Chapter 5
Before we got moving, Pink came up to the window on a horse and said, “Francis is going to drive since—”
I had to stop him. “Who’s Francis?”
“Oh, um…” He glanced toward the front of the carriage. “He’s wearing blue?”
“Ah. The one who’s nuts were crushed by an angry citizen.” I nodded since that made sense. “Yeah, that’s fine if he needs to sit up there.”
“His horse is tied to the back, and the rest of us will ride alongside the carriage. I assume we’re going to the castle?”
Not that I wasn’t glad that the color boys weren’t attacking to rescue their prince, but why weren’t they attacking to rescue their prince?
“That’s the plan,” I said with a nod. “How long will that take, do you think?”
He shrugged. “About three days. Assuming we’ll stop each night?”
“Oh, no. Let’s take breaks as often as the horses need them.” I assumed that a long journey by horse was very different than one by car. They had to need breaks for water and food and getting some dumbass off their backs for a while. “You know when that’ll be, right?”
“Yes, of course.” He gave me a look like he couldn’t imagine why I didn’t know.
“Alright then, let’s get going.”
He’d said all of that without actually looking at me, but now he met my gaze. “By the way, we’re citizens, too.”
I frowned at him. “What?”
“You said a citizen hurt Francis. Well, we’re citizens, too.”
I cocked my head at him. “And you understand why someone could lump the four of you in with Prince Do-Nothing here, right? I mean, what were you even doing out there in that Field of Whatever-it’s-Called?”
Pinky flicked a glance at the prince and gulped a bit. “Racing.”
“Racing?”
He nodded, looking contrite at least. “We wanted to see who was faster, us on horses or Sol, er, His Highness flying.”
I did a slow pan to stare at Solaris. “Not playing, huh?”
He put his nose in the air. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“And yet you just said something to me.” I looked back out the window. “Tell Blue to get going, Pinky.”
He got a sour lemon look on his face. “He’s Francis and I’m Nicholas.”
“Sure. Frank and Nick. Whatever. Go away.”
I couldn’t get over the fact that these idiots were out there messing around instead of doing the work needed to break the curse. For three fucking years! So, no, I wasn’t going to show any respect. That would have to be earned.
In a few moments, the carriage jerked and started rolling forward.
It kind of rocked back and forth, which was either going to lull me to sleep or make me seasick.
I’d just have to wait and see on that. In the meantime, I tucked the hilt of the sword under my ass to keep it away from Solaris and picked up the bundle of cloth from the floor.
Lars had gotten two sets of clothes for me—hopefully, they would fit.
If they didn’t, I could wash and rewear what I had on, but I’d like to be less conspicuous at the very least. There was also a sack of dried meat and fruits, a big wedge of cheese, and two loaves of bread.
One canteen held water and the other was beer.
It seemed like enough for the two of us on a three-day journey, so I hoped the others had their own supplies.
I didn’t bother asking if Solaris needed anything since he’d been in the pub eating and drinking just fine not long ago.
Setting that aside, I checked what I had in my backpack. My water bottle was empty—should’ve filled that—and the only food I had was the trail mix Bridge had made for us all.
And now I was wondering again what might’ve happened to my friends.
I felt pretty confident that they weren’t anywhere near here.
If they were, they’d have run from the fire and found that town, too.
Could it be that the few minutes between Milo and Bridge and then me and Zalman going through that fairy ring sent us to different places?
But Zalman hadn’t landed on Solaris with me or been anywhere nearby either and we’d gone through at the same time.
“If people go through a fairy ring at the same time, will they end up in the same place or different places? What if there’s a few minutes between people? Could that mean they end up in different places?”
He didn’t even look at me. I shouldn’t have bothered asking aloud. Oh, well. Maybe there would be people way smarter than him I could ask once we got to the castle.
Assuming I lived through delivering the little prick. I was still a bit worried about that. Part of me was also hopeful there were people who wanted him to do whatever was necessary to break the curse. I’d find out when we stopped tonight.
I was the type of person who could spend all day alone, not talking to a single soul, and be just fine with that. After what felt like a few hours—both my watch and phone were dead—it was clear Solaris was not like me at all.
He was getting twitchy, his legs restless, and the chain kept scraping on the wood floor as he moved his feet.
He stood up a couple times, but he couldn’t stand completely upright, so it only seemed to frustrate him.
At one point, he did some squats and stretched his leg muscles, making me wonder if he was going to try and make a break for it.
But all he did was sit down again with a huff.
A little part of me was fine with striking up a conversation, but I didn’t want to be the one to break the—
“Why are you doing this?” he asked with full eye contact and a wicked frown.
Well, looked like I won the silent treatment. I tried not to smile.
“Because your inaction against the curse means I’m stuck here.”
He put his nose in the air. “Just because I’m not currently doing anything doesn’t mean others aren’t.”
“Oh, yeah? While you’re out here racing, who’s doing what to break the curse?”
I knew the answer before I asked the question, and his expression said it all. He had no idea and how dare I even ask. A human questioning his authority to do nothing while his people suffered? The nerve.
“Remember when you told me there was a rumor—”
“Don’t.”
“—about Daddy wanting his boys to grow up?”
He lunged at me, but I was bigger, so when I pushed up out of my seat and grabbed his shirtfront, I took him right back onto his side of the carriage and held him there.
“I don’t think it’s a rumor,” I said right up in his face. “And I’m pretty sure you don’t think so either.”
Solaris was breathing hard, eyes scanning mine, and then he did something I hadn’t even considered. He glanced at my mouth and then licked his lips. Was he… Did he want… Excuse me?
He grunted as I pushed away from him. Sitting back down on the hilt of the sword surprised me, so I stabbed it into the floor for two reasons.
First, as a reminder for him not to come at me.
Second, to help make sure I didn’t accidentally cut my own leg.
Because I was pretty sure I wasn’t the person in this carriage who knew how to wield a sword properly.
And then I had to go and contemplate what I maybe just might’ve learned about Solaris. Were we both into men? I was gay, and now I was wondering if he was something not straight. I knew that look. I’d given it and gotten it. Nine times out of ten, that look resulted in a kiss.
I had been thinking I’d change clothes here in the carriage so that, at our first stop, I could get out looking like one of the guys. It wasn’t like I could have Solaris step out while I changed, so I’d need to—
Oh. Shit. Wait a damn minute. I rifled through the stuff Lars left me because there had better be a goddamn key or I wouldn’t be changing any— Okay. Phew! Found the key. To make it look like I totally wasn’t panicking, I went ahead and unlocked my ankle cuff.
He could close his eyes if this is too intimate.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a touch of what might be alarm.
I glanced up at him. “I’m going to change into the clothes Lars got me.”
“Oh.” He relaxed back in his seat.
“Why? What did you think I was going to do?”
“Nothing.” He went back to staring out the window.
Uh-huh. Did he think I was going to free him? It had only been a few hours.
I took my t-shirt off and felt eyes on me, but I ignored him. The shirt Lars got me was actually a little big, which was a good sign. It was a simple, rough cotton of some kind in a boring beige color. Definitely wasn’t going to have me standing out.
The pants… Well, those were interesting. They came to my knee, had a bib front panel with buttons on three sides, and the roughness of the material made me think they were going to be itchy. But they’d be less conspicuous than my jeans, so I’d give them a try.
Dropping my jeans got a tiny gasp out of him that I completely ignored.
Of course, I’d ignore that. He was my prisoner.
Only if we were roleplaying some kind of game would that power dynamic be okay.
That he looked was a compliment. That we had something in common wasn’t bad.
But while I spent half my life buttoning my new pants—there were a lot of buttons—I didn’t even peek at him.
Okay, I did peek. He was slightly flushed, gaze flicking all over me, and he even licked his lips three times. I wasn’t immune to any of that from a good-looking man. His attitude needed work, but he wasn’t hard to look at.
In another time and place, maybe we could’ve had some fun.
“You still look human,” he said with his nose in the air.
“You still look like a fairy.”
Such a grouchy face. Had he thought I’d just take his snotty comments? I match energy, buddy boy.
What little attraction might’ve been developing between us fizzled. I turned my attention to the passing scenery.