Page 49 of The King's Sword
Sabine rubbed her face. Everything was becoming more and more complicated. She longed for a simpler time. As she sat there, she didn’t understand the pain she felt in her heart.
* * *
A few hours later, the boat turned into another canal that jutted off from the main one. After about a mile, the canal ended at a dock with a couple dozen boats tied to it. After their boat was anchored, everyone began disembarking.
Since Evander had never returned to sit with Sabine, she stood and went to find him. He was standing at the other end of the boat, his back to her as he leaned on the railing, staring at what was probably the palace not too far away.
Sabine placed her hand on his back. “Is everything all right?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Is that your home?” The land surrounding the canal was flat and covered with bright green grass. In the distance, roughly ten miles away, a forest started. However, directly in front of them, a little less than a mile away, a large wall stood, concealing what she assumed to be the palace. Sentries patrolled along the top of the wall.
“It is. Home sweet home. Well, one of them anyway.” Evander led Sabine off the boat.
Those who’d accompanied them now marched in two single file lines directly toward a gate in the wall. Gemma turned back to face Evander. “I must get my people inside. I’ll leave you to handle this.”
“I have it all under control,” he replied.
Gemma turned back around, marching along with her unit.
“What’s your sister’s role?” Sabine asked, wondering if her job was simply to command these soldiers. For a female member of the royal family, Sabine thought that odd.
“She doesn’t have one.”
“She’s not an officer in the military or anything?”
“We don’t have a military in the traditional sense of the word.” Evander took her hand and helped her step off the dock and onto the thick grass. “Gemma loves to fight, so she joined a security unit when she was fifteen. She’s since risen in the ranks. However, she holds no special position other than being a princess. For the royal family, my eldest sister, Lyra, is first in line and has two children of her own, making Gemma fourth in line. Therefore, Gemma is just Gemma.”
“Is she a member of your assassin guild?”
He eyed her. “That’s not something you speak of in Avoni.”
She nodded, understanding the warning as they approached the wall. “How did you end up being a League member then?” It seemed as if that duty should have fallen to Gemma.
“The League meets in secret and prefers that the members be male if possible.” He shrugged. “Since I’m the only man, once I became old enough, the position went to me.”
“Other than that, you don’t have any special job for your family?” What she really wanted to know was if the royal family employed him to be an assassin on their behalf.
He smiled at her. “Other than being their favorite son? No, I don’t.”
“Since my sister died,” she said, her voice soft, “I’m now the only female sibling.” She had four brothers, and Evander had three sisters.
They walked in silence for several minutes. “How’s your side feeling?” she asked.
“About that.” He pulled her to a stop and glanced up ahead at the wall. “I don’t think you should tell anyone that you stabbed me. Since I technically kidnapped you, it could give the wrong impression, and I’d hate for my parents to put you in the dungeon.”
Her heart started to beat faster. “You don’t think I tried to kill you, do you?” she asked, panic rising.
“No, not at all.”
Maybe she shouldn’t enter through the gate and into the compound. Especially if she might be thrown into the dungeon. She glanced about, looking for a place where she could run to and hide. “You don’t think your family will believe me?”
“No, I don’t.”
Terror filled her. She hadn’t realized she’d be entering a hostile environment.
“You need to understand that everyone in Avoni learns to use a weapon at a young age. My parents would find it hard to believe that an eighteen-year-old woman would accidentally stab someone. It’s just not done. They’d assume you were trying to kill me for kidnapping you.”
