Chapter 21

Gideon

I was willing to overlook Clara’s recent actions. She was confused and frightened. It only made sense that she would try to run.

The butler reported that the cleaning maids had collected a modest pile of supplies from the hall outside of Clara’s room. She had taken only a few essentials. Because she returned everything, there was no reason to punish her for theft.

Looking over the list of returned items, I found myself glad that I had found her so quickly. Clara was a maid, not a warrior trained for long campaigns on minimal supplies. She would not have survived long out in the wilds, even if the Rogue hadn’t attacked her.

There was one thing brought up during Clara’s brief escape that I needed to deal with. She had left through a gap in the wall protecting the royal compound. I could not leave that alone.

While the wall was only one part of our defenses, it was an important part. Guards watched the gates. They patrolled the exterior of the wall, and were stationed at known vulnerabilities. But none of the guards knew to watch this one small gap.

I decided to deal with the situation personally. It was a small hole in the royal compound’s defense. It opened into the lowest ranked servant’s area. It would not be a high priority unless I dealt with it myself.

I ordered a team of stone masons to repair the wall immediately. It wouldn’t take long to repair, so I chose to oversee the process.

While the repair team was still clearing the vines that had hidden the gap, Marcus strolled over. I wondered why he was in the area. He never visited the servants’ areas without a reason.

“Hello, Gideon,” Marcus said. He clapped me on the shoulder and smiled. “I see you’re well recovered. And keeping busy, too.”

I nodded. “I feel perfectly fine,” I told him.

“That’s such a relief,” Marcus said.

Marcus sounded genuinely relieved. But it was his Beta who attacked me with a poisoned knife. Marcus insisted that it had been an accident. His Beta claimed he had been aiming for another enemy.

I didn’t remember any enemies close enough to fight with a knife. But I might have missed someone. I still made sure not to be alone with Marcus’ Beta or any warriors I knew to be loyal to him.

One accident wasn’t enough to accuse my brother of treachery. He hadn’t even been at that battle. He could easily claim his Beta acted alone.

I remained wary. I made sure not to act any differently around Marcus. I didn’t want him to know I suspected him.

Marcus looked over at the stone masons.

“What’s going on here, then?” he asked.

“There’s a gap in the wall,” I explained. “I’m having it patched up.”

“Hm,” Marcus tilted his head as he studied the situation. “It’s a very small gap. And this is just the lowest servants’ area. Why are you attending to it personally?”

“I wanted to be certain it was dealt with quickly,” I replied.

Marcus put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Don’t you have more important duties?”

“Well, for one thing I am still supposed to take time to rest, according to the healers,” I admitted, “so I’m on reduced duties.”

“Of course,” Marcus said. “You should listen to the healers, you know. Wolfsbane poison can be a tricky thing.” He leaned closer, as if sharing a secret. “Wolves have been known to collapse days, even weeks after the initial exposure. They seem completely fine and then, wham!”

I frowned at him. Was that some kind of threat? Or had he really heard such stories? It was hard to know. Marcus had a talent for hiding his true feelings.

He hadn’t been so secretive when we were young. Back then, Marcus had relied on me. He came to me with his problems or when he needed advice.

I missed the bond we used to share. I had no idea when Marcus had become so secretive. I didn’t know why he’d stopped trusting me. I wished there was some way to repair our brotherly bond. I just didn’t know where to begin.

“I will be careful,” I said. I decided to take Marcus’ warning at face value. Maybe he really was worried.

“Anyway, why are you rushing this repair?” Marcus pointed to the wall. “I don’t think an army of Rogues is going to sidle through one by one.”

I chuckled at that mental image.

“No,” I agreed, “That isn’t likely. But a single spy or assassin could easily get inside.”

Marcus’ eyes narrowed. He nodded slowly.

“A spy could slip in here, and blend in with our servants. No one keeps an exact count of the lowest ranks,” Marcus said.

“Exactly,” I said.

I had been trying to convince our father that we needed more accurate records of all the servants and staff. It was too easy for our enemies to hide agents among our people. I had no proof that it had happened, though.

“It’s a good thing you found this, then,” Marcus said.

I nodded.

“How did you find it? I’m guessing it was well hidden if none of our guard patrols reported it,” Marcus said.

I didn’t want to tell Marcus about Clara trying to run. He already had a strange grudge against the maid. Telling him would only give him more reason to attack her.

“I noticed it while I was recovering,” I said.

It wasn’t quite a lie. I had been recovering Clara from the wilds.

“Oh, you saw it during one of your daily walks?” Marcus guessed.

“Yes,” I agreed. “You should join me sometime. It’s amazing what a few minutes of peaceful wandering can do.”

Marcus chuckled. “For one thing, it can expose a threat to our security.”

“Well, that too,” I said.

“I might just do that,” Marcus said.

We watched the stone masons work for a few minutes.

“I looked for you yesterday,” Marcus said. “No one could find you for several hours. And then you paid a visit to the healers. Are you certain you feel all right?”

How closely was Marcus watching me? I knew he had agents among the servants. I would have to be even more cautious in the future.

Marcus’ actions could be those of a concerned brother. I wanted to believe that. But it was just as likely that he thought he could gain some kind of leverage over me with his spying. I could not allow that.

“I assure you I am fine,” I said. “I simply went for a longer walk than usual yesterday. I had things to think about.”

“And the healers?” Marcus asked.

He sounded genuinely concerned. He was either worried for real, or a better actor than I had given him credit for.

“Oh, one of the servants took a bad fall,” I said.

That was a total lie, of course. But there was no way for Marcus to check it. The healers kept their patients’ secrets close.

“And you took them to the royal healer instead of the servant healers?” Marcus asked.

“Well, the royal healer was closer,” I said.

Marcus shook his head. “I think you spend too much time worrying about the lower servants,” he said. “It’s beneath you. You are the First Prince and Heir, you know.”

I shrugged. “Everyone in this castle is my responsibility, brother. I have a duty to care for all of them. Not just the nobles and the warriors.”

“If you say so,” Marcus sighed.