Page 44 of Of Blood & Bone: The Young Queen

“Kes,” I say, my voice heightened with surprise, “what brings you to my chamber so early in the day?”

She rises from her chair and walks towards me, a broad grin on her face. “Uh, uh, Elinor, don’t think you’re going to get away that easily,” she announces as she stops in front of me and scrutinises my face. “Oh, I can see you had quite the night ofit.” She laughs. “I’m thinking your education in the matters of the bedroom is in good hands. Good, firm, princely hands.” She continues to laugh, and the sound of Kes’ laughter is such a rare thing I can’t help myself from smiling.

“Yes, the prince has kindly offered to be my teacher in these matters,” I admit as I proceed to my chamber. “Now tell me, what is it that has you in my chamber at sunrise? Is anything the matter?”

“I can see he’s doing quite a good job,” she remarks and when I raise a warning eyebrow she continues with why she is here. “You can rest easy, my Queen, there’s nothing the matter, but you asked me to let you know when the Ellerban soldiers are conscious. So, I’m here to let you know that the brown-haired one has made remarkable progress and is not only awake, but he has also taken a number of steps from his bed. He is somewhat confused as to how he came to be here and seems concerned that the prince is here too. He has asked if it’s possible to speak with you.”

I stop what I’m doing and look at Kes. “He’s walking and talking?”

“Yes,” she confirms.

“But this has only just happened?”

“Yes.”

“Does he recall what happened to him and who did it?”

“I’m not sure, my Queen, he hasn’t said much. He asked about his fellow soldier, and as I said, is confused and concerned as to why the prince is here.”

“And the prince usually visits them first thing in the morning?”

“Yes.”

I swiftly start to dress. “Then I need to go with you now and speak with the soldier. I must ask him to keep the part theprince’s brother played in their injuries a secret for the moment, as I fear how the prince will react to such news.”

Kes nods. “I agree, but it’s important we find out why Prince Mikil acted so towards these men.”

“Agreed. I just hope his memory is not affected in this regard,” I say as I pull on the trousers of my Khaleeni uniform.

***

I gently open the door to the soldier’s room, not wishing to awaken him if he is sleeping, but I’m completely unprepared for the sight that greets me. He is standing just to my left, looking out the window, and is wearing nothing but a pair of loose cotton trousers. His chest and abdomen are criss-crossed with raw-looking scars from his injuries but that doesn’t take away from how impressive both are. His skin is golden brown, much like the colour of a hazelnut, and stretched taut across a body of well-defined muscles that start at his broad shoulders and taper inwards to his waist with a pronounced V shape disappearing into the trousers.

“Good morning,” I say, as I stifle a gasp of surprise. “I’m Queen Elinor, I believe you wish to see me. May I enter?”

He stares at me, as if in a slight state of shock, and remains speechless. I step further into the room and this seems to jolt him from his mesmerised state.

“Please,” he says, and I'm surprised at how rich and deep his voice is.

“Thank you,” I reply, as I move further into the room. “It's good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?”

“A lot better,” he replies, “thanks to you, your soldiers and your healer. I shall be forever indebted to you.”

A quiver of emotion underscores his last few words and I find myself unexpectedly affected by them.

“I’m simply glad my soldiers and I were in the forest that night and were in a position to be of some assistance,” I reply. “How much of that night do you remember?”

His expression darkens with pain and anger. “All of it,” he replies, and his voice is choked with fury and agony.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

He takes a deep breath, as if trying to gather himself together and get his emotions under control. “Prince Mikil accused Aaran and me of being traitors. He said we were the leaders of a secret militia who were plotting a revolt against the royal house of Ellerban.”

He stops talking, as if the words cause him too much pain. He looks away from me and stares out the window as he takes in a ragged breath full of torment. “He proceeded to beat and torture us for the names of the others in this so-called militia, but of course we couldn’t give him these names as it doesn’t exist.”

The bitterness in his voice is palpable and I feel it fill the space between us and fall upon my skin like a thousand needles. The only other person I’ve ever seen affected by so much pain and anger is Kes, and I have to fight an impulse to go to him to offer comfort, so I ask another question instead. “Why would he accuse you of such a thing?”

His eyes darken with unmistakable anger and I suspect he feels my question suggests there’s some possible truth in Prince Mikil’s accusation. “I don’t know.” He spits out the words as if they hurt him. “But I can assure you there isn’t the remotest ounce of truth in it. I can only think it has something to do with his desire to be king and…”

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