Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Caelum shot to his feet, but that was obviously a mistake. The man hardly had the energy to do so. Drayce steadied him.

“What is it?” Drayce asked.

“My men. Where are the boys? What hour is it?” Caelum asked out of sorts.

“Relax. It’s barely twelfth hour. I assume your men are still guarding the King and Queen like you ordered them to. We haven’t left the room since this morning.” Drayce said. Caelum obviously had no recollection of giving those orders. But his soldiers were loyal. They wouldn’t have left their posts.

Caelum broke away from Drayce and unsteadily walked to the door.

“You don’t want to go out there.” Lillia warned too late, as Caelum threw open the door.

Drayce expected a gasp of horror or something of the sort, but Caelum just stared numbly at the gruesome sight before him. Drayce walked up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“This wasn’t your fault.” Drayce said softly, but firmly.

Caelum shook his head, stepping into the hallway. Drayce shuddered at the sight before him. Men in green Kamasian uniform lay in puddles of their own blood. Drayce was numb to it. He had seen many a ghastly scene when he was in the military. He suddenly remembered Lillia. He turned and saw her standing behind him. She looked slightly green as she observed the carnage of the morning’s events.

“Why don’t you stay in the bedroom? I’ll get you when it’s all cleaned up.” Drayce said gently. Lillia nodded, turning away. Drayce closed the door. He turned back to Caelum. His back was to Drayce, but he could tell by his posture that the man felt broken. He dropped to his knees.

“Are you okay?” Drayce asked stepping towards him.

“What do you think Drayce? I was responsible for these men. And I…” Caelum’s voice was strained. He felt completely responsible for something that was out of his control.

“Caelum, why don’t you go rest? You aren’t in good shape, buddy.” Drayce suggested.

Caelum shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“You’re fooling no one…” Drayce was cut off when a shout echoed from down the hall.

“There he is! SHALDDWELL!”

Drayce sighed and turned to see his uncle storming down the corridor, accompanied by four guards. “Morning, Uncle.”

“I’ve been trapped in my room all morning, terrified that an assassin was going to break in murder me, you’re the assassin magnet! Explain yourself.”

Drayce clamped down his annoyance, not wanting to argue with the King at the moment. “How’s Valloma, is she okay?”

The King stopped short as if the idea hadn’t occurred to his tiny selfish mind. “She’s fine.”

“Good.” Drayce said curtly. “Why don’t you go back to your room while we clean up.” He noticed the King’s guards looking around in horror at the bodies of their fellows.

“You’re the reason this happened!” The King said, shoving an accusing finger in Drayce’s face.

“And how would that be, Uncle?” Drayce said hitting Reginald’s finger away. “I paid an assassin to come kill me?”

“You have a death wish, boy. And you’re perfectly content on bringing me down with you!” He exclaimed with a crazy glint in his eyes.

“Right. You’re obviously rattled, go back to your room, and I’ll send someone for you later, okay?” Drayce said as evenly as he could manage. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Caelum stand up and turn towards them.

The King looked at him and stumbled backwards in shock. “You. I’ve seen those markings before.”

Drayce cursed himself. He had forgotten about the blood on Caelum’s face. “Those ‘markings’ are blood from an injury. You know when he was defending you against the assassin.” Drayce said, growing angry.

“No,” The King had his back pressed against the wall. “He’s the reason for this carnage. He did this!”

Caelum just stared at the King with an empty stare that scared Drayce. “How dare you say that. Caelum has been loyal to the crown his entire life!” Drayce spat at his Uncle. He turned to the shocked guards standing nearby. “Escort his Majesty back to his quarters.” They nodded and grabbed the King’s arms. Reginald didn’t fight, but he kept glancing back at Caelum. Drayce wondered what he knew. He could be trouble.

“I should probably go wash my face.” Caelum said softly.

Drayce nodded, glancing at Caelum. He hardly recognized him. “After you do that, is it okay if I ask you some questions on earlier?”

Caelum shrugged. “I guess. You won’t find out much. I can’t remember any of…” He gestured helplessly around. “this.”

“We’ll see.” Drayce said.

***

Lillia felt close to tears. She gripped her hair, pulling on it anxiously. It was all happening again. She dropped into a chair. She could hear people outside of the door dragging bodies away.

Calder.

Then Kesdan.

All your fault.

  No one knew what had happened to the deceased princes except her the King and Queen. Now Drayce was going to suffer for snooping. She had to get him to stop, otherwise she was going to lose him too. Poor Caelum was the tool today, but tomorrow it could be Drayce.

Keir was getting more powerful with every passing week. It was only a matter of time before his prophecy was fulfilled. Drayce was unknowingly stumbling into his hands. Lillia’s stomach twisted into knots. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted nothing more than to spill her guts and tell Drayce and Caelum what exactly was happening, but part of her felt that if she didn’t, she might be able to prolong their fate.

Fate was such a funny thing. Some believed it was set in place, that no matter what you did, it was inevitable. Others believed it was malleable. You defined your own destiny. From experience Lillia tended to believe the former. Life felt hopeless most of time to her. She knew that Drayce would believe the latter though. She smiled slightly. He worked so hard to feel in control of his life.

You could leave. A small voice said in her head. She had been selfish to stay this long. When she had arrived, she had been so naïve. Oblivious of her parent’s scheme, she had unwittingly become the forerunner for something terrible. If she didn’t leave, she would have a lot more death on her crimson hands than the Crown Princes. A whole Kingdom would suffer at her hands.

It was almost too much to contemplate. She wasn’t malicious. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to have anything to do with this. She knew if she left that it would hurt Drayce. Probably more than words could say. He would go looking for her. But if it made it so he would live and save Kamasia the tribulation that surely awaited them, she would stay hidden.

But was it too late?

Drayce was already on his way to becoming King. It would happen, no matter what she did. At least it wasn’t happening early.

Lillia stood, squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw. She had a sense of duty. It was no longer to her parents. It was to this Kingdom, to this people.

She walked over to the bell pull and summoned D’Hara. The poor girl looked rattled from the morning events but was ready to assist Lillia.

“D’Hara I need to leave, and you’re going to keep this a secret from everyone, especially Drayce.”