Page 116 of The Prince's Fealty

Fernila breathed, “That’s not what Forex said happenedat all.”

Yeah, Pel hadn’t really thought so.

“Tor collapsed as soon as they were gone, from what proved to be magical exhaustion. He was unconscious for five days. Once we got back to the castle in Baless, our healer shared some of his magic and assured us he should wake up again.”

Pel hated the memory of that time, how helpless he’d felt.

“It was a really weird feeling,” Tor offered, speaking for the first time.

He still seemed more relaxed, and Pel hoped his introduction had helped.

“Yes, it was,” Varex agreed. “I knew it was you immediately, but I didn’t know it was possible.”

“Me, either,” Tor told him, expression painfully earnest. “I was just… I was so desperate. I couldn’t stand by and let more people die on the mountain.”

Varex sucked in a breath and nodded. “I can see that now. We didn’t know why you’d done it, and it caused me some pain and discomfort. We were worried.”

Fernila frowned. “I was terrified that Var was going to be hurt. I didn’t think aboutwhyyou might be doing it. I was scared, and I’m ashamed to admit it didn’t occur to me that you might have truly needed the magic. I’m sorry.”

Tor shook his head. “It’s all right. I mean, I didreallyneed the magic, but it’s true that I didn’t think about what it might do to Var. I took what I needed, and I didn’t think about the consequences.”

Firmly, Varex said, “You took a risk in order to help people. I should have listened to your side of the story, not just Forex’s and Yomil’s. I apologize.”

Tor smiled at him. “It’s all right. I would have asked if I’d known how to do so, but I can’t honestly say that I wouldn’t do it again under the same circumstances.”

Pel wanted to elbow Tor in the ribs, but fortunately, his brother smiled faintly.

“I would expect no less.”

Pel was pretty sure that was a compliment.

Tor added, “As soon as I woke up, I knew I had to come explain to you what happened.” He waved his hands. “We all know that didn’t go as I might have hoped.”

Everyone looked guilty except for Ada, who’d been safely in Lotar not seeing her brothers behave badly. Pel was pretty sure if she’d been present, it would have ended differently.

But there was no point in dwelling on that now.

“This was the point at which I found out about Tor’s original terrible plan to come to Tond and use me to get out of bonding with Terila.”

They all looked at Tor, who made a face and tried, “Worst plan with best results ever?”

Pel snorted a laugh. “I was pretty upset at the time and stormed out of the castle to brood until I worked out that Tor was a fool but maybe his plans had changed.”

“They changed so much!” Tor interjected, as if that was the point right now.

Pel pressed a quick kiss to Tor’s cheek.

“Love you, too, but the point is, I was out there brooding until I got over myself and realized that Tor was in serious trouble and I shouldn’t have abandoned him. I was just contemplating whether I could sneak back into the castle and politely ask to speak to the High King in the middle of the night”—Tor snorted with laughter—“or if I should try to figure out where my inn was, when I almost literally ran into the mercenaries who proceeded to break into the castle. I followed them in.”

They were all staring at him wide-eyed now. Pel shrugged.

“I’m not very noticeable. When I realized what they were doing, I sneaked away and alerted the guards. Then I remembered that Tor had mentioned climbing into the nursery through the window. I found the courtyard, and I didn’t even really know why I was there—only then I caught Tor when he brought the ceiling down and fell out the window.”

Ada went ghostly white, Fernila clapped a hand to her mouth, and Varex could have been carved from marble.

Pel drew a deep breath. “He was unconscious and injured, and all I could think about was getting away. I had no idea what had happened. I sneaked out with him, and my friends helped get us back to the boat. We came back to Tond, but since I was worried about what my father might do to Tor when he was so helpless, I took him to a cave in the mountains that I used to play in as kid. It took twelve days, and Tor was in a magical coma the whole time. It was terrifying.” Pel huffed a breath, and Tor squeezed his hand. “Fortunately for us, it turns out my brother was using the cave to meet with an exile who was also a healer. She chose to help Tor—and told me that we were bonded, and that it was my magic that had saved Tor. He’d used all of his own to protect Cala, but he’d protected me and mine, and that magic kept him alive until we reached the cave.”

Ada wrapped her arms around Tor, and he hugged her back while she sniffled.