76.

“Glad you woke up with your brains today, my king.” Connie grins at his best friend. He knows him all too well, but he ignores the fact that Arlon isn’t happy. This is what was supposed to happen in the first place. Stretching the event had now turned into the loss of a squad.
The warrior doesn’t care that he, too, started to like Elai. He seemed to be a good friend, and a rightful companion for Arlon. But the distrust he had always felt in his stomach had turned out to be right in its place; this could’ve only happened with the help of a Lylenian. It had to be Elai’s doing. It could not have been anyone else; Turians were too good for that.
Arlon glares at his most trusted warrior as he jumps on Aguya’s back. He greets his horse with a kiss and a pat. “Sorry for disturbing your days off, beautiful.” He smiles down at her, the animal being all too ready to ride off. Connie rolls his eyes at the obvious snarl Arlon makes at him, even though they don’t make any eye contact.
“If they hurt him even a little, Connie-“ Arlon eventually looks over at his friend, the gates slowly opening up for them. “I will hold you responsible.” The words cut into Connie’s heart; Arlon’s starting to find Elai more important, isn’t he?
“Cesilia wouldn’t allow that!” Connie only responds when they start moving forward, eyes spotting the few people that are already cheering for them.
“I’m not even sure she believes that the prince had something to do with it.”
“His name is Elai.” Arlon dismisses the conversation, eyes fiercely looking at the road ahead. It will take them a few hours to get all the way past the last city. They might not even be there anymore, but the taste of revenge is sweet enough for Arlon to know that the commanders will want to go no matter what.

It is quiet out in the woods now that the protectors had fallen. Arlon knows it is not the appropriate time to be enjoying the breeze, and the sound of the leaves, but he does anyway. Just for a brief moment, he allows himself to take a deep breath, a small smile appearing on his face.
His smile fades when they find the first body. The fallen soldier is in an odd position; his legs are both broken. He’s got blood traveling across his chest and face, and Arlon finally feels the guilt creep up on him. He can’t think of Elai anymore; these were his people.
“They were fucking butchered.” Connie sounds angry, as his squad and Arlon had already expected. The army means a lot to him; his whole purpose lies within it. These people feel like family, name known or not.
“We can’t afford to lose any other squad, my king.” One of the soldiers places his hand upon Arlon’s shoulder.
“This is the first ambush at the border. It wasn’t through intelligence. It was pure coincidence.” The king’s stubborn remark wakes Connie back up.
“We should use recruits.” It is a cruel thing to say, but smart. Of course, his squad easily agrees with him.
Arlon shakes his head, though. “Most recruits are mere teenagers. You can’t throw them out into the woods and expect them to be of any help. Not when they’re unsupervised.”
“They’re useless back there, Arlon.” Connie points towards the road back.
“This is the perfect opportunity for them to train. We can send them off with their mentors, tell them they’ll continue over here. There’s a village close by where they can resupply, eat, drink, sleep. It is a sacrifice worth thou-“
“The kingdom will hate me.” Arlon shuts his friend up as he turns around, the sight of the bodies lying quite the weight onto his chest. “They will hate me for taking their children away from them.”
“The people love you, Arlon. Give one good explanation and they will be proud of their kids.”
Is it really not as cruel as Arlon makes it out to be? Can he really just send a couple of inexperienced recruits out to await another ambush? To get butchered the way this squad did?
“If I do this, then it will be the ones that have trained for at least three years. I won’t send them away any weaker than that.” This can’t be right, even if it makes everyone around him hum and nod. This time, it does not overshadow anything.
He might as well kill the recruits himself.
Fuck.
“That doesn’t matter. As long as our commanders get to focus on the fucking war.” Connie grits his teeth as he pulls a sword out of one of the bodies, hand quickly throwing it away.
“As for this mess-“ A loud noise stops Connie from talking any further.
The second explosion is worse; closer. It sweeps a few soldiers off of their feet. The king wants to grab Connie, so that he’s assured that his friend makes it out safely, but the third explosion scares them apart.
“They’re still here!” Arlon can feel the heat in his throat rise; he’s lucky his ability is strong enough to fight fire. He tries to look around, hand tightly grabbing a hold of his injured arm.
“Connie!” It is the only person that matters. He does not care for his friend’s squad the way Connie does. He simply wants his friend to be safe.
“I’ve got him!” If the female behind him wasn’t so stupid as to announce her arrival, Arlon would’ve been an easy target that got killed on the spot. Now the king is able to pull his sword out and attack right before she can reach him, the sharp material biting right into her shoulder. His eyes seem to be on fire as the girl looks up at him.
“How many of you are there?”
He is as terrifying as the stories had told her.
“Speak!” if not worse than the stories.
“Please don’t hurt them!” She falls onto the floor the moment the sword gets pulled away from her. Her eyes open up to the king hovering above her, and a sword plunging towards her chest.
“How many?!” Arlon can’t stop himself, and so the question stays unanswered. “Fuck..” The smoke that had thickened the air forces him to squint his eyes, feet carefully walking back to where the second explosion was. He doesn’t say a word, to try and keep himself from getting attacked before he finds Connie. He needs to know that he’s alright.
None of the bodies he stumbles upon is one he recognizes as his best friend, but the more they pile up, the faster his heart beats.
It has gone scarily quiet. He has not heard a single groan, or a scream, or.. anything, for that matter. They have lost at least three of their own already, yet he had not heard them gasping for help. “Connie..” He can’t help it; he needs to know where he is. His eyes shoot from one place to another, his sight blocked by the smoke. He does not mind the other soldiers he took with him, the innocent lives that have fallen, the years that were taken from them in a heartbeat. He only cares for Connie, who does not answer, no matter how many times the king shouts his name.
It does not take long for it to become clear why their deaths were so swift; Arlon’s eyes shoot up the moment he hears a sound come from the tree beside him. He avoids the attack from above, sword immediately pointing at the enemy.
“How nice of you to ride to your death for some useless soldiers..” Another woman. Her voice is dark. Definitely not as scared as the other Lylenian was.
“I can see the fear in your eyes, Ruaidhri. It is no secret how much of a pussy you are-“
Arlon doesn’t waste another second, his sword clashing against her own.
They are not soldiers; they’re raiders. The woman pulls out small daggers, and there is no sigil to be found on the worn out clothes.
The reporters were wrong, and so Elai could not have been the culprit of it all, right? The thought motivates Arlon to keep up the pace of his feet, the quick attacks easily avoided. He’s a skilled man; it is known. It irks the woman, who’s feet are a lot slower. It is not necessary to attack her back; all he has to do is taunt her. He turns of his thoughts for just a second, to not weaken himself in front of his enemy. The whistle that comes from her mouth alerts the others, the noises around the king growing. Two, three, four, five. They’re everywhere. He is as good as surrounded, sword still focusing on the first woman.
“A bunch of raiders, huh?”
“Just because we aren’t soldiers, doesn’t mean we are harmless.”
“Is that supposed to frighten me?” Why is no one else attacking?
“We got rid of an entire squad. Does it not make you shiver a little bit?” She’s having fun.
Unlike Arlon, who has shut the entire scene around him out, just so that he can focus on this one, particular individual.
“How did you know where they were located?”
“We’ve got our sources.” Shit. They did not just stumble upon them.
Elai isn’t out of the picture. And he wants him to be. So badly.
“Who told you?”
“We are fighting, not chit-chatting.” She’s getting aggravated, as is he.
But the moment it hits them both, a blade appears right onto the woman’s throat, and blood spills under the moon. She reaches out for the blood that’s gushing out of her throat as her body slowly makes its way down to the floor.
Connie.
Arlon has never felt this relieved before. He’s covered in blood, but it does not seem to be his. He is in one piece, only a blue eye to tell the story.
Only when the king can relax his muscles, does he notice the damage his best friend had done. The other raiders that surrounded him had already fallen. It makes him huff; Hanlon’s have always been known for strength and speed. It is no surprise Connie can walk out unharmed.
“They weren’t soldiers.”
“What does that tell us?”
“Elai.”
Connie shakes his head. “Wrong.”
Of course the warrior won’t be persuaded. It is easiest for him to believe it was the exiled prince; now he at least doesn’t have to go into further investigation on the matter.
“Have you seen the others?”
“Four dead. I suffered four losses today because of him.” Connie is out for a fight, as always.
“Let us ask Chay.” Arlon does not take the bait. There is no evidence against Elai, no other than the fact that he’s an Amias. Right?
“Welcome, my king. I had not expected you to visit me.” Chay seems awfully cheery, a big smile on his face as he allows the king and his favorite commander to walk into his store.
“I hope you do not mind the mess, I have been working hard on a new potion.” And a mess it is. The place has never looked this run-down, and neither has the alchemist himself. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days, which might as well be the truth, his hands shakily grabbing a hold of the small bottles.
“Chay I need to speak to you about something very important.” Arlon frowns at his old friend. The alchemist quickly understands, his long legs taking him back to the door as fast as they can. He turns the sign around. ‘I will be back shortly.’ It says. A way to keep customers out when Chay needs to rest. He hates saying his store is simply closed for some reason, even at night.
“A burning question?” The white-haired senses the tension ever so easily as he watches the two gentleman sit down. Connie does it with red cheeks and a burning face; Chay will always make him feel this way.
“There were raiders who found out where one of our border squads was located.” Connie is quicker than Arlon, his large hands pressing against his thighs. “We were wondering if it was Elai who told them.” He even finishes it, not a word leaving the king’s mouth. It is alright; Arlon will not start an argument over it. He just rolls his eyes and lets out a devastating long sigh.
“If I tell you the truth, will you not tell him that I said something?” Chay sounds genuine.
It makes Arlon lean his elbows against his knees.
There is no way.
“Of course. Just like last time.” the king agrees with ease, a small nod giving Chay the opportunity to open his mouth.
“The prince knew. And he knew because of me. I told him too much, and now it has backfired.” Chay says it smoothly. It can’t be a lie. He can’t be telling a fucking lie.
Arlon freezes in his spot while his best friend stands up, saying things the king can no longer hear. He leaves the room with his mind for a few seconds, just to let it sink in.
Does this mean he has been tricked all this time?
Has Elai been working against him all along?
Could he really have been this stupid?
The questions fire at him like he’s got time for it, a heavy pressure now appearing on his chest.
“Arlon.” Connie pulls him out of his thoughts, the warrior’s eyes tired yet angry.
“I understand how tough this is to swallow.” He understands, but he does not care. When Connie turns out to be right, he flaunts with it like it is a price. A trophy; something to be proud of. Feeling sorry comes days, if not weeks, after that,
“Get out of my face, Connie.” It was the last thing he needed to hear. Arlon stands up with force and walks out of the store as quick as he can, his walk big and intimidating. No one dares to reach out for him, to ask how he’s doing, or to praise him. They either bow or ignore. They know not to intervene. The only one who can is-
“Don’t act like that!”
Connie.
“Like what?”
“Like you are angry at me! I am not the one stabbing you in the back!”
“Stay with Chay.” He’s not going to bite into it. He won’t. He tries his best to ignore the way Connie keeps following him.
He can’t wrap his mind around it; Elai betrayed him. After all the sweet words, after all the laughter. He has once again failed to see the truth.
And he is ashamed.