As a wave of nausea crashed over him, Elijah’s head dropped, and his world went black.
Water. There was water on his face, dripping down his cheek and pooling at the back of his neck. Elijah tried to open his eyes, but his lids were heavy. Another drop on his face made him flinch. Opening one eye, he quickly shut it as the blinding whiteness of the room hurt.
“He is still sleeping, whatever he has been through clearly exhausted him.” Elijah wasn’t sure if the voice he was hearing was Naoko’s.
“I need to speak with him, you’ll make sure I am called before anyone else.” That was Merrick’s voice. What happened?
“Merrick, he needs rest and don’t you dare get him back into training before he is ready. His shoulder is still weak, and his body was drained of all energy.” The nurse’s voice caught. “I fear they have subjected him to what’s called a magical drain.” Whispering the last words made Elijah concerned. Magic… Magic did this to me? “Someone essentially stole all his energy.”
“I know the laws around magic Naoko, why do you think I killed that sorcerer before he could go shouting his mouth off. You know I won’t hesitate to do it again either. I’ll protect my nephew any way I can.”
There was a sharp intake of breath.
“I’m sorry, I did not mean for that to come out as threatening as it did. I trust you, Naoko.”
“So, he is the rightful heir then. Elijah is Rhohesia’s son.”
“Yes, my sister-in-law asked me to be his guardian the day he was born. Of course I accepted the honour, I never thought it would mean this. I still remember the day the raven came from Magda. Ysabel was already gone by the time I got back,” Merrick’s voice caught, and Elijah felt a twang of guilt for listening to his private confessions. “I agreed, and I will protect him with my life.”
Silence fell between them. A cough from another patient in the distance made Elijah concerned that someone other than him heard Naoko and Merrick’s conversation.
“Here, this is for you. It’s the ingredients that you asked me to get. I also got you this.”
“Oh Merrick, it’s beautiful, where did you find it?”
“I have my sources. Smell.”
Elijah wasn’t sure what was going on, but his body was too weak to move. He heard someone take in a deep breath through their nose and a few seconds after that the sounds of someone collapsing on the floor.
“I’m sorry Naoko, Elijah’s heritage cannot be common knowledge yet. Just know you have to protect him too.” Merrick’s voice was soft, and Eli could imagine him stroking her hair. “You’ll not remember anything from this conversation other than you need to protect him. This is all I can do to protect you.”
A strange sensation came over Elijah, and his eyes became heavy. Almost like he could feel what Merrick’s scent had done to Naoko. He forced his eyes to open and watched as Merrick carried his nurse to a chair and placed her in it.
“How are you doing?” His uncle asked, turning on Elijah instantly.
Elijah felt too weak to move his head to look up at Merrick’s face, and his neck couldn’t lift the weight. “Exhausted,” Eli said, letting out a breath.
“Cynster is dead, so are his trolls. Sahab has a broken arm, but he is fine and luckily it’s his non-dominant hand, so he can still wield a sword.” Merrick gave him a full recount of the battle; the trolls and the sorcerer being defeated by his friends who came to his rescue.
“And Ivan?”
“Came running back to the castle with his tail between his legs and told us where you were. We found Sienna as she ran out.” Merrick entertained his fingers. “Why did you do it?”
“You were standing there debating my l
ife, when really we should have been thinking about Sienna,” Elijah answered. “She is the rightful heir, not me, Merrick. There really wasn’t a decision to make. You asked me to be her protector, so that’s what I was doing.”
“While that is very admirable, you still technically have a claim to the throne Elijah,” Merrick said in a hushed voice. “You can’t change your birth parents. It’s in your blood. Roderick knows this.”
“What about Ivan? Is anyone entertaining his claim?”
Merrick sighed. “The queen is giving him a very lucrative offer as we speak. She will document his story, and that will become how the prince escaped. He is to be your decoy.”
“Decoy?” Elijah shook his head. “I suppose it will be nice for someone else to get beaten up for a change.” Elijah shifted into a move comfortable position, only feeling more drained than he had before.
“I’m glad you can still make a joke.”
“If we are making my existence known, why did you do that to Naoko?”
Merrick shook his head. “I’m still discussing this with Roderick. He thinks we should parade you around like a prized possession. I want to keep you safe. For now, it’s better that only the people we want to know about Ivan know about him.” His uncle lowered his voice and moved to his bedside. “I cannot lose you as well.”
Eli nodded as Merrick squeezed his hand. “I need to rest. Can you help me with the sleeping draft?”
Merrick’s face dropped. “Of course, I’ll visit you in the morning.” Elijah’s uncle passed him the vial which held a purple liquid. He helped Elijah drink it and the prince fell into a deep sleep, allowing his body to recuperate.
31
Royal Duties
When Elijah woke, morning was still a few hours away, dawn only just breaking. The low light of the rising sun gave enough visibility for Elijah to see through his sleep-ridden eyes that Naoko was still passed out in the chair next to his bed.
Rolling over to the other side of his bed, he couldn’t feel the weakness he had before. The sleeping draft had worked. Sitting up in his bed, he tried to swing his legs out onto the floor, but as he pulled back the linen that was covering him, Buisan walked into his curtained off room.
“My prince,” the librarian said, bowing his head. “I have found this in one of the books. You may think it interesting.” His golden eyes glowed in the dim morning light. They were like coins under a glistening pool of water.
“What is it?” Elijah asked, taking the papers. Upon opening them, Eli recognised the printed seal of his father. “This is King Hectors Royal Sigil.”
“Yes, it was in the back of a book he had kept behind. I had forgotten all about it until I went into the back room of the library.” Buisan shifted his weight awkwardly, as if he was trying to move something that wasn’t there. “I personally found it quite interesting to read.”
Elijah forced a blink and looked down at the paper in his hands. Whatever language it was in, he could not read it. To him, it was a page of floating letters with his father’s seal stamped on it. “What language is this?”
“It is my belief that this is our tongue, but it’s written in some sort of code,” Buisan answered. “A few of the words I can make out say Dragon Sceptre and Tome of Vitality. Both of which are sacred Dragon Relics.”
“Your tongue?”
Buisan didn’t answer with words. He nodded his head and smiled. If you could call it that. Not wanting to cause further discomfort by asking questions, Elijah shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “Well, there is nothing I can do with this now.”
“Hopefully, you will be able to find a way to decode it.” With a bow of his head, Buisan turned and left Eli’s section of the infirmary. I wonder what all this means. Elijah would have to get back into the North Tower and read through this father’s papers to figure out what information the letter held.
“Naoko?” Elijah asked, realising that he’d forgotten she was still there. “Nay? Can you hear me?” Eli hoped that the use of a nickname she didn’t approve of might stir her. It didn’t. Trying to reach forward and grab her didn’t work either as her chair was too far away and it hurt to strain his body. In his attempt, the paper Buisan had given him fell to the floor.
Before Elijah could reach down and grab it, and potentially cause himself more injury, another hand picked it up. “Think you dropped this.” Maevine smiled as she handed the paper back to him. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore.”
Maevine shook her head. “Serves you right for rushing off on your own.” She pouted and turned her head away from him.
“Really? So I should have let that idiot sorcerer torture our princess?” Elijah flinched at his own words.
Maevine frowned at him and shook her head again. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. How could you go off on your own?”
“I wasn’t on my own,” he said, reaching out for her hand. “I had my friends with me. Merrick and Jaxon, Sahab and Gianna. There was no reason for me to be worried about what would happen. Sienna needed to be saved.”
She sighed and squeezed his hand before letting go. “Keela was worried about you. I think she sensed something was wrong. She calmed down after a day or two though.”
“Days? How long have I been in here?”
Maevine walked over to the opening and turned to face him. “Three days, although you have missed little. King Roderick and Queen Valerie spent most of their time fawning over Princess Sienna.” Maevine’s eyes glanced over to Eli’s nurse. “They were starting to believe the worst until she came running back.”
Elijah nodded. His eyes blurring. “I can imagine it was a hard time for them.”
“I’m really glad you’re alright Elijah.”
“Maevine, your mother is looking for you.” Merrick entered his curtained off room and stood to the side to let her pass.
She didn’t say another word as she nodded and left, leaving Elijah alone with his uncle. Merrick walked over to Naoko and pushed some of her hair from her face.
“I seem to have quite a few visitors this morning.”
“I came to check on Naoko. I should wake her up.” Merrick took a vial out of his pocket and uncorked the top. He shook it a little, making the contents rattle, before waving it under the nurse’s nose. It took a few moments before Naoko stirred and came to. Her head rolled from side to side on the back of the chair as the vial passed in front of her nostrils, then her eyes fluttered open. The nurse’s face went from calm to angry in two seconds.
“Merrick Walcott, I swear if you ever do something like that again I won’t allow anyone to heal your wounds.” Naoko’s tone was harsh, but she didn’t raise the volume of her voice.
Merrick smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Not much of a threat.”
Clearly flustered, Naoko ignored his comment and spun to face Elijah, who blinked hard to try and wipe the amusement off his face.
“Both of you will be out of my infirmary in a minute,” she said, squinting her eyes at Elijah. “For the record,” she turned back to Merrick, “had I not been a nurse, and my duty is to save lives, I would have said I’ll kill you myself.”
“There we go, that’s much better.” Merrick was teasing her, and Elijah had to bite his lips together to keep from laughing.
“Now, let me look at you.” Naoko grabbed Elijah’s arm and moved it. “Let me know if anything hurts.”
“It’s nothing,” Elijah started, but quickly shut up as soon as Naoko looked up at him. “It’s not my arm that hurts. I promise.”
“Well, you seem to have normal movement. You’ll need regular treatment with stamina potions. I’ll mix you up some Winterberry and Crimson Cluster, you’ll have to take a vial after breakfast every day for a week.” Naoko continued to move his body and check for signs of injury. “You have a nasty gash on your leg, I’ll patch that up for you and then you can go.”
Elijah nodded. “Thank you, Naoko.”
“You’re healing up well then?” Merrick
asked, after Naoko had left.
“Yeah, I mean, apart from feeling weak every time I move,” answered Elijah, waiting for the right time to ask his questions.
“That’ll be the magic the sorcerer used. It’s zapped your energy, but it will come back in time.” Merrick paced the end of his bed.
Elijah took in a deep breath. “What did you do to Naoko?”
Merrick looked up at him. His hair was a mess, as if he hadn’t done anything to it after waking up, and there was a hint of a smile in his eyes. “It’s called a Sleep Poppy and does exactly that. It sends people to sleep. They were all supposed to be extinct, but I asked Hector if I could keep some. They’re in your mother’s garden.”
Elijah didn’t realise something so pretty could be so deadly. Everything inside his mother’s garden was beautiful. A place of tranquillity and rest, and apparently deadly flowers. “That’s why you were so shocked to see it?” Merrick nodded. “You didn’t know he had put them in there?”
“No, I didn’t. They’re only bad if you pop the bud and release the spores. Which is what I did here,” Merrick said, nodding his head towards the open curtain.
Before Elijah could continue the conversation, Naoko walked back in with three vials. “Take one of these now and keep the other two. Come back tomorrow for some more.”
“How long do I need to take these for?” Elijah took the small fails of orange liquid from the nurse and looked at them.
“A week at least, and then I will re-evaluate. Come on, take one now or you can’t go.”
Not wanting to upset his nurse further, Elijah popped the top of the potion and took it all in once. He grimaced at the sour taste as it burned all the way down.
Naoko smiled and took the empty vial from him. “You’re free to go.”
Elijah nodded and turned to get out of the bed. The familiar feeling of heavy limbs had disappeared, and he found it easier to move. “Woah, that’s amazing,” he said, looking at his hands.
Kingdom of Lies (The Kane Saga Book 1) Page 24
