Secrets and Truths

Steel sang across Aurelio's throat as the sunlight flashed off the yellow blade. The edge kissed his skin, and even at the slightest touch, blood seeped out.

"Arian?" Aurelio asked weakly.

"This the first time you've lost to me, golden seed?" Arian mocked. Aurelio wanted to turn and face him, but the blade tucked closer, drawing another drop of red. "I wouldn't do that. Bit of a strange thing this: I'd be worried you'd cut yourself on it. Might be best if I hang onto it for now."

Robin could see the blade across Aurelio's neck and the vacant stones where Stormcaller sat.

The battle was over, the sword was taken, and yet the fight had not ended. There was no Oswyn to end it, and no guards to enforce it. Only they were there, and there would be no stopping blood from spilling.

Robin tried desperately to wake Coryn, but he was unresponsive. He needed help, and there was only one way to get it.

"We need to signal the guards." He called, hesitant to get their attention. Aurelio did not speak and instead dropped his Azura, showing Arian he gave in.

But Arian did not lower his new steel. "Not yet." He sharply responded, focusing entirely on the brother in his grasp. "There are questions I can't ask down there; your rose wouldn't let me get close enough."

"He's bleeding out!" Robin shouted back. "If he doesn't get help, he'll die."

"We've seen a fair bit of death in our family recently. Haven't we? Aurelio?" Arian kicked Azura away and pushed his brother in the opposite direction, backing him into one of the outcroppings with Stormcaller facing him. "I met with Father the night he died. He had quite a bit to say about a child of his, none of it good."

"Oh? And what exactly did he have to say?" Aurelio responded almost robotically.

A smirk grew on Arian's face. "The night before, a little bird caught a glimpse of passion. A common girl in the arms of a prince, what a shock."

As he spoke, Aurelio grew angrier but did well to hold back with steel at his gullet. "Father cared for our affairs as much as the stones at his feet. I couldn't understand why he would be so angry about a dirty little secret... but then I remembered, he had us betrothed to daughters of the Weiss and Reed. Pacts with royal families that would fall apart if they found out about any lapses in judgement."

"I'd imagine they'd expect as much from sons of our lecherous father." Aurelio joked but Arian didn't find it amusing.

"Coryn wasn't given away yet; he was too young, and Father wanted to wait another year, so it likely wasn't him. And I am all too knowledgeable of my nightly affairs."

"So you believe it was me? You don't think for a second Father was dumb enough to believe crooked lies?" Aurelio asked.

"Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't put it past him. Father was a drunken fool. He once made Coryn rub angelheart into his skin because he was told he had dripskin. He cared so little for us; why would he start now?"

Though the pair seemed to have an agreement, Arian's blade, and the tension did not drop.

"It's just... I thought to myself, after he was killed, it seemed so ironic. You fool around as he did but you are punished, and then a few nights pass, and he has a knife in his neck." Arian commented. "I started to wonder if Father spoke to that son of his and threatened him, maybe that son would have been told he would lose his claims, his riches. Then, that son went to Father in the dead of night, and shut his mouth forever."

Robin recounted his conversation with Oswyn in the library of the Gallant Tower. A Prince took the life of the King; that was a theory. But both Arian and Aurelio had their motives, and Aurelio's was being laid bare. If it were true, if he did forsake his vow and was seen, if he was threatened by the King... it was powerful enough to turn opinion to fact.

"The night he was killed, I was in Greyreach, freezing half to death on his orders." Aurelio responded, throwing a spanner in the works.

"Of course." Arian replied. "Coryn was at the Tower. I'm sure we could verify your story... a bit of a shame he's not available."

A dropped needle would have been heard from the base of the mountain, but if it were dropped at the top it would stick in the air; the tension was just that thick. Robin was certain blood would flow. But as the elder heirs stared each other down, the younger brother was paling. Robin lowered his ear to Coryn's mouth, his breathing was short and shallow. Then suddenly, it stopped.

"Coryn?" Robin said quietly; he received no response. "He's not breathing!" He announced to the elder brothers. Aurelio glanced over, seemingly unfazed. But Arian's stare lingered longer, it looked almost as if he worried.

Arian let go of Aurelio but his cold stare remained. He reached the edge and looked towards the boats below. "I'll get help. This isn't over, Aurelio. I'll show the kingdom a true King, and then the ones responsible for my Father's death will find no mercy... only blood and rain."

He jumped from the top, but his new blade pulled in the winds, and he glided to the bottom.

Aurelio had kept his pride strong, but that gave out when Arian was gone, and he collapsed. One of them was a Kinslayer; Robin was certain of that. One of them had sneaked into their own Father's chambers and cut his throat. Arian's demeanour, his reputation, neither painted the picture of an innocent man. And yet, when he had the chance to kill his biggest rival, his blade was reserved. It made the most sense for him to kill Aurelio there, kill Robin after it and think of a good enough cover... yet he left the mountain with a clean sword.

*-*-*

The guards stormed the mountain and reached the remaining heirs at the peak. Coryn was immediately taken aboard the Kaminos, and Oswyn had him whisked away to the medical unit as his stretcher touched the deck.

Aurelio had been patched up aboard the Goldspear and visited Coryn soon after. Naturally, Reina waited by the door for him. When the Prince was ready to leave, he called her name. This exchange had happened many times before. Since she first met the youngster training in the fields of the Gallant Tower. Each time he would call her, she would follow.

This day was a strange one. He noticed she was lagging behind and slowed his pace, turning just enough to glance. "Keep up. I'll leave you behind." He warned, but she still didn't budge. Seeing this, he stopped and clicked his tongue. "Have my words lost their meaning? Do I need to repeat them?"

When she was first assigned to the Prince, when he was younger than Robin, she rebelled. A woman in Alden is expected to look pretty and whisper sweet nothings. They hold no swords, only children of their own production, and they are expected to raise it alone. Blackrose was a grizzled old weed. He and his two sons rode in King Vulcan's army in the Battle of the Bees, yet only he rode home. His weak wife died years earlier, leaving the old man only a daughter. Many lords told him to remarry, to let his Penrose surname and his home, Thornhill, pass to a son. Instead, he trained his daughter. And she was a natural; she hadn't the strength of the boys, but she was quick and razor sharp. Before long, Blackrose had a Silver Sword in his bloodline.

She was proud of her powerful name and her powerful cloak. But instead of being a sword of the King, she was a woman again, raising a young brat.

She scowled at him when they were alone; she ignored his orders from time to time. Anything to spite him was done. Over time, she lost this side of herself and began to see the young Prince for what he was. Bitterness and resentment became understanding, loyalty... and eventually love.

All of it led her to this, to her Prince ordering her to move forward, yet the feeling deep within her told her to fight.

"Don't go." She muttered. "Arian killed your father; you know that he did."

"What would you have me do?" He asked calmly.

"The same thing I begged of you before we left Ignis."

He looked away from her. "I'm sorry. This is my throne, my crown, my kingdom. And I cannot forsake it, not even for you."

As he walked away, she watched him leave with a hand on her heart. "For us..." she whispered.

*-*-*

Robin, Kamau and Tara were aboard the Kaminos. Oswyn had summoned Robin almost immediately after he boarded the Sparrowhawk, giving him no time to heal. Tara was outraged the old man would call upon the peasant prince after his ordeal. The burns on his arm and face were still visibly affecting him, even after Kamau dressed them with the little time they had.

Oswyn was not his usual, calm and collected self. He rushed around his quarters, busily piling old books and papers onto his desk and rushing back to get more. He was so flustered he hadn't heard Kamau knock, only realising he had visitors when they let themselves in.

"I was told you wanted to see me? Chancellor?" Robin asked, wondering if he had been tricked by one of Arian or Aurelio's men.

"Ah, yes, yes. Come in." He waved them in and took a seat, looking like he hadn't rested in a fortnight. "Forgive me, Prince Robin. How is the arm?"

"The arm? Uh, sore, I guess? Kamau wrapped it for me, but I can still feel it pulsing."

"And the ear?"

Getting impatient, he replied as such. "Chancellor, I'm sorry if this is rude, but could you tell me why I was summoned here?"

"I needed to check on your health. If you were unable to compete in the last trial, I would need to have you pull out and renounce your claim." The old man replied.

Robin's mind wandered to the other injured. "What of Coryn? He looked a lot worse than I did coming off the mountain. Is he okay?"

"We're not sure yet. I have the best clerics from the capital tending to his wounds, but you saw it yourself. He lost a lot of blood, and the wound on his head is severe. I have told the head Laech to inform me of his state in the morning; we will have to make a decision from there."

"And If he can't compete?"

"He will renounce his claim to the throne."

Oswyn's decision was a shock for all in the room. The young Prince had barely put a foot wrong and now he lay unconscious, hanging between life and death. "Can't the final round be delayed?" He asked. Coryn had made a pact with Robin, but even without that, he had hoped he would win it should Robin fail. Aurelio had shown how he felt about his people, and Arian was much like his Father. Coryn was different, he was smart, understanding.

But at this question, Oswyn's brow furrowed. "I don't think you understand what this really is, Prince Robin." The old man returned to his papers as he spoke. "You are not playing a game. No one longs for Prince Coryn's death, nor do they wish for war. Alden needs a King if it is to survive, and we cannot wait. He has until the morning. If he cannot compete in the final trial, he is no longer a Skye."