Chapter Fifteen
Tor
Now that they’d split off from Bavil and Larexa and their guards, Tor didn’t have to pretend to be a guard anymore.
Well, he was still pretending, but not with the people he was actually traveling with.
They mostly remembered to call him Rinil, and Tor prayed that he’d be able to tell his best friend a really funny story one day.
In each interaction, Tor could see how close Pel, Beluna, Cavun, and Denil had become.
They’d traveled for days together while Tor was unconscious, and it showed.
Tor was almost relieved to see that Pel still couldn’t cook while Denil was best at it.
He didn’t like the idea that he’d missed so much, nor the strain he’d placed on his companions.
He was awake and well now, and they all deferred to him, though there honestly wasn’t much for him to do. They were all accustomed to moving quickly and quietly and not drawing attention to themselves, although now they were all riding instead of using boats.
It took almost two days on the Great Road to reach the bridge that connected Bessar to Filon.
Denil and Beluna scouted ahead to ensure there was no unusual activity on the bridge.
They’d wondered if it would be monitored, but there didn’t appear to be any guards present observing the people who crossed over.
Tor wondered if this meant that Nostex had nothing to do with any of this—or if he was just too good at hiding his tracks. It would likely occasion comment if the border were suddenly being carefully scrutinized.
Nevertheless, they went over the bridge as twilight was setting in and they were less likely to be easily observed (but not at full dark which might have been viewed as suspicious if someone was watching). They skirted Fila entirely, heading south where the land was forested.
Tor was still itching to get to Ada in Lotar, but he knew it would be foolish not to investigate while he was here.
They were all helmeted and ready with a story of heading to Lotar for Prince Bavil of Tond if they were questioned, and otherwise, they were trying to ride as casually as possible while actually bristling with tension.
Finally, they decided to set up camp for the night. That was a perfectly reasonable thing for people to do, after all, and if it happened to give them a place from which to easily sneak out and surveil the castle, that wasn’t something they would advertise.
Three hoots like a barred owl cut through the air as they made their way through the forest, and Tor catalogued the call automatically. Unknowns approaching.
He checked himself. Or perhaps it was just a barn owl settling into the forest for the night?
But… his group was approaching just the place that he’d determined they should set up for the night.
He tugged off his helmet and brought his hands up to make the nut hatch’s call followed by one hoot. Stand down. Friends.
Beluna, Denil, Cavun, and Pel had all turned to look at him. Pel had an arrow nocked because he was smart like that, and Beluna had her hand on her sword.
There was a rustle ahead of them, and a figure appeared, scarcely visible in the gathering dark. Tor was leaping off his horse before he even recognized what he was doing, and striding forward to fling himself into his best friend’s arms even as cries of alarm went up.
“For the goddess’s sake, Tor, everyone told me you were dead!” Rin was squeezing him so hard that for a moment, Tor couldn’t breathe. He hugged the man back just as hard, relishing the crushing embrace.
Tor had absolutely no idea why his best friend was in the forests of Filon instead of in Vayrin or back in Alossa, but he didn’t care. Finding a friendly face here at a moment when Tor basically didn’t know who to trust or what to believe was the most amazing surprise.
Reluctantly pulling back, Tor asked, “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” Rin demanded, sounding incredulous. “What are you doing here? I’ve spent days thinking you were dead. What in the name of the goddess is going on?”
Melody interrupted them, pushing forward to nudge his face into Rin’s chest hard enough to send him back a step.
Tor grinned, unable to help himself. “Would you believe that it’s a really long story?”
Rin laughed even as he began to pet Melody, displaying his biceps. They really were impressive, but Pel’s proportions were more pleasing to Tor these days.
To the horse, Rin said, “Yes, yes, I’m a terrible person. It’s so good to see you again! I’m sorry I was gone for so long.” To Tor, he added, “Yes, I would definitely believe it’s a long story. All right, come back to camp. Everyone will want to see you.”
They all dismounted and followed Rin to where a camp had been set up. There were a couple of tents, a picket for the horses, and more people than Tor expected, including—
Tor rushed over to Pamuna, who immediately started crying when she saw him. Her dark hair was tied back in a braid, and her skin was too pale. He wrapped her up in a hug even as he demanded urgently, “Is Cala all right?”
Pamuna was sobbing now, but thankfully, Nawila stepped up to them and assured him, “She’s fine. I found Pama, and got both of them to your brother.”
Something coiled tight inside of Tor abruptly relaxed. He hadn’t allowed himself to consider any other possibility, but that wasn’t the same as knowing that his favorite baby was alive and well.
“Thank the goddess,” Tor breathed.
“But Torex.” Nawila was looking at him with confused awe. “It was after your shield went blood red and burst. How are you here?”
Pamuna was still clinging to him, and Tor continued to pat her back and try to soothe her.
“It’s a really long story,” he admitted ruefully. “That I would definitely like to share with everyone. Uh, Pamuna, not trying to be rude or anything, but do you think you could sob all over Nawila instead of me?”
She sniffed and pulled away from him, her cheeks pink. “I’m so sorry.”
Pel kicked him in the leg, and Tor grimaced. Nawila came to slip an arm around Pamuna, who settled comfortably against her.
“No, hey, that came out wrong. Obviously, I’m always delighted to have women clinging to me.”
Pel kicked him harder, and Tor cleared his throat. “No, wait, that came out wrong, too.”
Looking thoroughly exasperated, Pel told him, “I think you should shut up and introduce me.”
“How am I supposed to shut up and introduce you?” Tor wanted to know.
The weird tension and awe around the clearing diminished somewhat, a few smiles peeking out, as Tor realized there were way more people present than he’d noticed at first.
He cleared his throat. “Right. Hello, everyone. Let me start by introducing Prince Pel of Tond. To make a long story extremely short, he and I are bonded, and after what happened in the nursery, his magic sustained me when I used all of my own. He got me to a healer, some other totally amazing things happened, and now I’m here, uh, checking up on what’s going on. ”
That seemed like an adequate summary until he figured out what they were doing here.
Rin was goggling at him. “You’re bonded? To Prince Pelun?”
Tor flashed him a grin that had enough of a warning in it that he would know that Tor was serious. “Yes, because the most asinine plan ever somehow had the most wonderful results that I could ever ask for. And Pel was way more forgiving than I deserve.”
“He comes up with terrible plans to rescue himself from bad situations, but fortunately, he has other redeeming features,” Pel said, looking both annoyed and fond at the same time, which was impressive. “Good manners aren’t one of them, either. I’m assuming you’re Sir Rinil?”
Rin nodded. Tor could have kicked himself.
“Yes, sorry, that’s me, being terrible. Everyone, this is Prince Pel.
Oh, and our friends, Beluna, Cavun, and Denil, who’ve been making sure that I stay in one piece even when I’m unconscious.
” He gestured at each of them. They were clustered around him, and while they didn’t have their hands on their swords, they were still on high alert, because Tor hadn’t explained anything yet.
He hastened to continue the introductions.
“Pel, let’s see, you’ve met Rin now. That’s Nawila, another member of my troop, if I still have a troop. Pamuna, Cala’s nurse.”
There were three people that he didn’t recognize but who looked like guards, and then two people that he did, but it took him a minute to actually concede that they were really there and it wasn’t simply in his mind.
“And you probably already know King Stronex and Princess Terila, but, uh, maybe you don’t, Beluna, Cavun, and Denil, and they seem to be here, too. ”
What in the name of the goddess were they doing here?
He eyed King Stronex and felt his stomach drop. “Ada isn’t in Lotar, is she?”
The man’s face was expressionless, mouth bracketed with stress lines, whole body tight with tension. “No. She received a letter from your brother. They fled here after the attack in Nexa, and he wanted her with them. I had reservations but was overruled. Thurnil escorted her.”
Tor’s jaw clenched. “If he had anything to do with this, I’m going to kill him!”
Pel nudged him in the side, at which point Tor realized that he’d just spat that at the man’s father.
Stiffly, Stronex said, “If he has harmed Princess Adexa, you will have to get in line.”
What? Tor blinked at the man, who looked extremely serious. Tor was going to unpack that later, but now they had more pressing issues.
“It seems like we’re probably here for the same reason,” Tor theorized. “I’d like to pool our knowledge and come up with a plan.”
They all nodded agreement. They took a few minutes to take care of the horses, redeploy the guards—including Tor’s—to keep watch, and then settle around the small fire to plot.