Royal Assassin

Chapter 6

It was no use. Jaden searched the whole tower-like room. She found many good books but none that fitted what she was looking for. She felt exhausted and the evening ray that shone from the top dome of the room had turned redder and any moment the room would be dark. There seemed to be no candles and no lighters. Maybe it was pointless to search in this room. But she could’ve sworn that this was the description to find that diary – the late King’s memoir! Or maybe it was still inside his old room…

This was frustrating. Jaden stole a glance of her reflection at a silver platter on the study table. Her eyes were still deep with the colour of sapphire but she noticed the red circles that drew her blueness of the eyes had become fainted. It showed that she was losing her touch, she was draining her energy and she needed to kill something to bring back the colour in her eyes.

Another day passed. And another day arrived. The Royal Vast members that stayed at the Gallant’s were loading their bags into the carriage. Jaden and Justin were quite early to depart. Both of them decided to ride their own horses. So, their bags were loaded onto the carriage. Jaden was attending to her horse and Justin was making some final checks.

Then, Jaden paused. “Something’s coming”.

“Huh?” Justin didn’t hear anything.

“I can hear it”.

And the sounds of clamping and a horse’s neigh were heard, followed by a rushing horseman that stopped barely in front of the royal party. The rush of the horse blew a breeze to the area. The royal soldiers were on guards but relaxed their weapons as they saw the man was donned in the Gallant’s royal uniform.

The man jumped off the horse and was bowed and greeted with respect. And Justin was the first to graciously welcome him.

“Ethan! You’re back! How did the trip went?”

“Very good, Justin, if I have to say so myself”, he said coolly. And then, his eyes found another foreign figure on the palace ground.

Jaden could feel that the man spotted her. She had a bad feeling about this.

The man called Ethan made his way to come at Jaden. Ethan was the Gallant’s minister and advisor and also Justin’s cousin. But it seemed that he had something to do relate to Jaden.

Jaden was controlling her expressions. She elegantly masked her persona when it came to the man, who haunted her in the night.

“I thought when I came back, someone should be dead by now”, Ethan whispered into Jaden’s ear.

“It wasn’t the right time”, she lied.

“Oh really?” He didn’t believe her. “Or is it because you have grown fond of him?”

Jaden didn’t look into his eyes and turned to attend her horse. She only said, “Don’t misunderstand. I do things at my pace”.

“Hey, hey, don’t be so cold to the person who granted you your power…” Ethan attempted to touch her shoulder but was suddenly held by a firm grasp of a man – Justin.

“And this is my wife, Jadelyn”.

Jaden turned back at the sound of her husband’s voice. She saw Justin’s hold on Ethan’s arm and she realized her defenselessness.

This was bad. She needed to train. Already, she couldn’t sense harmful intent by people. Although, it was reassuring that her husband was there, she couldn’t bet he would still be alive to get her out of such situations.

“Ah, I see”, Ethan lied with a smile, “It’s surprising to see you settle down so quickly. But then, she is a fine beauty”.

Jaden almost winced at his insulting compliments.

“You can flirt with other women, Ethan. But Jaden is off-limits”, said Justin playfully while meaning them.

“You’re both players”, Jaden spoke between the two.

Justin was a bit dumbstruck and didn’t understand her statement. But Ethan only smirked.

“Or maybe pawns in a game”, replied Ethan. He excused himself and managed to give a meaningful look at Jaden as he strode off.

“You should be careful with Ethan, Jaden. That man is a womanizing freak”, Justin suddenly advised her.

Jaden almost laughed and only smiled slyly. Honestly, she was grateful for Justin’s actions and concerns, “And I should heed an advice from the guy who is a playboy himself?”

“Was, and I’m not a playboy. I have many friends that are girls. You know, since I’m close to my sisters…” Justin flustered slightly.

“Sure you do”, said Jaden half-believed and half-teased him. She hopped onto her horse and then said to her husband, “Come on, let’s go visit my kingdom”.