yourself.”
Stacey
flashed a smile. “Sorry.”
The servant
approached the gate and unlocked it. He pushed it open so Zane and Stacey could
enter.
“You remember
me, do you?” Zane asked the servant.
“The Master
knows you’re here,” the servant replied.
“Does he?”
“He saw you
from the window.”
Stacey looked
up to the house and the top windows, where she could make out the dark outline
of someone standing over the garden.
“Well, we
mustn’t keep him waiting,” Zane said. They headed up the courtyard making their
way to the front door. At the foot of the stairs inside the house, the servant
motioned for them to go up, but he remained behind.
While she was
perhaps a little dehydrated from the walk, the air, and the atmosphere inside
the house made Stacey feel somewhat dizzy. She almost reached out to take
Zane’s hand for comfort, but then remembered that would be something he didn’t
want. She was supposed to remain as strong and adult as possible.
The door to
the study was open. Sitting alone behind his desk was a muscular man with
colorful tattoos, wearing a sleeveless shirt. He seemed a bit older than Zane,
maybe by about five years, but other than that their eyes and faces were
similar.
Zane motioned
for me to sit on a chair against the wall, whilst he took the one opposite his
brother.
“Conrad,”
Zane said awkwardly.
“Zane,”
Conrad shot back.
“This is …
Stacey,” Zane said after a moment’s pause.
Did he just
forget my name? Stacey’s
mind charged.
Conrad looked
at her but didn’t offer any form of greeting.
“Did you hear
the news?” Zane asked.
“I did, as a
matter of fact,” Conrad nodded.
“So as you
can see, I’m in a spot of trouble.”
“Clearly.”
“I thought
you could be of some assistance to me. To … us.”
Conrad half
smiled. “You require a favor.”
“Yes.”
“And what
might that favor be?”
“I need
access to the other realm.”
Conrad’s
mouth dropped. “What? Why do you want to go there?”
“It’s the
only way I’ll be able to clear my name.”
“Are you
saying you’re innocent then, that you didn’t kill the King?”
“No. I did
kill him. But it was a justified kill.”
“I’m not
following you. He was the King. There is no such thing.”
“He wasn’t
the King. He wasn’t Horatio Hurux.”
CHAPTER TEN
The revelation left Conrad now
standing in front of the desk, in deep bewilderment. Stacey was lost to the
meaning of what Zane and his brother was talking about, yet she hung on their
every word.
“Do you
really think that I would have been able to cut the head off a Hurux? In one
clean blow?”
“Well, if he
wasn’t the king then I have two questions,” Conrad said. “One, who the fuck was
that? And two, where is the real Horatio?”
“Unfortunately,
I don’t know the answer to either of those questions. I can say that, the
imposter was under someone’s spell. Perhaps the Mage’s. He did believe he was
Horatio Hurux. But as to who he really was …”
“No. This is
garbage. It doesn’t make sense,” Conrad argued. “What proof do you have other
than your belief that you wouldn’t be able to kill him?”
“I don’t have
proof. I’d suspected for some time now… But until we find the real Horatio
Hurux, then…”
“What if he’s
already dead? If someone had put an imposter there, and kidnapped Horatio,
wouldn’t they just kill him while they had the chance?”
“I don’t
know,” Zane said. “I was going to go about this investigation at some point …
when I had further evidence … but …”
“But what?”
“He crossed
the line. He wanted to mate with a woman I’d claimed.”
“So? He’s the
King.”
“The true
Horatio Hurux would not have done such a thing.”
Conrad shook
his head. “Maybe the King was under the Mage’s spell. Which explains his odd
behavior. Maybe it even explains why he was able to be killed by you – I don’t
know. But what if