Callum

Shocked gasps flew around the table as the courtiers processed the news.

"Dead?" Viren echoed. "How?"

Harrow shrugged and looked to Opeli for an answer. Opeli sighed and swallowed. "Her throat was slit."

Lissa blinked in panic. "What? But--who would do that? Queen Fareeda had earned her kingdom's trust time and time again! She'd led them through floods, famines, and much more. Her people would have died for her. They loved her."

"She wasn't the only one who was killed," Harrow said. He had returned to the letter and was now carefully reading it over. "Fareeda's husband was killed as well. As was their daughter," he ended in a sad note.

"Clara?" Sarai asked as her voice shook. "She was so little. She'd never done a bad thing in her life. . . . How old was she?"

"Four, I think," Harrow muttered. "Opeli, what did the messenger say?" he asked the High Cleric.

Callum slumped back in his chair. The queen's death was bad enough, but the death of her entire family? Surely that was worth more protection around his castle. He shifted in his seat and pulled his scarf tighter around his neck. He looked at the guards by the door. Could he get his step-father to add more? Maybe posting a few more around everyone's bedrooms at night would be better. Yes. He liked that idea. Some should be posted around the perimeter too.

Callum snapped back to attention. Opeli was still talking.

". . . and that they were all killed on the same night. They're conducting interrogations in and around the palace, but the murderer could be well away from the castle at this point as it took place two weeks ago. The funeral has already taken place and Fareeda's sister, Elise, has already taken up the throne."

Callum drummed his fingers on the table. "And what happens if . . . if something happens to Queen Elise?" he asked. "What then?"

Opeli turned to look at him. "Well, since she's the last surviving member of her family and Evenere is a queendom, I suppose that a new queen will have to be selected. But we shouldn't worry about that. Queen Elise has made sure that her castle defenses are better now."

"My questions are," Saleer, a member of the High Council, said for the first time, "why would the assassin take the life of the princess as well? Clara wouldn't have ruled for years; they didn't have to worry about her. And why wouldn't the assassin also take the life of the new queen? They had the chance to get rid of the entire royal family and they didn't take it."

Nobody spoke for a long moment. Callum was lost in his thoughts. Why wouldn't the assassin have taken the chance? It would take a while for the people of Evenere to select a new queen, so why didn't the assassin make sure that happened? Also, why would anyone kill Queen Fareeda? Callum had never met the young queen, but his step-dad always said that she was cheery and bright, a complete mirror of her home. He had, however, met Elise, and if she was anything like her sister, then Callum wouldn't mind living under her rule at all.

The same could be said for her people, Callum thought. They loved her, and she loved them back. . . . So who killed her and why?

Soren and Claudia's mother, Lissa, tapped her right index finger on her chin. If Callum was being honest, he was very much intimidated by Lissa. With her upper-class-looking bones, her thick blonde hair, and her towering height, not to mention her superior fighting skills to most everyone in the castle, she was a force to be reckoned with. (She also always had a smug "I'm-better-than-you" expression on her face at all times which didn't give people the best first impression of her, but she was nice.)

Lissa continued tapping until she said, "The assassin made the right choice to kill the princess."

Every single head in the room turned toward her. Sarai has a disgusted look on her face and stopped eating her jelly tart momentarily. Claudia facepalmed. "Mooooooom . . ." she muttered.

"No, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that!" she spluttered out. "I would never kill anyone! I meant if they wanted to get rid of any future problems, then they made the right decision. If they kill Elise's entire family, they get rid of any future problems when Clara becomes queen, and now Elise is distraught and upset, so she'll be more likely to listen to outside voices and let them influence her. I know this because it happened in Del Bar a long time ago to a king, and it's part of the all the schools' curriculums there to learn about the event," she finished, with an air of superiority around her.

"Right. Anyways," Sarai breathed, "wouldn't that mean that someone is planning something? We should warn the queen before anything happens."

Harrow nodded. "Right. I'll start writing the letter after breakfast, and then we can have the council meeting."

After that, Opeli joined everyone in eating and nobody spoke. Nobody wanted to. A few times, Callum found himself staring at Claudia, only to find Soren staring intensely at him when he looked away. But, hey, he couldn't help it! Claudia was funny and pretty, and really smart. He loved how much she loved magic. Whenever she talked about it, she got bright, bubbly, and excited, and he loved that. He really wanted to learn a few spells from her, and if she didn't want to teach him, then that was fine, they could drink some hot brown morning potion and just talk.

Oh gods, but what if she says no? his mind whispered. Then I'll look like a complete idiot. And eventually, everyone in the castle will know about it because it'll somehow get out, and everybody will remember it forever and I'll be humiliated until the day I diiieeee--

"Callum!"

sudden movement Callum banged his fist down on the table. "What?!" The sudden movement made his cup knock over, so he hurriedly picked it up before anything else spilled out of it. "I mean . . . uh, what?"

"Bait and I were wondering if you wanted to go down and help feed the crows that the Crow Lord has," Ezran said, holding the grumpy glow toad up.

"Oh. Uhh, yeah, sure," Callum answered, putting his satchel around himself. "Let's go."

Ezran smiled and grabbed a few jelly tarts from a tray, and ran out, Bait scampering behind him.

___

Ezran

"So, Callum," Ezran said, eating a tart, "which crow is your favorite? I like Ingrid the best. She's the really fluffy one in the owest cage that'll start screaming if you don't give her enough attention."

"Ezran, they all look the same," said Callum. "How do you tell which one is which?"

"I go down there a lot," Ezran answered. "And Ingrid's really nice to talk to. She keeps telling Bait that he should take better care of his scales, but Bait doesn't like that. In fact, he doesn't like going to see the crows at all." Behind him, Bait made an annoyed croak.

"Ezran, you know you can't actually talk to animals, right?" Callum asked. "You just think you can. You probably have some empathy thing going on."

Ezran stopped and stared at him. "Yes. I can communicate with them. It's rooted in empathy, but I can actually communicate with them."

Callum rolled his eyes and kept walking. "Sure."

Ezran's gaze dropped down to the floor. Why didn't Callum believe him?

Ingrid's great, he thought. Ingrid understands everything. Why doesn't Callum believe me? Okay, maybe there was that one time that the raccoons lied to me, but that was only once!

Ezran looked out a window that the two were passing. A crow flew past on gentle wings and landed on a windowsill leading to the room where the crows were kept. It fluttered inside, and Ezran saw hands take the letter out of its feet. As the letter was turned over, he saw the blue seal of the kingdom of Duren marking it.

"Callum, Callum!" Ezran squealed. "Come on! We have to go now! Maybe Aanya wrote back to me!"

Ezran and Aanya, the princess of Duren, had met the previous spring when a festival in Duren was taking place. Their parents had been discussing possible trade routes and from day one of the Katolian royalty's stay, the two had become instant friends. They had been writing to each other ever since.

"Okay, okay!" Callum said as he ran. "I'm coming!"

_____

Hahahahaha everything's about to get much worse. Wow, two updates in less than a week! Don't expect that ever again. hhhhhhh this was a long chapter to write--

My cat got hurt and needs stitches, and because the vets are closed, my updates on Wattpad will be sparse these months since we're trying to make her comfortable and happy and to help her heal. Stay with me, please! Bye!