Stephan pursed his lips. “I don’t know. Holding Leo and his future actions hostage over his misplaced affection for a stable boy? It seems quite effective to me.”
“I’m not a stable boy! I’m theroyalgroom, thank you very much, and I think you might have forgotten something when you hatched your brainless scheme,” Felix said, hands curling into fists against the wooden arms of the chair as he tensed his forearms again and was rewarded for his efforts with a significant slackening of his bonds.
“What is it that you think I’ve forgotten?” Stephan demanded, eyes narrowing.
“Oh, just that your plan is pointless because it wasSophiawho turned Leo down. Leo didn’t get any say in it.”
“Impossible,” Stephan declared, but he sounded uncertain.
“Maybe she didn’t bother telling you, which wouldn’t surprise me, honestly. You’re the younger sibling—unimportant, whatever you tell yourself. Unless, of course, you were stupid enough to hurt the king’s lover. If Leodoeshave feelings for me as you claim, he’ll hunt you down himself. You’re painting a target on your back, and it’s all for nothing, because Sophia won’t marry Leo no matter what you do.”
Gods, Felix hoped that sounded more convincing to Stephan than it did to him.
One of his guards cleared his throat. “He might have a point.”
Stephan glared at him. “Well, nobody asked you, did they?”
Felix huffed out a tired sigh. He was at the end of his patience. “Listen, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned—unless it’s an entitled king who’s been deprived of his favourite plaything. Which, right now, is me. Remind me again. How many men do you have? Two?”
Stephan bit his lip. “You make a good point.”
Well, thank fuck for that.
“So, you’ll let me go?”
“What? Oh, no. It’s just that if I let you live, you’ll tell Leo I was behind your disappearance, so it’s best to just kill you. It’s easy enough to make it look like a riding accident.”
“Oh, you don’t want to do that,” Felix said hastily. “But if you let me go, I could pretend I took a fall and had to walk back, how embarrassing, ha-ha, and never mention this at all.”
Stephan turned his cold gaze on Felix and his eyes narrowed. “No, you’re right. Sending you back injured could work against me. Better just to dispose of you altogether. And who knows, perhaps my sister can provide some comfort to the king in his grief, and they can be persuaded to marry after all.”
Felix couldn’t help the eye roll. “Gods, your sister got the brainsandthe looks in your family, didn’t she? She doesn’twantto marry Leo. She willneverwant to marry Leo.”
There was a moment of silence when Felix thought perhaps his argument had worked, but then Stephan said, “A blow to the head, I think. That will look like your mount kicked you.”
Felix’s heart raced as he realised Stephan was serious.
It was time to put his father’s training into action. He checked that his ropes were sufficiently loose, braced himself, and then hurled his entire body backward, chair and all, wincing when his shoulders slammed against the stone floor. He was rewarded with the sound of timber splintering. The ropes holding him in place burned against his skin as he yanked on them, but with one final pull they snapped and he was finally, blessedly free.
He rolled out of the wreckage of the chair and scrambled to his feet before the guards had even realised what was happening, and he didn’t hesitate to grab the biggest piece of timber he could find. He hefted the chair leg in his hand before swinging with speed and precision, hitting Stephan solidly across the side of his head. Stephan’s eyes widened and he clutched at the injury, staggering. Blood seeped between his fingers and Felix swung again, harder this time, catching Stephan’s hand where it was pressed to his face and making him howl.
Third time’s the charm,Felix thought grimly and wasted no time in delivering one more blow, putting all his force behind it. Stephan yelped and crumpled to the ground, his hand twitching against the stone floor like a dying spider.
Felix spun on his heel, still clutching his weapon and ready to take on the two guards, but as it turned out, he didn’t need to. At that moment the door crashed open to reveal Mattias, Sophia, and his father with a contingent of guards.
“Dad!” Felix said brightly. “It looks like all that time in the training yards paid off after all! You could take care of those two for me, though.” He nodded at Stephan’s men, his chest heaving with exertion and exhilaration, and while he knew he was grinning like a madman, he couldn’t seem to help it.
At a signal from Mattias, the guards made quick work of restraining Stephan’s henchmen, who didn’t seem inclined to resist. His dad crossed the room in three long strides, pulling Felix close and hugging him tight as the chair leg clattered to the ground. “Gods, Flick, are you all right? What happened?”
“Oh, you know. Stephan wanted the throne of Evergreen, so he thought he could get Leo to marry Sophia by threatening me, and because he’s an idiot he forgot that I’m the king’s guard, not just his—”
“Felix.”
“—groom.What did you think I was going to say, Dad?”
His dad squeezed him tighter before letting him go with a sigh that was two parts affection, one part exasperation. “Honestly, son, who knows with you?” He pulled back and looked Felix up and down. “Did they hurt you?” he asked, brow creased.
Felix rolled his shoulders, taking stock. He ached from hitting the stone floor, and his muscles were stiff from being slung over the arse of a horse while trussed up, but other than that, he didn’t think he had any injuries. “Not really. Just a bump to the head.”
