"How did we get stuck with this duty?"

"Because it's important and we're so trusty worthy," Codey answered.

Arthur snorted and propped his shoulders against the garden wall. "Doubt it."

Codey agreed but he didn't say so out loud. Doing so would only encourage Arthur. The fact was, he didn't want to be anywhere near the castle. Being in the gardens wasn't where he wanted to be. It meant being close to Skylette. He had no choice in the matter however; he went where they assigned him. And they had assigned him to guard this blasted back gate.

He leaned back against the wall on the opposite side of the gate from Arthur and stared toward the castle. The captain had bumped up security since Darrien's death. The king feared that Velash might attempt some sort of mischief. He had already received several threats from King Mal.

This ball in honor of Skylette would be the perfect opportunity for Velash to try something.

***

"It's good to see you again, Sky."

Despite her pleasure at seeing Edwin, she was still sad over the occasion that had brought them together again. "It's good to see you too."

"I was sorry to hear about Darrien. He was a good man. He would have been an excellent ruler."

"Thank you." The well of sadness within her hadn't diminished since her brother's passing two months before. It had only grown.

He reached out and brushed away a tear from beneath her eye. "It will get better eventually."

"It doesn't feel like it," she replied through a sniffle.

He held out his arm and smiled. "Come, let's take a walk in the garden. I'm betting you're ready for a break."

She was ready for a break. She'd danced quite enough and if she had anymore champagne she would end up very tipsy. "Thank you, Edwin. You are my savior."

He winked and led her through the doors and out into the gardens. Together they strolled down the paths lit by flickering torches set either side of the path. Edwin stopped after a bit near a bench beneath a tree and turned to her.

"I've narrowed down a location."

Sky smiled at him as she settled down on the bench. They had been writing to one another since they had met at her birthday ball. Edwin was searching for Piper, the woman he loved and his father had banished from his kingdom. "Where is she?"

"Somewhere here in Eliria."

"Truly, here?"

"I'm not certain exactly where as of yet, but I'm getting closer."

"That's wonderful, Edwin! Let me know if you need any assistance."

"I was thinking ..."

"That if you told your father you were going to stay here for a bit to get to know me you'd have more of an opportunity to search?"

He laughed and gave his head a shake. "I think we've spent too much time talking of this."

She grinned. "Perhaps a bit, but if we're to find her I think it's a wonderful idea for you to stay here."

"And it will give us more of an opportunity to talk. Perhaps we can also discover what has become of your stable boy, yes?"

Her grin faded. "I doubt that's a possibility. If Codey wished for me to find him, he would have let me know where he was by now. He's gone, forever. We were best friends why would he see us separated. No, whatever happened was something he wished for and I can't change that. Best to let it be."

"If that's what you wish." Edwin stepped forward turning to take a seat beside her on the bench when several men emerged from the shrubbery opposite them.

"Death to the Constantine's!" the one leading them yelled as he ran forward brandishing his sword.

Despite the party, Edwin still carried a sword. He drew it and ran to meet the man, swords ringing out in the flickering darkness of the gardens. He was surrounded and fighting for his life in seconds. Skylette jumped from her seat searching the ground. She picked up a large rock and heaved it at one of the men, hitting him in the back.

"Leave him alone you brute!"

He sent her a menacing glare and turned to advance on her, his blade catching the gleam of the torch light as he stepped forward. "Hello Princess, so ready to die for him then?"

She screamed and turned, scrambling over the bench where she picked up another rock and hurled it at him. He turned quickly and the rock missed. "Get away from me you thug!"

Two castle guards came bursting into the small clearing, swords drawn and dove into the battle to assist Edwin. Skylette gave a small sigh of relief when she saw the men. She refocused on her attacker and smirked at him. "The odds aren't so uneven now, are they?" She hit him in the nose with another rock and darted out from behind the bench while he was cursing her.

A scream tore from her when he grabbed her by her hair and began dragging her back toward the trees. "Let me go!"

"Lettie!" One of the guards came bounding toward her, slicing his way through the attackers as he came. When he was close enough, she stared in shock at his face. Unbelieving when she recognized him. He reached past her and shoved his blade into the man's shoulder and the man released his grip on her hair. She staggered forward and Codey shoved her behind him. "You'll not be taking her."

"The Constaintine's will die!" he snarled.

"Not on my watch!' Codey growled back at him.

The man looked around only to see that most of his companions were already dead. "They will pay for dishonoring my king and my princess." He turned and loped toward the cover of the trees. "FOR VELASH!" he screamed before disappearing.

Codey turned to look at her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, he's getting away!"

"Right of course." He turned and called to the other guard. The two ran after the man.

Edwin appeared beside her looking concerned. She smiled and let him wrap her in a tight embrace. Mostly because she was feeling conflicted about seeing Codey again, how could he be here this entire time and never once come to see her?

The captain of the castle guards appeared along with her father as well as more guards. All of them asking what had taken place. Edwin answered their questions while she sat quietly on the bench, too upset to answer anyone's questions. But not for the reasons everyone believed.

She looked up when Codey and his fellow guard reappeared and stepped up to speak with the captain. Codey did the talking. "They came in through the side gate. They smashed the lock out and it appears the man who escaped went back out the same way. I warned you that gate should be guarded."

"Yes you did. It's rarely used. I didn't believe anyone would even know it was there."

Codey snorted. He and Lettie had known it was there. They had slipped out of it and back in all of the time when they were younger. He was certain Darrien had known it was there as well, which meant Tremma probably knew about it as well. It stood to reason her father had probably grilled her about the castle and forced her to tell all she knew. "I warned you," he repeated before stepping away and going down on one knee to study one of the fallen men.

The king was arguing quietly with Edwin. Codey heard Velash mentioned several times. He shook his head as he studied the soldier before him. Something wasn't right here. He looked up at the king. "Sire?"

The king glanced at him, frowned and stepped over to where he knelt beside the body. "What is it?"

He pointed at the body. "These men are not Velash soldiers."

"I beg your pardon; I think their uniforms clearly show they are Velash's men." He gestured at the men.

Codey shook his head in disagreement and pointed at the uniform. "They may look like Velash's but the fabric is rough and they weren't sewn by what you'd call an expert seamstress. The stitches aren't even; the thread color is off as well. All of these are things that lead me to believe these uniforms were put together in a hurry in an attempt to fool us into believing King Mal sent these men."

"He could have sent them," the king insisted.

"What about their weapons. They're poor quality." He lifted the sword that lay beside the man from the ground. "This one hasn't been well maintained. Look at all the nicks and the rust. These men aren't soldiers. They've dressed up to appear as soldiers. They're mostly likely mercenaries, assassins. The man who ran said that 'The Constantine's would pay'. Someone wants revenge and they want you to believe it's King Mal who's behind it."

Alistair stared down at the body. "He still could have hired them."

"And why dress them as his men? Why proclaim loudly that this was for Valash and the honor of their princess, and do it so publicly? Do it like this when it would start a war they could never win! It would make more sense for him to hire assassins to slip in under the cover of darkness and do things quietly so the blame would never fall on Velash."

The king looked at him helplessly.

The captain moved up to stand beside Codey. "Those are all excellent observations. We'll begin looking into all of it and figure out who could have done this."

From where she sat across the small clearing, Sky saw the man lying on the ground closest to her take a shuddering breath. "This one over here is still alive. Somewhat anyway." She pointed to the man.

The men turned to look at her and then followed her pointing finger to the man on the ground. Codey was the first to move. He jogged over and bent to inspect the man. "She's right he's still alive, just barely. We need a doctor. Maybe if he lives we can question him."

Two of the other guards rushed back into the castle to fetch the doctor while Codey bent and tore open the man's shirt to inspect the wound. His chest was bleeding profusely, which had Codey cursing.

Sky stood, bent, and tore a large strip of cloth from her under skirt. "Here, will this help?"

He looked up at her with a grin. "Thank you Let ... Princess." He turned away and pressed the strip of cloth to the man's wound.

Skylette stepped back when Edwin tugged on her arm. "Come on Sky let's get out of the way."

She nodded and looked back once as they left the gardens. Codey focused on the injured invader, he never looked away. She turned away and leaned into Edwin, letting him lead her into the castle and away from the crowds milling about the ballroom.

She directed him to a quiet room where they could sit and no one would bother them. She crossed the room and stood staring out the window.

"Sky, the guard was that him?"

She wrapped her arms around her body and leaned forward until her forehead pressed into the glass. "Two years, he's been here the entire time and he never told me."

Edwin moved to stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sure he had a reason."

She lifted her head away from the glass. "My father."

"Your father?"

She turned to face him, dislodging his hands from her shoulders. "There's no other reason for him to hide from me." Pushing past him, she strode toward the door, when she realized he was following her she stopped and looked back at him. "Stay here, I need to speak to my father."

"Don't say anything you'll regret, Sky." He pulled her into his arms and gave her a quick hug before releasing her and stepping back. "Good luck."

She nearly stayed, forgetting her father. Then she remembered the look on Codey's face when he'd yanked her free of the man in the garden. "Thanks Edwin."

She pulled the door open and went in search of her father.

~~Thanks to Autumn_May for the banner posted on this chapter~~