The Key to X | Editing - but on hold

X

The feast was finally going to start.  I turned away into an empty hallway and exited the ballroom. I snapped my fingers, changing my appearance to a young man, about in his twenties. I had neat brown hair with a clean fresh shaven look and bright blue eyes. I wore a waiter's outfit, one for the royals and stepped into the kitchen.

"Derek! Good to see you. Looking sharp, mate." My "friend" Austin looked at me. I gave him a curt nod before stepping towards the food. I was a bit thankful that I managed to convince the real Derek to take the day off, and I took his place. Each plate was labeled for each of the royals. There were six extra plates with the exact meal the royals had, each of them was a certain royal's food tasters. I heard footsteps behind me, and I stepped back. Ashton was standing there, his arms crossed.

"Move, servant! Get out of my way!" He glared at me, as I slowly stepped away and gave him a small bow before disappearing. I was still there, just gone by my illusion. Ashton pulled a shaker and shook its contents out onto Fallon's plate. He mixed it with a spoon and left, grinning. I stepped out of the shadows, dropping my illusion and swapped Fallon's and his food taster's plate. I grimaced, knowing that the food taster would die, but it would be for the better. I swallowed nervously and stepped back, quickly changing my appearance again so that Ashton would not notice. I waited until five other waiters like I approach the food. We each took two dishes each and exited the kitchen. The labels have been removed, and I stepped forth and set down Adelaide's and Sophia's. I stepped back with the other waiters and waited.

Luis stood up, holding up his wine glass and made a toast. "To the royals." The crowd echoed his toast and drank heartily from their glasses. "The feast... may begin!" Every dug into their food, my eyes on Ashton and his gaze. All of the food tasters took a bite out of their food, none of them collapsing, and each of the royals began their dish. I watched as Fallon started to eat his, showing no sign of any poison going through his system. I turned my gaze to Fallon's food taster, who started coughing repeatedly. A few people looked his way, but none made a comment. The coughing got worse, as the food taster began coughing out blood. The droplets of blood became puddles, soon, he fell over, gasping for breath. All of the waiters, including I, jumped to our feet. The food taster gasped for air, his chest becoming still. I stepped forward and pressed my fingers along the side of his neck.

"No pulse," I spoke, my voice clear to everyone in the hall. Fallon immediately spat out the food in his mouth. The hall broke out into chaos, two tall bulky men stood and pulled Fallon out of the room, off to test to see if Fallon had been poisoned or not. My gaze shot to Ashton's, which seemed to be shocked as well, but a bit angered by how his plots were foiled. Fallon was saved tonight, but tomorrow, Luis may not be safe. I stepped into the shadows and blended in once more.

***

It was night, finally, when I stepped into Fallon's room. I had just checked up on Marco and Luis, making sure that they were fine. Fallon was sitting on his bed, a bit shocked over what had just happened. He looked up, his gaze meeting mine.

"Do not scream," I spoke, thickening my accent a bit. "I am not here to kill you. Has Marco not told you about what I did yesterday?" Fallon remained silent, his arms crossed. "You can thank me later for saving your life. The east will rise against your sister if you were to die, the people do not agree with a girl ruling. You are nothing but too young to die." I spoke sadly, thinking back to my own past.

"And what had you experienced that I had not? You are not kept in a prison, you are free, unlike I." Fallon replied softly, standing up. "Why did you do it? How? Who was it?"

"So many questions with so little time." I sighed, thinking back to why I had saved Marco. "It is my duty, as one to protect the royals, is it not? I have killed royals, yes, but I have my own reasons. None of them were by accident. You just have to dig a little deeper. I can pull up illusions, make them, and change them." I snapped my fingers, making me appear taller, and changed back. "I doubt you would want to know who did it. Would you believe me if I said it was Ashton?"

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Ah ha! Plan foiled, Ashton. Well, let's see if Fallon will believe X. After all, X went out of his nature to save Fallon from dying.

-Charlie