Mother Jones appeared, and his mouth dropped open. “Your Majesty?”
Leo managed to settle Blackbird enough that he could dismount and hand the reins off. “Someone tried to kill me!” he gasped out, and somehow, saying it aloud made it real in a way it hadn’t been before.
He had to stop for a moment, setting his hands on his knees and bending over, his breathing suddenly shaky. “Someone tried tokillme,” he whispered, and for all the times he and Mattias had joked about assassination attempts, it really wasn’t very funny at all. He stumbled into the stables and sat heavily on a low stool.
Mother looped the reins around a post and crouched in front of Leo. “Are you injured, Your Majesty?” he asked, low and urgent.
Leo flapped a hand. “No. Whoever was firing the arrows was a terrible shot.” He swallowed. “Felix was hurt, though.” Mother’s eyes widened. “Not by the archers,” Leo hastened to add. “His horse threw him. I wanted to stay and help, but he yelled at me and called me stupid. He insisted he’d be fine and that I should leave him.” Leo hoped Mother didn’t notice the way his voice hitched.
“Begging your pardon, sire, he was right to do so,” Mother said gently. “Now let’s get you safely up to the castle and then we’ll send the guards out.”
“I want to wait for Felix—”
“If Flick was well enough to shout at you, he can’t be too badly hurt. He’s probably just bruised.”
“That’s what he said,” Leo muttered. “Bruised, not broken.”
“There you go then.” A hand gripped his elbow and Mother drew him to his feet. “I’m sorry, but it’s not safe for you here.”
Just then there was the sound of multiple boots running across the courtyard and Mattias skidded into view, followed by the captain of the guard and ten or so men with their weapons drawn.
“Leo?” Mattias gasped out. “One of the guards saw you from the window, said you were fairly flying back towards the stables. What happened?”
“Someone tried to kill His Majesty!” Mother said.
Mattias’s eyes went wide before his mouth pressed into a thin line and a deep crease appeared between his brows. “Tell me what happened.”
Leo swallowed. “Someone was firing arrows at me out near our—near that stand of trees with the little stream where the horses like to graze. Felix saved me.”
Mattias blew out a long breath and his shoulders hunched up tight. Then he was dragging Leo in close and hugging him so tightly he couldn’t breathe. “Don’t youdareget killed, you hear me?” he rasped in Leo’s ear, and Leo wondered how it was that someone caring about him somehow managed to make him feel better and worse all at once.
His eyes grew hot and his composure, such as it was, came dangerously close to faltering, but just this once, Leo didn’t care about appearances and let his head rest against Mattias’s chest, the heartbeat under his ear steady and reassuring. “They missed,” he mumbled into Mattias’s shirt, blinking the dampness away. “Whoever hired them should get their money back.”
Mattias pulled back and tilted his head. “Where’s Felix?”
Leo swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. “Felix is—” He found he couldn’t bring himself to tell Mattias that Felix had been hurt.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to. “Young Flick took a tumble off his mount, sir,” Mother said, “but His Majesty tells me that he’s making his way back. He insisted the king get to safety first.”
Mattias looked to Leo, who nodded. “Shadow threw him, but he told me he was only bruised and to go ahead without him. Frankly, him shouting at me was more terrifying than the thought of the assassins.”
From where he’d been standing, Janus breathed a shaky sigh and his shoulders sagged.
Mattias addressed the guards. “I want you to ride out and see who or what you can find. Not you, Janus,” he added. “You stay here and wait for your boy.”
“Thank you, sir,” Felix’s father said, his brow creased with worry, and Leo felt a pang of sympathy for him through his own shock.
The rest of the guards hurried over to the main stables and Mattias turned to Mother. “Mr. Jones, can you take care of Blackbird? I’m taking His Majesty to safety.”
And with that, Mattias wrapped an arm around Leo’s shoulders and led him back towards the castle. Behind them, Leo could hear the guards mounting up and preparing to ride.
“I can’t believe someoneactuallytried to kill me,” he said, the reality of it hitting him all over again.
Mattias shrugged. “I can. You’re incredibly annoying.”
It was, oddly enough, exactly what he needed to hear, and he wrapped an arm around Mattias’s waist in silent thanks as they made their way across the cobbles.
* * *
