James stood proud, panting heavily with a grin on his face. His wooden blade trembled at Fabian's throat, his small frame weak from exertion.

ㅤFabian sat in the dirt, aiming a grievous glare his way.

ㅤ“Julian, well done!”

ㅤJames dropped his sword, giddy from victory.

ㅤ“Dad, you were watching?”

ㅤJames ran up to his father, King Leonardo, into the shade of the cloisters bordering the courtyard. A few other men were there in his company. Whilst James hadn’t realised they’d had an audience, he was thrilled the guests had witnessed him win.

ㅤ“Fabian too.” His dad smiled. “You're both incredibly talented. I'm incredibly lucky.”

ㅤJames’ brother was a few years older than him and it was evident in their height and strength difference. They were close enough in age to train off each other, but too far apart for James to have an easy time winning. He lost more often than not.

ㅤ“My shoe came undone,” Fabian claimed as he stood and brushed dust off his legs. “I got unlucky.”

ㅤJames ignored the blatant lie, too interested in his father's company. “Who are they?”

ㅤOne man in particular stepped forward and offered him a short bow, his black hair falling onto his forehead.

ㅤ“I'm pleased to meet Your Highness, Prince Julian. I'm Duke Chamberlain.”

ㅤJames searched his brain. “Ah! Druteius territory, isn't it?”

ㅤ“Very good, sire.”

ㅤJames studied hard to memorise the noble houses and he was rewarded with a pat on the head for his efforts.

ㅤ“It was fun watching you spar, boys,” his dad said. “I'll see you at dinner.”

ㅤJames watched them leave, probably on their way to his father's study. One day, James would be old enough to go with them, providing his own input. Perhaps he could even be in charge one day if he gathered enough support. For now, it was too early to tell.

ㅤ“Don't get too cocky.” Fabian sneered, coming to stand next to him.

ㅤ“I won, fair, and you know it.”

ㅤFabian shook his head, trying to keep his explosive anger in check. “You're an idiot. You have no idea why those men are here, do you?”

ㅤJames stared up at him. He didn't know, but he didn't think Fabian would either. Except, Fabian was smirking.

ㅤ“What?”

ㅤFabian's smile split his cheeks. “Dad's pulling out the relics from storage. Duke Chamberlain is also a collector. They plan to test us to see if we're compatible with any.”

ㅤRelics. James only knew a little about them. They were weapons with souls that chose their owners—an impossibly rare occurrence. He’d been half convinced it was a myth.

ㅤ“And why do you look so smug about that?”

ㅤFabian put his hands on James' shoulders to face each other, squeezing hard enough to hurt.

ㅤ“Because having a relic is basically a guarantee of succession rights,” Fabian uttered, his swampy green eyes manic. “No relic would choose a weak little shit like you. You're going to lose, little brother.”

ㅤJames shoved him away. “You don't know that.”

ㅤSuddenly angered by James' assault, Fabian thrust him to the ground. “Don't fucking touch me.”

ㅤJames swallowed his hiss of pain. “I'll tell dad you did that.”

ㅤ“I don't give a shit. And soon neither will he.”

 

➵ ➵ ➵ ➵

 

Alex delicately tended to his cheek in the mirror, brushing over where his skin had split open.

ㅤIt was a light punishment considering his mistake. James had acquired knives somehow. He must’ve taken them when Alex was sleeping, the bastard.

ㅤAlex considered himself lucky. The knives James had taken were designed for throwing; he could’ve assassinated the king immediately if he’d wanted to. But, he hadn’t, and Alex’s father was too busy to inflict a punishment worse.

ㅤHe’d no idea what happened next but it didn't matter to him anymore. He was now free of James.

ㅤRestless, he left the bathroom and entered the corridor, the sky darkening beyond the windows. Other than the odd servant, it was empty.

ㅤInstead of returning to his room, Alex's feet took him in the opposite direction. The Royal Guard kept documents spanning back decades in their basement and Alex had the security clearance for it.

ㅤDescending the narrow spiral steps, he quietly chastised himself. He typically worked on a need-to-know basis but James had left him curious. Being overly interested wasn’t good.

ㅤThe archives were absent of anything flammable, built with only heavy stone and metal. Fires were kept constantly running, sucking out the moisture in the air. As a result, the walls were blackened with soot and it always reeked of smoke.

ㅤHe strolled up to the desk, and a young soldier he didn't recognise was sitting on duty.

ㅤ“I want access to all materials relating to Jay, the assassin, from as far back as you can get me.”

ㅤThe man looked up, giving him a bored once over.

ㅤ“Who's asking?”

ㅤ“Lord Alexander Chamberlain.”

ㅤThe receptionist didn't seem too impressed with that answer. “This is a prank, right?”

ㅤAlex blinked slowly.

ㅤ“A prank?”

ㅤ“Yea.” The bloke chuckled. “Did your owner put you up to this? Whose idea was it? 'Cause you tell them I'm not falling for it.”

ㅤAlex felt his face heat from the indignity. “What did you just say to me?”

ㅤThe man laughed harder. “Dude, anyone can put on a uniform. It's poor taste to put it on a slave though.”

ㅤAlex was used to not being treated with respect but, at the very least, people tended to grudgingly tolerate him. His father's status ensured no one could outright insult him. He’d always been conscious not to act out of anger. But after the shit few days he'd had, piled on with the awful mistake he'd made that could’ve got his coworkers killed, he wasn't as calm as usual.

ㅤBefore the other man could react, Alex leant over, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, and dragged him over the desk, the contents crashing to the floor.

ㅤ“Hey! What the fuck are you—”

ㅤAlex threw him to the ground and kicked his stomach, the hard leather of his shoe hitting soft skin. His heart throbbed with humiliation.

ㅤ“Fuck!”

ㅤThe man tried to get up, but Alex didn’t allow it, striking him once again. He forced their face to the ground with a boot to the neck.

ㅤ“Dishonouring me disrespects the duke,” Alex told him plainly, keeping the rage from his voice. “One more word out of you and I'll make sure you suffer a lot more than this.”

ㅤIt was at that moment that someone came down the stairs. Alex was tense, braced for a fight. Riley, one of King William's most trusted guards, stared at them in surprise.

ㅤ“Riley!” the man whined, coughing the dust out of his lungs.

ㅤAlex stared at Riley, pressing his foot down harder, testing to see if the guard would attempt to save the man.

ㅤRiley glanced down, expressionless, before his lips curved into a smile directed at Alex.

ㅤ“Alexander, fancy seeing you here.”

ㅤKnowing Riley wasn't a threat, Alex relaxed slightly.

ㅤ“How are the others?” Alex asked, feeling guilty about their injuries.

ㅤRiley waved his remorse away. “They're fine. The wounds were very superficial. You shouldn't beat yourself up too much about it. It's an occupational hazard.”

ㅤRiley was an uncertain character, very pleasant when talking to Alex and he was often willing to help, but there was something a bit lifeless in his eyes. They reminded him of James, in a way.

ㅤ“Riley, get this bastard barbarian off of me!”

ㅤRiley blandly regarded the young man under Alex's boot.

ㅤ“I see you have a problem.”

ㅤThe man stiffened, perhaps realising his mistake.

ㅤAlex decided to be forgiving. “I want all the documents we have on Jay.”

ㅤRiley laughed. “Damn, that guy has his own shelf. You sure you want all of it? We have summaries for this reason.”

ㅤ“Aye, all of it. From as far back as we have.”

ㅤRiley lightly patted his shoulder as he strolled past. “I can do that much for you. Come with me and leave that guy there. I'll sort him out for you.”

ㅤWhether Riley was covering for the pathetic man or did intend to discipline him, Alex didn’t care. He just wanted those documents.

ㅤAfter one last spiteful press, earning him a satisfying whimper of pain, Alex let the man go and followed Riley through the doors.

ㅤIt was a cavern crammed with books—a dark library detailing as many of the Druteius territory’s crimes as tightly as possible. The shelves towered to the top of the ceiling. Riley took him through one of the aisles without contemplation, clearly knowing the maze well.

ㅤ“Kind of funny that Jay has red eyes and no one even knew until now, huh?” Riley remarked. “It's the first thing you'd notice about a person, mind. Very memorable. Thank Adeia he had that relic to help us make the connection.”

ㅤ“He had some kind of potion that made them brown.”

ㅤRiley would end up reading his final report on the issue anyway. The least Alex could do was give him the information early as thanks.

ㅤ“We should send that stuff to the guys to analyse. It would be a problem for us if it hit the streets.” A wry smile grew on Riley's face. “I suppose it's fitting that Jay would be a demon. Why do you want this information anyway?”

ㅤAlex nearly bumped into Riley who’d stopped suddenly, staring back at him.

ㅤ“I'm looking for patterns,” Alex explained. “I want to see if there's any method in how he chose his victims.”

ㅤRiley smirked. “Other than being paid?”

ㅤAlex shrugged vaguely. He wasn't sure how much he trusted Riley, even if the king did.

ㅤ“Well, they're right here.” Riley tapped a high shelf. “This is my personal key but you can give it back once you're done, yea? I'm heading to bed now.”

ㅤAlex took it, a suspicion planted. “Thanks, but... didn't you come down here for something?”

ㅤRiley smiled. “I was just fetching that young man outside. Make sure you lock up afterwards.”

ㅤRiley squeezed past him and left, humming as he went. The door snipped shut.

ㅤAlex took in the numerous boxes stuffed with paper and sighed, knowing it would take him forever. A painfully unproductive amount of time was spent carrying them all to one of the desks. Without a window to see outside, Alex had no reference of time passing.

ㅤThe more Alex read the more he affirmed that the victims weren’t random. At first, he wasn't sure, seeing random name after name, until he came across the case file of Lord Laureion. Alex had recognised it and, after searching, he realised why.

ㅤLord Laureion had been found dead alongside the people he’d allegedly murdered. Servant statements suggested that it was routine for the lord to torture beggars. It seemed he’d been reported to the knights numerous times but nothing had ever come of it.

ㅤAlex didn't let the coincidence rest and began backtracking. Most, if not all, of James’ victims either had their own criminal case file, or centred rumours circulating of their cruelty that’d reached even Alex's ears.

ㅤIt wasn't only nobles Jay had targeted but commoner gangs and corrupt merchants too. It was as if he’d cleaned the streets where the knights hadn’t bothered. James' history made Alex feel useless in comparison.

ㅤJay’s method of murder had changed thrice, with a relic only being used for a single decade. If James had been honest about his age, he must’ve therefore taken the title when he was only fifteen.

ㅤAlex yawned, his mind and body numb. He looked at the mess of paper around him.

ㅤHe was tired.

ㅤIt took him an annoying amount of time to put the documents back properly in their correct places, the extraneous effort further draining him.

ㅤThere was no receptionist when he left so he took Riley's key with him.

ㅤThe palace was quieter than expected. It became evident why. Rather than being black, the tall windows were a gentle dark blue colour. Alex had been in the basement until morning. The early sunrise was pretty.

ㅤHe wondered what’d happened with James.

ㅤAnnoyed he'd missed out on another precious night of sleep, he wandered back to his guest room to catch the few valuable minutes of rest he could.

ㅤIn the silence, his sore eyes enjoyed the dim purple light, looking out at the golden glow of the city beyond the palace walls.

ㅤOther footsteps clicked in the air and Alex rubbed his face and pushed back his hair, fingers getting stuck in the curls. He needed to look presentable.

ㅤHe rounded the corner and saw two men. As he neared them, he braced himself for conversation, but stopped short, his feet planting into the floor.

ㅤ“What the fuck?”

ㅤJames’ gaze panned from the windows to Alex. He was completely different. His was pushed out his face, his blood-red eyes piercing, and his scruff was clean-shaven. Even his clothes were something better, robes befitting a nobleman. Once Alex was in his sights, his lips curled into a slow, smug, grin.

ㅤ“Your Lordship.”

ㅤAlex fumed, stomping over to them. “What the fuck are you doing up here? You should be in the dungeon.”

ㅤThe other man held a hand to stop him. It was Thomas—another guard and Riley's friend.

ㅤ“Thomas, what's the meaning of this?”

ㅤ“I'm the king's personal guest,” James boasted, eyes alight with mischief. “I even have my own bodyguard.” James walked up to Alex and leant in conspiratorially. “The mug is forced to follow me regardless of where I go, so I've been taking him on night-time walks every hour. He's sick of me.”

ㅤAlex barrelled past him, their shoulders thumping against each other.

ㅤ“Thomas, explain.”

ㅤ“It's as he said. King William told me to look after him as a guest.”

ㅤJames came alongside him, inclining his head as if to say ‘see’.

ㅤExcept, even if James behaved this way, Alex had spent enough time with him to have honed his ability to read him; James was in a foul mood, even if he acted like he wasn't.

ㅤ“I'm not actually his bodyguard, though, for the record,” Thomas added.

ㅤ“He basically is,” James argued. “If I jumped out this window, he'd follow me. Wouldn't you?”

ㅤ“I would follow to stop you from running away.”

ㅤAlex rubbed another hand down his face, unsure how to react and stressed to high hell.

ㅤ“You seem tired,” James hummed. “I have a double bed if you want to share.”

ㅤAlex snapped his head up, scandalised. “Why are you saying that?”

ㅤ“Well, we slept together every night these last few days. Thought you got used to it.”

ㅤAlex glanced at Thomas. There was technically nothing wrong with what James said and it was obvious he was on a wind-up, but Alex felt self-conscious nevertheless.

ㅤHe didn't fancy being James' emotional punching bag just then.

ㅤ“I'm leaving,” he announced and then paused to lean to James' ear. “Don't take your shitty mood out on me. My day has been bad enough.”

ㅤAlex walked past without glancing back. Even without looking, he was sure James' face was as punchable as always.

ㅤHis mind was racing too quickly so he gave up any hope of sleep, instead thinking how to confront his father about this situation. It made absolutely no sense for an assassin to be treated like a noble guest. It was offensive.

ㅤAlex would find out why.