The Bane of the Empire

Chapter 21.5

The glorious aches in her legs and the weight of her weapon set the fire inside her ablaze. She had been reduced to embers, almost burnt out, but the power she felt when she held a sword was exactly what she needed to knock herself back on track. A content smile stayed on her face as she walked down the empty hall to her chambers. There weren't any sentries around and the corridor was eerily quiet. She looked over her shoulder and movement near the staircase caught her eye.

Opening the wooden door to her chamber, she kept her attention on the nearing figure. Stepping through, she turned to latch the door closed. Yet before she could, she was violently pushed back. Dawn stumbled into her chamber as Luke closed the door behind him.

"I told you to stay away."

She raised her chin and defiantly said. "I don't listen to you."

He scoffed, running his fingers through his hair. She arched a brow, what was that supposed to mean?

"You don't listen at all." Luke blamed. "You come here out of nowhere, a guest of the King but you have no connection to the crown. You aren't employed here, you are not a companion to one of the Ladies, but I've seen you walking freely into the Library. Everything about you suggests that you are higher born but you claim to be from a small village. And then you go asking about the previous King." Luke narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "The mere thought of the previous King can have you tried for treason."

Her eyes widen on their own account.

"I will ask you again, who are you?"

"My name is Dawn. I am a scholar's daughter and I have come to Ilaburn in my father's place."

Luke groaned and paced in front of her.

"No! Enough with the lies, Dawn!" He stepped forward and held her shoulders in a vice-like grip. Her eyes grew wide as he looked down at her, his voice pleading with her. "Where do your loyalties lie?"

She did not respond. She did not know how to respond. His livid eyes fixed her in place. His grip tightened and his eyes took on a crazed look. He repeated himself, shaking her as he said the words. "Where do your loyalties lie?"

She shrugged out of his grip and reached for her sword. But before she could withdraw the weapon he pushed her against the wall. The stone pressed into her back as he leaned further into her.

"Why are you doing this?" She said through clenched teeth. The Luke who had sought her out to say hello the first day she went to the kitchens was gone. Instead what stood in his place was a man with desperation in his eyes and a brutal grip on her collar.

The question seemed to startle him awake.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to do that—not now and not that night in my chamber."

She nodded, still clutching her sword down by her side.

"Why did you ask me about my loyalties?"

Luke looked up, exhaustion shone in his eyes as he shook his head. "If you don't know the answer to that question, then forget I even asked you."

He took a step toward the door but she cut him off with her sword. The blade reflecting the side of his face.

"You just pushed me against the wall, demanding I answer that question. Now I need to know why you asked me. And why you reacted the way you did—now and that night in your chamber."

Luke smiled. It was a smile one wore when looking at an injured pup that wanted to run with the street hounds. It was pitiful and condescending. A smile reserved for the hopeless.