The Immortal Guardians: Book IV

Chapter 42

"Were you seeing the Chancellor's sister?" Henri asked, his jaw was rather hard. I wished I had something to make him better. He didn't look too good.

"Yeah, his sister isn't allowed to date anybody. We met last year at your ceremony." He met my eyes. I raised my eyebrows, surprised.

"How come I've never met you before?" I couldn't help being slightly suspicious.

"My dad was a Guardian and my mom is a Keeper. They aren't supposed to be together. they've been together since they were in school."

"Yeah, makes sense. Who was that woman he was with?" I briefly recalled that one of our dances Ronald had been with a woman.

"A friend." He rolled his eyes. "They had to keep up appearances to make sure people weren't suspicious."

"I'm sorry about his death." I tried my best to smile at him. He nodded once at me.

"That's okay. My dad was a good man and he died with honor." He averted his eyes slightly taking a deep breath.

I heard a soft twinkling sound. I got up quickly to my feet as Ares materialized inside.

"Ares." I exclaimed. Henri and Eric immediately motioned for me to keep it down. He chirped quietly and jumped into my arms.

"Did Prince Ian send you?" I asked him, he nodded once. He craned his neck to Henri and flew to him. Tears started to spill down his face and they landed on Henri's leg.

"Thanks Ares." Henri grinned at him, rubbing his head. "I feel way better.

"Bird" Eric called to him. Ares turned to him and chirped loudly. Of course, Ares would know who that was. "Help me out." Ares flew to him and landed on his shoulder.

Is he really Ronald and Rima's son?, I asked Ares silently as he helped Eric.

He met my eyes and nodded. I raised my eyebrows still shocked at the idea that Rima and Ronald had a son. A keeper and a Guardian getting together was punishable and the punishment was harsh. Byron and I hadn't been allowed to date when he became a Keeper let alone when he was my mentor. It would have gotten us in trouble. Rima had known that we were dating and she had told him to break it off but we hadn't. We had kept our relationship a secret.

Eric hadn't been lying. I stared in wonderment at him. It was even more interesting that Ares knew him. Ares knew more than he let on.

I wondered what else he was hiding. Ares made his way over to me and dropped some tears on me, healing my own wounds. He settled on my lap and rubbed his head against mine.

I've missed you, I told him quietly. Ares chirped quietly in response, nipping my ear slightly.

"Did you leave Ian in good hands?" I asked him. Ares nodded. He sent blurred images into my head. Prince Ian was going to stay with the Goblins under protection until he got back. Eos, the other Phoenix, was still with Byron. Ares was making it seem like Eos was taking care of Byron.

"What is Byron up to?" I frowned down at him. Ares sent me various images. Byron was mobilizing the Guard and making his way over. We had less than a week before he would make it to Warlock territory. We had to move fast.

Henri was also getting the same images. Ares placed three swords on my lap. He had known that Eric was here. I shook my head at him. We were here to not only take Taron's throne but also to get Eric out.

Eric was watching us silently not saying a word. He was also receiving the internal messages that were passing between Ares and I.

"Did you know he was here?" Ares merely stared back at me. I blinked at him. "Ares why didn't you tell us before?"

"I told him not to. It was best that I wasn't found especially since Anika tried to kill you. I took my father's position in the Counsel of three."

"You knew about the Heir since your father's death?"

"Pretty much. He had to be replaced but there are other things too. Your professor found a loophole and leaked information about the Heir." Eric got up and stretched out his back. He let out a satisfied groan. From what I could tell, he had Ronald's built but it was too dark to make out his features.

"Our professor?"

"Langston, he is also in the Counsel of Three." He looked rather surprised that we didn't know what was going on. "That's why he was trying to kill you."

"What?" Henri and I yelped. "It wasn't Anika who was trying to kill me?" Ares's head turned to him and chirped. Eric met Ares eyes and they seemed to be carrying on a conversation.

"I see." Eric's eyes flickered over to me. "I can't tell you much because it is Counsel secrets but Langston has been trying to make a move on the throne for many years now and it was in his best interest to have the Heir murdered. I met the Heir when I was ten years old."

"That would make the Heir, what three?" Henri asked him. Eric nodded.

"My dad was one of the members holding the Heir's existence a secret. I practically lived at the castle." He shrugged, meeting my eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Heir didn't remember who I was. The Heir was much too young."

"That makes sense." I shrugged. "But how is it possible that Langston was leaking information about us?" That was the professor that Langerson had mentioned awhile back when I had to save Byron when we were with the Goblins last summer. "About the Heir? He is in the Counsel."

"He may have broken it." Eric shrugged. "I don't know there are many loopholes and the Queen may have not covered them all. I know for a fact that Queen Brielle ended up not trusting Langston before she was killed. She may have tried to protect her child by making sure he couldn't open his mouth."

"Or maybe, he hadn't said a word." Henri was now pacing across the room. "Maybe, Anika had figured it all out. They were lovers right?"

"Longtime lovers, in fact Anika and Langston have a kid together."

"Yeah, Byron's dad." We shrugged. That was old news.

"Yeah but Langston has a bastard kid. Charles."

"Everything is making sense." Henri yelped, excited. Eric and Henri locked eyes momentarily, there was some sort of understanding between them.

"And to top it all off, Charles isn't a Guardian."

My head was now spinning with all this new information. Things were starting to make sense now. Charles had been working for his father all along and of course, he hated Aaron. He had taken Brielle from him but why would they target me? Well, I did have the link to the Heir. They had been trying to kill Prince Ian. But things didn't make complete sense.