Red

Despite the sudden loss of the beloved King - to my surprise - Illyra didn't spiral out of control.

It would appear as if there was a mutually shared dislike amongst that population for The Charming Snake. Apparently, nobody appreciated how he dishonored the Royal Family and most importantly the Queen.

Queen Harley was a benevolent and caring woman. She was adored by the public and spent more time out and about than in the castle. However, it was no secret that she was in an unhappy marriage. After all, their marriage had been arranged when she was just 16. It takes a very noble woman to stay in a bad marriage for 29 years just for her family's sake.

I was not the least bit surprised to see that they slept separately, and the reason for that obviously is the King and his infidelity.

The Queen managed to keep everything under control, even with the major influx of diplomats who worried about what this change in power meant for their countries.

There was not a doubt in my mind that Queen Harley would not shy away from what was best of our Kingdom, and I was glad that she was in power. She was finally out of the shadow that her King cast and it was going to be interesting to see her thrive.

Ivar snorted and pawed at the ground in frustration. He had been acting strange these past couple of days and it was starting to worry me...

I even had a healer come by and they said everything was fine with him physically. The only time I noticed him acting himself was when we went out on our daily rides, but even then it didn't last long before he was anxious again. I was puzzled and found myself spending a lot more time with him than usual. In fact, there was an impression in the hay by the corner of the stable where I had been sleeping.

I sighed before sitting up and staring at the confuzzling stallion. He glared up in the rafters and I followed his line of sight. Only to see nothing.

It is midnight and you have the audacity to continue this strange behavior. I shook my head at the horse. Something caught my eye and I quickly glanced back up into the rafters. It was pitch black, but my eyes were well adjusted to it by now. However, it was still difficult to make out what I could've seen in the rafters.

If Zeke was up there, I would've noticed by now. Nobody else had a habit for stalking in the manor, especially in the stable where the only horse in here was mine. Even the tenderfoots wouldn't be stupid enough to sulk around the stable where I often was.

Not many had mysterious run-ins with Red and lived to tell the tale, I found myself smirking at that.

"What are you smirking at?" Fenris's deep voice pulled me from my murderous thoughts.

I had been so focused on the rafters that I hadn't heard the stable door opening. Worst assassin ever. I groaned.

He walked to the front of the stall and seemed to admire Ivar. It was almost as if they were exchanging words, something I found very curious.

Ivar's gaze switched away from the male and went back to the rafters. Apparently whatever had been bothering him was gone, because he backed further into the stall and laid down.

He curled his head around and his intelligent eyes settled on me as they slowly closed. It seemed like he had been guarding me earlier. Knowing him, it could've been some obnoxious ants that set him off. After all, he got his name for a reason.

"May I ask why you have been sleeping in here for so many nights in a row?" Fenris inquired as he ducked under the bar that kept Ivar in here.

I just shrugged and looked back to Ivar who bristled as Fenris entered his stall. He knew the male well enough though that he didn't bother to bully him. Instead, Ivar let out a big sigh and went back to resting.

Fenris sat down on the opposite side of the stall and extended his legs. They nearly reached mine which were curled under me. The male was fairly tall compared to most, however, Zeke was still the tallest in the Manor.

"It would appear that someone in our midst killed the king," Fenris stated, trying to make conversation.

His dark eyes met mine and he grinned. Although our Errands were secret and only Zeke would know about them, word still got around and it was clear a higher ranking assassin would have been called upon to complete an Errand as prestigious as killing a king.

Since there were only four of us in the highest-ranking, and one of them didn't do many Errands and another was out of the continent on a diplomatic journey, it was clear who had done it.

I simply nodded in confirmation of his statement.

"Did he beg for his life?" Fenris asked. Typically that kind of question would be accompanied by a dark twinkle or heavier breathing that would imply that question had excited whoever asked it. However, Fenris seemed almost bitter when he had asked it. As if he didn't want the answer.

It was no secret that Fenris wasn't a cold-blooded killer for fun. He was forced to live this life for whatever reason, and he just went with it. He didn't enjoy killing like others in the Manor did. Not like Zeke and I.

Zeke often didn't call upon him for many Errands. Instead, allowing him to just get by with the bare minimum.

I nodded again in response to his question.

He had begged. But not for his life. It had in fact been the exact opposite.

Fenris's dark eyes watched as I slowly relaxed more and more.

Not being able to resist, I scooted over to the massive black mammal that slept soundly and could only smile as he laid his giant head across my lap. One hand played with his mane while the other slowly trailed up and down his nose.

"That horse is worse than a hound," Fenris glared at the creature on my lap.

When said creature sighed again, I couldn't help the smile that broke out in my face. This horse was the best thing to ever happen to me. The eight years I have had with him, and however more I have with him will never be enough.

I caught my gaze once again drifting to the rafters. Whatever had been bothering him I could only hope that it wasn't anything bad.

Despite his dark eyes watching me, I wasn't worried about relaxing around him. He had a comforting presence and I trusted him. We had grown up together in the manor with Zeke, so it was no surprise that I had managed to drift off to sleep with him present.

Zeke and Fenris were the only two I trusted enough to relax around. Oh and Ivar.

~~~~~~

Thank you for reading Chapter 8. I hope you enjoyed this little update. It feels like forever since I've touched this story so I don't blame y'all if nobody reads this. I have a feeling I'll be updating this one quite a bit for a bit. Comments and feedback make me happy.