A Blaze in the Dark (A New Dawn #1)

Chapter 26 - Alex (Part 2)

The silver bracelets rattled around her wrist as she hid her arms behind her back, waiting for King Thomas to reveal what was so secretive that she wasn't allowed to share it with anyone. Instead, he brought his hand to his bad ear and rubbed it, which prolonged the already frustratingly long silence that made her toes itch.

She looked away, as any in the presence of the King should do–warrior and lady alike. In between the smaller heaps of paper on his desk lay books sprawled. One of them open, with a leather ruler marking a specific line on the page, but the book was too far away to offer a clue.

"Alex." When he finally addressed her, his loud voice reverberated throughout the room. "Do you know what's so special about today?"

"Err..." She narrowed her eyes. Surely he hadn't called her in to talk about the Feast of the Dead, but he was the King so she wasn't going to call him a Muttonhead and question his sanity. "We take time out of our busy lives to remember those that have passed on to the Heavenly Halls."

He glanced sideways to the pendulum clock that swung back and forth without ever stopping. "Hmmm... what else."

"Of course, we also get reminded of our own mortality. It's why we bless the Holy Fourteen to grant us another year among our loved ones." She bit her lip, her hand palms turning clammy as memories of Laneby flashed through her mind. "Or new friends."

"New family?" the King suggested.

"Yes, that too. I'm very thankful that you and Her Majesty have–"

"Don't, please. We're not here to discuss that. Actually, I don't even wanna talk about the ceremonies and the reason why this day came into existence." Pushing his hands on the armrests, he rose from the chair. "Come and join me by the window. I want you to tell me what you see."

She hurried to his left side, away from his bad ear. Outside, three galleys with masts as tall as trees queued one by one by the dock further upstream, where dozens of men were hastily unloading wooden crates from a smaller sailer boat. On land, men and women alike rode in the shade of the castle in carriages of all sizes, all seemingly heading towards the market square.

"The preparations for the fair?"

"Clever girl." King Thomas nodded. "Since early this morning, hundreds of travelling merchants have been assembling their displays. For most, Sundale is the last stop before they head home for winter."

"Is there anything you need from them–a specific gift for you or Seb?"

"Consider what you're gonna do a gift for the both of us." When he smiled, his eyes crinkled at the corners, revealing a few age lines she didn't know he had. The upward curl on his lips was short-lived. "I want you to ask around if any of them have been to Silvermark recently. And if the Goddess of Kindness is on our side, perhaps some remember spotting a certain redheaded Laneby boy on their travels north."

"What?" Her stomach pooled with an uncomfortable, stinging warmth. "But, Your Majesty, I always thought you believed Fox was dead!"

"He could well be, but I don't know that. Ariel's letter was purposely vague–each word carefully chosen to imply a double meaning." He clenched his fist on the windowsill, his nose wrinkled and teeth bared. He moaned in pain as he slammed the sill. "I hate not knowing what's going on. Any information you can get on that child would mean the world to me."

Alex swallowed the bile creeping up her throat. The King's condition didn't frighten her, but finding Fox was not what she had imagined he would ask–not that she had any clue what else he would have wanted to discuss with her–but this task was a double-edged sword.