5 ~IV~

Why was the temple door open? That was strange. Alaric reached out his hand and slid it open, stepping inside.

"Father?" He spoke softly.

Nothing.

From what he could tell, the temple was completely still and empty. He walked into the building and traversed over to the throne. For a moment he lay his hands on one of the armrests.

To be king.. an intriguing idea. But he wasn't sure if that was what he wanted. Turning his attention away from the throne, he decided it may be smart to check on his father to make sure everything was alright. Maybe then the uneasiness he felt would fade to a degree.

Alaric walked around the throne to the far wall where there was another sliding door. He walked up to it, being as quiet as he could with his movements as not to wake his father if he was resting. He slid the door open slowly, and as he did, he peered into the black room..

What was that smell?

It was like iron, like a forge almost, the smell filling his nostrils. As he squinted, his eyes began to adjust, and when they did his heart jumped like a hammer crashing into his rib cage.

There, on the floor, was his father, laying on his back with his throat slit wide.

Alaric felt dizzy, he stared wide-eyed at the corpse of his father, the blood soaked into his clothes. His heart felt heavy, yet, he stayed expressionless. Pain filled his mouth. Why? Oh.. it was because he'd bitten his tongue and drawn blood without realizing it. Why could he not feel the remorse he should have? Or was he and he just couldn't show it? He didn't know anymore.. he didn't understand. And for a long time, he stood in utter dead silence staring at the corpse of the king.

His mind was racing. Who could've killed him? And how? Would his father not have defended himself, he was a legendary warrior after all. How could he be defeated seemingly so easily?

Then he took not of the fact that there was no trace of blood anywhere in the room, not even below his father's body. The blood that cling to his pale skin was dried. He then took note of the fact that his father's sword leaned, sheathed, against his bedside.

This was a strange picture.

He felt a cool breeze flow into the room. His eyes raised to the window. It had been broken, from the outside it would seem. But how could that be? Outside the window was sheer drop into the raging river. So how could someone have broken in through there? And why did there seem to be no struggle? If his father went down this easy, he had to of been unconscious, but it that was the case why was he on the floor and not the bed? And where was the blood?

The glint of a metallic object caught Alaric's eye then. He looked over one of his father's desks. On it laid a blood soaked dagger, beside which was a torn open envelope.

This was all wrong, not just the fact his father was dead, but the fact that this murder was not normal by any means.

Who could've killed him..? Wait..

Esrian. He was the only other person to have been out that night, so he had to be the killer.. right? That would explain why he had seemed so troubled.. but at the same time it didn't seem like he had a guilty conscience, he just seemed.. stressed or upset.

So then who…?

The sound of scraping metal came from behind him. His eyes widened and his hand flew to his wakizashi. He spun, holding up his blade as the metallic flash of a blade flew at him. The deafening clang of the blades crashing together as he blocked the strike rang in Alaric's ears.

"Alaric.. what is this..?" It was Tanon. "Did you do this?"

"No, I-"

"Then why are you here?"

"I saw the door was open, I heard sounds outside and came to investigate!" Alaric insisted.

Tanon was silent for a moment. He glanced down at Alaric's wakizashi, seeing that it had no blood on it. Stepping back, weary, Tanon lowered his katana.

"Let me through." Alaric's elder brother spoke.

Alaric stepped aside, letting Tanon by. His brother grew pale as he observed the scene. He seemed to be in a sense of shock, rage, and denial, his jaw clenched and his muscles tensed.

After a long minute of Tanon glaring at the murder scene, he finally seemed to calm down to a degree.

"Where is the blood?" He asked, kneeling down beside their father. "Wait.."

"What is it?" Alaric asked.

Tanon held his father's cold dead hand. "One of his rings is missing."

"But what would the murderer want with an insipid ring?" Alaric asked in confusion. "That doesn't make sense. You sure father didn't misplace it?"

"No. He never took that ring off. It's strange." Tanon looked up at the king's sword. "He didn't even draw his sword.. yet he doesn't seem to of been unconscious when he was killed. There's bruising on his head, as though he'd been struck by something hard."

Now that Alaric observed closer, his brother was right. There was a slight discoloring on their father's forehead.

"You think the culprit possibly killed our father in a different location and then brought him here?" Alaric inquired.

"That would explain the lack of blood." Tanon nodded.

Alaric then reached over to the desk, grabbing the dagger.

"It seems the killer left the weapon. The reason they would've done that is anyone's guess." Alaric spoke, flipping the blade over in his hands, avoiding the blood. The blade was small, sleek and thin. Then he saw a strange inscription on the weapon's edge, though it was coated over by blood. He took the lip of his shirt and wiped the blood away, only touching as little as possible.

His eyes widened.

It was the insignia of the Sarua Clan. Was it possible that they had an intruder make it past their borders?

"Brother, look at this." Alaric spoke, handing the dagger over to Tanon. It took his elder brother a moment, but he spotted the insignia as well.

"Wait.. but that would mean this is an act of war!" Tanon growled.

"Yeah.. but.. Sarua has never taken part in any of the Clan Wars, it's always been in a peaceful solitude, so what would bring out such a drastic change in habit?" Alaric asked, doubtful.

"I don't know, but it is obvious who is to blame now. We must inform everyone. This.. this must be the shadows our father had spoke of." Tanon growled, pushing past Alaric, dagger in hand.

"But wait-" Alaric began, but Tanon seemed to be completely overwhelmed by his emotions, missing both the fact of the bashed in window as well as the envelope.

Alaric reached over and grabbed the paper. He opened it, looking inside. Nothing. Whatever had been in the envelope was gone now. He flipped the paper over seeing the seal on it. It was supposed to of been sent to the Ettra Clan.. what would their father want to do with messaging their rival clan?

None of it added up. Alaric replaced the letter and turned to leave with one last glance at his father's corpse, but then his foot struck something on the ground. Backing up, he looked down. At first he saw nothing, but when he leaned down he saw, hiding with in the inky black shadows beneath the desk was an arrow. He picked it up, observing it. The arrowhead was crimson, stained with dried blood.

Alaric glanced over his father's corpse. There were no other wounds than the cut on his throat, and there were no marks or tears in his clothing. That meant the arrow had struck someone else, most likely the killer. But how would it end up here..?

Alaric glanced at the window. Far off he could see a faint glow.. firelight. A guard tower. Now it made sense.. one of the archers must've seen the killer in the king's room and had shot, the arrow flying through the window and striking the murderer. But then why hadn't the alarm been raised?

None of it made sense!

Alaric sighed, placing the arrow beside the envelope on the desk. He'd have to show his brothers later, when everyone settled and could think clearly instead of being blinded by emotion.

Maybe it was a good thing he was numb after all, as it would seem he was the only one with an unclouded mind.

He had also decided against informing Tanon about meeting Esrian in the bamboo. He did not think Esrian would have done this. He may be a selfish prideful fool, but he loved their father above all else. Alaric could only imagine what his reaction would be when he heard the news.

He felt, at that moment, the only one out of his brothers he could confide in would be Kelden who was similarly level headed as Alaric was.

So now Alaric headed off to see his brothers, but then the sound of a hunting horn roared through the air, reverberating in Alaric's bones.

The alarms had been raised.