“Much better,” Oreius muttered as he crammed food into his mouth. “Now, young Cevet, is it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hmm. Thought so.” Oreius speared several small cubes of potato with his fork and shook the loaded implement at the lordling. “So, what’s your big news?” he asked finally. “Something about the Citadel?”
“Yes,” Cevet said, shoving his plate to one side. He had hardly eaten anything. The young warrior leaned forward, clasping his hands on the table and avoiding everyone’s eyes. Relam stopped chewing and watched his friend worriedly.
Finally, Cevet raised his eyes and met the gaze of each of the others in turn, ending on Relam. “I just came from the Citadel,” he repeated. “Because I believe that Master Bene D’Arnlo is planning to betray the kingdom, and that he is behind the attacks on the royal family.”
If he hoped to surprise the others with this news, he was sorely disappointed. Relam, Oreius, and Narin all nodded gravely and continued eating, though each felt a surge of triumph as they heard Cevet’s words.
“We reached the same conclusion earlier this morning,” Relam said finally. “I hope your evidence adds to ours so that we can do something about it.”
“There’s more,” Cevet said, looking down at the floor. “D’Arnlo did not act alone.”
“Eckle was involved too?” Narin asked. “I knew it!”
“I don’t know about Eckle,” Cevet said, shaking his head. He looked up at Relam, tears in his eyes. “But I know that my father was involved, and he is personally responsible for the death of the queen. I am so, very sorry.”
Chapter 40
For a moment, Relam was stunned speechless. Then, slowly, he set his fork and knife down and swallowed. Somehow, he was no longer hungry for more.
“Go on,” he said quietly, eyes fixed on Cevet. “Tell us everything. Start from the beginning.”
Cevet looked around at the three carefully neutral yet intense faces staring back at him, and swallowed nervously. Then, he began his tale.
As Cevet laid a hand on the front door of his home, he heard someone approaching behind him. Surprised, the young warrior turned around and saw his father walking briskly towards him.
“Headed to training?” Lord Thius asked.
Cevet nodded. “Yes. Master D’Arnlo wants to start us on practice bouts again, see how much we’ve learned in the past few months.”
“Mind if I tag along?” his father asked, smiling slightly.
Cevet frowned. He could see no reason why his father shouldn’t come with him. But he couldn’t see any reason why he would want to either. “Don’t you have business to attend to with the Assembly?” he asked.
“Well, yes, but that isn’t until later,” Lord Thius replied. “That’s what the messenger this morning was about.”
Cevet nodded, remembering. The messenger had arrived in the early hours of the morning, well before dawn, and hammered on the front door to wake his father. “It must have been an important meeting if the messenger wanted to let you know about it that badly.”
“It is,” his father said gravely. Then, he brightened abruptly. “But it got pushed back, as I said. So, can I come along?” Cevet’s father smiled, a rather strained smile, Cevet noticed. Looking closer, Cevet realized that his father’s shirt, normally free of wrinkles, was crumpled in multiple places and his hair was sticking out in some places.
“Are you all right, father?” Cevet asked uncertainly. “You seem . . . frazzled.”
“Frazzled? Not at all,” Lord Thius replied, edging past Cevet and ushering him through the front door. “It’s just a busy time of year is all.”
Cevet wasn’t entirely convinced, but he followed his father out the door and down the River Road, towards the Citadel, enjoying the silence of the early morning. The sun wasn’t even properly up yet, just a vague hint of dawn to the east.
“A terrible business,” his father said quietly, interrupting the silence. “The king passing yesterday, the prince gone this morning.”
“What?” Cevet demanded, stopping in the middle of the road and turning to look at his father.
“Did I not tell you?” Lord Thius asked, surprised. “That’s why my meeting was pushed back. So that a full search of the city could be done for young Relam. He vanished in the night and his room was found in flames. The whole royal suite was gone before the fire was tamped down, and the roof caved in and crushed three guardsmen.
Cevet shook his head in disbelief. “The line of kings is broken?” he asked, stunned.
“Possibly,” his father replied grimly. “It appears that Relam either fled, or was captured. He could have been killed by the fire, I suppose, but there is no sign of a body yet. Or at least, not last I heard. You were good friends with him, were you not, son?”
“Yes,” Cevet said sadly, nodding. He couldn’t believe Relam dead. Captured, maybe. But not dead. The prince –soon to be king - had been an excellent fighter. Cevet would not have wanted to try kidnapping or killing him, especially not in the midst of a raging inferno.
“He was a good friend,” Cevet said quietly. “I learned a lot from him.”
“In training?”
“And beyond,” Cevet said, nodding. “Did I tell you, he ended the rivalry with Garenes and the others a few weeks back? Brought all of us together for the first time.”
“Really?” his father asked, frowning.
“Yes,” Cevet continued. “He said he held no grudges, that we needed to stick together, not tear each other to pieces all the time. He even got Master Agath to forgive Garenes for his foolhardy actions during the trials.”
“Did he?” Lord Thius murmured, brow furrowed. “That’s interesting.”
Cevet nodded. “He would have been a good king. Still might be, I suppose, if we can find him.”
“We’ll be doing our best,” his father assured him. “I believe a city-wide search is already underway
