The Poison Prince

Chapter XVIII

"That's my horse!" Taiden exclaimed louder than he probably ought to have. "And that's Julius'!" He rushed forward to pat the neck of his own stallion, though the fine beast showed little interest in the prince and continued to eat the hay before him.

Xylia raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion. "So who's with him?" She asked.

"What?"

"Well, I assume Julius rode his own horse. Who rode yours? You left him back in the village of The Draca." She tentatively walked forward, unsure what to feel at the idea that Julius was back in the picture now and that he had someone else in his company.

"Huh. Good point. Maybe it's your uncle."

"My uncle would never leave home." She said quietly, feeling worried. Julius being here meant that her uncle was dealt with. It could be good news or bad news and while she hoped for the former she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to move any further and find out at all.

Taiden didn't give her a choice. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along through the straw covered floor of the stable. "Come on. We best get inside and find Julius."

Xylia shuffled along behind him, her free arm wrapped tightly around herself as though it could fight off the nerves she was feeling. She hovered behind Taiden as he banged on the inn door loud enough to wake anyone inside, though it was too early for anyone to be asleep.

"We're not taking guests now!" A gruff voice called back.

"We already have someone inside!" Taiden replied quickly.

"I don't care! I'm not opening this door for anyone at this time of night!"

"Wait, sir, he's with me." The familiar voice interjected the conversation before it became an argument, and the bolt of the door creaked painfully as it was twisted.

"I'm not happy about this. It could be anyone out there."

"I assure you, it's not anyone." The door was pulled open and Taiden beamed a huge grin at Julius before hugging him tightly.

Xylia noticed the innkeeper's scowl turn into a look of surprise before he ushered everyone inside and made quick work of securing the door again.

"It is good to see you again, Julius! So good!" Taiden said, the grin still firmly in place.

"You, too. I wasn't sure if the Queen would try to harm you again."

"Oh, she certainly did, but Xylia saved me. We have quite the tale to tell, my friend."

"Later, perhaps, your highness. We need to get you a room settled first." Julius looked over at the innkeeper who was fast enough at producing two keys for the last two rooms he had to spare. He offered them to Taiden and Xylia with a sloppy bow to both despite not knowing who Xylia even was.

"My uncle?" Xylia asked, unable to contain herself any longer as they turned towards the stairs.

Julius turned to her and opened his mouth before closing it again. He cast his eyes to the ceiling and then back to Xylia. "Perhaps we should go upstairs first. We all have a lot to talk about."

Upstairs, someone hurtled at Xylia and engulfed her in a tight hug. It knocked the wind right out of her and for a second she didn't have a clue who was clinging to her. Then she recognised the crop of black wavy hair against her shoulder.

"Zechariahs!" She gasped, wrapping her arms back around him for a moment before prying him away and holding him at arm's length. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled a tired smile and shrugged. "I wanted to help you while I still could."

"He talked me into bringing him along, and I needed someone to ride your horse or I'd have still been travelling." Julius was speaking to Taiden, but he spoke loud enough for them all to hear.

"My uncle-"

"Let's get inside one of these rooms. We don't need to put on a show for the guests." Julius cut Xylia off and opened a door, holding it ajar until everyone was inside.

It wasn't much, and with four of them in the single room it was a little claustrophobic. No one moved to sit down, much to Julius' chagrin. Everyone seemed to be as stubborn as each other in a moment when he wanted them all to be cooperative.

"Julius, my uncle. Please."

He sighed and picked up a cream envelope from the dresser. He glanced down at it once before offering it out to her. "I'm sorry. He had passed two days before I returned with the healer. This was left for you."

Xylia paled, hesitating before she took the envelope from him. For a long moment she just held onto it, staring at her name written in her uncle's scrawl. Taiden's hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"I'm so very sorry, Xylia. I wish we could have done something."

"We tried everything for him. In the end he made a choice to let go. He told me everything you needed was in that letter." Zechariahs added quietly, coming to stand on Xylia's other side.

Suddenly, Xylia shoved the letter into her satchel and sniffed loudly, rubbing the heel of her hand against her cheek to catch the falling tears.

"Aren't you going to read it?" Taiden asked her gently.

"Later." She answered, blinking harshly. "We have more important things to deal with."

"Xylia, it can wait until morning at the very least." He whispered, turning her to face him completely. "Nothing will change tonight."

"And a letter won't bring my uncle back either." Xylia retorted, lifting her gaze to meet Taiden's look of concern. "Nothing will."

Zechariahs harsh cough snapped them both back to the room and Xylia twisted her head to check on him. He raised his hand as he wheezed. "I'm okay."

"He's not." Julius sighed, "but he's been like that since before he left the village."

"He's dying." Xylia told them. "He's one of The Draca who has caught the disease fatal to their kind. He doesn't have very long left."

Zechariahs looked ashamed and lowered himself to the edge of the bed. It wasn't by choice but rather because he was too weak to remain standing after that short coughing fit. "It's why I wanted to leave. I wanted to do something meaningful with my life before I died. I didn't want to pass in my sleep and just be another part of our extinction. If a mutt could go off with the prince and be someone then I wanted to see that." He confessed quietly.

"First things first; Xylia is not a mutt." Taiden said, barely holding his temper in check. "Understand?" Zechariahs nodded uncomfortably, glancing at Xylia afterwards. "Secondly, we appreciate all the help we can get. Welcome."

"But, your highness-"

"Tomorrow."

"Taiden-" Xylia stepped forward.

"Tomorrow." He looked at her and smiled wearily. "Let's rest up, eh?" He rested his hand on her arm and rubbed it affectionately. "We have had an exhausting couple of days and we finally have real beds again. Let's leave all the worries and talk until the morning."

Taiden didn't want to have to think about her risking her life right now. He also didn't want to have to listen to Julius lecture him about anything. He just wanted to pretend that everyone would be okay, and things would turn out as they should.

If it was even possible for him to do that anymore.