An Assassin's Vow | A Beloved Novel

Chapter 21

Tal knocked once on the closed doors, waiting. When there was no response, he knocked again. There was still no answer. And so Tal, being the honorable young man that he most certainly was not, picked the lock and entered Chesed's private chambers.

    He only had two short hours to try and get the Prince's friend on board and in league with their scheme. Tal couldn't very well call it a plan. They were going behind King Ralen's back to do all of this.

    Aubrie would remain at the castle to possibly cover for them all. Though it wouldn't last. They all knew it.

    The chambers were cold, dark, and quiet. Almost as if the young man hadn't been there for some time—days, at least. It was clean, everything tucked and put away in its proper place. Clothes were carefully organized by style and color and folded with such precision that Tal was careful not to touch them. Somehow, it made sense to him that Chesed would have a specific way of folding his clothes. He'd seen the way Devan put his own clothes away. A majority of the time, the Prince balled up his shirts and just shoved them into whatever drawer they might fit in.

    "Chesed?" he called, already knowing he wouldn't get a response.

He crossed over to the desk, probably the only messy thing in the room. Papers lay over the whole thing, various messages scrawled on them: letters he'd started writing to check in on the wellbeing of his parents, requests from lords and ladies asking Chesed to help them see the King, others were anonymous love letters that Tal actually laughed at some of them. As he turned away, a smaller letter caught his attention. Tucked beneath an inkwell, Tal spotted the signature—DK.

Tal snatched it up. Water had erased a majority of the message. What Tal could make of it were the last two sentences and the signature which matched the Dark King's handwriting from the message Tal had received weeks earlier. He scanned the last two lines quickly, wondering why this was in Chesed's room.

It is time to put the next part of the plan in motion. You'll hear no more from me until it is time to come out of hiding.
—DK

"You're not supposed to be in here." Tal looked up as Chesed walked into the room, shedding his coat and hanging it on the coat rack by the door. The young man glared at Tal. "Care to explain why you're in my chambers? And better yet... How did you get in here? The door was locked when I left."

"I know how to pick a lock, Chesed," Tal spat. "Do you want to explain why you have this—" he waved the letter at him— "here?"

Chesed stormed over to him, snatching the letter from Tal's hands. "I don't have to explain myself to you." Chesed glared at him. "But I am no traitor to my King, my Prince, or my country, if that's what you're concerned about."

"Then where did you get the letter?" Tal snapped.

"Why does it matter?" Chesed tossed the letter aside. "Are you going to tell Devan that I am in league with the Dark King?"

"Maybe. If you don't have a better reason aside from that it's not my business," Tal sneered.

Chesed's silver eyes glittered with challenge. "I intercepted the messenger who was delivering it. And for the past few days, I have been conducting my own investigation on this matter because someone is trying to kill my best friend. And for some reason that I can't understand, Devan trusts you. And I don't. So forgive me for not opening up to the person who arrived at the castle right before the assassination attempt occurred."

Tal blinked. "Are you accusing me of trying to kill Devan?"

Chesed shrugged. "I just think it's rather strange that you show up—the only outsider—and then Devan is put in danger. And that then begs the question, where have you been the past ten years, Tal? Where did you acquire those impressive skills that you display during training?"

"I am no threat to Devan's life." That much was true. Tal was not going to even consider the possibility of harming Devan ever again.

"You say that." Chesed leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. "But if I find even one shred of evidence that you might hurt him—or that you tried to before—I will throw you in the deepest, darkest part of the dungeons myself. Where I will make sure you won't be able to pick the lock and escape."

Nausea roiled in Tal's stomach as power dripped off the young man before him, so thick and heavy. And just as quickly as Tal had sensed it filling the space between them, it was gone.

Chesed glared at Tal. "Why did you come in here?"

Tal returned the stare. "Because Devan wanted you to go with us... To the Pirate's Keep. He received a tip that someone there knows the identity of the Dark King."

Chesed's lips pressed into a thin line. "Who all is going—aside from you and Devan, of course."

"The informant, a crew to help get us there safely—Devan has already paid them for their silence on this particular mission, and that's all."

He snorted. "I suppose fewer numbers would attract less attention. Especially if this is a stealth mission." He sighed. "I would go—if only to keep an eye on you—but I can't. I have my own tip that there are strange dealings going on between the Dark King's men and another unknown group out in some old temple ruins in Talonia. I'm leaving tonight to investigate further on that."

"Talonia? But it might take you a week to get there. And then a couple days longer than that to get out into those dunes—assuming the ruins aren't located in the Barren Sea."

He rolled his eyes. "Your concern over whether or not I make it is touching, to say the least."

"I only care because Devan is your best friend. If something happened to you..." Tal shook his head. "And seeing as how you don't trust me..."

"At least take someone else with you. Like Trynewn or Kalvir. That way I know that there is another person there to help keep Devan safe. Because I don't trust you. And because the Pirate's Keep will be crawling with felons who would gladly kill the Prince without asking questions. Or hold him for ransom. And, frankly, we don't have the time to worry about either of those things happening."

"Fine. Good luck, I guess, on your investigation."

Tal started walking to the door only for Chesed to grab his arm, stopping him. "I may not trust you, but Devan does. And, as much as I hate to admit it, Devan is usually right about those sorts of things. So if he trusts you... then perhaps I should give you the benefit of the doubt. But that doesn't mean I won't still toss you in a cell if you hurt my friend."

Tal brushed Chesed's hand off his arm. "I'd say that's fair. I'm afraid Aubrie beat you to it, however, and threatened me my first day back in Castlecairn." He met Chesed's gaze. "I swear... I will protect Devan."

Chesed stepped back, dismissing Tal with a wave of his hand. "I'll meet with you and Devan when you get back and let you know what I find in my investigation." He paused. "I mean it now, Tal. A truce. We need to work together to protect him."

Tal nodded once and left the room.

Now it was time to sail to the Pirate's Keep.