71. Zarek
Zarek
WARNING ME
The river shines below us, sparkling with the last of the day’s light as it curves around Detec.
I glance over at Gerard as his horse picks its way down the mountain.
Lilias examined his hoof this evening and declared that we should be able to ride into the hunting lodge tonight.
Gerard woke us up this evening grumbling and saying we should get started before we lose the light, but it seemed like it took a very long time for him and Petrys to truly pack up camp.
The stars were sparkling in the sky by the time we actually pushed out of the dense pine grove.
It was almost like neither one of them wanted to leave.
Not that I’m going to say a damn thing about it. Not to either one of them.
Gerard mutters something under his breath, then turns to me.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what happened,” he says.
He stares at me with an expression that’s probably supposed to be intimidating.
I tighten my grip on my reins to keep from laughing.
I have no idea what he hasn’t forgotten, so of course my mind fills in the single most inappropriate explanation, even though there’s no way he’s talking about what we’re all pretending didn’t happen between him and my brother.
“Right,” I say. “Well, good for you.”
He frowns at me. “I saw you do some crazy shit,” he growls. “The night we left Vsenrog.”
Oh. That. My horse plods along the thin trail we’re following out of the mountains. I flex my fingers. Magic races up my arm, then sinks back into the chain in my pocket. It feels nothing like the magic in Vsenrog, when Varitan threw chains at me and I stopped them.
No. I could use this.
Gerard snorts. “Not going to deny it?” he asks.
I roll my eyes and hope the darkness hides it. Gods, you’d think someone who got laid so recently would be in a better mood.
“Maybe I just don’t want to talk about it with you,” I say.
He snorts again. I glance back over my shoulder, wondering if Petrys is going to save me from this awkward interrogation. But Petrys is riding next to Lilias, and the two of them seem to be deep in conversation.
Great. I turn back to Gerard.
“What exactly is it you want?” I ask.
“I just—” He shifts in his saddle. “Prince Elrick should know what happened. All of what happened.”
“So you’re going to tell him?”
“Well, yes,” Gerard admits, meeting my gaze. “Unless you’re going to tell him.”
I shake my head. My horse snorts like he’s sorry I’m trapped in this conversation too.
“Fine,” I finally say.
Gerard sniffs, and our horses plod along.
The moon hangs low over the horizon, turning what’s left of the distant snowfields on the high peaks to brilliant silver.
Behind me, Lilias laughs at something my brother said.
It’s a beautiful sound. I could almost pretend we’re a group of friends out for a moonlit ride in the mountains.
Almost. I turn to Gerard. He’s staring at the reins in his hands like they’re a puzzle he’s trying to solve. It’s really none of my business, but suddenly I wonder if he has someone waiting for him. Or if what happened with my brother is going to complicate his life.
He didn’t have to warn me, I suppose. Actually, it’s a bit surprising he did.
I usually assume Gerard does whatever he can to be the biggest dick possible.
So, he probably should have waited until we were standing in front of Prince Elrick and the gods only know who else before announcing that I used some kind of horrible magic to ruin part of Vsenrog’s palace.
“Thank you,” I say begrudgingly.
Gerard frowns at me.
“For warning me,” I continue. “You could have just told Elrick what happened that night without giving me the option of sharing my side of it.”
Gerard laughs, soft and low. “Hells,” he says. “I don’t even know what happened.”
“That makes two of us,” I reply.
He looks at me like he wants to say something clever, then shakes his head and turns back to his reins.
We trudge on, through the moonlight that spills across the road.
The night grinds on forever. We take turns walking alongside the horses to give them a break, and the eastern horizon is flush with scarlet by the time we finally reach the overgrown road leading to the abandoned hunting lodge.
Birds call from the undergrowth as guards from Marion step out from their hiding places and embrace Gerard and Lilias.
Some of them even clap me on the back or shake my hand, and I’m too stunned and exhausted to react.
The last time I was here, most of the men guarding this place looked at me like they were waiting for me to turn my back so they could sink a dagger into it.
Perhaps it’s just my association with the princess that has them offering me some sort of welcome.
I swallow hard as the hunting lodge looms in front of us. Smoke rises from the chimneys, and the courtyard is filled with a jumble of animals squawking and grunting in hastily made pens. A row of canvas tents sits behind the lodge. Roosters welcome the dawn as the guards push ahead of us.
The massive double doors of the hunting lodge swing open, and Elrick, ruler of what’s left of Marion, walks into the courtyard with his wife at his side.
“That’s the prince?” Petrys asks, under his breath.
I nod and clench my jaw. Perhaps Elrick won’t remember that I accused him of selling his sister to Prince Laurance for an alliance with Ethiria.
“He’s wearing an apron,” Petrys whispers.
I noticed. Elrick wipes his hands on the apron tied around his waist as he crosses the courtyard, beaming at his sister.
Lilias runs to him, and they embrace. His wife, Anura, glances at me with a decidedly cool expression on her face.
I feel slightly ill. The last time I talked to that woman was here at the hunting lodge.
When I threw an empty wine bottle at her feet because she said I love Lilias.
Wonderful. Elrick turns toward me. He’s smiling like he’s actually happy to see me, and there’s a streak of something white on his cheek. Flour? That’s absurd.
And then the prince of Marion throws his arms around me. I freeze, my back stiff as Elrick hugs me. He pulls back and pats my shoulder. The man is still beaming at me. And I think that really is a streak of flour on his face.
“Gods above,” Elrick says. “It’s good to see you, Zarek!”
Petrys makes a sharp, sudden sound like he’s choking. Elrick turns to him.
“And this is?” Elrick asks.
“Petrys,” I stammer. “My—friend. A friend. From Dungal.”
“Your Highness,” Petrys says, bowing low before Elrick.
Elrick laughs, then claps Petrys on the shoulder too.
“Welcome,” Elrick says. “Welcome, to both of you.”
I frown. Did the prince of Marion hit his head when he was escaping Ethiria? Has he somehow forgotten all the shit I pulled the last time I was here?
“Your generosity is much appreciated,” Petrys replies, formal and deferential.
Elrick laughs again. “Generosity? Hells. We’d all be prisoners of Vsenrog if it weren’t for Zarek,” he says, giving me another smile that makes me feel like I’ve slipped into some sort of upside down and backwards world. “Did he tell you what happened?”
Petrys smiles politely, waiting for the nobleman to continue. At least one person in my life is still acting normal.
“Well, there’ll be plenty of time for that,” Elrick says. “Come in, come in. Breakfast is almost ready, and I can’t wait to show it off. Anura’s been teaching me how to bake bread.”
I try to turn my gasp of shocked disbelief into a cough with mild success. Elrick grins at me like he knows what I’m thinking.
“Come on now,” Elrick says, with a grin. “Even a prince has to be good at something.”
Anura smiles as she hits him lightly on the arm, then tugs him toward the hunting lodge. I stand in the courtyard, frozen in place, as I watch them walk inside.
“Interesting in-laws,” Petrys finally says.
I exhale in a huff. “Come on,” I say. “Let’s get this over with.”
And we walk inside to see what kind of bread the ruler of Marion has made for breakfast.