Honor-Bound [ Lore of Penrua: Book III ]

51

Aun lay under the bed where she had slept with Kaori that night. She held her son close with one arm and kept her other hand over his mouth, holding eye contact with him as they listened to the struggle in the other room. She could hardly see him in the darkness—just the blur of his features and, faintly, the shine of the moonlight in his eyes—but all the same, she hoped he could see her, see what she was telling him with her eyes.

Just breathe. Stay calm. I will protect you.

Had she been alone, Aun would have run to help Kaori without a second thought. She was no fighter, but she would not have had a choice. She loved him, and she was no soft-handed lady to be guarded from harm. But she loved Kaolo ten thousand times more than anything else in the world, even her prince. She had to protect her child. She had to survive so that she could keep him from harm. So, whatever was going on outside the bedroom doors—

There was a clatter, as of something metal striking the floor, and then a heavy thud that made Aun stiffen with fear—

Whatever was going on outside the bedroom doors, her first priority was the boy in her arms.

They heard the sounds of booted feet retreating, a sharp command, and then a deep and terrible silence settled over the prince's chambers. Aun did not move. Kaolo curled closer to her, his small frame trembling in her arms. She kept her hand over his mouth, hardly daring to breathe.

Minutes passed. Finally, Aun whispered so softly that her words were little more than shivers in the air. "You must be very quiet. Promise me."

Kaolo nodded his head beneath her hand, and she took it away from his mouth. Her palm was sweating, she thought—but then she realized that her fingers were wet with tears. She leaned in, pressing a kiss to Kaolo's forehead and drying his cheeks with the sleeve of her nightgown.

"Quiet, love." She breathed the words rather than speaking them.

She kissed his forehead again, and then she turned, flattening herself onto her belly. She peered through the darkness, turning her head to take in every corner of the room that was visible from her vantage point beneath the bed. There was one corner hidden from view because the comforter had been flung off of the bed in their hurry to get up, but for the rest of the room, she could see nothing moving, nothing that could be the booted feet of soldiers waiting to snatch her up.

"Stay here," she breathed to Kaolo. "Promise me."

Again, he nodded, wordless, and he waited there as she crawled on her belly out from underneath the bed, moving in increments, listening for any sound of danger.

There was none. Not here, at least; not now. Kaori's bedroom was empty.

When she crept out into the parlor, she found it empty, too, nothing out of place but for a poker from the fire lying on the marble floor...and a spatter of blood near to the door. Her heart trembled.

She moved as quietly as she could to the door and peered out into the hall. Part of her knew what she would see before she saw it, but the scene was still an awful shock: the bodies of two guards slumped on the floor, dead.

The hall was silent and still.

Aun had no idea what was happening, but she could make assumptions. These night intruders had come to collect Kaori, the prince. They would no doubt be after Mhera, too, whatever their loyalties. From her vantage point she could not see Mhera's chambers, although they were close, of course, being in the royal wing.

Where could she go that might be safe?

The answer came to her quickly. She hurried back into Kaori's room and knelt by the bed. "Come out, Kaolo. Quick. Quick."