All I Need ✔️

Chapter 8

Third Person POV

Emalina, Avus, and Prince Cassius looked on as Safania counted back from ten. Prince Cassius watched as her beautiful green eyes fluttered shut. She was a force of nature he thought. Not many women would dare stand up to him the way she just had. He had so many questions about her. Who was she? How did she end up here? Where was she going?

"She's out," Avus said. He began working on her leg, while Emalina and Prince Cassius walked over to the table and sat.

"After Avus is done, you will remain here until she wakes up," he told Emalina.

"Yes, your highness," Emalina said quietly, wondering if her ability to communicate with Safania got her off the hook.

"What did you talk about?" he asked her.

"Huh?" she responded, seemingly caught off guard.

"Before Avus and I came in. What were you two talking about?"

"Oh. She asked me how I was. If you were mad when you found out she had tried to escape." Emalina was a terrible liar. Cassius liked that about her.

"She asked you that in Anguinese? Without even knowing you speak it?"

"Oh, um, no. Not . . .no, not right away," Emalina stuttered, flustered. "I . . . I was just summarizing," she lied clumsily. She hated when he looked at her like this; his piercing, unemotional eyes made him seem like he was looking through her, not at her.

"I want to know everything," Prince Cassius said, continuing to stare at her intently. He knew that it unnerved her when he gave her his undivided attention.

"We . . . um . . . I tried talking in Ledish but of course she didn't respond and so then I guess I thought that I could . . . that maybe...um... maybe I could try a different language. And she understood. And then she asked about how you reacted. And then you came back in." Emalina stumbled over her words.

Prince Cassius felt himself getting irritated. He wanted to know what this secret was. How could Emalina's loyalties lie with a stranger she knew nothing about instead of the master she was bound to faithfully serve?

"You remember your oath Emalina," he warned her. She nodded.

"And you know that if I find out you are keeping something me, I could order you to be executed," he continued sternly. He saw Emalina's eyes flash with fear. Good, he thought. He might not be able to get through to Safania, but he could at least get through to her.

"Sir?" she asked nervously.

"I'm just reminding you. I know the two of you have some kind of bond. But if I find out that you are using it to conceal things from me, I will have to take serious action." He saw Emalina gulp nervously. "With all of that said, is there anything else you need to tell me?"

Emalina sat petrified for a few seconds. Then, finally, "No, your highness."

Prince Cassius leaned back in the chair. Whatever this secret was, it was big enough that Emalina would risk her life over it. A small risk, maybe, given that in her mind the prince had no way of knowing that she and Safania were keeping something from him. But still a risk where the stakes could be her life.

Prince Cassius thought about possible scenarios. Maybe she was a spy, sent here to report on Peria. But Emalina was definitely not a traitor and wouldn't protect a spy. Not to mention that ending up unconscious by a riverbed exposed to the elements, awaiting death, was a pretty poor move for a spy. Maybe Safania had murdered a royal and was trying to hide to avoid execution. That was slightly more plausible. More likely Safania was a runaway slave. But it didn't make sense that Emalina would keep that from him. Safania was clearly not a slave from this kingdom, and the other kingdoms didn't have extradition treaties governing escaped slaves. Too messy, the kingdoms could never agree, and the cost of replacing a slave would be less than the costs associated with the diplomatic battle of retrieving them anyway. But Emalina and Safania may not know any of that.