❝ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ɪꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴋɪɴɢᴅᴏᴍꜱ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴀʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ? ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ꜱɪᴅᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄʜᴏᴏꜱᴇ? ❞
Ever since she was sold to the Kingdom of Racaea as a young child, Sabre has grown up on the castle grounds as a blacksmith's apprentice for the roya...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What are you talking about?" I questioned, my heart beating so rapidly in my chest I thought it might break through. "You've been keeping secrets from us?" Had he been lying to us this whole time? What did he know about Sabre?
"What do you mean, Trik?" Auron pushed, something akin to hurt enveloping him.
"I've done my fair share of research into Icrodeia, so I know what their magic stone can be used for," the blacksmith answered as he turned to look at the sun's position in the sky. When he turned back to gently move Auron's shoulder back and forth, he refused to look any of us in the eyes. "Especially since I was asked to take in Sabre."
"Asked? But you said you took her in out of the kindness of your own heart, that you couldn't stand to see her being locked up in a cage to be sold as a slave." I could already feel the betrayal lingering in the air waiting to wrap around us and squeeze with full force.
"The Sephirans asked me to take her in as they knew I was trustworthy and I work on the castle grounds. They needed someplace to keep her safe as Icrodeia was already searching for them over fifteen years ago. Racaea's castle was the only place they could think of at short notice that the Icrodieans wouldn't try to break into straight away."
"That doesn't make sense..." Auron trailed off in thought. While confusion clouded him, there was only anger building in me. "What about the slaver?"
"You lied to Sabre? You told her the night of the ball that you didn't know her parents." Trik was lucky I wasn't able to move.
Trik's hands worked down to Auron's arm, moving it back and forth again as if it were wedged in thick mud. "I didn't know them per se, I'd only met them once before you kids were even alive. I didn't meet them again at the time they were asking me to look after Sabre either, they sent her to Racaea via the slaver that I bought her from."
"Why?" Lorella asked. "I know it's probably not my place to be involved with this, but why did you take her in? There are several places a child could be safe and hidden where Icrodeia wouldn't find them, so why did you agree?"
"The Sephirans were well-known criminals in Icrodeia," he began as he continued to work through Auron's body. The slow movements made me wonder if he was massaging the magic out of him. "They were originally the leaders of a small rebellion against the monarchy there, but after most of that group was taken down, they did most of their work by themselves. Carmin and Jesper stole a lot of things in the hopes to get the Icrodeians to surrender, one of which was the whole Idaphite gem. They broke it down into smaller shards so it was easier to move and hide, and that's where this whole hunt began."
My eyes narrowed. "That doesn't answer her question."
"I took Sabre in because she was also one of those stolen goods. During the havoc of the Idaphite being stolen, they took other things. One of which was an inner-court member's child. She wasn't getting a good life constantly on the run from what the Sephirans had done, so I wanted to change that."
