31. Zarek
Zarek
A MOUSE STARING DOWN A CAT
They aren’t even pretending this is a tour.
I thought Prince Laurance would ride with us to the coast and bore us to tears with more diatribes about how fantastic and brilliant he is.
But he didn’t show up, which left me feeling strangely unsettled as we led our horses out of the stables, escorted by a few more royal guards than I would have thought necessary.
I’m clearly not the only one who found the whole situation unsettling.
Elrick’s three guards kept their hands on their swords, and even his wife, Anura, looked like she was watching for possible escape routes.
The guards from Ethiria outnumber us, but Elrick’s men look pretty tough.
I think we can take them, if we have to.
So far, though, the guards have seemed more interested in keeping us from going back to the palace than trying to murder us.
Every time I turn toward the road and wonder what in the gods’ many names is happening to my wife right now, one of Ethiria’s guards puts his hand on the pommel of his sword and scowls.
Fine. I’ll play nice.
We’ve stopped for lunch at a bluff overlooking Ethiria’s jagged coastline.
We’re close enough to the falls to see the way the afternoon sun turns the mist into rainbows, and close enough to the rocky shoreline far below to catch the occasional whiff of salt and fish.
Shorebirds wheel and cry in the air past the cliffs, lending their lonely voices to our sad picnic of hard cheese and bread.
Elrick’s guard Gerard is attempting to chat with a few of our surly escorts, and Anura is talking in hushed tones with the two other guards from Marion. Elrick is pacing along the top of the cliff, stopping occasionally to frown at the ocean in a way that reminds me of Lilias.
I come to my feet and pretend to stretch. No one looks my way. Slowly, I walk toward the prince of Marion.
His back is turned toward me, and his cloak billows in the wind coming off the ocean. I clear my throat as I approach him. He glances at me, then back to the waves. When he starts walking again, I walk with him.
“Zarek,” he finally says.
It’s not exactly a question. I glance over my shoulder. Gerard is still busy with those fucks from Ethiria. No one is watching us.
“Prince Elrick,” I reply.
He looks at me. Gods, his face reminds me of Lilias. My fingers curl around the pommel of the dagger tucked in my belt.
“Did you know?” I ask in a low voice.
“Know what?”
“Last night the guards said Laurance is going to marry Lilias.”
He stops walking. Shock ripples across his face. If this is an act, it’s damn convincing.
“Was that your doing?” I ask.
“What in the nine hells are you talking about?” Elrick snaps. He glances down at my hand wrapped around my dagger, then glares at me. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m not—”
“If you hurt me,” he says, “you know she’ll never forgive you.”
I grit my teeth.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I growl. Unfortunately, my mind adds. “I just want to know exactly how badly you’ve fucked us all over. So, is this part of your plan? Did you meet with Laurance last night and sell my wife to Ethiria?”
Elrick sighs, then pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Zarek,” he says, somehow managing to make my name sound like an insult. “She’s my sister. She said she wants to stay married to you. The gods only know why, but I’m not going to mess with that.”
My mouth falls open. I slam it shut and keep scowling at the prince of Marion.
“Furthermore,” he says, glaring at me, “I wouldn’t sell off my own family. This isn’t Vsenrog.”
He glances over his shoulder, then back to me.
“And, if I remember correctly,” he continues, “coming to Ethiria was your brilliant idea, not mine. So maybe you’re the one who suggested Laurance should marry my sister? Maybe you’re the one getting something out of it?”
I stare at him. Wind gusts over the edge of the cliffs, carrying the heavy scent of low tide. Bird cries echo off cold stone.
“What?” I finally manage to snap.
Footsteps hit the grass behind me. I turn to see Gerard jogging over to us, one hand on his sword.
“Everything okay over here?” Gerard asks as he joins us at the cliff’s edge.
He glares at me in a way that makes it clear the only thing that might be wrong is my presence. Or possibly my very existence.
“You—” I stammer, turning back to Elrick. “You can’t possibly believe that.”
“The only thing I believe,” Elrick says in a low voice, “is that coming to Ethiria was a mistake.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to think you’re right about that one,” Gerard agrees. “And hey, whose idea was that anyway?”
He turns to me with a look that says this entire situation is my fault, and I let myself imagine how incredibly satisfying it would be to finally punch that jackass right in the teeth.
“Anyway,” Gerard says. “They’re letting us head back now. So, let’s pack up.”
Elrick nods. Before he can follow Gerard, I grab his arm. He glares at me.
“I would never hurt Lilias,” I say under my breath.
Elrick pulls out of my grip and then brushes his arm, like I’ve gotten it dirty.
“Well, that makes two of us,” he snaps.
And then he turns and walks back to his wife and guards, leaving me alone on the very edge of the world.
The sun is sinking into the ocean by the time we reach the little town nestled in the valley below the palace of Ethiria, and it’s almost dark by the time we reach the palace gates.
All the windows in the palace shine with candlelight, which makes the skin on the back of my neck pull tight.
Something about the looming castle gates makes me feel like a mouse staring down a cat.
The guards lead us through the gates, and I immediately scan the courtyard for Lilias. Not that I expect her to be waiting to greet me, of course. Still, I’ll feel better once I see her. A lot better.
A large guard with a thin smile walks toward Elrick.
“Welcome back, your lordship,” he says as he takes the reins of Elrick’s horse.
That panicked feeling climbs to the back of my throat. The guard is smiling widely, but there’s something hard in his eyes, like there’s a dagger hidden up his sleeve.
Elrick dismounts with a smile. If the guard’s shallow bow and mildly offensive greeting bother him, he doesn’t show it.
“Thank you,” Elrick says.
“If you will follow me,” the guard says in a tone that makes it sound less like an invitation and more like an order.
Elrick’s smile fades. His lips press together and he nods curtly. Behind him, Anura and his men-at-arms dismount. Gerard glances at me with a strange, nervous expression, almost like he’s asking me what in the hells is going on.
Shit. If Gerard is scared enough to forget how much he despises me, things are bad.
I’m the last to dismount, and I hand my reins to a stable boy wearing a strangely formal outfit, the light green and gold of Ethiria’s seal shining across his chest in the lamplight that flickers through the open door. I suspect he’s not dressed up for us.
My throat pulls tight as we follow the guard into the castle. He leads us into the same shabby reception room where we waited for Prince Laurance yesterday. Lilias sits in a chair by the window. She jumps to her feet when we enter, relief washing over her features.
Something inside my chest twists. I wish I could pretend the look on her face is for me.
But she rushes to her brother. I step back, giving her space as she embraces Elrick. The only one who seems to notice my presence is the guard; he moves sideways, so his massive body fills the open door behind him.
And then the guard pulls the door shut. Elrick turns from Lilias to the guard.
“Are you joining us for dinner?” he asks.
“I’ll be here,” the guard grunts, giving us an unpleasant smile. “To keep you safe.”
Gerard gives me that look again, a sharp, wide-eyed glance, and I only barely manage to stop myself from dropping my hand into my jacket to touch the dagger strapped to my chest. Elrick clears his throat.
“Lovely,” he declares.
With that, the prince of Marion sits down at the table.
The rest of us follow his lead. We stare at each other awkwardly until a servant brings a strange dinner of what looks suspiciously like castoffs from a larger, more elegant feast. The guard stands with his back against the door the whole time, blocking the room’s only exit with his arms crossed over his massive chest and a nasty gleam in his eyes that makes me think he’s really hoping we try to cross him.
Once the dinner dishes are cleared, two of the guards who escorted us to the cliffs enter the room to guide us to our rooms. Elrick starts to say that won’t be necessary, but after a few words, he seems to recognize the futility of arguing with any of this, and his voice falls silent.
We follow the guards up and up, back to our rooms on the fourth floor. We stop at Elrick and Anura’s room first, then the room Elrick’s men-at-arms are sharing, and finally the smaller and rougher room assigned to my wife and me.
My jaw clenches as the guard slams the door behind us.
“Damn it,” I whisper under my breath.
Lilias walks to the darkened window. She looks at the sheer drop to the courtyard below, then turns to me with wide eyes. She doesn’t speak, but the question on her face is as clear as the dawn.
How in the hells are we getting out of this?