The Broken Crown

Chapter 37

Anaïs

The message of the attempted murder reached the ears of the Kahari a week after the event had actually happened. It was a warm day in the forest, and the sun baked down through the thick layers of leaves. It did not seem to escape, though, and with the rain season just over, there was not many ways of escaping the heat.

 Anaïs’ forehead was covered in beads of sweat as her fingers searched the ground for herbs that she could use. When she heard a branch crack, she flinched up and looked over her shoulder to where the sound had come from. 

 “Hello?” she called out.

 Asha appeared, her face serious, though not very frightened or saddened. “A messenger arrived. He says there has been an attack on the royal family.”

 “What?” Anaïs furrowed in confusion as she stood up from where she had been kneeling, pushing a lock of her black hair behind her ear.

 Asha stepped closer to her. “Apparently, a serving girl was attacked in the King’s chambers. They don’t know the identity of the killer yet, though.” Her golden eyes fixed on the mud between her legs. “I don’t know what I should do.”

 “What do you mean?”

 She looked up. “Should I go to the North? Or should I stay? Should I write them a letter?”

 Anaïs hesitated for a moment. “You wouldn’t be expected to go north for a serving girl,” she mused, “but writing a letter of condolences would be appropriate. Tell them how sad you are that this tragedy is upon them, and wish them your best of luck in finding this man.”

 “Yes, well…” Asha looked around her nervously. “What if this man had killed the King? What would’ve happened?”

 Anaïs studied the Kahari, trying to figure out what she meant. “I am not sure if I understand.”

 “Well, if he had killed Raphael, we would be free? Surely, we would be free?” The hope in the girl’s eyes could have broken the coldest of hearts.

 “The throne would pass to his brother,” Anaïs told her. “What would happen to you and your people would then be in his hands.”

 “Oh…” There was some disappointment in her voice. “So they would never let me have back my lands?”

 “Perhaps, but not because of the inheritance,” Anaïs explained slowly. “It would have to happen because a king decided to let you free or because you won a war. There is no other way.”

 The young Kahari sighed deeply. “So we will never be free?”

 “It is possible,” Anaïs said, not entirely certain if she was speaking truthfully. It was possible, at least theoretically.

 Asha nodded to herself. “I will go write my letter of condolences. You must continue your work, and then come help me correct it.”

 Anaïs smiled. “Of course.”

 With that, the girl left, her feet making nearly no sound against the forest floor. Anaïs knew that she had made noise when approaching on purpose; when Asha wanted to be silent, she was. When she did not want someone to notice her, her feet seemed to lift off the ground and she walked on thin, silent air. At least, that was how it seemed.

 That was why, when several cracks sounded from within the forest, Anaïs quickly leapt to her feet. “Asha?” she called, even though she knew it could not be her.

 “No.”

 The voice, coarser than she remembered, sent a tingle of equal amounts fear and happiness running down her spine. Her eyes met with a pair of icy blue ones, much like her own when she came to think of it.