Page 35 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Yes, this would take proper planning. Tor was pretty sure he could enlist Larexa’s help to get their father to let him and Pel go back to Alossa together, but he hesitated to ask for it. It suddenly seemed more like going behind Pel’s back than it had when this all started. Tor was so glad he’d abandoned his original plan and would never have to confess to Larexa, Bavil,orPel. Pel and his siblings knew he’d come here to get away from Terila, of course, and Larexa and Bavil even knew that he’d deliberately set out to court someone else.

Pel’s siblings had been worried that Tor could hurt Pel just with that part of the plan, approaching a man who’d been hurt before and had a lot of protective armor up. Maybe they’d worried that Tor’s interest might wane before Pel’s, or perhaps they’d doubted Tor’s sincerity. Meanwhile, Tor had been blithely certain that his efforts couldn’t possibly lead to real feelings on either side that might jeopardize his goal of abandoning Pel and going back to the way things used to be.

Tor feltso muchnow that it was hard to reconcile that with his original idea. The thought of saying, “Oh, by the way, we don’tsuit” or “Turns out my brother doesn’t approve, have to go now” made a sick feeling squirm in Tor’s gut.

He was so incredibly lucky that none of that had come to pass. Pel had made him work for it, Tor had actually gotten to know him, and now he wasn’t willing to give Pel up for anything. So really, it was just Ada and Rin who knew the utter depths of his foolishness, and Tor knew he could swear them to secrecy. Then it would be like Tor had never come up with his asinine notion to begin with.

He and Pel headed back to the castle a little after lunch time, but even a training session with the guards didn’t fully settle Tor. He felt unaccountably restless, as he hadn’t since he’d arrived—which was weird, now that he thought about it. With no drinking or carousing, he would usually be bored sick. But his single-minded focus had been on Pel, and he supposed that hadn’t changed, even if his intentions had.

Maybe that was the problem. When it had just been the two of them having fun in Tond, that was one thing, but now Tor wanted to secure their future, and that couldn’t be done while they were here.

In fact, Tor had multiple obligations, and they were catching up with him. He’d promised Pel’s people that he’d bring some of their concerns to Varex, and he meant to do that. He liked so many of the people here, and he wanted them to prosper. Pel and his siblings had worked for small changes where they could, but there were more sweeping issues that would benefit from the High King of the United Realms.

As much as it annoyed Tor sometimes, Varexwasa diplomat. He’d be unlikely to change things indiscriminately, since he had to work with King Forex, but he was good at what he did.

So once they got approval to bond, Tor had more that he wanted to work on. Hopefully, they could make the living conditions better for the Tondians, and that might take care ofwhere he and Pel were living for at least a few years. Nobody would have to make any hasty decisions, and they could see how things went.

And Tor still thought traveling could be a good idea, strengthening ties between the realms, just in a different way than Varex had originally intended. That might be a compromise that would please everyone.

When Tor brought the idea up to Pel once they’d retired to Tor’s rooms that evening, he looked surprised at first, but then he nodded.

“That sounds like a good idea. I haven’t traveled much, but I’d be happy to see more of the realms—with you, of course.”

Tor grinned at him.

Pel’s look turned arch. “On the other hand, it would mean fewer orgies if I’m with you.”

Tor grabbed the other man and pushed him up against the wall, leaning in until their lips were a scant inch apart.

“There could be twelve orgies happening right next to me, and I wouldn’t notice because my hands would be down your pants,” Tor assured him.

Pel giggled, the sound morphing into a hungry noise as Tor kissed him. Pel grabbed Tor’s ass and hauled him closer. Tor groaned, delighted. He liked it so much when Pel was grabby and asserted his claim on Tor.

It took them quite a while to make it to bed, and they were both pleasantly sated when they arrived there. Tor tugged the sheet over them and twined their hands together, something they’d begun to do without thought when they were alone, their magic leaping together instantly. Pel gave a sleepy murmur of pleasure.

It was a warm and welcome point of focus for Tor, because it reminded him of everything that was different about this relationship and why it was worth fighting for. Varex didn’talways listen, but surely, he would see what was right in front of him.

All their plans were derailed by the return of Bavil and the patrol near the southern spur of the western mountains. A half dozen guards didn’t come back at all, and Pel’s brother returned with a compound fracture in his leg, various scrapes and bruises, and a very pinched expression on his face.

“They attacked in much greater number than expected,” Bavil told the hastily convened emergency gathering in the throne room. “They took a lot of supplies, and they set buildings ablaze.”

This sounded like a full-scale attack, and Tor couldn’t imagine why the exiles would suddenly change their tactics like this.

It would be days before Bavil would be able to walk again, even with the work of the healer, who’d immediately transferred some of his own magic to Bavil to speed up the healing process. Healers were the only ones who could transfer magic like that, in a controlled, deliberate, and temporary manner. The rest of them could only make small transfers that lasted the length of the bond when they swore Fealty to their ruler or when they were bonding.

Healing felt like a rush of… other, a bit like there was something inside you that didn’t belong. Still, he was very grateful for the ability. He and Varex had been a bit wild as children, and they’d needed bones mended more than once. He didn’t envy Bavil even this comparatively quick recovery given what was going on now.

King Forex was beside himself, and he wanted to rally all his guards—which he kept calling his army, not that they weresupposed to have an army anymore—and send them to destroy the exiles once and for all.

Tor agreed that an attack like this had to be addressed, but there were still the peace accords to take into account. The exiles were protected on their side of the mountain, and Tor feared that if that part of the accord was broken, more might follow.

All too fast, this could turn into either a slaughter or an incident that threatened the United Realms as a whole. With the exiles behaving erratically, Tor didn’t want anyone to make decisions in haste.

“I would be happy to represent the High King in this,” Tor told Forex, smooth but forceful, one of the first times that he’d suggested he could be his brother’s deputy since Varex had become High King and it had become apparent that Tor was meant to be quietly dutiful and uninvolved.

(Who had picked this job for him? Had they met him?)

Tor could see this going very wrong, very fast. He was here, and he was the High King’s brother. He and Varex didn’t always see eye to eye, but Tor was confident that he wanted to maintain the peace as much as his twin did.