Chapter 41 #2
Benny winces. ‘Shit. Sorry. Of course. Have you been able to see Kay again?’
I shake my head. ‘I’ve been hoping for more slips to see her, but nothing’s come yet.’
On several evenings before dinner, I’ve lain on the bed, trying to force my Raven Sight so I can see her, but nothing has happened.
‘It doesn’t seem like I can summon the power at will,’ I admit.
Benny grimaces in solidarity. ‘So … William. What is it you wanted to ask?’
I let out a sigh. ‘Do you think I can trust Kyor with it? With him seriously considering joining the rebellion, I feel like I can finally tell him. That I can trust he won’t tell his father. But I have to be sure. Completely. This is my brother’s life on the line here.’
Benny draws in a slow inhale, which he exhales with a rush of air. ‘That’s kind of a question that only you can answer, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, possibly,’ I agree. ‘But you trusted him enough to tell him about the rebels. About their ultimate plan to overthrow Korvane.’
‘On one level, yes.’ Benny is slow with his words.
Tentative. As if he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing.
Something tells me this was the same way he discussed manners with Kyor last night.
‘We discussed a lot of the problems, but the reality is he already knew much of what I was telling him about why people are angry and why it has to change. Besides, saying things out here is different. When he’s back in Morathka – under his father’s influence again – we can’t know for certain what he’ll do.
I haven’t told him names, places, or plans, and it may be that he never finds out too much detail. ’
‘Plausible deniability?’
‘Yeah, but also for the safety of everyone involved.’
I nod slowly. ‘That makes sense. The thing is…’ I clench and unclench my fists, surprised by the tension rippling through me.
‘The thing is I spoke to Magnus about breaking the vow. I didn’t tell him what it was about – I couldn’t, obviously – but he said that it’s fairly straightforward, and all we need is for everybody who took the vow to agree to break it. ’
The two men look at me.
‘You’re asking for our permission,’ Ruben says eventually. ‘Magical permission.’
‘Yeah. I guess that’s what I’m doing,’ I say.
The pair exchange a lingering look before returning their attention to me.
‘Rose,’ Benny says softly. ‘This was always your secret, not ours. I can’t speak for Ru—’ He stops.
‘Actually, scrap that. I think I can. With this, I can. We didn’t need to take a vow to keep your secret.
To keep William’s secret. We would’ve done it, anyway.
That’s not to say I don’t get why you felt you had to, but whatever you want, vow or no vow, you’ve got it from us, right? ’
He looks at his boyfriend, who nods in agreement. ‘Always. We’re in this for you. We … uh … release you, and us, from the vow, if that’s what you want.’
Benny nods. ‘Yep. We release you.’
‘Thank you.’
The tension in me relaxes, just a little. While I can’t know for sure, I suspect that their part is done. I just need to speak to Caz again and the vow will be broken and I’ll be free to tell Kyor – and Magnus – about William.
But which one would I tell first?
William is Magnus’s grandson. He knows about Kay, but to hear he has a grandson too … I can imagine how ecstatic he would be.
But Kyor is the love of my life and the one I’ve been hiding it from deliberately and for far longer.
I guess who I tell first is a question for me to mull over on the way back, as it looks like Stefan is finally drawing us to a stop. I’ve absolutely no idea where we are, so I’ll just have to trust that he does.
‘Okay,’ Stefan starts. ‘Ruben, Benny, you guys and Fen should head over there. If our previous sessions are anything to go by, you really don’t want to get too close to the princess during this.’
‘No,’ Benny says, ‘but I promised Kyor, which means I need you well within my line of sight.’
They move away, though possibly not as far away as Stefan would like, as Stefan moves closer to me.
‘I didn’t see any big ice sculptures yesterday. Did the little princess have enough of the dramatic displays?’
‘I never intended to make a sculpture that big in the first place.’ I tell him. ‘But I’ve got good at freezing glasses of water. And jugs. And I froze our bath last night, though that was an accident.’
‘And people seriously believe you could be the future ruler of the Issen?’
I stiffen.
‘No, genuinely, I’m trying to understand.’ His voice is deceptively mild. ‘You can freeze drinking water and occasionally sabotage a bath. Is there some hidden talent we’re all missing?’
‘You don’t know anything about my abilities.’
‘You’re right. That’s why I’m asking.’ His brow furrows slightly. ‘Brida said she saw you do something. Though I’m pretty sure she must have misunderstood. She said you took the magic from something she’d created. Not altered the ice or anything. Just took the magic?’
‘She did?’ I reply innocently.
What the fuck, Brida? Apparently, my lesson about giving Stefan a wide berth and finding someone substantially better didn’t sink in the way I’d hoped.
‘When did she say this happened? And what was I doing exactly?’
I say the words as innocently as possible, wondering if Brida deliberately skipped the part of the story where she pulled a blade on me. From the frown that forms on Stefan’s face, she did.
‘That’s the thing – it was all very vague. She said she couldn’t exactly remember what you’d been doing, but it was definitely using magic.’
‘Huh. Does she normally have problems remembering things?’ I feel a flicker of guilt at making her sound crazy, particularly after the sort-of bonding session of our last meeting.
‘No, she doesn’t.’ He draws in a long breath and looks around. ‘You know, on second thought, I’m going to give you a bit more breathing room too. Make sure I’m not in the firing line.’
‘Fine by me,’ I reply, although he’s already striding away. Not in the same direction as the others though. Instead, he’s headed back the way we came. He stops fifty feet or so away.
‘I was thinking today we could perhaps try something different. A ravine maybe.’
‘A ravine?’ I question.
‘Yeah, something like this.’
With an odd look in his eyes, he lifts his hands, then ploughs them downwards while simultaneously stretching them out.