Her command had been to kill the guards, not Leon, but if he tried to get in the way, I couldn’t take the chance that I would kill him by mistake. Perhaps it would never come to that. Hayden would keep Leon out.
“You need to find your seat,” Hayden said.
You tell him Hayden.
“Hey, let go of me!” Leon shouted.
I couldn’t see anything through the door of my cell, but I heard feet scuffling and grunts coming from the other side.
“I can help him!” Leon bellowed above the sounds of the struggle. “I’m an Engineer!”
The fighting came to an abrupt halt, and silence permeated the room beyond. A second later, the door to my cell slid open, and Leon stood in the doorway with Hayden standing behind him, gun at the ready.
No! Stay back!
I began to fight against my restraints, presumably to kill Hayden as it was completely involuntary. Mentally and physically, I attempted to resist whatever alterations Alton had made to my mind. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t resume control of my body.
Leon hesitantly drew near.
“It’s okay, Aren, I’m here to help,” Leon said, but my body didn’t settle at his words, if anything, they fought all the more.
Thankfully, the electrocuffs held.
Leon settled in next to me and pulled out a small tool kit. A moment later, he began tinkering with the device on my head.
I winced in pain and head-butted him, sending him stumbling back with a gash along his forehead.
Leon hissed as he brought his hand up to the wound.
Hayden looped the gun around his shoulder, came over to Leon, placed his hand on Leon’s shoulder, and tapped the Healing stone on his gauntlet. The same wave of blue light that enveloped Hayden after I broke his nose, now covered Leon. I watched in awe as the wound on his forehead sealed itself.
“Thanks,” Leon said. “I need him steady. Can you hold him down?”
“I can do you one better,” Hayden replied.
He pulled the gun off his shoulder once more and shot me with another stun blast. My whole body went rigid and still.
“That’s not what I meant,” Leon said, casting a glare at the guard.
Hayden shrugged.
Leon went to work on my device, and after a few moments, he said, “There. All done. How are you feeling, Aren?”
I didn’t know. I couldn’t move, the stun was still in effect.
“Hold on,” Hayden said with a malicious smile on his face. He went for one of the utility pouches on his armor and pulled out a small syringe. “This is going to hurt.”
He plunged the syringe into my shoulder, and a million tiny fires lit up all over my body.
I screamed like I’d never screamed before.
Wait. I could scream. Alton’s evil magic was gone.
“Leon?” I asked, once I had regained my composure. Then I laughed! “You did it! I’m not being controlled anymore. What did you do?”
“I reset the programming in your neural link,” he explained.
“You what?” I asked. “How do you know to do something like that?
“I’m an Engineer, remember?” Leon replied. “I’ve kept up to-date on all the latest technological advances on both sides of the border. Couple that with my knack for electronics and it was an easy fix.”
“Can you remove it?” I asked.
Leon frowned. “That, unfortunately, is beyond my skills. While I was in there, I noticed that they installed a couple of fail-safes. If the device is removed at all, it’ll kill you.”
“So, I’m stuck with this thing?” I asked. “What if it takes control of me again?”
“It shouldn’t,” Leon said.
“Shouldn’t? That’s not very comforting.”
“Don’t worry,” Hayden said. “Your father will sort it out.”
“My father?” I asked.
Leon forced a hesitant smile as he explained to Hayden, “He hit his head pretty bad. It’s just temporary memory loss.” Then he turned back to me. “You’re a Halland, Aren.”
“Yeah, I know that, so? I’m guessing my father is some important scientist and that's why he can help me, right?” I asked.
“No, Aren, he’s the king.”
Eleven
“He’s the what?” I asked, convinced I hadn’t heard him properly.
“The king,” Leon said. “Your father is the king of Allyria.”
“You’re telling me I’m a prince?”
“No, I didn’t say anything about your being a prince,” Leon said.
“But, how—? Chet,” I said, understanding dawning on me. “My mother’s his mistress, isn’t she?”
Leon’s wince and Hayden’s hardened stare were all the confirmation I needed.
“Give it to me straight, how bad is it?”
Hayden’s grip on his rifle tightened at my words.
Not good.
“Nobody’s seen you in years,” someone said.
I turned to regard the newcomer and found the captain of the royal guard, Lucian, staring back at me from the doorway. His eyes were narrow, and his face unreadable.
“Sir!” Hayden said, pulling his feet together and straightening his back.
“I’m guessing you’ve overridden the neural commands?” Lucian asked Leon.
Leon nodded.
“Then release him,” Lucian ordered. The tightness in my chest loosened as he cracked a smile.
Hayden came up to me, and Leon backed away, giving him space. He tapped a few buttons on a control panel in the wall, and all five restraints released at once.
I stretched my stiff arms, stood, and leaned backward until my back cracked. It felt good to be out of those blasted cuffs. Something about them felt… odd. And when they released me, it was like the weight of the world had been removed from my shoulders.
Stepping out of my cell, I walked toward Lucian.
“It’s been too long, Aren,” he said, embracing me.
I stood there, shocked at his familiarity, then I slowly returned the man’s hug.
“You don’t hate me?” I asked.
Lucian released me and took a step back, then furrowed his brow. “Why would I hate you?”
My gaze drifted to Hayden, and he shifted uncomfortably where he stood.
“I see,” Lucian said thoughtfully, glaring at Hayden. “Not everyone shares a negative opinion of you. There are some of us that see the real Aren beyond a muddied bloodline.”
“It doesn’t bother you that I’m a—an Oathbreaker?” I asked.
“Your decision to buck a thousand years of tradition coupled with your high-profile name didn’t sit too well with a great many people,” Lucian replied. “Publicly, the king had to disown you, or the people would have disowned him. But privately? There’s not a day that goes by that Xavier Halland doesn’t regret that last heated argument with you before you ran off.”
“Heated is an understatement,” Hayden said under his breath.
“Shut it,” Lucian snapped.
“Sir, yes, sir,” Hayden replied, straightening. “Apologies, sir.”
“At ease,” Lucian said. Turning to me, he continued, “The official position of the kingdom is that Oathbreakers are violent criminals punishable by death. Without such a position, we’d lose our military, our police force, everything. But the truth is, the king knows the good service that the clans provide the common folk, so he doesn’t pursue them.”
“If they, I mean we, contribute to the kingdom, then why are we hunted?” I asked.
“Control. Plain and simple. If all Sworn could mix and match their magika, they’d be unpredictable. And the bureaucrats don’t like the unknown. They like their neat, orderly systems that strangle our people and keep a tight leash on the throne.”
“So, then why are you here? Won’t helping me upset the very thing you say my father tried to prevent by disowning me in the first place?”
“I think that’s a question better left for him
,” Lucian said warily.
“How did you find me anyway?”
“Our scanners picked you up at a tavern in Fairfalls,” he explained. “By the way, what were you doing out there?" Waving his hand before I could reply, he continued on, "Never mind. Point is, the king had us create an alert that triggered the system when your biometrics were scanned. Nobody’s seen you in four years. Imagine our surprise when a sensor went off. Our technicians were convinced it was an error at first. But after I viewed the tapes, I knew. I fired up the Scepter, and we were airborne within the hour.
“Unfortunately, you were gone when we arrived. We traced the heat signatures left by the Anvils to this facility. It’s unfortunate that Commander Parsons was a turncoat but not an uncommon occurrence for those living on the Fringe.”
“Maybe not for long,” Leon said. “The peace talks will begin soon, and we can put this war to bed.”
“Peace talks?” I asked.
Lucian nodded. “The Balgyran ambassador will be arriving at the palace later tomorrow evening, or I guess it’s today,” he said, looking at his power tracker.
“What time is it anyway?” I asked with a yawn
“Four in the morning,” Lucian responded. “We’re going to take off here in a minute, and I suggest that you get some shut eye. It’s a three-hour trip to Obsidia, and the king will undoubtedly want to prep you for tonight when we arrive.”
“Prep me?”
“He wants you to join the peace talks,” Lucian explained, “as the representative for the Oathbreakers.”
I coughed rather forcefully. “Excuse me?”
“This isn’t about just ending the war, Aren,” the captain said. “It’s about rallying our people. Plus, if we present a unified front to the Balgyran delegacy, then we’ll be seen as an indomitable force, and they’ll have no choice but to agree to a treaty.”
“You’re telling me that my father, who disowned me because I’m an Oathbreaker, now wants to make friends with the Oathbreakers because it’s convenient for him?” I asked, my voice starting to rise. I scoffed. “Oh, this is grand.”
“Don’t judge him, okay?” Lucian asked. “I spoke truly when I said he regrets how you two parted.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?” Lucian asked.
I wanted to ask him how I knew his name, or what I was to him or he was to me. But I was tired of people looking at me like I was crazy, or Leon having to constantly apologize for me. Besides, one of these days my memory loss was going to land me in a real mess, and it seemed best to keep things close to the vest for now.
“You talk big about the official position of the kingdom or how my father feels, but you haven’t told me what you think,” I responded.
“You’re my brother. I’ll always have your back, despite what our father thinks,” he said.
Chet. I didn’t see that coming.
It took every ounce of restraint that I had not to blurt out “brother?”
A quick glance at the man in front of me—tall, dark hair, tan skin, dashingly handsome—told me that we couldn’t have been blood brothers as I was short, blond, and a little pasty. If we were related, it was only half so. That likely meant that Lucian was a full-blooded royal—A real prince.
I had so many questions.
And I couldn’t ask them without looking like an idiot.
Perhaps Leon would know more. I’d just have to corner him alone and file down my ever-increasing list of things I needed answers to.
I suddenly realized I’d never responded to Lucian and everyone was staring at me funny. “Thanks,” I said at last.
“Well,” Lucian said, clapping his hands together. “You should probably get some rest. As I said, we’ve got just a few hours before we arrive, and you will no doubt have a busy day ahead of you. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be there with you each step of the way.”
I chanced a glance at Leon, who stood huddled in the corner, a look of dejection on his face. In an event completely out of his control, I’d gone from nothing—like him—to one of the most powerful men in the world (or I was at least related to them), and after Lucian’s proclamations, Leon probably couldn’t help but feel like he’d been replaced as my best friend.
I took a step toward him when Lucian said, “Hayden, show Aren to his room please. He can have mine. I won’t be needing it.” His face turned deathly serious, and he wandered away saying, “I’ve got a lot to think about.”
Hayden ushered me forward, preventing me from reaching Leon. “This way, please.”
Looking back, I made eye contact with Leon and mouthed an apology, but he had already turned away with a frown on his face.
The AGIS-Scepter was a lot larger inside than it appeared on the outside. There seemed to be as many corridors and levels as the detention facility itself. Hayden stopped outside a particularly lavish door with gold trim around the frame. He tapped a couple of buttons on the keypad, the airlocks disengaging before it slid open.
“Here we are,” Hayden said through gritted teeth.
He held out his arm, and I entered the room. I could have sworn I left the air cruiser and stepped into the palace itself. Whereas the rest of the cruiser had contained tight narrow hallways and conservatively sized rooms, the suite I stepped into was a fully furnished, one-bedroom apartment.
The room in front of me contained a fireplace—where it vented, I didn’t know—a sofa, two armchairs, and three small tables. I assumed the two doors leading off from the main room were to a washroom and the actual bedroom.
With all this space, I didn’t understand why Leon couldn’t have come and slept on one of the sofas. He’d been up just as long, if not longer than I, considering he never lost consciousness. I turned around to talk to Hayden when the door slammed closed, the airlocks reengaging.
I went to the keypad by the door and tapped it, but the door wouldn’t open. I tried a few more buttons, but all that greeted me was a flashing red light.
“Hey!” I said, pounding on the door. “Can you bring Leon up here, please?”
“Enjoy your accommodations, majesty,” Hayden said, his voice dripping with venom.
I frowned. Why was it that everyone had it out for me? If only I could remember why they did, maybe it wouldn’t sting so much.
Oh well, it’s not like I was in electrocuffs anymore. And there were worse places to be locked up.
I strode over to the sofa and plopped down, kicking my feet up.
“Hope they don’t mind,” I said to myself as I crossed my arms behind my head and took a deep breath.
It was so quiet as I exhaled, that I could hear the hissing of my breath as it slowly escaped my mouth. But when my body settled and my mind eased, the hissing continued. I furrowed my brow in confusion and got off the sofa.
Fancy place like this and they’ve got a leak in the pipes somewhere. I’d never get any rest with that annoying noise in the background. No matter, I could find it and plug it myself.
The noise seemed to be the loudest over by the fireplace—maybe a gas leak. Poking around, I smelled a strange substance, but it wasn’t natural gas, and that's when I began to feel lightheaded. I quickly backed away, but it was too late.
My body started to tingle, beginning at my fingertips, it continued coursing down my arms at an alarming rate. It must have been some kind of nerve agent.
Darkness crowded around my eyes.
Not again.
Twelve
“You drugged him!” a deep, authoritative voice roared. “What were you thinking?”
My eyes blinked open, and once more, a splitting headache greeted me. This was getting old.
“It didn’t take a genius to see he wasn’t going to cooperate. And you didn’t see that facility. It was a downright massacre. I had to improvise,” someone else said. It sounded like… Lucian?
“Was Aren behind the attack?” the man asked.
“Not that I could tell, no, but—”
“No
t that you could—gods, Lucian, are you out of your mind?” the man yelled.
Yup, it was him all right.
“You weren’t there! He opened fire on us,” Lucian explained. “They controlled him somehow.”
“What are you talking about?” the man snapped, his voice alarmed.
“When we found him, he had a foreign neural implant in his skull. I’ve had our own Engineers take a look at it, but no one knows how to remove it or even if it can be removed. They managed to deprogram the device so he should no longer be a threat, but we’ve never seen anything like it,” Lucian said.
There was a brief silence.
“All the more reason to make sure these peace talks don’t fail,” the man said. “Balgyra is outmatching us at every turn. In another six months, we won’t have any hope of standing against them.”
I suspected the other man in the room to be the king, my father, but I had to be certain. Not that I knew what the man looked like, but I hoped that seeing him would trigger a memory, like seeing the sun did when I was fighting the razorclaw.
“Some would say this is the very reason why we need to attack and attack now,” Lucian said, “while their attention is on the peace talks. If we launch an attack on their capital tonight—”
I sat up in the ornate bed where I had awoken and groaned quietly. Kicking my legs off to the side, I slowly rose.
“Absolutely not!” the man roared. “I’ve spent too long getting President Herzog to agree to even meet with me, I will not risk its failure now.”
I took an unsteady step forward.
“The Balgyran president isn’t even coming. He’s sending a delegate!” Lucian shouted. “These peace talks are a joke.”
“Hold your tongue! I better not hear another word on this until after—”
At that moment, I tripped and fell into the armoire, causing it to tip and smack loudly into the wall.
“What was that?” the man asked.
The door burst open a minute later, and Lucian came through the entrance followed by a man wearing the clothes of a nobleman. He looked the spitting image of the prince, just twenty-some-odd years older.
There was no doubt that he was indeed the king. Yet, as I looked up at him, I had no grand revelation or flash of memory, just the obvious connections anyone could have drawn. My head drooped with disappointment.
Sworn Guardian: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Forbidden Magic Book 1) Page 9
