Heart of Thieves (Fallen Empires #1)

Chapter 6

6
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The ball ended.

The guests exited the palace grounds, hands rising in farewells to favouring families and Lords. A servant, as promised, had come to collect Yazia. The night sky above was picturesque, so clear that you could almost see every crater of the ethereal glow of the crescent moonlight.

"Is my dear friend allowed to accompany me? I wouldn't dare meet with the King if my companion is also not taken care of," Yazia said.

"It is not up to me, my Lady. I'm merely following the King's orders. Though I can assure you that your friend will be provided a chamber. He will also be able to visit you once you have had an audience with the King. Now follow me," the servant apprised Yazia.

Yazia's heart momentarily sunk. As much as she was ready to meet again with the King, she did hope that she could be within the presence of Aeneas just a short while longer. He had stayed with her for the rest of the evening watching the night stars in the palace gardens.

Given how Aeneas had left her alone to dance earlier on, the conversation of his disappearance hadn't been brought up and she admittedly wanted to keep an eye on him. It felt as though he knew more about the King than what was led on, and Yazia wished to garner as much knowledge about the Sovereign as possible.

After all, Yazia couldn't trust anybody. None besides her brother, at the very least.

Yazia nodded dismissively and allowed herself to be taken down long corridors coated with royal blue carpeting, winding down with intricate patterns just like the detailing she had seen on the tiles earlier on before entering the ballroom. She passed through sconces shaped like peacocks and through many doorways of which were lined with vases. Eventually. Yazia was deposited in front of a large door.

The King's door.

"This is where I leave you, My Lady. He is right through there," the young lady servant said, and raised a hand pointedly toward the door. Yazia didn't expect to end paths with the maidservant so soon, but it made sense how the King would wish to have the rest of the evening to himself.

But why has he asked for me to stay?

"Thank you." Yazia nodded briefly. "You may be dismissed."  Yazia watched as the servant gave a swift curtsy and wandered back down the pristine hallway they had come from, leaving Yazia at the door by herself.

The door was all that stood in her way, shielding her from the perilous conqueror that had brought her Kingdom to flames. The King's chambers were just beyond its thick oaken panels. Yazia's hands trembled, she guided her finger slowly across the etchings of the wood, ready to make her presence known. But Yazia didn't move, instead she froze in hesitation and glared at her tantalising egress.

Only darkness awaits me on the other side. I must do it. I can't stay here any longer, I must kill--

Then, as though to call upon the devil himself, the door swung wide open. There he was, his hand placed on the doorframe. Immediately, Yazia's gaze flitted to the swirls sweeping up the door's frame and the way the lacquered surface cast a reflection of her face—one that reminded her of who she was. Not a girl who'd come to befriend the king but to assassinate him.