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We had not exchanged declarations of love because both of us were inexperienced in such things. However, we had formed a close bond. We were friends and lovers at the same time.
“T-that will depend on who the assassins are, Your Majesty,” Sora admitted. “However, we hold on to the hope that it would not be someone who would just leave Arrowspear. They might have already done what they set out to do – kill King Doro. Or, they might want to finish the bloodline by killing you.”
“Remember that there is still Rowali,” I said, although the thought of my sister being a target chilled me.
“Yes, Rowali is King Doro’s and Queen Erani’s blood, just like you. However, our people in Arrowspear are still patriarchal. They will come after you before they even consider your sister.”
“Thank the gods, then, that we are still backward compared to Mogochislenia,” I gibed.
“Zarina, did my father die right away?” I wanted to know that he had not suffered, that the fall coincided with sudden death. I knew I would not know the whole truth, but I still wanted to hold on to the idea that he went without feeling the poison burning through his blood.
I had to stop thinking this way.
“From what we had found from the dart, it was a potent poison. It was meant to kill quickly, especially since they used it on your father. Your father is mortal and immediately succumbed.”
“You mean the poison could have been slower in a supernatural being?” I asked.
“Yes. So, if the poison is meant for your father, then they just wanted him gone. There was no intention to torture him.”
I did not know whether to be relieved or not. They wanted him dead, not just harmed but dead. There was something about him that provoked their hate so much. On the other hand, that hate had resulted in a quick death. Merciful. Still cruel. My father might have pretended to be ill several times in his life, but he could have lived a decade or more.
“It does not make sense,” I shook my head.
“No, it doesn’t,” Sora affirmed. “Your father is one of the kindest kings of Arrowspear. Nobody thinks of him as a threat.”
The head witch’s face looked apologetic when she said that, but I silently agreed. My father was no threat. He was content in his little spot on the continent, and he had no desire for wars or even minor disagreements.
“But why would they make a poison so potent? Why would they resort to magic? My father was a mortal man.”
“Your Majesty, what if the assassins wanted someone else?” asked Aruna, her eyes darting to Sora as if trying to gain some support.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You know what I mean, Your Majesty. You. You must now come to terms with who you are. You may be your mother’s and father’s blood, but -.”
“I do not want to talk about it,” I said, dismissing her implications.
“Then, perhaps you should dig deeper into it. It is not pleasant to think that the assassins may be after something else. Someone else. But we need to investigate all the possibilities so that we can find the assassins and let them face the punishment they deserve.”
“And what is that?”
“Death, of course, Your Majesty.”
My jaw clenched. I had wrestled and killed wild animals, but I had never killed a man, mortal or supernatural. It seemed that we were faced with a whole group of assassins to catch and execute.
“Now, what about you, Zegarot and Femina? When you ate of my father’s meal, have you noticed anything? Not a poison, but a strange taste? I want to know how they marked my father.”
I saw Aruna flinch. She felt my stubborn resolution to ignore what she was implying.
“Your Majesty,” Zegarot, a tall, thin man with spiky red hair, trembled. “We noticed that the food was very spicy.”
“Zegarot, we are from Arrowspear. Indeed we do not shy away from spicy meals?”
“It was even more so, Your Majesty. In the last year, your father had stopped eating them spicy. So, we wanted to have a talk with the cook to have the food changed.”
“But?”
“Your father insisted that he was feeling adventurous that night. So, he took the meal.”
