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He glanced adoringly at the man, Olympus, then continued babbling. “Olympus’s father, Lord Vikhrov Hakobyan, is the ruler of Good Port, and Olympus and his brother, Patrius, run shipping businesses. Well, Olympus is thinking of giving up his business so he can become a full-time diplomat. But it turned out that his secretary was embezzling from him, but that secretary was a spy for the Old Realm. And Eneko, the steward of Vikhrov’s estate is a spy too, and probably a lot of other high-ranking servants in Good Port. Oh! What if all the names on that list for Good Port are servants for—”
“I think that’s enough of an explanation for now,” Magnus cut Lefric off.
I was glad for it. My head spun with all the information Lefric spewed. None of it made sense to me.
Any other conversation was cut off as Ludvig groaned. My attention was immediately on him, and I slid away from Magnus, crawling to Ludvig’s side so I could take his hand.
“Ludvig. Ludvig, are you alright? It’s me, Anton,” I added, not certain how aware Ludvig was.
“I can see it’s you,” he replied breathlessly, grimacing in pain as the healer cleaned his wound.
I took the blood seeping from Ludvig’s side as a good sign. There was no pus in it, and I’d always been given to understand that if the blood flowed out, it carried impurities with it. Still, I didn’t like the look of the hot, red flesh around the wound.
“Where are we?” Ludvig asked.
“You’re on a boat bound for Good Port,” Magnus said, moving forward as well and sitting beside me.
“Magnus.” There was utter relief in Ludvig’s voice. More than that, he let go of my hand to take Magnus’s. “Thank God.”
Ludvig relaxed a bit, and I scooted back. I shouldn’t have been stung by the way Ludvig would rather have held Magnus’s hand than mine. Ludvig and I had had the discussion about where we stood with each other several times in our long days of wandering the forest, before we encountered Dmitri or Riley or Barber. We’d agreed that neither of us were what the other was looking for, and as soon as our mission was over, Ludvig had planned to pay me what he’d paid to Karpov to kidnap me so that I could set out on my own.
It was over between the two of us, at least romantically, but I still cared about him. I still loved him, really. Just not like a lover. So it still hurt when he chose Magnus over me.
“You’re in good hands, Ludvig,” Magnus said, reaching out to smooth a hand across Ludvig’s sweating brow, which nudged me even farther to the side. Magnus glanced to me, though, with a smile that said he understood how I felt. “Anton has gone to heroic lengths to take care of you and get you to safety.”
“He’s…he’s a good man,” Ludvig said, breathing heavily through the pain. “He’s a good friend.” Ludvig tilted his head until he met my eyes, then he smiled. “You know what you mean to me.”
It was the exhaustion. That’s why I started to cry. I was wrung out from the last few days and weeks. It wasn’t the bittersweet pang of my heart as a man I cared for but was done with swept through me.
Maybe I should have tried harder. Maybe I could have made more sacrifices or tried to see things his way on occasion. Maybe I could have been who he needed and what he wanted instead of insisting on going my own way.
There was no use in thinking about those things now, though. We were still together on the boat, but Ludvig and I weren’ttogetheranymore. I would walk around with the guilt of not being right for him held close to my heart forever.
If I was together with anyone now, it was Dmitri. Not even Ludvig had the authority to protect me from that.
“What do you make of his wounds?” Magnus asked the healer.
The healer sighed and shook his head. “They’re bad, but I’ve seen worse. Like the young man said, this sword wound is the worst bit, but it could be worse. He has other cuts that need to be dressed as well. I can do it all, but it will take time.”
“Do you need a cabin or would it give you more room to work right here, on the deck?” Magnus asked.
“Honestly, there’s more space on the deck,” the healer said.
Magnus nodded. “Then everyone will kindly move back and allow Ludvig some privacy. I assume he will need to take off these filthy rags he’s wearing and have all of his wounds bathed and treated.”
“Magnus, you old dog,” Ludvig joked breathlessly. “Trying to get me naked, are you?”
Magnus laughed and squeezed Ludvig’s hand. “Always, my friend.”
Ludvig made a grim sound. “Now I know my life is in danger. You would never say something like that, since you have Peter and Neil to warm your bed, unless I was dying.”
“You’re not dying,” the healer said, as if the very suggestion was an insult to him. “I’ll see to that.”
“Good.” Magnus nodded, then glanced around. “Has someone brought food and water for Anton? And for Ludvig, once the healer—I’m sorry, I have yet to ask your name.”
“Constantine,” the healer said without looking up from his work.
“Thank you. Has someone brought food and water?” Magnus asked again.
