Royal Games

Chapter 30

Grey clouds cast dreary light through the trees as I wander through the forest. Hoping the clouds don't suddenly burst, I wrap my thick coat tighter around me. I think of Topia in the rain. Topian clouds are never this dark; even in heavy rain, the clouds are made of fluffy silver.

In general, Topia is more colourful and lush than Earth. On Earth, autumn leaves are red, orange, and brown. On Topia, autumn leaves are radiant burgundy, burning amber, and molten copper. Thinking about the differences is making me miss Opa.

A branch creaks above me, to the right. I whirl round, pulling my dagger out of my back and hurling it in the direction of the creak. The blade sinks into a tree trunk, an inch from Liam's head. He sits on a large branch, slouching casually against the trunk. A smirk graces his face.

"Very good. Although I'd appreciate it if you stuck to magic, rather than using a fancy knife." Liam drawls.

"Sorry. Did I scare you?" I ask in a patronizing tone, smiling innocently.

"Not at all. You were always a skilled shot. Anyway, I'm really struggling to sneak up on you." Liam says, putting up a sound barrier mid-sentence.

"What is it now? Three points to me and... Sorry, how many do you have again?" I ask teasingly.

"None. You don't have to remind me." He facepalms. "Why did I come up with this idea?"

"For training." I reply. "Although, you don't seem to be very good at it. Maybe I should get a new trainer..." I wonder aloud.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Liam says. He pulls my dagger out of the trunk and lets go of it. Instead of succumbing to the pull of gravity and plummeting to the leafy carpet below, it hovers in the air. The dagger spins as if on an invisible surface, like a bottle at a party.

"Neat trick." I say. Simple levitation magic is nothing impressive, but I'm not used to seeing Liam using magic on something so frivolous and irrelevant. Normally, there is a purpose when Liam uses magic.

"Thanks. I've been playing around a bit with magic recently." The dagger stops spinning as it begins floating towards me. "I'm trying to see what I can get away with while on-duty at the palace. If I can find a way to work against your mother at the same time as working for her, it would make things a whole lot easier, rather than snooping around in my off-duty time."

I reach out and grab the handle of the dagger, before shoving it back into my boot. "Sounds good. Have you learnt anything new, then?" I inquire.

"Yes, actually." Liam jumps down from the tree, landing gracefully on the ground. A human would struggle to make such a large jump, but he does it with ease. His face turns grave. "Your mother plans to take the throne for herself. I don't know why she started with you, but she is plotting the deaths of your entire family. I suspect the fact that you are still alive is the only reason she hasn't made another move."

My mouth goes dry. My head turns numb. "She... She's going to kill them all?" I say in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so. I found some vials of poison in her chambers (belladonna mostly), although I don't have a clue about when or on who she plans to use them. When I get the chance, I'll swap the poison for harmless substances, but it probably won't prevent her getting her hands on any more."

"How's my dad?" I ask.

"Still acting the role of grieving father and loving husband. I honestly don't know what he knows or suspects about your mother."

"But I used magic to send him a letter before you ever showed up here. Magic doesn't just go wrong if it's performed correctly. The spell worked. The letter wouldn't have disappeared from my hand otherwise." I say exasperatedly.

"Unless something interfered with the spell." Liam wonders aloud.

"Like what? My mum doesn't know I'm here. If she did, she would've sent more assassins by now. This isn't some game to her; if she finds me, she will try to kill me. There would be no point for her to interfere with any of my magic." During my time at university, I have somehow managed to come to terms with my mum's betrayal.

"The dark water didn't affect anything other than your healing, did it?" Liam asks.

"No. I was able to glamour fine, so it can't have messed with my magical abilities." My mind is working incredibly hard to figure out what happened. Things just aren't adding up.

"Do you want me to speak to your father about everything?"

"No, Liam. I'd love that, but we can't risk word getting back to my mum. She probably has eyes and ears following my dad and brother constantly. I never thought I would be concerned about Marco, but I guess I've been proven wrong."

"Not that it matters, but he's probably even more arrogant and aggravating than ever. I think your supposed murder rattled him more than he will ever tell."

"He never was one to talk about feelings." I muse. "Do you really think he cares that much about me?"

"Of course he does." Liam reassures. "In his own way."

"Never stopped him being a jerk though." I mumble.

"Are we meeting again next week? I know this is the final week of term."

"I was actually going to speak to you about that. I don't know if I'm going to be here next week. I planned on staying here, but Isaac has asked if I want to join his family for Christmas. Do you think it would be safer to go with him, or stay here and meet up with you as much as possible?" I ask, hoping to gain another perspective on my predicament.

"Taking safety out of the equation, where would you rather be?" I'm surprised practical-minded Liam would care about such an emotion-based factor.

"I don't want to be alone." I say quietly. If Liam can't stay here much longer than usual, I'd rather meet Isaac's family than stay here alone.

"Then that's your decision. I'd rather you were somewhere you have no obvious ties to as the princess." Although his words are spoken confidently, something in his eyes suggests more complicated thoughts. As if it's difficult for him to tell me to go.

"Are you sure?" I say, giving him a chance to voice whatever he's feeling.

"Yes." He doesn't elaborate.

I leave our meeting knowing what to tell Isaac, but unsure about Liam. I suspect his romantic feelings for me are still strong, and I don't know what to do about it. Do me and Liam need distance? Does he need to figure things out himself? Will his emotions wane without intervention? I want him to be comfortable discussing his feelings with me again, like he used to be. But I fear things between us may never be quite as they were.