The Crown's Fire - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Monitor Her
They finally arrived at Ebodia’s encampment. Until now, Tarah remained on her toes. She could feel Prince Ezekiel’s predatory eyes locked onto her figure, watching her intently as if waiting for her to make a mistake at any moment. As much as she felt bothered by it, all she could do was try her best to act like she wasn’t.

She would also sneak glances at him, but she would quickly look away whenever he turned to her direction.

“Tarah?!”

The moment Princess Xenia, Ezekiel’s sister, noticed her presence, Tarah’s eyes lit up. She squirmed as Xenia’s tight and warm hug embraced her.

“You just left without even saying a word,” Xenia whined as she broke the hug, a smile still on her face as she faced her.

“I had to, Princess,” Tarah replied with a pleased and knowing smile. “I knew we’d meet again soon anyway.”

“Oh, right! You’re a seer,” Xenia unknowingly blurted out loudly.

“You knew she’s a Seer?” Prince Ezekiel interrupted.

Xenia nodded in confirmation.

Giving Tarah a passing glance, the prince then turned back to Xenia and asked in his low voice, “How’s the burial?”

“Wizard Lurio arranged for the Master’s ashes to be safely stored,” Xenia told him. “We also built a tent around it so that anyone can visit and pay their respects even when the war is still ongoing.”

Tarah simply stood by as she watched the two interact. She was aware that the siblings were talking about Seer Beirut’s burial.

“We’ll return with his ashes back to our kingdom once all of this is over,” Xenia stated. “What’s with all these civilians?”

Prince Ezekiel let out a sigh as he lengthily explained, “They’re the captives we freed from the enemy camp. I wanted them to recover and regain their freedom quickly, but it’s simply too risky to let them roam around on their own. Helion is too cunning. They might have planted spies in their prisoners.”

He then shrugged as he added, “We’ll have them properly treated and taken care of, but they must be supervised and tightly guarded by our soldiers. We cannot risk a spy leaking news about our plans…”

As Ezekiel let his words hang, his eyes dragged towards Tarah, a blatant show of how he didn’t trust her as well.

For some reason, she had a hunch that there could be another reason as to why Prince Ezekiel was acting warily around her more than just his meticulous nature.

“For what it’s worth, I understand your sentiments, Milord,” Tarah replied with a knowing look.

Ezekiel let out another sigh before he instructed everyone who went with him in the battle to rest. Meanwhile, those who didn’t join the ambush were ordered to attend to the captives and do what was needed for their comfortable stay.

Once all was said and done, the prince introduced her to an Ebodian mage healer named Jayra and asked the latter to help Tarah get settled. However…

“I would like to also help tend to the wounded, Your Highness,” Tarah politely requested.

Hearing her request, Ezekiel nodded in agreement. All help was appreciated, and it was a fortunate thing to have more healers, even if they were a tad more suspicious than most people.

As soon as Tarah left, Ezekiel turned to Jayra and said, “Look after her, Jayra. We’re not sure if she can be truly trusted.”

“I understand, Your Highness,” Jayra quickly replied, immediately moving to follow Tarah into the fray of the wounded.

Ezekiel looked at Xenia and Darius and said, “I will need to speak to the two of you.”

He walked ahead back to his tent, and the couple followed behind. As soon as they reached his tent, he promptly turned to face them.

With his eyes fixated solely on his sister Xenia, he spoke, “I’m only doing this as a precautionary measure, but you practically didn’t know anything about Tarah except for the fact that she’s a healer and a seer, right?”

Ezekiel continued, “If so, then you shouldn’t put your guard down around her. Make sure you carefully watch her every move. She’ll be your responsibility from now on.”

“Are you doubting her?” Xenia inquired.

“She has icy blue eyes,” Ezekiel murmured.

“But she doesn’t have silver white hair,” Xenia countered. “I thought those two traits should come hand in hand?”

She then added, “You know, I think it’ll be better if you’re the one to watch her carefully, Brother. I’m not good at reading people, and you should be well aware of that fact, given how often you scolded me about it back in the day.”

Hearing her reasonable proposition, Ezekiel helplessly looked at Darius and said, “Then it’ll be King Darius’s responsibility. He’s the one who suggested bringing Tarah with us as a token of his gratitude in the first place.”

“Wasn’t that what you said in the first place?” Darius scoffed. “Very well.”

Xenia suddenly frowned as she stated, “No. Why would you ask the king for such an absurd task? You should be responsible for Tarah from now on. Don’t ask Darius about such a thing.”

She then turned around with a scoff, “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be taking our leave now. I also need to talk to Darius in private, and we’re already burning daylight as it is.”

Ezekiel shook his head as he stared at his sister and King Darius’ retreating backs. He was now alone in his tent, and it seemed like there was no other choice for him but to personally look after the healer himself.

If she were Beirut’s true successor to be Ebodia’s next Seer, then she should be ascending soon. He should make sure that she was safe and well taken care of.

He called for a servant and instructed, “Make another makeshift bed inside my tent. Healer Tarah will stay here with me.”

It was the best course of action he could do. He would personally monitor her closely and see for himself if she was either Seer Beirut’s successor, the new fateful seer for Ebodia, or nothing but a hoax, and worse, a spy for Helion.

No matter what, he would not let his guard down.