Page 25 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Pel was stunned. “But you didn’t say anything about telling anyone else, either!”

Tor glanced up, brow furrowed. “Because it’s your castle. You get to decide what and when anyone else knows.”

Grimacing, Pel said, “I didn’t realize that was a blanket statement forever. I figured you weren’t interested in making it public anymore. And you showed me how not to get people pregnant, like there’d be other people in my future.”

Tor’s face was suddenly creased with amusement. “And anytime you said something that mentioned me heading off, I assumed the same thing. That you were envisioning a future without me in it.”

“Trying to face up to reality, not a preference,” Pel said, feeling suddenly even more buoyed up than just with the Tendrilling alone. “We’re kind of terrible at communicating, aren’t we?”

Tor laughed. “I thought we were doing pretty well, but clearly, we need to keep working at it.” He cleared his throat and looked a little uncertain, but then he announced, “I want to keep doing this with you. I like my future with you in it.”

Pel blew out an unsteady breath. “Me, too. I mean, with you in my future.”

Tor beamed. “Good.”

“I was scared this wouldn’t work,” Pel blurted out. “I mean, I know it works for everyone, but what if itdidn’t, or what if we weren’t compatible? You were repelled by someone, weren’t you?”

Tor nodded, his expression going serious. “I can’t for a single second imagine being repelled by you. With the lady in question, while I was physically attracted to her, I didn’t like her. I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life with her. Instead, we had the most awkward dance in the history of ever, and believe me, that was enough.”

Pel made a face. “That really must have been awkward. I feel a little bit sorry for her, though I’m definitely glad that you’re not bonded to someone else.”

It had been, after all, part of why Pel had delayed this. What if the magic had found him wanting? Having Tor repelled by him was the stuff of his nightmares.

“Wasn’t going to happen,” Tor said with a flattering amount of certainty.

Pel looked down at their still-joined hands, at the magic pulsing between them.

“I found you,” Tor said, making Pel smile involuntarily.

Because Tor had—while running away from his brother and his order to marry someone he didn’t want.

“Were you really worried your brother would force you to bond with the wrong person?”

“I know he would.” Tor’s voice was tight, his words clipped.

“Why?”

“Because that’s what he did with Ada,” Tor said in a voice that Pel almost didn’t recognize.

Pel blinked. Tor hadn’t talked about his sister terribly often, but it was clear that he loved her very much. Pel had understood that the relationship between brothers was sometimes antagonistic, but underneath it all, it was clear that Tor still loved him. And much as he complained about the man’s behavior towards Tor, Pel had never gotten the idea that High King Varex was truly either a bad king or a bad brother.

But this?

“She’s married to Prince Thurnil, isn’t she? King Stronex’s heir?” Pel asked as it slowly occurred to him that Tor had never once mentioned Princess Adexa’s husband in Pel’s hearing.

“Yes,” Tor said stiffly. “A political alliance, of course. She’s never admitted how terrible a fit it is, and Varex won’t listenwhen I try to bring it up. He still believes he made the best choice for everyone.”

Pel was silent for a moment and then ventured, “Isn’t it possible that itwasbest for the United Realms?”

“Ada is part of the realms, isn’t she?” Tor snapped, voice hard and angry.

Pel reared back, and Tor winced. He squeezed Pel’s hand.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “That wasn’t directed at you. I understand the idea behind political alliances as much as I’m uninterested in making one. It’s just… There are different ways to forge alliances. It wasn’t like we were on the brink of war with Lotar. Yes, continuing to ensure peace is important, but we’ve been at peace for more than twenty-five years. We’re the United Realms. We don’thaveenemies right now. But it’s like Varex fixed on one solution and didn’t listen to any other viewpoints.”

“Maybe he didn’t realize it was a bad match?” Pel tried.

Tor’s expression was mutinous. “I only had to look at them to know that it was a terrible choice. Does being king mean completely forgetting how to be a brother?” Tor’s face was etched with lines of distress. “Being repelled by someone is a terrible feeling. All you want to do is get away from them. I put up with it forone dance. Can you imagine what that would be like constantly with your bonded? What does that even do to a relationship?”