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Despite how much I didn’t like my uncle, I knew my father did keep an incredibly tight leash on him. The king didn’t trust anyone, not even his own blood.
“I…” He let out a huff, seeming to finally realize no amount of bluster would change my mind. “Fine! It’s not like I want to be in this flea-ridden place any longer. I’m going to need my staff to burn these clothes, I’m certain.”
“My condolences for your loss.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure your father will be happy to replace everything I’ve lost with coin from your coffers.” He meant it as a devastating jab, as most people in court would take offense at such a threat, but I couldn’t care less. Honestly, I’d give up every single coin from my heritage if it meant I could live a peaceful and relatively safe life with Ayla, free of her curse.
I could see it in my head: my uncle fading away, leaving an image of Ayla in a modest but spacious house on our own land, a casual homestead around us. There was her apothecary garden, and a vegetable one, a berry patch. Maybe even some chickens. We would cuddle together on our plush couch and watch TV on rainy nights, then run together under the full moon in our shifted forms, sharing every part of ourselves.
“Did you hear me?”
I blinked as the lovely image faded, leaving my much less pleasing uncle in my sight.
“I apologize, my attention drifted on preparing for my upcoming trip. Would you mind repeating yourself? I believe the last thing I heard was something about draining my coffers.”
“I said I must be mad to trust you’ll leave, but you’d better hurry as soon as your reinforcements get here. I swear, your parents always spoiled you.”
I didn’t engage with this, because if I did, it’d end with me ripping the duke’s head off. I wasn’t a violent man by nature, but my family brought that out of me.
“I wish you well on your journey, Uncle.” I said, content I’d held my ground. As tempting as it was to kowtow and just hurry to the capital, I had a feeling if I just showed up, trustingreinforcements would arrive, they wouldn’t exactly be on time. By holding myself hostage, I’d ensure everything ran smoothly. “I have some arrangements to make.”
“You bet your ass you do. Now, get out of my room.”
I could have stood there and reminded him it was really Oren’s room, and by extension, as the captain of the fort, mine as well, but I recognized the bloviating of a powerless man trying to save face. I gave a small nod, then exited and returned to my own quarters.
My office still smelled faintly of Ayla, which gave me the motivation to start packing. Since we weren’t going to be riding horses or traveling on foot, I wouldn’t have to leave all my creature comforts behind.
But I didn’t try to take all of them, either, as I banked on returning. I had no desire to permanently abdicate my Captain Reed identity, and if everything went as I hoped, the capital wouldn’t want me there after long.
Just as I was choosing what books to bring, a knock sounded at the door. I took a deep breath through my nose and instantly recognized Oren’s scent.
“Enter, soldier,” I said, using more official vocabulary while he was outside my room. It wasn’t really my style, but I knew it pleased my strait-laced second in command.
He entered a second later, looking a bit pleased with himself. “I just received word your uncle issued orders for his exit tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I suppose you could say he and I reached an accord.”
“Did you now? I expected him to dig his feet in on you leaving with him.”
“Thankfully, I have the upper hand. My parents want me in the capital, my mother wants me alive, and it’s not like my uncle can physically overpower me.”
“That is true. Still, it does seem somewhat tenuous.”
“Tenuous is a good way to put it, yeah. I feel like a lot of things with the court are.”
Already, I was tired of talking about it. The doublethink of the palace was exhausting, especially when I wasn’t used to it anymore. “But I hear you have something far juicier to tell me about.”
“I do, sir?”
“Something along the romantic front in your life.”
At that, Oren’s face fell. “You, uh, you heard something about me and Darla?”
“I did indeed.”
“What, exactly?”
Maybe it was a little mean, but Oren was entertaining when he squirmed. “Well, when I encouraged you to speak to our charming, indelible Sergeant Khan, I meant for you to try flirting back with her. But what I heard was you went a little above and beyond.”
