Page 78 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Tor short him a look. “He’s also my brother!”

Yomil’s gaze narrowed, and his voice was cold. “A fact of which you take advantage on a regular basis. First, he is your king.”

Tor sucked in another breath, but he sounded reasonable when he said, “I would like to talk to my brother.”

“You will not be spending any time alone with the High King,” Yomil said firmly.

“I beg your pardon?” Tor barked.

Pel cleared his throat softly and watched Tor rein his temper back in.

Yomil said, “It’s clear you can no longer be trusted with access to the High King.”

“What are you talking about?” Tor demanded, looking genuinely confused.

“You nearly killed Var!” the Queen burst out. “How dare you?”

Tor winced, his gaze flying to his brother’s. “Was it that unpleasant? I hoped it wouldn’t affect you too much. I’m sorry if I alarmed you or caused you any distress. It was definitely not intended, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“When you decided to conspire with the exiles against the United Realms?” Varex demanded, gaze intent on Tor’s face.

“Is that what Forex wrote?” Tor scoffed, looking as though he’d barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “Did he also remember to mention that in addition to saving the exiles, I saved all his guards as well?”

“You prevented the Tondian guard from attacking a hostile force on their land,” Yomil corrected officiously. “You said the guards would have to contend with you if they went after the exiles.”

Would it be wrong of Pel to punch whichever guard had reported that to King Forex? Seriously, after everything Tor had done for them?

Tor’s lips tightened, but he returned his gaze to his brother. “I told the Tondian guards they would have to contend with me if they attackedchildren. Yes, there were exile fighters—who Ialso ensured didn’t attack the Tondian guards, just as a point of clarification—but there were also civilians, whom they were protecting.” Tor’s voice rose, vibrating with emotion. “Varex, there were elders and injured people andchildren. It wasn’t an attacking force, it was an evacuation who had fighters to protect them!”

“You endangered the life of the High King for your own agenda,” Yomil accused.

Tor’s eyes closed for a moment as he inhaled and then opened again as he exhaled. “Varex, it wasn’t an agenda. I was desperate in that moment, that’s all. I didn’t plan any of it.”

“Then why did you go to Tond? Why did you ignore my orders?” the High King demanded, his blue eyes intent on Tor’s face.

Tor huffed out a breath. “Because I didn’t want to court Terila. You already knew that; you just didn’t listen, as per usual.”

“And yet you expect us to believe that you are a law-abiding citizen?” Yomil demanded. “You just said that you disobeyed a direct order from your king.”

Tor kept his focus on his brother. “Your orderswerevery specific. You ordered me to go to Vayrin, which I did.”

Yomil began a protest, which Tor overrode.

“Which I did,” he repeated more loudly. “You didn’t state that I had to go to Glomar or the castle, so I merely passed onto the land.”

High King Varex was glowering. “I told you that you had to court Princess Terila.”

“Actually, you didn’t,” Tor said, sounding almost apologetic. “You ordered me to seriously consider courtship. When you actually issued your orders, you didn’t specify to whom.”

The High King was looking more and more frustrated. “It was implied!”

“Of course it was,” Tor said a trifle impatiently, “but it wasn’t explicitly stated, and so I felt very clever coming up with my own interpretation.”

“But why would you go to Tond of all possible locations?” High King Varex pressed. “Before you arrived, there were no reported issues in Tond. Since then, we’ve heard nothing but distressing rumors, and now we learn that you actually aided and abetted the people who have killed Tondians, raided, and burned down their homes.”

“I was protecting innocent children!” Tor exclaimed furiously.

“So you claim that these alleged children made you—” Yomil began.