Chapter 21

  “Where are the guards?” Sam stepped through the open gates to Eon’s castle and peeked around the corner. It was night, but with the lanterns lit, she could see some soldiers playing cards in a room along the wall. Nobody was challenging her being there.

  “It can’t be this easy?” She said.

  “What are you doing, Sam?” Ayasse asked, sliding out of her shadow. If you stand there the soldiers will see you.”

  She pointed to the ones in the room. “I doubt it.”

  Ayasse shrugged. “Eon was never one to inspire loyalty.”

  “You’ll get the doors with your powers and I’ll take care of anybody we meet.” Sam shook her head and followed after Ayasse. She was hoping for more resistance than this. She didn’t have a weapon, but after this, she probably won’t need anything.

  **********

  King Eon played with the round white potato on his plate, rolling it around. The Backer had sent a huge shipment of the root crops a month ago. The drawings showing the handling and planting were easy to understand, even if the writing was impossible to decipher. That London place had strange writing. It was full of round letters and curls. It looked nice, but the decorations didn’t help explain things.

  He’d given the original one to his chef, but she had failed to make anything edible. The backer had said they were delicious with bacon, but how? The cook had tried boiling them, baking them and now frying them. Boiling had made them soft and easy to eat, not delicious. Baking them and adding plain butter did the same. While the taste was okay, it didn’t sing in his mouth. This was her last chance. The cook had fried it today with some bacon butter and salt. King Eon could see her standing off to the side of the room wringing her hands. He’d already let her know that if it wasn’t delicious this time, she was going to be beaten. He placed his bacon next to the golden mound, mixed the two and took a bite.

  The taste was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. The bland texture of the root crop was replaced with a crispiness that brought out the bacon’s juicy taste. The butter and salt were simple but effective. Eon raised his eyebrow. The cook started to sweat more and was still wringing her hands.

  He directed to his aged steward. “Give her a gold coin and send her home. She’s succeeded.”

  He always believed good work should be rewarded just as strongly as failure. The cook relaxed the tension in her shoulders and stood up straighter. After this, Eon knew, she would try even harder next time to achieve another gold coin.

  He started digging into the rest of his meal. This was his favourite time of the day. When he was eating, nothing was allowed to disturb him.

  An hour later, when he raised his head, empty plates were spread out on the private dining room table. “Where is the dessert? Why is it not here?”

  Silence.

  “Steward? Where are you? Guards?” There was no answer.

  Eon reached for his bell and rang it. “Steward! This is intolerable! I will see you punished for this.” He pushed off the table. Using his special chair, he spun around. It was designed to make it easy for a man of his bulk to stand.

  He rolled to his feet and went towards the door. “If the dessert isn’t coming soon, somebody will pay.”

  King Eon opened the door and saw his guards on the ground. They were sprawled on the floor and looked as if they were dead. He gasped, stepped back and went for the emergency bell pull. In his haste, he slipped and, with his heft overbalancing him, fell over on his back. “Blast! Help! Someone, help me!” Every morning, he needed three people to get him out of bed properly. One to push and two others to pull his arms. There was no way he was getting up by himself. Eon rocked to his side and tried to use his arms to push himself up. Somebody was trying to kill him.

  “I see a fat turtle rolling around in the dirt. Should I put it out of its misery?” Eon heard a woman’s voice coming from around his feet. He couldn’t raise his head high enough to see who it was, but he knew that voice from somewhere.

  “How dare you speak to me like that. I am your king. You will respect me!” Eon couldn’t keep the indignation out of his voice. He realized these could be the assassins, but that didn’t permit them to be rude.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  He saw a hand reach down and grab his doublet. The hand straightened up and hoisted him high in the air. It brought him face-to-face with Sam.

  “Samantha!” King Eon punched at the arm holding him, while his legs kicked in the air. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

  He tried kicking her stomach, but with his short legs, it was impossible to reach her. He’d gotten reports that his army had failed to take over the demon lands. His invasion, even with the new armour, had failed. Most of the soldiers who returned from the battle had been stripped of the new armour as well. That bastard Kale must be planning a counter-attack. Was this the first strike? There was no indication anyone was coming here. His spies would need some re-education.

  “Sorry to disappoint you, Eon; Akira failed. I have no idea where he is; do you?” She turned to the shorter man standing next to her.

  King Eon thought he recognized the outfit, but he couldn’t be sure. The man seemed to blend into the darkness next to the woman.

  “No. After I stabbed him in the groin, Mel took him from the field. She may be able to heal him, but it’s going to take a while. The poison I used was very specific and difficult to counter.”

  From his tone and clothes, Eon realized that this was the other member of the Hero’s party, the one who ran away. “You’re Thane’s man, aren’t you? What is your name? She’s going to be upset at this. How dare you manhandle me.” There was still a way to get out of this. He and Thane had an agreement. He wouldn’t interfere with her, and she would stay away from him.

  The hooded man turned to Eon. The king shied back from his eyes.

  “My Master is dead,” Thane’s man said. “Someone chopped off her head and left her in a ditch. We came across her corpse a day outside the battle. It had been set upon by animals and her head was missing, but I recognized the signs on her body. It was her. There is nothing she can do.”

  Eon ground his teeth in frustration. He needed Thane to keep the peace and trying to capture her was the perfect excuse to crack down on unrest. She knew that and played her role well. Besides, it gave the prince something to do that didn’t involve seducing women. He and Akira were too similar. However, unlike the Hero, the prince refused to be led and believed in his own rhetoric. At least Akira could be used as a weapon. If he wasn’t screwing that up.

  Eon ground his teeth. Akira’s a twit. He failed to defeat the Demon King, lost the valuable sword, was defeated, and knowing him, probably killed the head of the underground. If he wasn’t such a powerful swordsman, I would have had him killed years ago.

  “What do you want?” Eon asked Sam.

  He was still swinging in the air, but he could feel her arm start to shake. There was no way she could hold a man with his weight, like this forever. He could still spin this his way. He learned long ago to use his image to his advantage.

  “I want to go home. Akira implied you had a way to do that.”

  “I see. Well, Samantha, put me down and we’ll talk.”

  Sam set Eon down, brushed off his doublet and smiled. Eon went back to his chair and sat down. He needed to keep as much control over the situation as he could. First, how much had that fool told her?

  “Are you going to do it, or do I have to get rough?” Sam cracked her knuckles.

  Eon gave her a soft smile. “No need to use violence. I am happy to send you back to your world. You’ve caused me enough trouble as it is,” he said, raising his arms. “I’ll be overjoyed to see the last of you. However, there is only one portal and I, cannot open it.”

  “What?” Sam slapped the table, shaking the dishes.

  Gesturing for her to calm down, Eon continued. “It’s controlled by a man on the other side. However, you’re in luck. Tonight’s the time I usually send my shipment through. You’ll have to travel some distance, though. It’s in a stone warehouse towards the outskirts of the old town.” Eon ran his finger through the grease on the plate and licked his finger.

  He watched Sam raise an eyebrow and turn to the smaller black-clad man, who shrugged his shoulders. She turned back to the King. “I’ve heard rumours about a secret warehouse on the river. Is that what you have there?” She tilted her head. “Why are you being so helpful? You set a bounty on my head and tried to have Akira kill me.”

  “And how did that work out for me?” Eon shook his head. He needed to play the weak king. If he could just spin this the right way, the Backer would owe him a favour. “You are standing here in my private dining room; my guards are on the floor and my dessert is ruined. Getting rid of you will save me so many headaches.”

  Sam turned to Ayasse. “What do you think? Can I trust him?”

  “Normally, I’d say ‘no’, it’s too convenient. However, I’ve seen many people give up fake information to save their lives. Every instinct I have says, he’s hiding something, even if I can’t tell what it is. He’s either telling the truth or else, he’s an excellent liar. I wouldn’t trust him very far, though.”

  Sam turned back to the King, “You heard him. I shouldn’t trust you. How do I know you won’t betray me? Every time I’ve met you, I feel dirty afterward.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, Samantha. I’ve only ever had the best needs of my people at heart.” Eon frowned. He had to be careful. His image was all about playing the stern father figure. “Even when I allowed you to be the Hero.”

  “You never allowed me to be anything,” she glared at him. That was the Sam he needed, angry. “I chose to be a hero to help people. That’s what I’m going to do.”

  King Eon smiled the friendliest smile he could, while inside he was wringing her neck and planning his next step. He pointed to the bell pull near his table. “Summon my steward. He will arrange your trip and bring my dessert if you haven’t killed him as well.”

  Sam moved over and yanked the bell pull, breaking the bell and sending it crashing to the ground. King Eon frowned. She didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed.

  “There will be no calling anyone,” Sam said, stalking towards Eon. “After you tell us how to get there, I’m going to put you somewhere nobody will look for a while.”

  “Are you going to kill me, like my guards?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “That won’t help you.”

  “I wouldn’t do that, and they aren’t dead. I’m not an evil toad, like you.” Sam picked him up by the doublet and carried him back into his bed chamber.

  Filthy woman. Eon sighed, punching her arm. I’m going to make sure you’ll pay for this humiliation.