After a long moment, Ruven finally pulled away, holding Taegan by his shoulders to look him up and down. His eyes were gleaming with unshed tears, sending a pang of guilt through Taegan’s heart. Ruven had only ever treated him with love and kindness. How could he have ever doubted his own father?
“You’re not hurt, then?” he asked, then looked up at Zorvut, a tight smile spreading across his face. “And you found him. I’m glad.”
“Yes,” Taegan answered, nodding. “I found him. I’m not hurt. But...” He hesitated, glancing away. “We witnessed an orc attack on the fishing village on our way home today, and... Moonlight was slain.”
The king’s brows furrowed in a pained expression.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, pulling Taegan closer to embrace him again. “Papa’s last gift to you... I know you loved her dearly.”
Taegan nodded wordlessly. He knew that if he said anything else about her, he would almost certainly burst into tears once more.
When Ruven pulled away this time, he glanced back at the group of advisors who were waiting quietly near the throne, politely looking everywhere except where the three of them stood in the entrance way.
“Forgive the interruption,” King Ruven said loudly. “If you don’t mind, let us take a short recess of an hour or two. I must speak to my son in private.” He glanced at Zorvut and added privately, “And you, of course, Zorvut.”
Zorvut nodded silently, and the group of advisors all murmured their assent as well.
“Come,” the king said, stepping past them out of the throne room. “Let us speak in my private study.”
Taegan glanced at Zorvut, who gave a slight nod. He had remained silent, but his expression seemed cautiously optimistic. Taegan reached out to take his hand again, and they followed Ruven out of the chamber.
When they arrived at the king’s private study, his servant was stationed outside and silently acknowledged them with a nod. Ruven did not send him away, but closed the door behind him as they entered.
“Taegan,” he said quietly as the door closed and he looked up to meet their eyes. “I am so, so sorry. To both of you.” He hesitated, then bowed deeply before both of them. Taegan’s heart leapt up into his throat, almost in a panic—he had never seen his father, the king, make such a contrite gesture before, and he had no idea how to respond. “Please forgive the part I played in all of this.”
“Ah, that’s—I mean, well, thank you, and I accept your apology,” he stammered, then glanced at Zorvut. “We both do.”
Zorvut hesitated, then nodded as well. “Yes,” he agreed.
“Zorvut,” the king said, looking at him as he straightened. “I owe you an individual apology. Taegan had faith in you, but I doubted, and made him doubt as well. But I see now that he trusts you implicitly, and from here on out, so will I. My son loves you, and that is more than enough for me.”
Zorvut’s expression seemed almost pained as the king spoke, but he did not break eye contact.
“Thank you,” he finally replied in a low, gravelly voice—Taegan realized with a start that he was on the verge of tears. “I was... I confess, I did not trust you either, in that moment. I was afraid. But I made things worse by leaving. If you will have me, it would honor me to join you, and fight at your side.”
“We will need all the help we can get, I’m afraid,” the king answered wryly, sighing. “This morning, we received a formal declaration of war from the Bonebreaker clan. It all seems rather foolish to me; even with this, ah, new information we have learned, we would not have made an attack on them. The spirit of the peace treaty was upheld, after all.”
“My father needs little reason to start a fight,” Zorvut said bitterly, then seemed to catch himself, wincing. “The warlord, that is. I would imagine he is angry, and has no other use for his anger.”
“We should have a discussion about all this, as I would appreciate hearing your input,” Ruven continued. “But first, I... The more pressing matter should be to reinstate your bond. If you would like it, that is.”
“Yes,” Taegan blurted, then caught himself and glanced at Zorvut, who seemed to bite back a laugh. “I think we both would like that.”
“Yes, I would,” Zorvut agreed softly.
“I can summon the high priest now,” Ruven said, and Taegan gave a start of surprise. “To be frank, I was afraid to tell anyone about... breaking the bond, for fear it might cause further upset in all of this. So no one knows but us, and that sorcerer, Kelvhan.”
A tinge of acrid bile rose in Taegan’s throat at the very mention of Kelvhan’s name, but he did not want to get into it then. But when he did explain Kelvhan’s cruel motives, he was sure his father would be just as enraged as he was.
“Right now?” Zorvut asked, bringing him back to the moment. There would be time to make a formal report of everything later; now, all Taegan could bring himself to care about was their bond.
“Is that alright?” Ruven asked. “It would be a private affair this time, just us and the high priest.”
Taegan and Zorvut looked at each other. They were both tired and dirty, a bloody bandage still around Zorvut’s arm. Their worn travel clothes would make a stark contrast to the finery they had worn the first time, and Taegan couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yes, have him summoned,” he said with a chuckle. “Why don’t we go have a quick wash and change into something clean, and then we will come right back?”
“That’s reasonable,” Ruven said with a dry smile. “In that case, why don’t we meet in the temple in an hour? Is that sufficient?”
