Aciel Koi-Longwa was not fit to be king. It was obvious and a well-known fact. He showed some potential, albeit not a lot, when he was young. However, when his mother, Queen Atian, passed away Aciel lost all his potential. His father, using his temporary powers as King of Valleria, used his influence to arrange an engagement between Aciel and Lady Zula of the Ruruji house.

Zula Ruruji was radiating with the qualities of a ruler. Born to a scholar father and army general mother, she was intelligent and strong, calculative and charismatic. Had she wanted, Zula could have easily become a faction leader, scholar, high ranking military officer, or advisor to the ruling monarch. Instead, fate had dealt her the ability to be a queen.

The future reign of Aciel Koi-Longwa would have him as the king, but realistically, Zula would be the one in power. Aciel had no issue with that; he knew that he didn’t have the ability to rule and that the factions did not have confidence in him either.

“One more time Prince.”

Aciel managed to prop himself up with the help of his sword. He was distracted by the sight of Eden jumping from the balcony to the sparring grounds that he was knocked onto the ground.

“Getting distracted like this in a real battle will result in a heavy injury or your death.”

“I understand.” If he wasn’t so tired, Aciel would have made an excuse about the sun bouncing off of Eden’s sword and into his eyes.

“This will be the last one before your dinner with Lady Zula.”

“Understood.”

Aciel did try for the rest of the match. Yet when it came to consistency, a combination of his lack of motivation and trust in those around to protect him, resulted in no improvement in his swordsmanship.

One of the few things Aciel did have talent in was chess. Introduced to him by a merchant who had returned from the Kingdom of Spektar, he preferred their variant over xiangqi, shogi, and janggi, the three games native to Valleria.

“Are you visiting Father after this?” Aciel asked as he calculated what move to play. He and Zula would always play for half an hour after dinner.

“Yes, have you seen him today?” Zula moved her pawn.

“I was going over the details of the ceremony with him earlier today. The faction leaders will be arriving in four days so there is a rush for the final details. We also had both meals together with all my favourite foods.”

“And your sword practice? I saw that you got knocked down quite a bit Aciel.”

The prince pouted, “It’s hard. I have no skill.”

“You are going to need to know how to defend yourself Aciel. You are important and the target of many enemies.”

“But that is why I have you, Eden too,” he added.

“I won’t always be with you Aciel,” she told her childhood friend. “And Eden hasn’t announced if she will be your champion or not.”

“It may be my coronation next week, but you’re the one who becomes queen. You’re stuck with me Zula Ruruji.”

“Speaking of which, where are you earrings?”

“Oh, they had to be cleaned for the coronation.” Aciel tugged at his empty ear lobes. “I should get them back in a few days.”

“Check.” Zula said as she placed her queen one step away from defeating his king.

“Damn it.”

“Well then, I need to visit King Sen. Try to figure this out.”

“What a humble winner.”

“At least I am better than Eden.” To this Aciel let out a chuckle.

Aciel went with her to the door before reviewing where he went wrong and how to save from his current position. Aside from his king, Aciel still had his queen, along with one rook and knight left. Zula, on the other hand, had her king, queen, one bishop, and a pawn on the board.

“What are you doing?”

Aciel looked up to see Eden standing at the side tilting her head down to look at his eyes.

“Trying to figure out my next move, Zula has me at check.”

“Where’s Zula?”

“She left.”

“So the game’s over?”

“No, I never went so she didn’t get a checkmate yet. The game’s not over, I haven’t lost yet.”

“If only you had this much persistence in everything else.”

“You saw my spar today too?”

“I wouldn’t call that a spar. If anything, you should watch me spar with Huajun. That’s where you should get to.”

“Did you need something Eden?”

“Do you know where Zula went off to?”

“She went to meet with Father. Why?”

“I was going to ask for a rematch from today’s spar.” Aciel had just noticed that Eden was dressed in her uniform with her sword in her hand.

Aciel looked at the time. “They should be done by now, she has been gone for an hour. Can I watch?”

“Sure, you’ll see what an actual spar looks like.”

“I hope Zula kicks your butt again.”

“You’re only allowed to watch if you root for me.”

“Where are your earrings?” Eden noticed his empty ears, a rare sight.

“They are being cleaned for the coronation.”

Aciel continued to tease Eden about her loss to Zula on their way to the King’s audience chambers. A faint light shone through the crack between the door and the floor. Chatter could be heard but not well enough to distinguish the contents. Aciel and Eden took by the door, waiting for the conversation to be finished.

When the muffled conversation ended, Aciel heard footsteps and took that as the signal to open the door. The happy expression on his face froze as he slowly registered his father’s limp body in his fiancée’s arms.

“Oh,” Zula said. Her eyes lazily shifted towards the two onlookers. If she was surprised then it wasn’t shown in her voice. “This was not part of the plan.”

Eden looked over Aciel’s shoulder and understood the situation in half a second. It took another for her to push Aciel behind her body and to draw out her sword.

“Zula,” Eden said slowly. “Did an intruder break in and kill King Sen?”

“No.” Zula placed the former king’s recently dead body onto the chair she was in and prepared to reach for more needles. “I killed him.”

“Why?”

“I had to. I had no choice. It was part of the plan.” She said it so nonchalantly as if she were deciding her next meal.

“Zula Ruruji.” Eden had never been so serious in her life. Mentally, she was still making excuses for Zula’s words. “Put the sword down and explain yourself in a trial.”

“What is there to explain? You know, I was looking for the two of you next.”

Eden noticed something reflect from under Zula’s sleeve, needles, most likely poisoned. Eden gave Aciel a nudge to start running but the needle Zula threw at the wall made him change directions.

“Your opponent is me, traitor.” It wasn’t the rematch Eden wanted, but it was a fight nevertheless.

Eden’s goal wasn’t to beat Zula, but to create enough time for Aciel to escape before she could follow him. She wasn’t sure if there were other traitors and she definitely could not leave the crown prince on his own.

Aciel’s lungs burned and his legs were heavy. He was confused. All he could process was that he was in danger and Eden was the only person he could trust. The sounds of the swordfight got fainter as the sound of his increasing heartbeat took over.

“Aciel duck!”

Without turning to see what was happening, Aciel followed Eden’s instructions and ducked before Zula’s needle could scratch his cheek. By the time he stopped ducking Eden had already caught up to him and led the way.

The lack of guards made Eden realise that this was also part of Zula’s plan and that the needles she threw were used to further dictate the path they took. Unfortunately, Zula’s plan had succeeded and the three of them were nearing the end of the passage way.

“The guards are on their way.” Zula said as they three came to a halt.

“Are they on your side?” Eden asked, once again pushing Aciel behind her.

“Who knows?”

“Zula,” Aciel finally spoke, “why?”

She gave him a sad smile, “I’m sorry Aciel. There’s no other way.”

Zula was about to move when she was distracted by the sounds of multiple footprints. Taking advantage of the situation, Eden grabbed the prince and the two disappeared through one of the secret passages.

“Lady Zula,” the guards shouted. “There has been an attack on the West residence. Are you okay?”

“There’s been one here. Someone killed the king.” It was hard to not scoff at her change in demeanour. One moment she was a ruthless killer and the next, a loyal citizen chasing after a murderer.

“That-”

“Aciel,” Eden whispered as she clamped his mouth shut. “I understand you want to identify Zula as the killer but your survival is more important right now. We don’t know who or how many others are on her side. The fact that she blindsided us of all people like this means you can’t trust anyone else.”

Aciel nodded and Eden removed her hand. She ignored his shaking body and continued through the passageway. Soon they could no longer hear the conversation that was going on.

“Are you alright Lady Zula?”

“This blood is not mine.” She sheathed her sword.

“Shall we send patrol units to find the attacker?”

“No, Prince Aciel and General Eden have been critically injured,” she lied. “I have sent medical aid and need to get back to them. The attacker succeeded in their goal and this fog will be used to their advantage to escape.”

“The same thing happened to Advisor Asari and a few others who are less injured than her.”

“What?”

“I have sent for a doctor. She is being treated right now,” the head guard informed.

Zula took a few breaths to calm herself before speaking again, “Gather the generals from the South building and inform the faction leaders. King Sen has died, the crown prince is injured, and the attacker escaped.”

In the passageway, Eden and Aciel managed to make their way to the east complex. Eden exited first to check if it was safe. Through the fog, they could see silhouettes of people scattering around, it was the messengers sent to the South building. She held out her hand for him to take but he hesitated.

“Eden, are you on my side?” His voice was so quiet and weak it hurt Eden more than Zula’s betrayal.

“Of course I am.” With that, he took her hand.

They made their way around, sticking close to the walls. Everything was normal for a while before Aciel’s mind replayed his father’s murder. All of a sudden the emotions and thoughts he had suppressed had resurfaced. His future ruling with Zula beside him, with Eden and his father supporting him on the sides would no longer be. That could no longer happen.

“Aciel are you okay?” Eden turned to the prince who was by the corner clutching his chest.

He wanted to scream and ask how he could possibly be okay in this situation but it took all his energy to not collapse at the moment.

“Aciel, I don’t know what’s going on but I’m on your side okay. Remember, you have me. I promise you, we’ll be safe. We’ll get revenge. So for now, hang in there a bit longer because we need to get out of here.”

The prince was amazed at how calm his friend was in this situation. How many battles had she been in for her to stay so focused given their scenario? She was just two years younger than him yet he was the child in their relationship.

Eden found one of the supplies cart for the coronation ceremony and took what was important, including two cloaks to cover their faces. They returned to a different secret passage and made their way out of the castle. For now, they were safe.