The Sword and Shield by Emma Khoury

Author:Emma Khoury [Khoury, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2016-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

15

Unlikely Friends

The next day did not start well. Unless there is some definition wherein screaming can be construed as an enthusiastic greeting to the day. In this case though, not so much.

“AAAAAUUUGH!” Christophe screamed, jerking Ezra awake.

Ezra rolled out from under the bed, sword ready, looking for the threat. But the only other person in the room was Christophe, standing on his bed, dagger in hand, staring at his bodyguard.

“What is it?” Ezra asked urgently, “What’s wrong?” Christophe gaped at him, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. When he finally spoke it was with an exhausted, frustrated tone.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong is that I woke up to see a foot poking out from under my bed! You have an entire room next door. I meant for you to sleep in it!” Christophe still stood on his bed, brandishing his dagger for emphasis.

It was at that moment the door swung open and the guard charged in. The bells he’d attached to the doors last night jangling like crazy.

Ezra could only imagine the questions generated by such a scene.

“You three,” Ezra pointed at the guards, “have an abysmal reaction time. What if I were an attacker? The Crown Prince would be dead. Best case scenario you would be banished for being so terrible at your jobs, and even worse, my clearance rate would drop. Get out!”

The armored guards positively fled, their cumbersome and unnecessary armor clanked and rattled down the hall.

Christophe sat on the bed just in time to avoid causing an even greater scene in front of the castle. A maid darted around Ezra, giving his sword a frightened glance, set a tray on the table before scurrying out.

Ezra smelled coffee and his mouth watered.

“To answer your question, Christophe, my room is too far away from your room. To be of any real assistance during an attack, I need to be by your side at all times.”

“At—at all times?” Christophe asked.

“At all times,” Ezra confirmed. “Don’t touch the coffee until I’ve had a chance to test it. I’ll go get my kit.” He left the still stunned prince and hurried to his room, leaving both his and the prince’s doors open. Ezra pulled on a shirt, grabbed his poisons kit, food tray, and a tonic pouch before returning to the prince’s quarters.

“Remind me to get you one of these,” Ezra said, dropping some solution into the cup and onto his plate. “Your breakfast is safe, go ahead.”

Unable to down the whole of his tonic in one go, Ezra rotated between it and his coffee until it was gone. The prince watched him do so.

“What is that?” he asked.

Ezra shoveled some food in his mouth to try and get rid of the tonic’s aftertaste before answering.

“It’s a bit like what I gave Lissa for Joe. It’s a medicine that I’ve had to take since I was a kid. You don’t have to worry though.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.