Enchantment of the Bow

Chapter Fifty-Nine

-- Warning for Violent Content--

Kaladin's POV

I stayed with Lyra for the remainder of the day, following her around as her mother drug her from room to room, chattering non-stop about dresses, flowers and colors. All the while Lyra looked as disinterested as I felt, but our minds were undoubtedly on the same topic most of the time: Danak Staph's murder. Of course, her mind certainly drifted off to Samson at times as well- You can tell by the look she gets in her eyes, which is even more faraway than usual.

Sage had noticed for a while before the Queen, who only took notice of her daughter's state of mind after turning to see Lyra gazing out at something nonexistent for the umpteenth time. Then Alandra excused her from wedding planning and the Princess went back to her chambers, turning down the dinner offer that her parent's offered her. It isn't often that she gets invited to sit for a meal with the King and Queen, but things between the three of them are rather tense at the moment.

Lyra eats some supper and sits with a book in her lap, though she has gone an hour now without turning a page. By the time the sun falls and the moon takes it's place, Lyra is obviously exhausted and frankly, so am I. But unlike the Princess, I do not yet require sleep. I can go for days without it.

Part of my training as an assassin involved some intense sleep deprivation. It meant keeping me awake in a small, windowless room until the brink of death, kicking or slapping, even stabbing me, at one point, to keep me from nodding off. I learned then that if one goes too long without sleep- about a week- that they will die.  Thanks to the torture I endured, I can now stay awake for six days on end, remaining alert for three of them before my actions become slow and fuzzy.

I never felt the need to put Jed, Syl or Adolin through such suffering, so I never taught them such a thing. There are a number of methods that I cut from their training so not to scar or strain them too badly. They've all had troubled pasts and hard lives as it is, so I want to make it better for them, not worse. I think of those three as my own kin and would never wish such a thing upon them. The things that I went through at the age of ten were not something that I want for them at any point in their lives.

I am posted inside of Lyra's bed chambers, along with Nikeil, Merlin, Jasla and Hana, who has begun to get back into the swing of his old job. He looks like he couldn't be happier to be here, but the concern he feels for Lyra is palpable. He has asked multiple times if she is alright, and she's given the same lie each time. He has apparently known her for long enough to sense such fibs, but doesn't press the matter.

I stifle a yawn from my place in a corner of the vast room, thinking about what I am going to do when I am dismissed for the night. While the valiant Prince is out playing bounty hunter with Claudius, I am going to be handling matters here, doing some hunting of my own. I've already figured out who is controlling Sebastian, and I need only take them out in order to disable the Snake's slithering about, cutting off its head, if you will. Once that is finished, Sebastian will spill his guts to the Prince and make him the hero. That's what Lyra wants, and so shall she receive it. I have no desire to inform her of how much killing I've done since I've begun posing as a Guardsmen- it would no doubt make her feel guilty, even though she has nothing to do with it. Damn that soft heart of hers, she would make for a valuable decoy otherwise. With a face as innocent as hers, she could get away with nearly anything. But she is far too honest a person for such things, much like Jed. It took years for him to finally take someone's life, and even then he only did it after they nearly killed Adolin. He then proceeded to cry about it for weeks.

The Princess is sitting by the fireplace, where hot red and orange flames crackle and leap on their logs, staring down at her Chimera. The creature looks back at her master with large, worried eyes and let's out a few nervous whines, unable to do much else in terms of comforting her. Sage sets her head on Lyra's lap and she picks up the book she had to make room for the animal's massive snout. She doesn't even look at it before closing the cover and handing it to Hana to set on the table with the other towers of paper.