House of Books - Chapter 6 - Loyalty and Obligation - Seg.1

{Elisontiphes}1

I opened my eyes to the strip of morning light across my floor. Lying on my side, I pulled my blankets more snugly over my shoulder. I didn’t need to see the two soldiers keeping an eye on me on the other side of the room. One sleeping, one watching. All night. It felt strange to know that they’d been staring at me while I slept. 2

I wondered what time it was.3

I hoped that Arkyntesh had survived the night. If he travelled only on the rooftops, surely he would have seen the soldiers and hidden? He was smart; he could take care of himself. Probably. Well, the only way to find out was to go ask Larsor. Taking a deep breath, I sat up and rubbed my eyes.4

“Oh, good morning, your highness,” the man on guard said, bowing while whacking his sleeping comrade in the shoulder until he stirred. 5

“Wha…” Realising where he was, the man scrambled to his feet and bowed unsteadily. “Ah. Yeah. Good morning, your highness. Forgive me.”6

“Of course,” I said, shaking my head. “And forgive me for not asking your names last night. I… wasn’t in the best of moods at the time.” I still wasn’t.7

“No, no, that’s quite alright,” the first one replied hastily. “We didn’t mind at all. My name is Amond and this is Hare. Sorry about your having to be guarded, your highness. We were told you might be in some sort of danger…?”8

Hmm. So that was what Larsor had told them. And they wanted to know more, understandably. Well, I wasn’t going to lie straight out to them; I might be in danger. There was always a chance. “Yes,” I replied shortly. “I’m pleased to meet you, Amond and Hare. I hope you enjoy following me around all day.”9

They laughed somewhat nervously, unsure as to whether or not I was joking or really irritated. Well, I wasn’t certain of that either. “Please turn your backs while I put on some clothes,” I said, and they immediately did so. As usual, I found a set of clean clothes at the end of my bed. The maids knew that I sometimes got up at random times and they wouldn’t always be there to dress me, able as I was anyway to dress myself. So it must be reasonably early, I reckoned, if no one had come to wake me yet. But not so early that the sun wasn’t up.10

Letting my shirt settle on my shoulders and combing quickly through my hair, I swept around my bed and headed for the door. “Shall we?” Two sets of feet hurried to catch up with me.11

As we neared Larsor’s chambers, Hare asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, your highness, where might we be headed?”12

“To see the Commander,” I replied. I nearly laughed as I suddenly heard a whole lot of straightening up and hands brushing dirt from uniforms. As much as I was unhappy with what Larsor was doing, he was still a friend and it made me happy to know that his troops respected him. We stopped and I knocked twice on his door. 13

“Enter,” came the reply. As I did so, I saw that the man was standing over his desk, reading something that his index finger held down. 14

“I think you can guess what I want to know,” I said wryly.15

He looked up and straightened. “Ah, Prince Elisontiphes.” He glanced briefly at the men behind me. “Please wait outside,” he told them. Bowing to me, they left, closing the door softly behind them.16

A short silence followed. “Well?” I asked. “Did you find him last night?” My voice hardened slightly. “Did you kill him?”17

For a moment he considered. “No,” he admitted, and a weight I didn’t know was there lifted from my shoulders.18

Arkyntesh had saved my life, and my reason for wanting him safe was no longer simply goodwill and the feeling of similarity between us; it was also a debt. “Good.”19

He shook his head. “You will be a great ruler one day, Prince Elis, if you learn to watch your own path and get over this concern you have for everyone you meet.” He made a bit of a smile at this so I knew he wasn’t trying to insult. I smiled back dryly. Emboldened, his grin became wider. “Next, you’ll be falling in love with the Queen of Ilia.” 20

He began to laugh good-naturedly until I reminded him, “She is dead.”21

Larsor sobered. “Oh. Yes, I… I didn’t mean… I was just talking about the concept and not the person… I apologise, your highness,” he sighed. “That Peace Ceremony changed so much,” he shook his head. “I didn’t want to see you grow up in a time of war. I’ll probably miss the rest of your childhood, too, unless we can end this war quickly.”22

I frowned. The only time Larsor seemed uncertain was when he was trying not to hurt my feelings. He never really understood me, but he was always trying to accommodate what I wanted anyway. I realised then that Larsor really cared about me. Perhaps even more than my father. “Well, we’ll just have to defeat Ilia soon,” I told him, and laughed slightly. “Can’t say I hope you find Prince Arkyntesh, though. In that, I hope you fail miserably.”23

He laughed out loud at this. “Yes, I was beginning to get that impression.”24