Chapter 8

“A body has been discovered,” Jayk told his knights once all of them were together in his study. The knights shared worried glances before focusing their attention back on the king.

“Where?” Baelon asked.

“In the Dwarvin kingdom, Dwarrel. It was an elf. There would’ve been a war on our hands if it weren’t for the fact that the body was covered in human scent.”

“Human scent?” Ryhan asked.

“Yes, and before you ask, I don’t know how they got in. My guess is they were led in.”

“But how? And why?” Evan asked.

“I don’t know. That is why I want all of you to go there and try to find answers.” Jayk said as he pulled his hand through his hair for the millionth time that day.

“What about Haylee? Do you think it is the same people who murdered her parents and chased her into the trap?” Ryhan asked.

“I have no idea, but please go and find out. Cason will stay behind and help guard Haylee. She’s been here a month and no-one knows about her existence so she would be fine,” Jayk said to his most trusted knights.

“We will leave immediately,” Baelon said.

“Please send me reports of your findings, and allow duke Dwarvin to help you and Duke Ashell.” The knights nodded in understanding.  Duke Dwarvin was the duke of the Dwarves and Duke Ashell was the duke of the Elven region.

Right at that moment Duke Magnar entered.

“I heard what happened, my king,” He said as he gave a small bow.

“Yes I told the scouts to inform you. How is Jayel’s case going?” Jayk asked.

“I am still unsure of the murderers, but I found a diary that belonged to Jayel’s mate. It seems that his daughter is not his daughter.” The duke said as he handed Jayk the black leather bound diary.

Jayk skimmed through the entries quickly before placing the diary in his drawer for safe keeping. He will return it to Haylee once she was better and he broke the news of her parents’ death to her.

“I believe that Haylee’s real father is the murderer. He would have the most motive. It said in her diary that she ran away from him when she found out she was pregnant with Haylee. Haylee’s real father was abusive; her mother took her away before he even knew that she was pregnant.” The duke told them.

“That is a good motive. The man finds out years later that his wife has been living with another man and that she hid his daughter from him. I would say that is enough motivation for someone to kill.” Ryhan said.

“Yes, but who is he? And where is he now?” Jayk asked.

“I don’t know where he is sire, but I do know his name is Jack Flannigan and he is a hunter,” said Magnar.

“A hunter here?!” Baelon said alarmed.

Hunters were humans that knew about the existence of the Hidden realm and all the magical creatures in it. They were bent on destroying all magical creatures.

“Could he be linked with the body we found?” Hagan asked.

“I don’t know. That is why you should go and investigate.” Jayk ordered.

“I will like to join the investigation sire,” Magnar said.

“Yes that would be wise. You already know a lot about this hunter,” Jayk said.

“If it is Haylee’s real father, do you think he will come for her?” Cason asked, worried for his friend he recently made. Haylee has only been here a month and the knights were already protective of her. She was considered as a close friend, even though she was a human.

“He can try, but I will kill him.” Hagan said with a deadly look in his eyes. Haylee was a sweet young girl and there was no way he would allow anything to hurt her.

“I doubt he will come to the castle. Right now our priority is to find him. Haylee is in the safest place in the entire realm. I need all of your expertise to find this man.” Jayk said. The knights agreed, if they were going to keep Haylee safe, they needed to find this man, wherever he may be.

That afternoon the 7 knights, excluding Cason, left along with Duke Magnar and prince Ryhan to investigate the murder. Jayk would’ve wanted to go along, but he was the king and he had matters to attend to at court. He could not leave his kingdom for more than to two days, and he didn’t know where this investigation will take them.  He also didn’t want to leave Haylee. He had unexplained feelings towards her. Feelings he tried very hard to ignore and to forget. The knights wanted to say goodbye, but they had to hurry to get to the Dwarvin realm as fast as possible to solve the murder and catch the murderer.

When they were gone, Jayk decided to visit Haylee. He wondered if she knew her real father was an abusive hunter and that Jayel was nothing of her. Had Jayel known? He always remembered the fondness with which the dragon knight spoke of his daughter when he visited him.

When he entered Haylee’s room he saw her moving about with the help of the doctor and crutches.

“Glad to see you feel better,” He said curtly. His emotions were all over the place.

“Well, I’m glad to say I feel better.” Haylee said.

“Sire, do you mind looking after her for a small moment? I have another patient waiting on me,” the doctor said.

“Certainly,” He said before he moved over to assist Haylee.

“You know I can do it myself,” she said stubbornly.

“Don’t be stubborn. I have worked with this type injury before,” Jayk said.

The doctor left them shortly and Jayk helped Haylee back to bed. He helped her into a comfortable position before he took a seat on the chair next to her bed.

“Why did you call the knights? Did something happen?” Haylee asked.

“It is no concern of yours.” Jayk said with a note of finality to his voice.

“Well the knights are my friends and I deserve to know if something happens to them,” Haylee replied, angered by this dragon king who always kept her in the dark.

“You are not from this realm so it does not concern you,” He spat. Jayk didn’t want her to know that there was a human killer in the realm. Or that her real father was a suspect. He knew her questions will lead to more, and he knew if he wasn’t careful he would spill the truth about her parents if she pestered him long enough.

“I have been living here for a month now; I would say that I have a right to know.” Haylee spat back, getting more and more frustrated with Jayk.

“This is my kingdom, human. I will decide who gets to know what,” He growled.

“So that is the reason, huh? It’s because I’m a lowly human and you’re a mighty dragon king?!” She exclaimed.

“I never said you were a lowly human,” Jayk defended.

“No, not directly. But that is what you think!”

“I never thought that for a second!”

“Oh really?”

“Yes! After all a dragon without his fire is nothing more than a human!” Jayk exclaimed.

Haylee was taken aback.

Jayk looked at her and immediately regretted what he said.

“Get some rest, I will send Cason with food.” Jyak said as he stormed out of the room. He couldn’t believe he just blurted out they were equals in some way. He didn’t want this human to know anything about this realm, but at the same time he wanted to share everything with her. She could easily break down his walls and that scared him, but why did she have such an effect on him?

Why did he feel so much stronger emotions towards her?

She angered him and at the same time he wanted to make her laugh and smile.

He quickly ordered Cason to take her some food and to watch over her, he could not face her again today.

He suddenly regretted sending the knights away, with their help he at least had a reason to stay away from her, but now he was forced to see her more and more.

“A dragon without his fire is nothing more than a human” the words kept repeating in Haylee’s mind. Jayk just shared a very crucial fact about his kind. It seemed like he was finally starting to share things with her, but then he fled. Like he always do.  He would share something and then close up.

Haylee was still lost in thought when there was a small knock outside her door. She hoped it was Jayk, but when it was Cason she tried her best not to show her disappointment.

“I brought you food,” He said with a shy smile as he placed the tray on her lap after he helped her in a comfortable position.

“Thank you Cason. Where are the others?” She asked curiously.

“They are on a quest,” He replied.

“That sounds interesting. What type of quest?”

Cason didn’t know if he was allowed to tell her the truth, but he thought better not to, his eyes darted around the room as he searched for the right explanation.

“An information gathering quest for the king. Nothing special,” he said.

Haylee nodded her head and when she said, “Then you must be glad you were chosen to babysit me,” he sighed in relief, glad she didn’t press for more information. He didn’t exactly lie to her, because the knights were on an information gathering quest, after all they were collecting information about a murderer in their midst. He just hoped their quest would prove to be fruitful.