King's Exile: Book 1Teaser Preview

Chap. 1, Part 6: Saying Goodbye

6

A sudden rap on his door startled him awake. Light streamed through the window and stretched a broad, bright line across the foot of his bed. Sandy-eyed, he blinked away sleep. Ruallo poked his head into the room. “Your Majesty?” Seeing Dax awake, Ruallo stepped into the room. “Mathilde said you were not feeling well last night, and I should check on you.”

“Yes, thank you.” Dax’s thoughts were still a bit sleep befuddled, but he suddenly remembered his danger, and his mind snapped fully awake. “Would you tell Mathilde, I think I would do better to stay in bed for a while longer.” He put his hand to his forehead then rubbed his temples like he had a headache. As he rubbed, he realized he really did have a headache. “I will find something for breakfast later in the kitchen. Please give my regrets to Evnissyen for this morning. Also, tell Captain Danford I will send word if I feel up to coming to the training yard this afternoon.” A moment later he added, “Right now I don’t think I will be there.”

“Very well, Your Majesty. If I may say, you do look a little peaked this morning.”

Dax smiled ruefully. “Yes, I had some stomach trouble and didn’t sleep much last night. I would really appreciate it if everyone just leaves me alone today. I will call you if I need you.”

Although he truthfully might have done better if he had stayed in bed, Dax was up and on his way the moment the door closed. From the closet he gathered the few things he had selected last night and started to pack. Unfortunately, he had too much. He ended up leaving out his extra pair of boots and strapping his sleeping blanket on the outside of the pack to leave room for food. It would be clumsy, but it would work. He had to get moving. Not only did he need time to get as far away as he could, he had to act before he lost his resolve. The fierce determination he had felt last night was gone. He felt weary from lack of sleep and weak from the aftereffects of the poison, but he knew he had made the right decision. He had to leave now.

Dax hoisted his pack, but before he left he took one last look around. As long has he could remember, this room had been his—a boys room—but comfortable and familiar. His room. His eyes lit on Mrs. Pibb lying on the table beside the bed. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at his worn and tattered stuffed rabbit. His mother had made it while she was carrying him—at least that was what his father had told him. She’d wanted her baby to have something soft and snuggly. Threadbare in places, it was the only thing he had left of her. He did not know where the name, Mrs. Pibb, had come from, but he had always slept with the toy at his side. He thrust the rabbit into the pack. There would be room enough even with the other items he still needed to get.

Dax slipped through the room’s secret door into the passageway beyond and made his way towards the kitchen. Just down the hall from the scullery, a closet of cleaning supplies had a sliding panel at the back. It was the nearest point to the kitchen, and it should be free of people at this time of day. Cautiously he checked the hall before he opened the closet door. Seeing no one, he stepped into the corridor leading to the rear entrance to the kitchen. The pantries just inside contained food, spices, and other supplies for the cooks, but one cabinet was the “travelers’ store.” It held a supply of dried meats, hard biscuits, and other foods which would keep well on a trip.

He had just finished packing enough food for the four days he allowed himself to get to his aunt’s farm when he heard a noise behind him. “Ah, going for a little trip, are we?” Ma-Cookie’s cheerful bantering tone made him jump. One look at the boy, and she changed her tone. She knelt beside him at the pantry. “Your Majesty, is there something wrong?” she asked, concerned.

Dax felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment at being caught unaware. He would never lie to Ma-Cookie (even if he could have), but he realized she might be in danger if she knew too much. “Listen,” he said cautiously, “I have to go away for a while, but it would be better for you if you didn’t see me.”

“You are in danger, aren’t you? It’s that Mathilde, I’ll wager.” Dax said nothing in reply. He had never heard that flat, cold tone in her voice before. He didn’t want to answer and looked away. “Do you have enough food?” she continued. “Where’s your water skin?” Ma-Cookie was not like other adults. She did not question him further, but she became all business. Dax could not be sure, but at that moment he felt she understood. In a few short minutes, she had fed him a substantial breakfast and checked his pack while he ate. She handed him a waterskin and another pack of dried mutton and nodded with satisfaction after he had shouldered his pack. “Now you get yourself off before someone else sees you and asks questions.”

Dax hesitated. He felt a real pang of loss. Facing Ma-Cookie, he wondered when he would see her, Ruallo, or any of the other persons who populated his daily life. Leaving meant he was leaving this life behind. He knew he had so much more hard work to do to learn about being king. He would not miss that. He was king in name, but he had no responsibility. He would not miss that either. He liked living in the castle. He would miss his room, but he really felt more at home in the secret passages.

At the brink of departure, he realized he faced an even larger loss. Mathilde was going to take his throne and give it to Keir. Dax’s father had been on his death bed, pale and weak from the flux when he had said, “Dax, it’s up to you now. You’re my son, and I know you will be a good king.” But Dax would only be king if he could escape Mathilde’s plot to kill him and find a way to win back his throne. He felt a moment of anguished and hopelessness helplessness. What could he do?

Fortunately Ma-Cookie broke his despairing reverie by sweeping him up in an all-encompassing embrace before she pushed him back towards the door. “Now you take care of yourself, and come back to see me some day.” He could see tears in her eyes, but she shooed him with her hands. “Now, get!”