Chapter Ten #3
Unfortunately, all Pel’s good intentions ended when King Forex heard Tor was awake. He’d apparently drawn the line at throwing the High Prince out when he was unconscious and could perhaps be killed by such negligence.
But now that he was awake? The King actually stormed Tor’s room to lecture him on his “criminal behavior.” Pel tried to interrupt, Bavil showed up intending to intervene, and Larexa couldn’t even get a word in edgewise.
The upshot of the unnecessarily long rant was that Tor was no longer welcome in the castle or the realm.
Fortunately, Tor had a lot of experience with lectures from angry royalty, so he just let the man get on with it—despite the fact that it was seriously annoying to be propped up in bed while someone was towering over him and yelling.
Tor didn’t even try to defend himself, because while what Forex was accusing him of was outrageous, it was obvious that he wasn’t going to hear a word Tor said to the contrary. Tor’s lengthy experience in this area told him that staying quiet meant the rant or lecture would be over sooner.
Once Forex had finally reached the end of his extremely long diatribe, Tor told him that he would of course leave the castle now that he was no longer welcome. But he made sure to specify that he appreciated all the hospitality he’d been shown during his time here.
(This was Pel’s father, after all. And also, he was likely to be irritated by the politeness.)
The King huffed, blustered some more, and finally stormed off again.
Tor looked back at Pel. “Would that have been a good time to mention that you’re going with me?”
Pel grinned. “Yeah, no. In fact, I think once I’ve gone might be a better time.” He looked at Bavil and Larexa. “You can tell him, right?”
They both looked at him. “You’re just going to leave?”
Pel shrugged. “Well, I’ve not actually been told I can’t. And I think we all know Father is actually happier when I’m out of his sight. Maybe you shouldn’t say anything unless asked. He might not notice for ages.”
Tor wanted to protest this vociferously… but was pretty sure Pel had been brutally accurate. Larexa and Bavil looked embarrassed and awkward, and Tor couldn’t stand the tension.
“You’re so sneaky,” he told Pel. “You remind me of me.”
They all laughed, and Pel came over to perch on the side of Tor’s bed and slip an arm around him.
“I told you that you can’t get rid of me.”
“I’m glad,” Tor said, meaning the words to the depths of his core, where his magic was hopefully recovering from what Tor had put it through.
Pel grinned at him. “But just at the moment, I’m going to go figure out how to get us out of here.”
Tor raised an eyebrow. “On our horses?”
Pel shot him an unimpressed look. “You are absolutely not ready to ride a horse. And I am categorically stating that if I have to hold onto your unconscious self and try to make sure you don’t fall off and roll down a mountain again, I will not be responsible for my actions.”
Tor considered protesting… and thought better of it.
They needed to get out of here, and Tor wasn’t about to gallop anywhere.
Pel leaned in to kiss Tor fleetingly on the lips. “Don’t worry, I have a plan!”
Tor smiled at him fondly. “Of course you do.”
“I’ll be back. Let Beluna, Cavun, or Denil know if you need anything. I’m not sure exactly when they switch out.”
And then he was gone, and Tor was left propped up in bed, with Bavil and Larexa staring at him.
Bavil’s eyebrows had climbed up his forehead as a growing grin blossomed on his face. Larexa just looked amused—probably because she’d already seen them behave much more ridiculously.
“I take it everything is going well with the two of you.” Bavil sounded delighted.
Tor nodded. “As well as can be expected given that we nearly died a few days ago. But we were already planning to go see my brother, if you take my meaning.”
The grin widened. “Excellent.”
Larexa was beaming. “Oh, that’s so wonderful. You’re everything I ever wanted for him.”
Tor raised an eyebrow and asked pointedly, “An Extraordinary Prince?”
She flushed. “Oh, no, of course not. Someone who cares about him as much as he deserves to be cared about!”
Maybe once Tor was actually bonded with Pel, he would be allowed to step in more and try to straighten out whatever was going on with these three?
“He deserves all of the love in the entire world,” Tor told her.
She surprised him by coming to perch on the edge of the bed and envelop him in a hug.
“I’m so glad you came.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Tor agreed. “It’s been so much better than I imagined.”
Bavil laughed. “I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure you were right for him, but I thought positive attention could only be good for him. Only it turns out you’re exactly what he needs, and he was what you needed. It’s weird but great.”
They all laughed.
“It is great,” Tor agreed. “Not easy, mind, but great. And I’ll do my best to explain everything to my brother.”
Larexa smiled hopefully at him. “I’m sure you can get it straightened out.”
Tor didn’t quite share her optimism, but he’d do everything in his power to make it happen.
Watching Pel, Larexa, and Bavil had brought a few truths home about assumptions and family and miscommunication.
As much as he griped about Varex and Fernila and Yomil—and he thought many of his complaints were legitimate!
—he could acknowledge now that he hadn’t done much to try to improve the situation.
He could do better. He would do better. Because Pel was worth every effort.
This wasn’t exactly what Varex had asked for, but Tor truly believed he could show that it would actually give his brother the outcome he’d been seeking.
The healer interrupted at this point, coming to check on Tor now that he was conscious.
Tor told him that he was feeling much better and thanked him for his assistance.
The man very carefully didn’t bring up what Tor had done to strain himself so much, and Tor wondered if it had been obvious when the man examined him.
He was sure it was safer not to ask. If the man was willing to be circumspect, Tor would just be grateful.
“Would you like another boost?”
“That’s very kind of you, but you’ve done enough.” Tor smiled faintly. “Let’s make sure you’re available should anyone else need you.”
Given the foreign magic that Tor had felt swimming around in his veins after waking, the healer had given him plenty. Tor was just starting to feel a bit more normal, and he didn’t want that feeling to be buried under another person’s magic once again.
“Please make sure that you rest for several more days. You shouldn’t be overexerting yourself,” the healer told him sternly.
“I’ll do my best to rest,” Tor told him, because that was about as truthful as he felt he could be.
The man left with a slightly fatalistic look, so he’d apparently judged Tor well.
He supposed he could have told the man that Pel wouldn’t let him ride. That meant he’d be resting by comparison, didn’t it?
Tor groaned as he realized he might have inadvertently committed to another ostentatious traveling carriage.
Only it turned out that wasn’t what Pel had been thinking at all.