The King's Messenger

Chapter 23

"You seem more... distracted than normal, Your Highness," Captain Torre commented, lowering his blunted sword.

"You can say I'm fighting poorly, Captain," Eden sighed, pushing his hair away from his face. "I won't get offended."

"You're fighting poorly," Torre said bluntly. "I'm not even sweating."

Torre was right. Eden wasn't entirely surprised; he was running on low sleep, but there was something else, something he didn't recognize. He'd been sleep deprived before; he knew what it felt like. This new thing... it was a heaviness, a dragging, almost. Perhaps he was falling ill.

The fortune of that amused Eden- or it would, at least, if it weren't so shit. His headaches returned, followed immediately by some other unknown affliction.

Eden forced his sword upward. "Let's just go again." Even as he spoke, the point began to droop.

Torre looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Are you alright, Your Highness?"

"I'm fine," Eden dismissed. There was nobody within earshot. "More importantly, we need a plan."

Torre let out a disapproving breath, but replied, "A plan for what?"

Torre still wasn't lifting his blade. Eden let his drop to his side.

"As king, I will have the authority to instate new heads of houses. To do that, however, I think it would be best for the current lords and ladies to be otherwise occupied. Preferably far from here. Ideally, they'll return to find themselves nicely ousted."

"Makes sense," Torre agreed.

"The issue now is I don't know how to occupy them all far from here," Eden frowned. "Any ideas? You've been around them longer than I."

"You could organize a hunt," Torre suggested. "An extended trip, perhaps, tracking a... bear, or some other trophy."

"That's a possibility," Eden acknowledged. "I'm not sure how many ladies would be attracted to that, though. I'm not certain I can imagine Lady Mirene trekking through the mud on some beast's trail."

"You might be surprised," Torre said. "Lady Mirene has quite varied interests. The other ladies, though, I would agree with you."

"Really? Interesting," Eden mused."

"You could also host a holiday celebration away from the palace," Torre offered. "King Richar has several vacation homes; he occasionally hosts nobles for days at a time in them."

"I like that," Eden agreed.

"I'm not sure how long you intend to wait, but Autumn Hail is approaching. If not that, then Yuletide."

Eden didn't respond immediately. "I... yes. I think that will work. I'll... have to write up an exorbitant amount of paperwork by Autumn Hail, then."

"Are you sure you're alright, Your Highness?" Torre asked with blatant concern. It irked Eden, regardless of how unjustified his irritation was.

He wasn't. He felt like yesterday's shit, which was shittier than normal, and they were discussing murdering his father. "I'm fine, Captain. Now, I would appreciate it if we could return to your excellent instruction in swordsmanship."

Torre looked unconvinced, which was good and bad- good because it meant the man wasn't a fool and bad because Eden didn't appreciate having a mother hen on him.

The man's simply doing his job, Eden had to remind himself.

"I'll plan for Autumn Hail," Eden decided. "There's enough time. With Alyssa, Adrian, Charere, and you on my side, I have a solid enough base."