The Exiled King's Guard

Chapter 18: What's Going On?

Ashley POV

After a restless night’s sleep and an impatient morning, I had finally gotten Eli away from her chores. We were walking the castle grounds. She was showing me around. Pointing to all the things that she thought were interesting. I had been memorizing all the paths we were taking, making a map of the layout in my head. I had also been taking notes on where the guards were stationed, how many, etc. It was good that we were doing it during the day rather than last night. I would have gotten confused in the dark. Eli was currently talking about a secret alcove that was to the left of the path we were standing on. It was a great nook to read, to feel the wind on your face and to just think. I was tempted to point out that if she had been telling everyone like me about this secret alcove, it probably was not so secret anymore. I was nodding along and making noises of agreement though, I wanted her to feel comfortable enough so that I could bring up commander Jeffery. It had been gnawing at the back of my mind ever since she had mentioned him. Why would the commander send orders? He was only border guard, if Lord Darius or his underlings had said something it would have made sense. I was trying to figure out how to get a word in between her chatter when I noticed a guard approaching me, looking decidedly unhappy.

“ Are you Miss Ashley?” he asked, stopping some distance away from us.

“That’s Commander Ashley for you,” I said. I heard the arrogance in my voice, but refused to tone it down. So far, I hadn’t liked anyone I had met and I wasn’t going to make life easy for them either.

The guard snorted loudly, “ sure. Why weren’t you in your assigned rooms? I had to waste time looking for you, Commander.”

“ I wasn’t aware random guards were looking for me, so I was relaxing with my new friend. Why were you looking for me?” I replied, equally as snarkily.

“the King demands your presence immediately.” He said, now directing his glare at Eli, as if she was the source of all his problems.

I was immediately fully alert. Yes! An audience with the king, he seemed to be taking me seriously, finally. “ Is Prince Zach with him too?” I asked eagerly. The guard shook his head and motioned me to follow.

I hastily said my goodbyes and apologies to Eli and followed the guard, excited to meet the King. I was miffed that I wouldn’t be seeing Zach, we needed to be on the same page, I needed to keep him safe. I made a note to go find him once I had spoken with the king. A part of me wondered if this was all a trap and Fargo or Darius or even Jeffery were trying to ambush me, get rid of me, since all of them had openly directed their dislike at me. I wasn’t sure what was sparking this intense reaction in everyone. But I wasn’t unfamiliar with hostile environments, I had faced a lot of it back home just for being a woman. Maybe their thoughts weren’t so different either. I felt a little bit at ease as we started crossing the same passages I had seen when being escorted away from the King’s part of the castle. I could at least rule out an unwarranted ambush.

Soon we were in the same passage as before. The door to the right was the sitting room, but we crossed that door and headed straight ahead, into another passage to the right which had a door at the end. I was surprised. I assumed I would be received in the same sitting room. What was this new place they were taking me? And more importantly, why?

The guard knocked on the door and someone opened it from the inside. I was beckoned in, it was clear that my escort was not allowed in. I stepped inside, taking in the smaller office. The king’s desk was at the very end of the room. It was old wood, extremely sturdy and functional, speaking volumes about its owner. Tapestries of forests hung around the room lined with shelves on three walls, each containing an assortment of documents, books and some unrecognizable trinkets. Heavy curtains were drawn across the windows, limiting the illumination of the room to a few lamps with the biggest one on the King’s desk. The King himself was sitting back in his chair, shrouding his face in shadow. He motioned to the man who let me in and the door was shut, leaving me and the King alone. This private audience seemed to be extremely private. As I bent into curtsy, my heart thudded in my chest, something was decidedly wrong about the whole situation.

“ Rise” the king said tonelessly. I straightened, waiting for him to say something. I did not dare to look up into his eyes. One didn't do that to a king unless spoken to. The silence stretched on, discomfort prompting me to say something, but my training telling me to stay quiet. Silences were seldom just that, they were power struggles, and the one who broke first lost the upper hand. I may be of lower rank, but I had no loyalty to this King. And from what I could tell, we were in a negotiation, not a conversation.

“You can drop the act, girl” he finally said, no warmth in his voice. My head snapped up, confused.

“ Apologies your Majesty, I don’t understand.”

“ Pah! Alright then, we will do this the hard way. You are no protector to the Prince. Have you seen him? He doesn’t need protection!”

“I-“

“ Yeah, I know it is a title reserved for scenarios such as the prince’s, but no woman can become a protector. Your kind can't fulfill the basic requirements, you need to be protected, you can't protect! Not unless you use unnatural means.”

Unnatural means, the meaning was clear. He suspected I was using dark magic. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh at the paranoia or get offended at the misogyny that women couldn’t be strong without “help”. I decided he needed to spell out his intentions.

“ I am afraid you will have to explain Your Majesty. I don’t understand what the problem is.”

He snorted, “Zach told me that you are in love with him. Your whole shenanigans to become Commander were to get his attention, which failed, so you seduced him at his lowest hoping to become his Queen because of your unwavering loyalty and sacrifice for your Kingdom. Or something else where you can look like an ideal candidate.”

“ Let us say that I ignore your suggestion that I brought war into my own home just in the hopes of getting with the Prince. What relevance does it hold to the fact that I am a Commander and a Protector?”

“ That you couldn’t achieve any of this without dark magic. No woman can have that kind of strength and skill that Zach has told me about you without magic. Clearly, you aren’t a witch, your family tree is accounted for, that only leaves dark magic.”

“ You think when I was ten years old I was capable of practicing magic? To enhance my abilities like that?”

There was silence as his cold eyes held mine. I was seething with anger at his accusations, but had kept my voice level, this was still a negotiation. Until the king ordered his guards on me, I had a chance to avoid anything more than verbal conflict.

“ You will not speak to me like that. I have been tolerating your insolence for the sake of the truth, but it is enough. You will be kept in the dungeon until we can purge you of this darkness. Guards!”

Shit, its like he can read minds and I had just run out of luck. There was no way to change his mind without violence. I had to think fast.

“Okay, I will go with the guards, but answer me this, how do you think I was practicing dark magic at such a young age?”

“ I asked about that, you know. I heard that you weren’t good at combat back then.” I rolled my eyes inwardly, everyone is bad when they start. he continued, “It was 3-4 years into your training when you started getting good, the sudden change wouldn’t have happened without extra support. I have answered all your questions, I have been more than generous given you are Zach’s aide, off to the cells with you.”

Guards suddenly appeared on either side of me, there was nobody apart from the both of us in the office a minute ago. It was planned! The realization hit me, he was going to put me in the dungeons the minute I had walked in. But why? I wasn’t buying his theory for a second that he thought I had dark magic. If anything, he had a strong dark aura. And a scary thought formed in my mind. It wasn’t possible, was it? Was the King tainted??

As the guards started dragging me, I realized darkness or not, if I was being separated from Zach, he was in danger, he was cornered without his people and he probably didn’t even know it. s**t, I was desperate.

“WAIT! Only my King can rule judgement on me if I am still pledged to him! I am only answerable to him, and my King is here. I want to hear his ruling!!”

The king smiled evilly, “Oh I spoke to him, he agrees with this.”

“ I want to hear it from HIM”. I was adamant, we were outside the door now, and a few more guards were present, listening curiously to this exchange. As the guards dragging me paused, waiting for the king to respond, I stole a glance at these new men. Their open curiosity suggested they weren’t blindly faithful to their king as people are in times of peace. Things were clicking into place. All those checkpoints and tightened security. Harsh treatment and being sent to the dungeons with no proof of crime. Seeds of mutiny had been planted in this kingdom, loyalty was wavering. The king was keeping an iron grip on things by inducing fear. But who was revolting against this king? What exactly had been happening here?

I was caught up in my thoughts but I heard King Reston say, “ You will be granted an audience with your King. In the dungeons.” And with a wave of his hand I was dragged away. I didn’t resist because that would be futile. Instead, I memorized the way, knowing I would be breaking out at some point. But until then, there were a lot of things to think about.