To kill the king, p.1
To Kill the King, page 1
To Kill the King
Charlotte Gillien
Copyright © 2023 Charlotte Gillien
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.
First edition 2023
Cover design by Youness Elh
Table of Contents
A Kingdom to Protect
Your Grace, Our Savior
The Welcome Wagon
Onwards and Upwards
A Test of Faith
Rude Awakenings
A Helping Hand
A Long Road Ahead
The Dragon’s Den
The Spoils
A Change of Plans
Facing Fears
Knights Never Prosper
A Quixotic Plan
Good Graces
Sea Change
The Unquiet Dead
Laid out in Lavender
Equal and Opposite
Crying Wolf
Like a House on Fire
The Devil to Pay
Clarity
Clean Slates
A Kingdom to Protect
IF EVERAND HAD to hear one more story he swore to the heavens his knight wouldn’t live to see another morning. Not that that would be any great loss. Mornings on the road were as close to hell as Everand could imagine. Animals had run away with most of their food while Leo was meant to be keeping watch, keeping warm was near impossible, and he was only half sure that they hadn’t gotten lost. His travelling partner wasn’t helping matters.
“Are you listening Everand?” Leo called from atop his horse.
“Yes sir, of course sir.” He was going to strangle him. Everand didn’t even attempt to feign a smile, but of course the knight didn’t turn to look. He rode quietly, trailing behind and barely even trying to focus on what was being said to him.
Leo cleared his throat after Everand’s reassurance. “As I was saying, I have a good feeling about this one. When the world closes a door it opens a window and this is our window. Who needed that door anyways when this window is clearly superior?”
“I would have liked to have the door.” Everand grumbled, pulling back on Lilypad’s reins to ensure he wouldn’t have to ride side by side with Leo. She slowed in perfect synchronization with his request and he gave her a soft pat.
“What was that lad?”
“Nothing sir, nothing at all.”
“Yes, right. Well, I’ve heard wonderful things about King Richard, better things than I ever heard about that bastard Edgar anyways. So even if this whole banishing situation was something that transpired because of someone, well even then, it isn’t really a negative. In fact, if anything, we should be crediting the party that created this opportunity.”
Everand could not have this conversation again. At this point even the horses must have it memorized. Diverting it hadn’t worked, his new tactic was to try and get him to skip chunks of this discussion so it could be over sooner. “I’ve even heard they have a princess they want to marry off, isn’t that right sir?”
“We’re heading to a better kingdom, one where I can command the respect that I deserve! A kingdom that will properly utilize all of my strengths, one that will allow me to reach new heights. The king even has a daughter. I’ve heard he’s having trouble marrying her off. They say she is as beautiful as… as the springtime, as the moon. There’s rumors that she’s cursed but if she’s as beautiful as they say, perhaps a noble knight could find a way to break it. Things are turning around for me now, Everand, I can feel it.”
So that hadn’t worked. The squire cursed under his breath. He’d have to try a new tactic the next time around. He made a noise that he hoped would be interpreted as vague agreement and returned to ignoring the man.
As much as Leo had been trying to convince him otherwise with his little speech, they were both in a waking nightmare and it was aggressively Leo’s fault. But of course Everand got pulled into it, that’s how it always worked. Leo did whatever he wanted and Everand suffered the consequences. It had never happened to quite this extent before, but he was anything but surprised. He probably should have guessed that this was where they were headed years ago. Not this new kingdom to which they were travelling blindly, but this level of disaster.
Leo was probably still talking. He never really stopped, but Everand never found it hard to ignore. Especially out riding like this. Even when he tried to focus it was hard to not get wrapped up in the other noises, the wind blowing through the grass, the buzzing of insects around them, the stamping of the horses’ hooves. Lilypad always stepped more carefully. Her hooves sounded softer and they had more intention behind them. Destrier, on the other hand, was always as loud in his steps as was possible. Not that it was his fault, Leo wouldn’t stop enforcing that behavior in the poor creature. The sounds of the world were far more interesting and pressing than whatever made-up adventure Leo was trying to convince Everand that he went on that Everand had somehow mysteriously missed.
Everand pulled back on the reins for half a heartbeat, sensing that something had changed. He quickly ushered Lilypad to start again, not wanting him to appear suspicious in case something malicious was watching. And then, all at once, Everand realized that the ambiance of the path around him had shifted. The squire put all of his focus into trying to discern the source of the shift in noise. As they continued onwards, it became increasingly evident that they were approaching a town. He allowed himself to untense and felt a wave of relief run through him. Not only would he soon be free of all the alone time he was getting with Leo, but they would also be able to resupply. He could survive on shortened rations, but the horses wouldn’t understand why they were being fed significantly less and he’d rather not put them through that.
There were a few more minutes of listening to the bustle of civilization getting closer before Leo broke Everand’s concentration by shouting “Stop!” at the top of his lungs whilst yanking on Destrier’s reins. Everand brought Lilypad to a halt, waiting to see what invaluable advice the knight had to share this time.
“Do you see that, my lad? Over that next hill? I believe it’s the town surrounding our new king’s distinguished home.”
“I think you might be right. Good eye, sir.”
They rode right by the town, barely a breath from the nearest structure. Everand trusted Lilypad to follow in Destrier’s footsteps, staring for longer than he should have at the buildings as they passed. He didn’t particularly want to go there, he had no great love for civilization in any form. However, it was certainly better than the towering silhouette of stone walls that they were riding towards. They had no plan to get in, no plan if they got turned away, and Everand had no plan for what he was going to do whether or not they were let into the castle. He’d figure it out when they got there. God, he sounded like Leo.
He was jolted back to reality as he realized that they were at the gates of the castle. Leo was already talking to one of the guards stationed at the doors. Everand hoped he hadn’t missed anything too vital and did his best to appear squirely.
“We seek an audience with the king.”
The guard seemed very confused which wasn’t a great sign. “Who are you two?”
“I am Sir Leo and this is my squire.”
“So you’re a knight of where exactly?”
Uh oh.
“Well, of here hopefully.”
Everand appreciated the apparent attempt to confuse the guard into letting them see the most important man in the kingdom. Somehow, this did not seem to convince him. Everand figured he’d give it a shot. “Hello, sir, we’ve been sent by King Edgar to serve King Richard, as a sign of peace between the two lands. Sir Leo here was one of his finest knights.”
He prayed that it didn’t contradict anything Leo had already said. It wasn’t the cleanest lie but it was certainly better than whatever his knight was attempting to peddle. The man seemed to be considering it when the guard on the other side of the door decided to join in on the conversation. “I’ve heard tales of Sir Leo, are you really he?”
Leo’s face lit up. “Aye, I am. See, everything is in order.”
The guard they’d been speaking to seemed unsure. “Do you swear it is you, Sir Leo?”
“I do, on my mother’s grave.”
“Well, this is on your head, not mine. You shall have your meeting.”
Your Grace, Our Savior
EVERAND SHOULD not be this nervous, it wasn’t his ass on the line. Leo was the one who needed so desperately to be a knight under a king, Everand would be fine either way. He could find some other job he hated, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. As long as he survived this encounter, he would be fine.
And yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. It felt like there were ants crawling under his skin, like every instinct he had was screaming ‘run.’ He pushed it aside as well as he could, other than the occasional scratch at his arms to try and get rid of the crawling sensation.
Leo gave him a quick glance and Everand forced his hand away from his arm. He pushed his chin upwards and his shoulders back in an attempt to look confident. There was no way they were going to pull this off if they didn’t look self-assured, although he doubted anyone would even look his way. Frankly, he didn’t know why he cared whether or not they were going to pull this off at all.
This was taking forever. It felt like they’d been standing behind these doors for hours. Everyth ing was right through the massive wooden doors in front of them, why couldn’t they just go in?
And then, like a prophecy or just some dumb luck, just as the thought crossed his mind, the door swung open and he heard someone announce, “Sir Leo and his squire,” which was met with mild applause.
Leo walked in, chest puffed out and shoulders back and Everand trailed behind him. Everyone’s eyes were on Leo, so Everand took the opportunity to scan the room. It was more of a hallway than a room, with about twenty or thirty people lining the walls, looking curiously in at Leo, the knight they had heard so many fantastical stories about, whose reputation more than preceded him.
However, walking down the hallway towards the thrones at the end, he noticed an exception to this rule. One pair of eyes ignored Leo and stared intensely at Everand.
She was a short girl, one of the shortest ones in the crowd and she looked to be in her twenties, around Everand’s age. She had dark skin and blunt, pitch-black bangs that cut across her forehead that blended into crooked shoulder length hair that looked like she'd cut it herself. He was shocked he hadn’t seen her earlier because she certainly stood out from the crowd. Where most people wore vaguely upper-class clothing, she was far from that. He’d seen a mage before; and of course Everand recognized her as a mage, look at her; but he’d never seen a mage actually wear a witch’s hat. It tilted dangerously to the left, looking like it was seconds away from falling off of her head. Even tilted as much as it was, it gave her an extra six inches of height. The black haphazard hat didn’t much match the rest of her clothing, her shoulders draped in an intricately embroidered green cloak, lined in small thread flowers. It draped over most of her body. The only parts that weren't covered by it were the ends of her arms sticking out at the front, her right one wrapped in white bandages that she kept fidgeting with the ends of.
As he took all this in, her eyes did not stray from Everand’s face, eyebrows furrowed and dark brown eyes unblinkingly trained on him. He tried to match her gaze but eventually he passed her as they walked along the hall, having no choice but to look away from the mage and turn his attention forwards. Well, he supposed he did have a choice but walking backwards to meet the king may not be the best first impression he could make.
Now he was forced to look ahead, towards the people he and Leo were approaching. He had been too busy surveying the room to get a good look at the thrones at the end of the hall and who occupied them until now. He expected to turn and see a king but instead he felt all the air leave his lungs entirely as he laid eyes on the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
The king was there too, sitting beside the girl Everand assumed was the princess, but he couldn’t bring himself to focus on anything but her. At first Everand thought she was looking at him, the only other person in the room paying attention to him, but upon further inspection it felt more like she was looking right through him. Whether or not she was paying attention to him, he was more than happy to share some faux eye contact with her. Her eyes were the same as the sky above their heads, a pale blue, but with one look at them you could see that behind them was a whole galaxy of stars, just waiting to be admired. Her face was framed with golden blonde hair. He heard someone behind him clear their throat and the princess jumped in her seat a little, brought back into the moment. She turned away from Everand, looking over his shoulder and smiled apologetically at someone. Everand glanced back and saw the mage girl looking up at the princess expectantly.
When he turned back, he was surprised to see that the princess was still looking at him but with a less vacant expression this time. She gave him a small, welcoming smile and he felt his face heat up immediately.
The king couldn’t have looked more different from her, with dark hair and harsh features contrasting the princess in every way. He spoke to Leo, having no interest in what was going on between his daughter, the mage, and the less interesting newcomer. “My knight tells me you are Sir Leo?”
Leo bowed and said, “Aye, your highness, I am. I’m here to offer you my services.”
“And this is your squire?” the king asked, not even bothering to really look in Everand’s direction.
“He is.”
And that was just about the end of the interaction he would ever have with this man. God knows the king wasn’t interested in him in any capacity and the feeling was mutual. The fact that the princess was still looking his way was a miracle. No noble had ever given him the time of day, or even bothered to engage with him long enough to ask his name.
The king looked Leo up and down for a few more moments before saying, “If your reputation precedes you, Sir Leo, why are you here asking to serve under me? You were the treasure of King Edgar’s court, were you not? So why did you leave?”
Leo puffed up his chest the way he always did when he was preparing to lie through his teeth. “Well, I was becoming restless under King Edgar’s rule, he was not letting me be the hero I was destined to be! And I had heard such wonderful things about you and Altermora. Eventually I decided that as important as loyalty is, I needed to serve under a good man, such as yourself, who would allow me to help your subjects as I was meant to.”
The king considered this and Everand waited, holding his breath. When the king spoke again, his tone was measured and careful. “Well Sir Leo, as important as loyalty is…”
Leo interrupted, “And it is so important, my liege!” This interruption earned him an annoyed glare from the king and he shifted nervously beside Everand.
“As important as loyalty is, the stories I have heard about you are impressive and your motives seem pure. I feel as if you would be a good addition to our-”
And then the door to the hall swung open violently and a knight came rushing in. That couldn’t be a good sign. The knight stormed to the front of the hall, shoving Everand aside to stand next to Leo. “We have gotten word that this man was banished by King Edgar for desertion, he left his fellow knights to be massacred.”
Well, that was just perfect, wasn’t it? Everand was ready to scream. There was no way this was going to work out now. He supposed he could stay on his own, the king probably wouldn’t remember him well enough to recognize him even if he did see him again and he was tired of Leo anyways. Regardless, it would have been nice to have a place in the castle. He supposed he needed to start planning now, no more leeway as he tried to find something less insufferable to do with himself. If only Leo hadn’t royally messed up Everand’s life with no regard to the consequences of his actions or any plans for the future.
Speaking of the devil, Everand supposed he might as well listen to Leo’s groveling before he was promptly kicked out of this god forsaken kingdom. “Now, my liege, I know I haven’t made the best first impression, but I truly did come here because I admire the way you run your kingdom. I honestly believe that I could be both useful to you and helpful to your citizens. I had a lapse in judgment, yes, but I am a good man at heart and I would serve you well.”
The king shook his head. “Young man, I do not tolerate cowards in my court. I am sorry, but you will have to find someone else to serve.”
Leo was opening his mouth to grovel some more and Everand was listening carefully, wanting to get as much of Leo’s embarrassment as possible out of this god-awful situation, when the princess leaned towards the king slightly and spoke, still not breaking eye contact with Everand. “Actually, I’d like them to stay.”
After a few beats of silence, the princess looked expectantly over Everand’s shoulder, where the young mage was. He heard what could only be described as an annoyed sigh come from behind him and did the best he could to not turn and glare at her, not wanting to push his luck. The mage cleared her throat, preparing to speak and the princess turned her welcoming gaze back to Everand once again. He racked his brain, trying to figure out what could possibly be causing her interest in him but he kept coming up empty. In all fairness, her eyes being trained so intently on him was not helping him in the ‘thinking straight’ department.
A voice chimed in from behind him. “I’m with the princess. They could be useful, I think we should keep them around.”
