Prologue:

Aikka walked through the palace on Nourasia, the sun was setting which cast a pinkish glow on the walls. It had been one year since the Great Race of Oban had ended, though he faced hardships during that time, he decided it was better than what was currently happening, other than one detail, his fiancé.

He entered the bedchamber, there was only a bed in the open, the dresser, wardrobe and other such items were against the walls so no possible assailant could hide behind them and wait for the occupant, in this case the King of Nourasia, to sleep. The windows were barred and he checked under the bed and inside the wardrobe, revealing no one.

Since his father, King Lao, had died about six months ago, and his mother, Queen Nori, had refused to rule alone, or remarry, Aikka had been crowned King, despite being young and unmarried.

He saw a small picture of himself on the dresser next to the bed, it wasn’t his bedchamber, it was his fiancée Luna’s.

Luna had reported to him that she felt odd sleeping in there, she felt threatened, so he had taken her chamber for the night and she his. He felt fine with it, especially since only they knew in case of an assailant in the castle, and he had no threats on him yet, which gave him an odd feeling, why was Luna feeling threatened?

He slipped his armor off and threw on a light white robe he had brought with him. He put his dagger next to the picture of himself and laid down in the bed, then he heard the stealthy scratching sound. He heard it once and wasn’t sure if he had imagined it, he was tired, or if it had been there.

He put it out of his head and threw the covers over his body and was ready to sleep, when he heard it again, nearby.

He sat up and grabbed his dagger and got out of bed. He drew the blade and put the tip of the blade under the pillow and lifted it up slowly to reveal a scorpion with tail reared back. Had he laid his head upon the pillow it would have struck.

It saw him and reared back to leap forward and strike when he withdrew his blade, allowing the pillow to fall back, and he slammed the flat of his blade on top of the pillow repeatedly, crushing the scorpion into a crushed heap and red stain on the sheets and pillow.

Canaan ran in and expected to find Luna, but found Aikka and saw the mess, “What happened?”

“Someone put a scorpion under Luna’s pillow, someone tried to kill her. It’s good she wanted to swap rooms for the night, she felt threatened in here.” Aikka replied.

“But this room is guarded all day until evening when the chambers are locked down, so how did someone sneak that in?” Canaan wondered.

Aikka walked to the window and tugged on one bar, it came loose and off, “Someone cut through them and replaced them, that’s how the assailant got in.” Aikka told Canaan.

“But why would someone want to kill Luna, not you? Surely this was an attempt at her life, you would have been a swifter target to execute surely.” Canaan said.

“I know, that’s what bothers me.” Aikka replied as he stripped the bed bare of its sheets and pillow, all that was stained, “We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

“I’ll position a guard at each of your doors and take a look at the windows in your chamber and take care of these bars before I go.” Canaan told Aikka.

He nodded and wondered, Why would Luna be the target? What importance does she have other than my fiancé?