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“We’ll get her another one.”
Aurelius grabbed his reins instead of leaning over to deck Zylem in the face. “It was her Mother’s, and you can’t replace that. She can have whatever she wants, and you damn well know why. Tell the others where I’ll be and that you’ll be waiting.”
He whirled his horse around and kicked him into a gallop. Aurelius wanted to ring Zylem's neck. She was dying and should have everything she wanted before that moment came.
The wind in his face blew away some of his anger. They’d come this far south because a lord had long ago gifted his summer house to the King. He no longer needed it or wished to travel so far. Mother had come that summer with her four boys in the hopes that the peace and clean air of the countryside would do her some good.
They all knew it wouldn’t. She more likely wished to be away from court where everyone whispered about her condition, gave fake smiles, and lied between their teeth when they said she’d be better in no time.
They would have stayed for another week or so, but they had received word that the Zorians had gone across the Prime River and into the southeastern corner of their Kingdom to pick and poke once more.
It was why they’d packed so hastily and left, even though the Zorians likely had no idea that the Queen and her sons were at a summer home. They’d look for places to pillage and never know that the majority of the Royal Family had been quite close. Also, they never stayed too long once they got in. Aurelius didn’t get King David’s logic about attacking or why he didn’t march his whole army in. Then again, Father’s logic, or more like the lack of it, didn’t make sense either.
The empty fields soothed him. Mother had managed a ride early in their holiday, but he knew those days were over now, and she'd have to use the carriage the whole way. He’d ride alone one day, and she’d only be a memory.
His eye stung, and he held it back even though he was alone. Father said tears were for the weak, and he’d yelled at Aurelius once for crying when he fell off his pony as a child. It’d be better if Mother stayed in that house to rest and live out her last days in peace.
Aurelius imagined coming back afterward and never returning to court and its poisonous insides. Leaving the Palace had been a relief in some ways. If he didn’t have the weight of the Kingdom and people looming in his future among other things, he'd prefer to never return.
He’d rather live in the house, get a job, and never look at another golden item again for the rest of his life. Maybe he’d get married and share the home one day. He’d thought of it so much, the idea had grown into a wish, although he never dared to mention it. His brothers would laugh at him, and Father would tell him to grow up and stop thinking of such silly shit.
It was a hopeless fantasy. His future had already been decided.
The house was a dot after an hour, and his horse huffed as he trotted it back into the yard. The guards had forgotten to close the gate.
“It’ll just be a moment.” Aurelius slipped down and patted the horse’s neck. “Then we can go.”
The stable was closed, and he’d locked the house himself when they left earlier. He hurried up the few steps to the front door and fumbled to get the key into the lock. It let out its distinctive creak as he swung it open. He closed it behind him and thumped upstairs.
If Mother had forgotten her necklace, that meant she was surely in more pain than she let on, and it was affecting her mind. She could still do some things herself, but it would only grow worse.
He passed the bedrooms and paused by hers which was across from his. They’d never come back here or at least not with her. She’d probably wouldn’t make it until the end of the year, He took a deep breath as he kept walking. The privy room at the end had a window, and when he opened the door, he spotted the black box in the dim light filtering through the curtains. He cracked it open so he could take a peek and caught the silver glint inside.
He turned to leave only to feel a tug on his neck. The end of his cloak had caught on a splinter at the bottom of the door, and he swore as he crouched to undo it.
Luckily, no one had snagged an ankle on it. A tiny tear had formed in the corner of his cloak, but it wasn’t the end of the world. He’d just gotten it free when he heard a distinctive creak downstairs.
The front door. He was positive he'd firmly shut it.
Who would come in here? No one had followed him, and the area had been empty unless bandits happened to just ride up. Outside, he heard his horse whinny.
Boots thumped downstairs as the intruders seemed to grow bolder. The velvet of the box was soft in his hand as he switched it to his left and reached for his sword.
The house only had one way in and one way out. He couldn’t jump from a window without breaking a limb or his neck, and there might be more outside. It had to be outlaws who decided to risk it considering the fine horse. The owner would have something worth robbing.
Boots clomped on the stairs, and he drew his weapon. The velvet left his hand as he slipped the box into his pocket, and he saw a flash of green that made his throat go dry.
Zorians wore green. Except they weren’t supposed to be this far.
The man grinned in the dim light as he marched down the hall, and someone else came up the stairs. “Look at the little one-eyed cub we found, all alone on his own.”
His weapon was drawn. Aurelius had never been in a real fight before even though he’d trained his whole life. He started forward as lightning crackled around his left fist.
“Duck.” The voice came from behind the first man.
Like a well-trained soldier, the first ducked as he shouted something, and a flaming arrow whizzed by Aurelius who jerked aside in time. Fuck that. He couldn’t fend off flaming arrows in a long hall with plenty of room for the bowman to draw back. The archer was already pulling another arrow from the quiver at his hip, and Aurelius shot a bolt of lightning down the hall before he dove into his room.
He slammed and locked the door as the first soldier shouted. “Are you stupid?!”
