Alexander fell to the ground close to the palace but out of sight for anyone to see him magically appearing. "Of course, she wouldn't allow me to land safely," he muttered getting up from the ground. He dusted himself off first then looked up at the place he had been away from for a while.
It was more than a week since he had been away from the palace and he was certain a few more days would have made it two weeks. The palace would be in chaos right now because of the fresh death of the king and the protection of the princess. Everyone would also be questioning his sudden disappearance and reappearance. It was an unwritten order that he would be the one ensuring the king's safety.
"I can already feel the headaches I will get from everyone asking me questions."
All Alexander wanted to do was get the sword and return to the forest without much disturbance. The princess was meant to be somewhere heavily guarded and most likely, messages were secretly sent out to the court ministers about the king's death. He wanted to get out of the palace before they would arrive and try to stop him from taking the sword.
Prepared for what was to come, Alexander walked toward the palace gates where he was immediately allowed in when they recognized him. He could hear them talking amongst themselves, surprised that he had shown up now. Ignoring those guards and the ones stationed all around because of Thomas's order, he first decided to go towards the king's room to make sure no one had messed with the swords there.
He still did not have a clue about what the sword looked like but a sword that fell from the sky should be much different from all the ones made by humans right?
"It's Alexander!"
"Alexander is back!"
"But the king is dead!"
Alexander continued to ignore the men who were glad to see him back for now but that didn't stop some of them from following him.
"Alexander? I have been looking all over for you," Leon said. He failed the king's orders to locate Alexander and came back a few minutes ago to receive his punishment when he learned the king had died. Given the relationship Leon had with Darius and the fact that he was one of the people who proposed the king be killed, Leon was happy to know the man was dead.
"Really? Thank you," Alexander patted his childhood friend on the back as he made his way to the king's bedroom. "Have you heard the news?"
"Just now. Came as a surprise to me when I heard it. Where have you been all this time? Darius ordered me to look for you and I am certain he was going to kill me when I didn't return with you. I heard your father is going to reach here any minute now and he is pissed that no one could give him an answer on where his only son has been."
"I'm hoping to get what I need and leave before my father can enter the palace gates. I will turn him away or his presence will lead to a lot of internal battles between the court ministers on his side and the ones who always despised him. The most important thing is dealing with the king's death and making sure the princess remains safe. Who is in charge of the guards-"
"I am," Thomas announced himself. He was waiting by the doorway of the king's bedroom in case whatever killed the king returned. What he didn't expect was to see Alexander return with Leon who wasn't around for a while. "Kind of suspicious that the two of you show up now that the king is dead. What's that saying? The culprit always returns to the scene of the crime?" Thomas waved his sword around playfully.
Leon stepped forward to be the middleman between the two. "The king sent me on a mission to find out what happened to Alexander. You or anyone wouldn't have known since it is private information. We are here to see what happened to King Thomas. Now is not the time to be suspicious of your comrades."
"Comrades?" Thomas chuckled because for as long as he remembered he had hated the two of them. They were never his comrades. He hated how the king would rely on Alexander only and how Leon would think he meant something just because he was Alexander's friend. Now the king is dead and there was no one to protect Alexander since his father wasn't there, Thomas wanted revenge.
Thomas's father always clashed with Alexander's father and now that the king was gone, Thomas planned to get even with Alexander for years of coming in second to him and the smug look on Alexander's face because he had the king backing him. "We were never comrades. The two of you need to be investigated."
Alexander didn't have the time to entertain Thomas's childish behavior. This had gone on for too many years. "Regardless of what you think Thomas, I am a general and you are a captain. I outrank you. Now step aside so that I can do what I need to. Do not make things hard for yourself."
"There you go again looking down on me," Thomas spat, reaching his wit end with Alexander. He pointed the sword in his hand at Alexander's neck. "I'm going to get rid of you today. It's not fair that the king is the only one dead."