Seize the Day

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

“Thanks for saving me from that heart attack.” Although the prince tried to make a joke, the silence that carried over the two of us as I sat at his bedside was deafening. The shifting of weapons outside the prince’s bedroom door was a constant reminder of how guarded the prince was—even in his own bedroom.

It had been a week since the attack at the royal banquet. Fallon’s funeral was held yesterday; it had been as solemn and dark as the kingdom of Aria right now. His death was a critical blow to Aria’s peace of mind, and the menacing feeling that permeated the kingdom’s once gleeful streets made no one feel safe within its walls. The jesters who entertained in the city square lost much of their paying audience, since Aria’s citizens were superstitious to an extreme.

Titus smoothed his tousled dark brown hair against his head. Although the deep wound on his chest was bandaged, I couldn’t keep the image of his bloodstained shirt out of my mind. It turned out that Kasib was actually a royal physician from Balua, so he was remaining in the castle until Titus’ wounds were healed. He said that it would take several days before the prince was fully healed. Kasib also remarked that Titus was lucky that the dagger didn’t pierce his heart.

The scene from that night continually replayed in my head, casting dark shadows across everything I did. Although I tried to force them back, the jester’s words of revenge and Fallon’s bleeding body tortured my memories.

“Lannie, you can’t change what happened.”

I looked at Titus. His usually cheery face was now pale and serious in comparison. I rubbed my hands together, feeling the insignificant palms that had stopped the trajectory of the weapon that almost killed Titus. “I know I can’t, but…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

The prince stretched across his satin bed, revealing the stark white bandage beneath his blue tunic. “The fate of the jester and dryad are in the hands of the council right now,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, it’s not that…” I squirmed in the too-comfortable chair. The thoughts that were plaguing my mind weren’t as simple as the prince assumed. I rubbed my palms again. “Why was that nymph let into the castle?”

“Odelia sometimes goes out on a limb,” he explained as he scratched at his neck. “It was safer in the past because the nymphs had magic restraints on them. That nymph was supposed to be checked, but…”

“But she wasn’t,” I finished for him. “The question is: Why?”

Titus shrugged one shoulder from his lazy position across the sheets. “Any guess of yours is better than mine.”

“Well, aren’t you a helpful one.” I crossed my arms and glared at the floor. “The nymph wasn’t checked,” I mused. “That led to her enchanting the guests and allowing the jesters to attack.” Even though Titus would be useless in providing possible theories to the assassination plot, speaking my thoughts out loud helped me think.

Suddenly, Titus sat up. “I just remembered: one of the guards said that they never saw the nymph go into the banquet hall.”

“So she was concealed with magic.” I stroked my chin thoughtfully. “I thought the castle took extra care to prevent that sort of thing. Aren’t the naiads supposed to guard the castle from magical beings?”

“They’re supposed to,” he agreed. “But I guess their grudge against me clouded their judgment.”

I chuckled. “The naiads have a grudge against you? Why? What did you do to them?”

“I didn’t do anything,” he snapped, glaring at me. “They’ve always hated me for no reason.”

My thoughts drifted to the dark-skinned naiad who always seemed to pick on me when I tried to exit through the back bridge of the castle. “Sounds like my situation.” I sighed. “So let’s say that the naiads decided to betray us because they hate your existence. That still leaves the question of why these particular jesters were picked—and why they were allowed to bring a nymph into the castle.”