Avon

Chapter 5

Eddie

I look at the chessboard and I have to watch my king get checkmated. I nod and accept my loss. I push the king over with my index finger. "I find it fascinating that you still want to play chess with me, even though you always lose." Queen Cathinde says and takes a sip of her cup of tea. She doesn't grin out of politeness, but I see it in her eyes. "Maybe I'll let you win." I say with a grin, because I have never had those polite manners. I put the chess pieces back in the right place. We are sitting in Cathinde's private living room to which her bedroom is attached. We are both sitting in a large armchair with a glass table between us on which the chess board is placed. "And why would you do that?" She asks, looking at me with interested eyes. "Perhaps so that I can strike when you least expect it. Perhaps you are so full and confident that you lower your shield. Maybe because I'm playing a completely different game with you and I'm actually winning. Or maybe I'm very considerate and don't want to be the one to make the queen lose." I say and then look at her with satisfaction. She looks at me sharply. It's silent between us for a few seconds. Then she starts laughing. "I'm still waiting for the day you kill me. Eddie Carron." I chuckle. "Fortunately, you are a patient woman, my majesty." She nods with the corners of her mouth turned up. Then she starts coughing heavily. I quickly grab her cup of tea before she can fall over herself. She takes a handkerchief next to her and coughs some more. After a few seconds she finally catches her breath and there is blood on her handkerchief. I hate seeing her like this.

When I was first brought to the castle, Cathinde didn't even know I existed. The lords wanted to make me a soldier because I had already become an Avon at such a young age and was also a strong animal. But as a person you also have to be strong. You have to know how to fight. With your bare hands but also with a sword and daggers. Not since the great war between the gods has something so terrible happened afterwards. There have been troubles between two countries. Some ruler tried to take over pieces of land. Others simply tried to test how strong and stable the other country really is. Or perhaps their god's powers had been weakened. But it has almost never happened that a king or queen had to use his or her powers to protect their country. Some wonder if they even know how to use their powers. The people will never see that. I've never seen Cathinde use her full power either. But Cathinde saw me after a while.

I was trained harshly. I was only 12 but they didn't care. She treated me as harshly as an 18 year old. My body could barely handle it at times. From the age of 16 I was strong and muscular enough. I was able to handle my opponents better and better until no one could beat me anymore. I don't know if Cathinde had heard about me or seen me during training or fights. But she had assigned me as her protector/bodyguard. I was by her side during important moments or days. Hugo, her right hand and advisor since the beginning of her queenship, didn't like it at all. But that was one of the few times Cathinde didn't listen to him. At large meetings or a 1-on-1 conversation, I was there and heard and saw everything. Even though no one else wanted me there. But Cathinde refused to send me away. Since Cathinde became ill, she sent me to fill her place. From that moment on I belonged to the High Lords. I was nervous at the beginning but I didn't let anyone know.

"Are you OK?" I ask her and put her cup down on the table. She nods. "I think the worst thing about being sick is that others see it too. If you want to kill me, you gotta do it quickly, boy. My body is giving up." She says and cleans the corners of her mouth with her handkerchief. "Are you giving up?" I ask. She looks at her bloody handkerchief. "I have made big mistakes in the past. Mistakes that I can no longer correct. I will never forgive myself again and I have endangered the country by doing so. No one knows what will happen when I die. What happened to Avon. I don't want to leave this country, this world, in damnation." She sighs deeply. "Stella should have been here." Her hands start to shake. "It is my fault. I never had her..." She closes her eyes. "We had... There had to be another solution." A tear rolls down her cheek. Every now and then Cathinde's emotions rise. Always with half sentences like this.