The King's Messenger

Chapter 19

As planned, the creak of the door brought Eden into the land of the living. He'd slept sitting up, so he simply straightened to his feet as Torre brought Vestenet in.

"Lord Vestenet," Eden greeted.

"Your Highness," Vestenet said, furtively glancing around.

Eden said nothing, instead opting to simply stare at Vestenet expectantly. Vestenet shifted his feet as the silence stretched into discomfort.

"This is rather unorthodox, Your Highness," Vestenet finally said, caving in and breaking the quiet. "What can I do for you?"

"I had an interesting conversation with Everyn Mast just now," Eden said casually. Vestenet's eyes flashed with anger at the name. "He told me an extraordinarily fascinating story. Care to hear it?"

"I... certainly," Vestenet said. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead, tracking down the side of his face.

"Excellent! I'm always excited to find a man who can appreciate good storytelling. The story starts something like this: A member of a royal court sends assassins to kill his own prince. The prince, miraculously, escapes, to the dismay of the noble, who attempts to hide his shock and disgust, but utterly fails. The handsome, perceptive prince catches on to this and puts the noble to death." Eden paused. "Actually, I added the last part; I only heard the beginning from Everyn Mast."

"That certainly is an... interesting story, Your Highness," Vestenet said. The room held an odd dynamic of tension- Eden's side relaxed, Vestenet and Torre's side taught to breaking.

"I thought so too," Eden agreed. "The most interesting part, however, is what the noble's name is, in the story. What do you think it could be?"

"I... wouldn't have a way of knowing, Your Highness," Vestenet said, making an obvious struggle to keep his voice level.

Eden dropped the casual act. "His name is Lord Vestenet. Here's how this will work: confess now, or I will order my captain to kill you where you stand."

Vestenet froze, eyes calculating his options. Behind him, Torre tensed, hand hovering near the hilt of his blade. Vestenet grabbed his fashion accessory of a sword and whipped the blade in an uncontrolled arc toward Eden's head with a growl.

Eden saw the sword curving toward him in real time, but he felt as though he were moving through molasses. He stepped back as Torre grabbed Vestenet from behind, throwing his slash awry. Instead of severing Eden's head, it made a neat upward slice in his cheek. Staggering back, Eden held a hand to his face, drawing it back marked by blood. He could barely even feel the wound under the influence of the earrings.

Torre put Vestenet's sword wrist in a vice grip until the blade fell from his fingers, then he pinned the lord's arms behind him. Vestenet thrashed against Torre's grip, but Torre was captain of the guard and Vestenet was a plush noble. It was a particularly fruitless thrashing.

"I suppose that is a fair admission of guilt," Eden said after a pause to collect himself. He pressed his hand to his cheek, feeling hot blood on the back of his hand as he attempted to stop the bleeding.

"You'll destroy everything your family has worked for, you bastard prince," Vestenet spat. "You want to make Valina weak. You're a damned fool, just a bastard son of a whore."

While Eden was generous enough to consider Vestenet's accusation, Torre tightened his grip, forcing sounds of protest from Vestenet.

"I disagree," Eden said. "But interesting theory." Raising his voice, Eden shouted, "Assassin! Assassin in the Ocean room! Guards, to me!" Messenger quickly showed in the room, analyzing the scene quickly then stepping aside as the royal guards flooded into the room.