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I had no idea where he was going. I wasn’t sure if he knew either. He couldn’t leave the estate, but the estate was huge, and I was certain it had plenty of hiding places.
I blew out a breath and let out some of the tension that had my shoulders and back rock hard, then shook my head and strode toward Magnus and my friends.
“Anton,” Magnus greeted me with a nod. “I was just inquiring as to whether you were in need of assistance. Or perhaps rescue. You were not present for lunch.”
I let out a breath and rubbed a hand over my face. I had to tell Magnus what Dmitri had just told me. Ihadto. It was my duty to my king. I owed Dmitri nothing.
But I couldn’t be the cause of a man’s death, no matter who he was.
“Magnus, would you consider sparing Dmitri’s life?” I asked, hating the anxious way the question made me feel. It made me feel like a traitor.
“What threats has he made?” Magnus asked, tilting his chin up and narrowing his eyes.
I knew he wasn’t angry with me, but his look chilled me all the same.
“He hasn’t threatened me,” I said, trying not to mumble. I had no idea how to handle the situation I found myself in now. “I just…I don’t want to be the cause of anyone’s death.”
I glanced to Hayk, wondering what he must think of me now. Probably that I was a weakling and a coward that refused to see justice served to a man who had treated him so brutally.
But Hayk met my eyes and smiled softly, then glanced to Magnus, as if he, too, had no idea what Magnus would say or do, but was curious to find out.
“He’s told you his secrets, hasn’t he,” Magnus said, crossing his arms and stroking his chin as he studied me. I felt like he could see through my clothes…or maybe through my skin to what I was made of. “He’s told you the information he believes is keeping him alive right now.”
I squirmed, no idea what to do. The situation was made worse as Peter and Neil, Jace and Gennadi wandered in from the garden to join the scene. I glanced at Peter. He looked so much better than he had that first day on the boat, when he’d come face to face with Dmitri again. He looked like the Peter I knew, happy and full of life, holding Neil’s hand.
What would Peter think of me if I enabled the man who had hurt him so deeply to go free?
I snapped my gaze back to Magnus and took a deep breath. “He did tell me what he’s been using to bargain for his life,” I said. “And Magnus, it will change everything. He wasn’t bluffing. The entire frontier, the entire kingdom, will never be the same again. But…but I can’t be the pen used to write someone’s death warrant.”
I tensed, almost as if I expected a blow from Magnus. If he were my father, he would have slapped my face—or had Dane do it—and berated me until I couldn’t help but blurt out everything. Then he would have made my life miserable as punishment for withholding information.
But Magnus merely stared at me in thought.
For a long time.
So long that I wasn’t the only one squirming. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths, waiting to see what Magnus would say.
“What does Dmitri want?” Magnus asked at last.
I blinked, still waiting for disaster, but with prickling anxiety on top of that, because I didn’t know whether Magnus hated me or thought I was wretched yet.
“He wants to go away and start a new life somewhere else,” I said. “With me,” I added, because I had to be completely honest with Magnus.
“You want to go off to God knows where and have a new life with Dmitri?” Lefric asked, stunned.
“No!” I shouted before I could stop myself. I shifted uncomfortably in my spot and glanced to Hayk. “No, I want to stay right here,” I told him, then dragged my gaze to Magnus. “I don’t know why he wants me, but he says he only risked his life to come here because he thinks…he thinks we make a good team. He thinks he needs to protect me…from you. Otherwise, he would have run off at the first sight of you.”
Magnus drew in a breath and nodded slowly, as if he’d just put all the pieces together. The look he gave me was almost like a smile. No, itwasa smile. King Magnus was smiling at me. Kindly. After I’d confessed to knowing a secret he needed to know and being unwilling to see one of his enemies die.
“You are a good man, Anton,” he said, stepping forward and clapping a hand on my shoulder. The gesture made me jump with fright, despite Magnus’s smile. “You might be a better man than I am. But probably not.” He winked. Like he was joking. Winked!
I didn’t have the first clue what he was thinking, or what I should do. I opened my mouth to say something, but all I could do was flail until I blurted, “I’m not. I’m useless and pathetic. Everyone has always said so. I can’t do anything right, and I’m making a mess of things.”
“Is that what you think?” Magnus asked, raising one eyebrow.
I gaped at him. “Because it’s true,” I said.
Magnus laughed, which threw me off-balance. He stepped back, glancing to Peter and Neil, then looked back at me. “Someday, young Anton, you and I must have a conversation about what constitutes a good man.”
