Assassination

Chapter 10

Cyrus Anders

Cyrus watched intently as the blonde girl walked away, Katherine. But she had said she liked being called Kat. Cyrus smiled. He couldn’t wait to make a new friend in the Program. Sure, he had all of his friends back from where he grew up, but they were just that, people he grew up with.

He was around them because people had to stick together in the Castle. Too many people were cut-throat in there, willing to do anything to move up in that old world. He knew that far too well. He had learned long ago that he should stick to his crowd if he didn’t want to get hurt. They were the only people he could really trust, and he was just fine with that. That didn’t mean that he didn’t crave to know someone with different personalities, perspectives, and experiences than him.

He knew that he wouldn’t get too close to her for that very reason. But, perhaps she could still be an acquaintance of sorts. He could still talk to her and find out what the other parts of the Kingdom were like.

He got to travel some, that was for sure. When he was younger, before he went to the Castle, he had only ever been within his hometown. He smiled at that thought. He still loved his old home of Bueno de Amor. It certainly lived up to its name, at least, if his memory was anything to go off.

Even as a cleaning servant, he really hadn’t gotten around to going to different places much. His life had been constantly consumed by either his work or his schooling. There were so few breaks, and they were most certainly never long enough to go on even walks around the courtyard.

However, ever since he had started tutoring the Prince, he had been to so many places. Wherever the Prince went, he had to go as well. One of the few things that he would thank Holden for, getting him outside of the stuffy castle. Even though the younger kid always just laughed at his awe. After all, that type of thing had always been a part of Holden’s life. He didn’t question it.

He never ventured far, though. When he traveled with the royal family, there was still work for him to do. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be there with them. He still had to teach, grade, learn, and everything else that his job entailed. So, he still went to bed exhausted every single night during those times.

Still, he was grateful for everything that he got at his elevated position. He knew that the majority of his friends and fellow co-workers didn’t get the great things that he got. So he dealt with it.

He placed the horse in the back of the stable. He knew that the knights would be coming through to use the horses later, and they were less likely to work with any of the ones near the back.

He thought that protecting her horse from getting overworked would put him in her favor in terms of starting to talk to each other. He brushed him more than he did any of the other horses and made sure that his reins weren’t too tight at all. He smiled as the horse whinnied and nudged him.

Usually, he would worry about what the others were doing, if they were taking on too much work while he took his sweet old time taking care of the animal that he decided he liked best because the girl who owned was really nice. But he knew that there wasn’t too much on their plate.

The stations ahead of him, like every year, were taking super long with each person. Especially the bag and person checking station. He knew why it was important to protect everyone in the castle. Most particularly, the King himself. But why did it take around ten to twenty minutes per person?

He shook his head. They also had a lot of workers in his tent. Besides, horses required a lot of maintenance. He could always make that excuse if they asked why he had been gone in the stables for so long.

“Well, Talker. You know, your owner is really nice. Do you know if she knows Spanish, too? I kinda want to talk to her in it.” He smiled, but it dropped when he realized that he was asking a horse questions.