Chapter Twenty-One #2
And then they just… walked into the hallway, like they were supposed to be there. Pel had done that before, of course, but he hadn’t been walking with this group of people.
King Varex was leading the way, and they were soon in more public areas of the castle. When they crossed paths with a guard, the High King demanded in his most imperious tone that the captain of the guard meet them in the throne room.
The man bobbed a bow.
“Right away, You Majesty.”
Well, it seemed like they were either going to get what they wanted… or have a battle in the throne room.
And if that were going to happen, Pel definitely had the people he wanted by his side for such an event.
Beside him, Tor murmured, “We never did get to destroy a throne room.”
His brother snorted a laugh. “Peace, Tor. We’re trying to achieve peace.”
Tor grumbled, and the group relaxed a little at the banter.
The throne room looked much as Pel vaguely remembered, large and a bit ostentatious, as they all were. Had everyone consulted before they built their castles? Was it the inevitable model?
He wondered if Tor would be willing to consider different options—assuming they sorted everything out with King Varex. Everything seemed quite promising now… but they had still technically committed treason.
They strode collectively to the front of the room and then turned to array themselves.
High King Varex was at the head, and he’d gone up two steps with Queen Fernila and the baby, though none of them were seated on the throne.
Then there was King Stronex with Prince Torex and Princess Adexa down one step, and below them were Pel with Princess Terila and Prince Rinil on the other side.
Pel was on the outer edge so that he could nock an arrow if he needed to. Beluna was to their left a few steps forward at ground level, hand resting on the pommel of her sword.
They were kind of a mess, to be honest. Pel still had blood on him, most of them could use a bath, and it had been a very trying few days. But they’d defeated a conspiracy, were armed to the teeth, and definitely weren’t going to put up with any nonsense today.
The doors were thrown open and the man Pel assumed was the captain of the guard entered. His steps checked for a moment when he saw them, but then he made his way all the way across the floor until he was standing in front of them.
“Yes, Your Majesties?” He bowed, eyeing the crowd like he couldn’t quite figure out where to look. If they counted Cala, he was faced with nine members of four different royal families. “Your Highnesses?”
“There has been great upheaval,” High King Varex intoned solemnly. “What is your name?”
“I am Idun, Your Majesty.”
“And you’re the captain of the guard?”
Idun shook his head. He looked to be about Pel’s age and height. But he had blond hair so bright it was almost white, and pale blue eyes. Right now, they were wide with alarm that he seemed to be trying to hide.
“No, Your Majesty. We couldn’t find the Captain or his second-in-command. I’m third in command of the guard.”
Pel was sure he wasn’t the only one wondering if they were dead in either the dungeon or the sitting room. Time would tell, he supposed.
“I will be blunt, Idun,” High King Varex declared.
“High Queen Fernila, High Princess Cala, and I have been held here against our will and tortured by Nostex in an attempt to steal my Fealty and take over the United Realms. Nostex has failed, and he is dead. We would like the lockdown to be lifted, and we would like to have free egress from the castle. Do you have a problem with that order, Idun?”
The man gulped. “Absolutely not, Your Majesty.”
Only a fool would answer anything else.
King Varex continued. “We had to fight our way to freedom, and Nostex is not the only casualty. As long as everyone’s behavior remains exemplary, I’m willing to provisionally accept that all the conspirators in this plot were killed.
Should anyone’s behavior indicate lingering disloyalty, I would be happy to revisit the question. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Princess Adexa traveled with several guards, and two accompanied me as well. There may have been a misunderstanding that led to some of them being incarcerated. I wish them found and sent to us.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“See to it at once.”
Idun bowed deeply, whirled around, and made it out of the room at a very fast walk. Pel was pretty sure he would have run if he’d thought he could get away with it.
“You know,” Tor said conversationally, once the door had closed behind the man, “there are actually moments where I’m very glad you’re the High King.”
Prince Rinil turned a laugh into a very unconvincing cough. Tor smirked at his brother, who smiled back at him.
“It should have some uses, shouldn’t it?” the High King said placidly. “Shall we go see if we can leave?”
It turned out to be as easy as walking out the front door. Most of the guards had already disbanded, and any they encountered bowed extra low when they saw them. Under other circumstances, Pel might feel bad for the groveling, but just at the moment, he was relieved.
It was daylight outside.
Pel had known that time was passing, but somehow, it had felt like the night that wouldn’t end. He hoped the rising sun dawning on a new day was a good omen for what was to come.
There was still so much to figure out, but this was a great way to start.
Apparently, they were heading back inside, though.
Tor rolled his eyes at his brother. “Really?”
“Would you like to travel with no supplies for the baby? I assure you, it doesn’t go smoothly at all.”
Tor made a face. “Yeah, no, that actually makes a lot of sense. Let’s get ready properly.”
Fernila looked uncertain. “I think we’d be more comfortable in the carriage. It’s better for the baby.”
Pel was well aware of how Tor felt about carriages and the people who rode in them, but all he said was, “That’s a good idea. I can see to that.”
Prince Rinil nudged him. “You can go say goodbye to Nawila. I’ll go check on the carriage.”
Tor made a face, but he didn’t try to argue, and Prince Rinil and Princess Terila headed off to the stables.
Maybe Pel wasn’t the only one who didn’t feel eager to go back inside the castle.
Nostex was gone, and he was the real threat, but…
there were a lot of things about the last few hours that Pel would rather forget.
“I’d like to get some fresh air,” Ada said.
She still looked unnaturally pale, but a little color had come back to her cheeks.
To the surprise of exactly no one, King Stronex said that he would stay with her. Pel was quite certain that no one would get to Ada with King Stronex watching over her. Even Tor and his anxious eyes didn’t argue this.
Beluna set off to get Denil, King Stronex’s guards, and the horses they’d left in the woods, and Tor and Pel headed back inside, along with King Varex, Queen Fernila, and the baby.
They separated once they reached the family wing, though, Tor’s family heading off to begin packing.
Pel watched tension tighten Tor’s shoulders as they approached the sitting room, but he straightened and pasted on a smile as they approached Cavun and King Stronex’s guards, who nodded at them.
“Everything went fine. We’re preparing to leave,” Tor told them.
They nodded once more, and Tor and Pel passed inside. Nawila and Pamuna were now sitting on a small couch together—faced away from the bodies—and Pamuna was sipping water while Lady Nawila watched anxiously.
They both looked up at his and Tor’s entrance.
“Out of curiosity,” Tor asked, “were you actually unconscious that whole time, or did you just decide that you didn’t want to get into the middle of it all?”
Pamuna’s cheeks went red, and Pel stifled the urge to laugh. Such an idea hadn’t occurred to him, but he couldn’t say that he blamed her.
“There was definitely a lot going on,” Tor said sympathetically. “And probably way more happening to you than you were anticipating. Did you know that Nostex was your father?”
Her face twitched, but she nodded. And then hastened to add, “I never imagined that I would get the Fealty! I don’t want it!”
“Then I’m going to tell you something that you probably don’t want to hear,” Tor said as he came to sit down across from them on the light gray couch that probably had stains in it no amount of cleaning would ever get rid of.
There was also a chunk out of one arm, probably from a sword, and one of the legs looked a little crooked. Pel sat down gingerly beside Tor. The furniture held, and he relaxed a little.
They all turned to look at Tor, waiting for his bad news.
He smiled gently at Pamuna. “That’s probably the best reason for you to have it.”
Her brow furrowed.
“King Nostex wanted power,” Tor continued. “Pel’s father started to use the Fealty in the same way, as a tool for his own benefit. But the reason we have Fealty isn’t to give us lots of power. It’s to help us protect and care for people. Do you think that’s something you can do?”
Pel could have kissed Tor, because of course, that was something she already did. Caring for an entire realm wasn’t the same as caring for a baby, but it had the same principles when you framed it like that.
Pamuna looked thoughtful and a lot less panicked than she had mere moments ago, and Lady Nawila looked rather like she wanted to kiss Tor, too.
Pel couldn’t blame her.
Tor smiled at Pamuna. “No part of this is likely to be easy, but you’re going to have Nawila with you, as well as Rin and Terila—and Solil once he gets here. Honestly, you’ll probably have way more advice than you want.”
She snorted, looking a little more relaxed, though she still sounded worried as she said, “I never expected any of this. I don’t know how to run a realm.”