The First Queen

16 - The Note

I raced to Athena's side and took her hand in mine.

"Do me a favour?" She muttered through gritted teeth, "Take the sword out, please."

I nodded with a gulp.

I... Don't know what to do...

"Uh..." I stammered, my breathing shaky.

"Here," Athena said, taking my hand and pressing it around the wound.

With the other hand, she guided it to the pommel of the sword.

"And pull." She demanded and I looked at her with wide eyes.

"Which hand?" I questioned and she glared at me, "Fine! I..."

I stammered, "does it hurt?"

"Elia!" Athena snapped.

"Okay, okay! I'm doing it... I'm doing it...", I gasped as I tugged at the blade lodged inside of her.

I shut my eyes and hoped for the best as I wrenched the sword from its position inside of Athena.

She let out a howl of pain and the blade dropped from my hand and clattered against the flagstone floor.

Athena clutched at her shoulder and nodded to me, "That was good... for a first try.."

"Are you well?" I stammered and she nodded, getting to her feet despite my silent protests and inspecting the assailant.

He was fast asleep on the floor and I recognised him vividly.

"That's the street performer!" I gasped.

"What did he do?" She asked me.

"He told me things about Talhiar... This has to be Liza's doing... She's must be livid..." I confessed.

"I thought she liked you. Why would she send an assassin?" Athena questioned.

"Because I denied a request; she wanted me to join House Deneith," I answered and Athena scowled at the performer.

"I need to get him to the dungeons." She growled and I nodded, "Be safe, my Sun."

She pressed a kiss to my forehead and I felt a warmth brewing deep in my heart at her words.

'My Sun'...

"Go see Darius with that shoulder though, I may have pulled the blade out well but it's not exactly healed..." I suggested and Athena nodded to me, curling her arms around the performer's shoulders and dragging him outside.

I can never catch a break, can I?

I seated myself on the edge of the bed and gazed around the dimly lit room. All fingers point to Liza but this just seems to easy. From what I've heard, The Conqueror prefers getting her hands dirty which lead me to believe that she wasn't the one who sent the assassin... But who else would send one after me? A disgruntled noble? A traditional citizen? I don't think I've pissed off that many people in my short reign.

I shuffled over to the desk to read through some of the briefings for the next meeting. Food transport has drastically dropped since Talhiar was overthrown by the Deneiths which means the other farms closer to Talhiar will have to send their crates through The Northern Pass which could take a week to get to the city without bandits and/or soldiers getting in the way.

That's not the only problem though, the Summergarde forces from Chondatha are stirring up trouble in the south and there's becoming unrest; the civilians are beginning to attack Summergarde soldiers and if Julius finds out about this then he will undoubtedly strike back and try to have the villagers arrested for acting against the crown.