Page 100 of The Prince's Fealty

Princess Adexa clutched his arm. “Thurnil sent the guards you sent with us away. I don’t know where they are.”

Varex frowned. “Two guards came with Fernila and I as well. We’ll find out about everyone.”

Pel squared his shoulders, and he wasn’t the only one. At the door, Tor spoke to Beluna and managed to convince her to leave Cavun behind, at least.

And then they just… walked into the hallway, like they were supposed to be there. Pel had done that before, of course, but he hadn’t been walking with this group of people.

King Varex was leading the way, and they were soon in more public areas of the castle. When they crossed paths with a guard, the High King demanded in his most imperious tone that the captain of the guard meet them in the throne room.

The man bobbed a bow.

“Right away, You Majesty.”

Well, it seemed like they were either going to get what they wanted… or have a battle in the throne room.

And if that were going to happen, Pel definitely had the people he wanted by his side for such an event.

Beside him, Tor murmured, “We neverdidget to destroy a throne room.”

His brother snorted a laugh. “Peace, Tor. We’re trying to achievepeace.”

Tor grumbled, and the group relaxed a little at the banter.

The throne room looked much as Pel vaguely remembered, large and a bit ostentatious, as they all were. Had everyone consulted before they built their castles? Was it the inevitable model?

He wondered if Tor would be willing to consider different options—assuming they sorted everything out with King Varex. Everything seemed quite promising now… but they had still technically committed treason.

They strode collectively to the front of the room and then turned to array themselves. High King Varex was at the head, and he’d gone up two steps with Queen Fernila and the baby, though none of them were seated on the throne. Then there was King Stronex with Prince Torex and Princess Adexa down one step, and below them were Pel with Princess Terila and Prince Rinil on the other side.

Pel was on the outer edge so that he could nock an arrow if he needed to. Beluna was to their left a few steps forward at ground level, hand resting on the pommel of her sword.

They were kind of a mess, to be honest. Pel still had blood on him, most of them could use a bath, and it had been a very trying few days. But they’d defeated a conspiracy, were armed to the teeth, and definitely weren’t going to put up with any nonsense today.

The doors were thrown open and the man Pel assumed was the captain of the guard entered. His steps checked for a moment when he saw them, but then he made his way all the way across the floor until he was standing in front of them.

“Yes, Your Majesties?” He bowed, eyeing the crowd like he couldn’t quite figure out where to look. If they counted Cala, he was faced with nine members of four different royal families. “Your Highnesses?”

“There has been great upheaval,” High King Varex intoned solemnly. “What is your name?”

“I am Idun, Your Majesty.”

“And you’re the captain of the guard?”

Idun shook his head. He looked to be about Pel’s age and height. But he had blond hair so bright it was almost white, and pale blue eyes. Right now, they were wide with alarm that he seemed to be trying to hide.

“No, Your Majesty. We couldn’t find the Captain or his second-in-command. I’m third in command of the guard.”

Pel was sure he wasn’t the only one wondering if they were dead in either the dungeon or the sitting room. Time would tell, he supposed.

“I will be blunt, Idun,” High King Varex declared. “High Queen Fernila, High Princess Cala, and I have been held here against our will and tortured by Nostex in an attempt to steal my Fealty and take over the United Realms. Nostex has failed, and he is dead. We would like the lockdown to be lifted, and we would like to have free egress from the castle. Do you have a problem with that order, Idun?”

The man gulped. “Absolutely not, Your Majesty.”

Only a fool would answer anything else.

King Varex continued. “We had to fight our way to freedom, and Nostex is not the only casualty. As long as everyone’s behavior remains exemplary, I’m willing to provisionally accept that all the conspirators in this plot were killed. Should anyone’s behavior indicate lingering disloyalty, I would be happy to revisit the question. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”