A King's Guardian

>23<

"These were no ordinary pigs," Sigmund was saying. "Boars on not exceptionally intelligent animals; they act mostly on instinct of hunger and fear. When threatened, they defend and when hungry, they hunt. But these boars were not reported eating people and the locations of attack were not on boar nesting grounds."

"How can we know this?" I asked.

"I have been following these attacks closely," he replied, pushing his round-rimmed glasses up his nose. "Boars are not native to these forests and they rarely charge into open areas to attack. They rarely inhabit open areas to begin with." He turned to address Zacharias. "But this does not change the most important fact: these are not natural boars, Your Highness."

We all followed his gaze to see the king's response. Zacharias nodded slowly and asked, "Then what kind of beast are we dealing with, Sigmund?"

"I'm not sure. I believe someone has been tinkering with the breeding. It would appear they are a mix between woodland boars and, well, a wolf. Considering these have been concentrated attacks, it would require an obedient and loyal animal with pack-like mentality like the wolf to carry out or—"

"A boar and a wolf?" Marcus scoffed. "That is nonsense. They cannot be bred together."

"Not naturally, no," the resident biologist agreed. Sigmund swallowed before adding, "But these are not natural animals, Sir."

"And what does that mean! How can they not be natural?"

"Man has manipulated nature in a way that is offensive to the natural law. That is what it means. We have engineered a beast through modern genetics and someone is using this knowledge as a weapon."

"Then we at least know we are dealing with an expert in the sciences," Moruvio remarked in his monotone voice. His stringy black hair nearly curtained off his face completely, making him feel oddly distant from the rest of the table.

Zacharias cleared his throat. "Not necessarily. The coordinator behind these attacks could have merely purchased these beasts from a scientific genius."

"But if we could find this genius," Marcus noted, "we could find the coordinator."

"I'm sorry to inquire about a person who may have already been dealt with, but was Prince Philip ever captured?" I asked.

They all turned to face me. Everyone but Zacharias looked surprised or irritated.

"No, he was not," Zacharias told me. "Once we pushed back their forces, he and Tabitha fled. We haven't been able to find them."

"So is it a possibility that he has been directing these attacks?"

"It seems unlikely," Marcus spoke. "He is nowhere to be found in the borders of this land, so directing an attack would be difficult from hundreds of miles away."

"We know he has had people on the inside before, though," I said. "Is it so hard to believe he might have someone in the kingdom who is orchestrating them?"

"I do not think we should necessarily be considering only our king's enemies," remarked Moruvio. "After all, he was not present at every attack. Only you have been present each time, Lady Apphia. You would appear to be the common link."

My eyes widened. I glanced at Zacharias for some kind of support, but he seemed to be considering this as well.

"I have no enemies, if that is what you are insinuating, Sir Moruvio," I told him. "I come from a poor peasant family and I was raised here, in the Castle. There was never time for me to develop enemies."

"What could a man who is powerful enough to possess a legion of trained mutant boars want from a peasant girl?" Marcus said. "Perhaps it was an unintended attack. Perhaps the boars were misled."

"And how so? The boars would not incidentally have been roaming the city when they somehow stumbled upon her scent." Sigmund seemed to abhor the very idea.

The whole table was quiet for a moment. I felt uncertain about adding anything more, as it appeared at least one man at this table thought I was target of these attacks.

"Whomever is behind this," Marcus said, "either knows we would struggle to suspect him or has intentions we do not understand."

The meeting was adjourned after that by Zacharias. We were all conflicted about the notions we had drawn from dust, and I feared we wouldn't make any further progress. While the other men left the dining hall to go rest elsewhere, Seth, Zacharias, and I remained at the table.

"Shall we retreat to the balcony?" Seth proposed, eyes locked on me.

I smiled. "I would love to."

We both glanced at Zacharias then, who nodded. He remained at the table as we let ourselves outside onto the balcony. There was a stone bench facing the back lawn that Seth led me to.

"So," he began with curiosity-brightened eyes, "where have you been for the last few months, My Lady?"

Rolling my eyes, I snorted and lightly punched his arm. "There is no My Lady, you buffoon."

"The king seems to believe otherwise." He wiggled his brows at me.

"He brought me back as a guest, that is the only reason."

"Not because you married a gentlemen or became an educated mistress? How unfortunate."

He was only teasing but I felt an ache at his words. I would never be capable of any of those things.

Seth nudged my shoulder with his. "Truly, Apphia, where have you been?"

"I was...um, fighting in the pits for a tavern owner."

"You-you went back to that?"

Blood rushed into my cheeks and across my chest, displaying my shame through my fair skin. Seth and Isaac had been my closest companions during my Guardianship. They knew the kind of life I came from.

"I had to, Seth. There is nothing else for me. I'm not nearly beautiful enough to attract the eye of a gentlemen and neither do I have the brains to become educated," I whispered. "Fighting is all I know, it's all I am."

Tears began to dew in my eyes. Seth leaned closed to brush a hand across my cheeks, flicking away the droplets.

As he began to say, "That's not true—"

The balcony doors opened rather violently and Zacharias stood in its place. Seth and I jumped away from each other in surprise. At seeing my tears, the king's face grew hard.

"Head Guardian, you need to tend to your other duties," Zacharias told him, his voice stern. "Do not delay now."

Seth gave me a despairing look while my saucer eyes saw him in a new light. He was Head Guardian now! With a final squeeze to my hand, he stood up and walked passed the king on his way off the balcony. I hurriedly wiped away the remaining dampness from my cheeks.

"What happened to Samson?" I asked.

Zacharias moved out of his stoic posture by the doors to sit beside me. His massive frame swallowed up nearly the whole bench. Our arms brushed.

"He retired, Apphia," he answered. "After Philip and Tabitha fled and you were...gone, he retired."

"I see."

A muscular arm wrapped around my waist and I squeaked in surprise. Zacharias pulled me ever closer into his side.

"You hold far more beauty and intelligence than any gentleman's wife I have ever met," he whispered into my ear.

My mouth slowly fell open and even my ears felt the heat of a blush this time. Before I could respond, he stood up and carefully took my hand in his.

"You have known survival for too long." His dark eyes pierced deeply into mine. "I want to show luxury, My Lady. You belong to the King again but now you are truly mine."