tales of Suchita

The story was told by dawn.

The details had been fuzzy; Arthur had banished all memories and thoughts and fears to the deepest crevices of his brain, never to see the light of day again. But Janah had been relentless in his questions and had unearthed details even Arthur didn’t know he had.

The plan had been easy. Arthur had summoned Selma, Yonik, Ullea and Terry once Romeena and Janah had settled back in the palace. He had outlined what he had seen and what he thought they must do. But he couldn’t take the responsibility of regicide alone and needed four more shoulders to bear the burden. The four had accepted – not only the price but also the deed. That Arthur would be the one to do the deed was left unsaid.

“Did no one question the paramour’s ability to plunge a dagger in my father’s heart?” Janah had asked incredulously.

Arthur had shrugged nonchalantly. “You forget Janah, Reifire had betrayed me long before, and many times over, already. I was just paying him back.”

It obviously hadn’t been that easy. There had been a gap of almost two years between the plan and the actual deed. Arthur had always told the four there was never a good time. He wasn’t completely wrong. Because of Reifire’s crusade, a few noble-people had rebelled, plunging the empire into civil war. He couldn’t possibly kill the king when he was the only one who was holding the empire together. What legacy would Janah inherit?

Janah had snorted at that. “Coward,” he had proclaimed but without any malice.

A day had come when the conditions had been perfect. The civil unrest had been squashed. The palace was quiet. There had been no public executions. The nobles were behaving. The court was stable. Ullea had told him they couldn’t find a better moment if they had orchestrated it.

And yet two years hadn’t felt like enough time for preparations.

“You loved him that much? Even after everything he had done?” There had finally been the disgust which Arthur had been waiting for.

He hadn’t been able to reply for a long time. “Everyone knew I was his paramour,” said Arthur with a fond smile, “but they all thought it meant that we bedded with each other.”

“You didn’t?!”

“It was so much more than that Janah. He was…he was more…everything. He had turned into a terrible king but the man…the man…he…”

He had had to take a walk around the tent after that to calm his racing thoughts. Only then had he been able to continue the story.

The ideal day hadn’t been the day the deed had been done. It had been two days after it.

All the time leading up to it, Arthur had been calm. Once he had been admitted to the king’s chambers, he had lost his nerve. He had been able to feel the warmth of the blood drain from his king’s chest as it anointed Arthur’s hands only too vividly. It had unnerved him, the horror, more than the horror of seeing his people, the people Reifire had sworn to protect, in the dungeons.

It had been Reifire who had provided him with the strength, even here. “I’m so exhausted my paramour. I wish there was a way to end it all. Just…”

He had hugged him and then stabbed him.

“Oh,” he had said, looking at the blood pooling on his chest. “I hadn’t meant it like this but I suppose it would do too.” Those had been his last words.

After, he had told the guard that the king was not to be disturbed. He had calmly gathered the five and told them it was done. They had all been ready to leave but decided to wait until dusk. Before leaving, Arthur had wanted to kill the guards and free the prisoners. The others had tried to dissuade him. But he had been adamant. It was that act of mercy which had nearly taken all their lives.

“You shouldn’t have run,” Janah had said. “That had been your only mistake. You should have chosen a servant or hired an assassin to take the fall. What use was it for you to run? You could have stayed and advised me.”

“There was no place for me in Forbearn,” Arthur had said, “without Reifire.”

Janah’s parting words to Arthur had been, “You were a fool then and you’re a fool now. You left the court, you left me, to deal with your mess. In the end, you turned out to be the poorest advisor my father could have had.”

*

Arthur had been escorted to his tent after. He hadn’t been told what his fate would be. But he was told that he was free to roam the camp. He didn’t. He had no idea what the guards thought he had done. Most of them were young enough to not have been there when Reifire was king. That gave him pause. Had Janah done his own form of cleansing? Rid his guards and soldiers of men and women who were a little too bloodthirsty?

Janah hadn’t even deigned to tell him why he had run such a massive search for him. Arthur had assumed it had to do with the details he had extracted from him when it became clear the whole renegade thing was a ruse. He had also thought he would be more of a prisoner than he seemed to be right now. Even if the guards didn’t know that he had assassinated the former king, they did know about the renegades banding under his name. Why then had he received nothing short of royal treatment?

He did not get his answer until he reached home.

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This is Chapter 25 of 26 of The Travelling Librarian series. Written as part of #BlogchatterA2Z.

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Psst: I also have 2 ebooks on Kindle – and if you’re on Kindle Unlimited, they’re free!

• Read The Gunslinger here.
• Read 23 Letters of Love here.