A Savior's Worth (Book #3)

Chapter Seven

It was moments like these that Henry missed having his gold coin. Flicking it into the air and catching it repeatedly had always been a calming habit for him.

He released a deep sigh as he leaned over the balcony's railing and stared at the lawn below where a few guards were on duty. They occasionally nodded to acknowledge each other's presence or reassure everything was all clear.

Henry leaned further out when a sudden knock at his door jolted him backwards. He turned, reentering the room and crossing it to see who it was.

Eldon stood on the other side, dourer than he normally appeared. Henry tensed and asked him if anything was wrong. Eldon simply gestured to the room, and Henry moved aside, allowing him in.

As soon as he shut the door, Eldon spoke.

"I gotta admit, I tried talkin' myself outta this, but I couldn't."

Henry leaned against the door and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his gray breeches. He stared blankly at his friend, unsure why people couldn't merely say what they meant instead of starting out so cryptically and making him assume the worst. 

Fortunately, Eldon didn't take long to elaborate. "She might get mad at me for tellin' you, Henry, but I think someone's gotta know." He stepped closer, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard. "A'right, you know those voices? When I first came back with Leanne, one of 'em told me to go the barracks. I saw a shadow that took me up to the Queen's Guard's room—"

Henry quickly waved his hand. "I am sorry for stopping you, but what did you say? You saw an apparition?"

Eldon groaned. "That ain't the point right now."

"How is it not?"

"There's a painting next to that room," Eldon continued as if the interruption had never occurred. "Tied to it was a map that Queen Beatrice wrote all over. She marked a specific spot in the Southern Eastern mountains, and Elouise wants to go investigate it"—he paused, taking a breath. "Fayre knows 'bout this map and how we found it, but she don't know that Elouise wants to actually go there. Elouise doesn't wanna tell her or you, but..." he averted his eyes. "I thought you should know."

Henry stayed silent, processing this information. He never would've thought this would become his life. "So... how? How exactly are you two going to do this? I'm aware she can teleport out of the castle and you can leave without question, but her father is going to notice when his daughter and her knight are suddenly gone for days."

"I'm guessin' it's gonna take some weeks," Eldon said.

"Weeks." Henry further deflated, the heaviness in his chest making him want to slide down the door until he was sitting. What am I supposed to do without you both for weeks, he nearly asked.

"And... yeah, I keep thinkin' the same thing 'bout King Philip. He ain't gonna be happy."

"He certainly will not." Henry widened his eyes. "What if he punishes you when you return? I'm certain Elouise would do her best to avoid that, but this is King Philip we are speaking about."

Eldon rubbed his neck. "He tries findin' reasons to punish me on a normal day. This is gonna give 'em a hundred reasons, and I kinda already accepted that."

"Well, I do not."

"It's gonna be a'right, Henry. We'll figure it out when we get back. But we gotta do this. She has to do this, and I ain't gonna let her down." Eldon put his hand down and diverted his attention to the floor. Then he murmured, "Done that enough already."

Henry blinked, taken aback by what Eldon could've meant by that. Judging by the way Eldon and Elouise interacted, the likelihood of Eldon disappointing her seemed... impossible. However, Henry merely knew what they told him, so it effectively piqued his curiosity. He didn't get a chance to ask anything about it, though, since Eldon recovered and looked him in the eyes again.