Kingdom's Fall

Chapter 12, Part 2

Aiden took in the look on the stable-master’s face and was satisfied. They had taken him off-guard, yes, but he wasn’t truly surprised to see them. There was no urgent, calculating movement of the eyes, no desperate casting about for a weapon. Gray had urged him to trust his judgement regarding the stable-master, and yet Aiden hadn’t been able to fully rid himself of the urge to rush the man the second he was over the threshold. The fewer people that know, the better.

Just as Gray had assured him, Cuan was fine. Somehow the boy had found his way into the man’s care. That the stable-master hadn’t immediately traded Cuan in for a reward or a favour was a heartening sign.

“How did you get out?” Cuan asked. He was sitting on a chair, gawping at them as if they had just risen out of the floor like ghosts. He was pale, from worry or fright, and Aiden could see that he had been crying.

“With great difficulty,” Gray said. “If it hadn’t been for Kara, we’d have taken turns on a headsman’s block in the morning.”

The boy looked down at the floor, blinking furiously to tamp down the tears that were welling up again. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I didn’t come and help you. I just ran away.” He sniffed, and his voice caught in his throat. “I didn’t even get my sword.”

Gray glanced at Kara, who shrugged, and then at Aiden. Aiden pointed back at him, and then at Cuan. Your boy, your problem. Gray looked confused and unsure, but even so Aiden knew he was the one to deal with it. A familiar face would be more of a comfort than any well-turned consolation.

“That doesn’t matter, lad. None of it does.” Gray said. “What’s important is that you got out, and that you’re safe. That was the right thing to do. You want to prove yourself, keep doing what you’re doing.”

“But she managed to save you,” Cuan said. Aiden winced at the ringing, accusatory tone in the boy’s voice and looked at Kara to head off the possibility of an outburst. Kara was looking away, doing a fine job of appearing not to notice.

Gray chuckled. “Son, I doubt any man here could have done what she did today.” The smile faded from his face. “Listen, what happened today was beyond anything we could have planned for. Lord Baird and I have a lifetime of experience between us, and it almost saw us killed outright. What Kara did was brave, yes, but it was also incredibly lucky.”

“And I had to leave you to do it,” Kara said. “I’m sorry, Cuan, but when I left you in the hall I wasn’t thinking. I was so confused that the only thing I could think of was getting away. I didn’t realise until later that I’d left you to fend for yourself. I shouldn’t have.”

Cuan gaped at her, the wind spilled from his sails. A quicker head would take advantage of that, Aiden thought, and he cursed himself for thinking it.

“So what happened to you in there?” Ambrose asked. “What happened with the king?”

“A demon killed him,” said Gray.

“The thing in that bottle, then?”

Gray nodded, and tapped Aiden on the leg as he did it. It was subtle and quick - the reminder of a secret they shared. Aiden was surprised, but not so much that he couldn’t understand its meaning. Wait. Let it play.

Ambrose scoffed and nodded, as if confirming something that he had known forever. “No wonder that lad you brought in was so bloody scared of it,” he said.

“It’s worse than you think,” Gray said. “It took hold of the princess.”

The stable-master’s eyes widened. “Took hold of her?”