The Royal War

Chapter 9

A shudder crawls down my spine as Kallias smiles, I know he is up to some sort of mischief. I pat my thigh to make sure my dagger is strapped on. To anyone looking it would seem that I was smoothing out my dress, I look over at Demos and Alexandra and they are dancing with their partners. I plaster a smile on my face as I walk towards Kallias.

"I am going to kill you," I hissed at him.

"Likewise," He responds.

People started to look over and I panicked. I grab Kallias's hand and pull him into a dance. Surprise is written all across his face.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't need three hundred people panicking that there is an assassin in the room so you're going to blend in."

"Your dress is hideous," he remarks

"It reminds me of your face," I throw back.

"Ouch"

I roll my eyes, "You know when this is all done I'm going to kill you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"How did you even get out of your cell?" I question

"I have excellent lock picking skills, I tried to let Louis out but I was unable to do it, I must admit having different locks on each cell is genius, tedious but smart."

"Thank you,"  I say sarcastically.

We dance for a few minutes before I try to reach for my dagger. Kallias grabs my wrist.

"Don't even think about grabbing your dagger, you may have thought your subtle pat against your thigh was unnoticeable, but I was able to spot it easily."

I glare at him, " I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't."

While we are dancing I look up at him, his green eyes are quite beautiful. I look over his face to find some kind of emotion but all I find is amusement. Probably at the situation, when I look back into his eyes I see pain and sadness. That's weird, I wonder what he is hiding.

He senses that I am distracted and makes his move, I see him leave my arms and run towards the exit. Everything slows down, Demos recognizes who he is and runs after him. Everyone looks at me and I can see this party is going to descend very quickly into chaos. I refuse to let Kallias escape so I take out my dagger and throw it at him. It lands in the wall three inches away from his face. He looks back at me with anger in his eyes. I see him take a dagger from his pocket, I think that he is going to throw it at me and I get ready to run but then I see him change his aim slightly to Demos. My eyes widen with surprise, Kallias throws the dagger and it hits Demos in the leg.

Demos falls to the ground and I see Alexandra run to him. A new kind of anger takes over me, the sensible part of my brain shuts down and my instincts take over. I yank out the dagger from the wall and run after Kallias. This ball gown makes it a thousand times harder to run but I somehow manage to keep up. I take my aim and throw my dagger at Kallias. it hits him in the thigh. I see him fall to the ground as a pool of blood surrounds him.

He is no use to me dead so I quickly order some healers to bring him to the dungeons and heal him. I run back to the ball room and push my way through the crowd, I kneel next to Demos and inspect the wound.

"It's nothing Alena, I've been through worse," He says.

"It's not nothing you idiot, you were stabbed," I shake my head. This is all my fault.

"I am so sorry Demos."

"It's fine, the next time I see him though I'm going to beat his pretty face up."

I chuckle, "Not unless I get to him first."

I order another set of healers to take care of Demos. Once I see them leave with him I apologize to the crowd and let the servants escort them out. Once they leave I walk to the infirmary so I can be with Demos, I see him asleep on the bed. I watch one of the healers stitch his wound together and clean it thoroughly.

"Is the assassin still alive?" I ask

One of the healers nods yes and I am satisfied with the answer. Once I am certain Demos is out of danger I decide to visit Kallias. I see him slumped in the corner, his leg is wrapped with cloth but I can see some blood staining the cloth.

"Did you think you could escape?" I question

"It was worth a shot."

I laugh, "Your idiocy nearly cost my best friend's life, didn't you take enough people from me?"

He stays silent, "The one day I was actually happy and you have to come and ruin it again," I continue

I unlock the cell and walk in, "What are you doing," He asks

"Sit down, I'm not going to kill you."

I grab the manacles in the corner off the hook and clamp them around his wrists.

"Really?"

"Yes," I respond

"You have escaped and therefore I need to put more chains on you," I say

"I am going to kill you, and it will not be quick," He threatens.

"You can get in line, If I had a dollar for every person who said that to me I would be a hundred times richer than I am now."

I walk out of the cell fully aware that his eyes are branding the back of my head.