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“Good.” Ber stared at Toren, then, at a loss for words. As usual, the frustration burned hotter at the stilted exchange. They should have been best friends, not awkward strangers. “I thought something might be wrong.”
Understanding flashed in his brother’s eyes. “I only wanted to stroll with you. It has been far too long, after all.”
Maybe he wasn’t the only one who hated the distance.
“Very well,” Ber answered.
The long walk down the central pathway didn’t precisely help bring closeness, but Ber hadn’t expected it to. It did, however, distract the courtiers enough to make the walk less of a spectacle for him personally. Whatever they might think of him, they wouldn’t show it in front of the High King.
Finally, Toren led them into the Monarch’s Garden, a private enclave ringed with spells for privacy. No one but the groundskeeper could enter without the reigning monarch’s presence, and so Ber hadn’t been inside for centuries. He hadn’t even met with their mother here often. She had preferred the study where she could take notes at her leisure.
His brother had ordered changes. The strict lines of flowers and carefully restricted paths were gone, except for the formal central walkway they traversed. Instead, tall trees shaded sweeping lawns and meandering trails. Near benches and gazebos, flowers sprang up, so subtle they could almost be accidental. At the end of the central walkway, a grouping of comfortable chairs and a small table suitable for intimate meals had been situated beneath an open, vine-covered structure.
His publicly formal brother always had preferred the opposite in his private life.
Ber reclaimed Tes’s hand as they drew even with Toren on the broad path. “What did you tell them, Tor?”
“The truth. Or some of it, in any case.” Toren shrugged. “I said that you’d been assigned by my mother to protect us from Centoi perfidy and that the princess had joined you in that quest. We protected her from an assassination attempt by Duke Aony, but the two of you have now been reunited, along with your son, Prince Speran. Ah, and that Tes had been the one to save you from her wicked father.”
Ber’s lips parted of their own volition. “Are you mad?”
Tes leaned around him to glare at Toren. “You saidthat?But the news of this will be in the Centoi court within the week. Far sooner, if someone is willing to expend the magic.”
“Yes, it will be.” There was no hint of softness in Toren’s expression now. “I will honor my treaties with the Centoi unless those treaties are broken by your father, as I have said. But that does not mean I will allow them to dictate my actions. Thereare many trade partners out there. However, I have only one brother, foolish and misguided though he may be.”
Ber’s hand trembled against his son’s back from the sudden surge of anger. Misguided? Foolish? Century after century of sacrifice, only to be called such. “How can you say that?” he demanded through gritted teeth. “I’ve saved you countless times.”
Toren paused in the middle of the path. The dappled sunlight cast shadows over the lines of grief suddenly visible on his face. “I never asked you to go to such extremes for me, and I deeply regret that you felt it necessary.”
“I know you didn’t,” Ber said, drawing to a halt beside him.
Against his chest, Speran shifted in his sleep, and Ber recalled Tes’s admonitions from before. Would he want a future child of theirs to take on such a role? Would Speran? Undoubtedly not. And what must Toren think of the choice? Based on what he’d just said, it wasn’t good.
“Brother,” Ber forced through suddenly dry lips. “It was not your weakness I guarded against, but rather your strength I guardedfor.”
Toren’s brows lowered into an annoyed frown. “There is no need to humor me. You thought I would lose control of my power if I learned the scope of things, and you took it upon yourself to handle dangers you believed I couldn’t. And in honesty, perhaps I did need that in my youth. The shift into manhood was difficult to balance alongside magic that surges with strong emotion, that I can’t deny. However, that was centuries ago.”
Seeing the banked hurt flash in his brother’s eyes, Ber felt the first slice of true regret deep in his heart. Not that he hadn’t hated the deception and wished for its end—those regrets had long haunted him. Ah, but this…for the first time, he couldconfront the realization that had been building in him for more years than he could bear to acknowledge.
“I was wrong,” Ber said, the roughness of his voice causing Speran to startle. Sighing, he patted his son’s back. And wasn’t that another reminder? “Our mother…she wasverywrong. She should not have treated her children as royal assets. She knew I considered you the more important of us, and perhaps she believed the same, as she was willing to send me out as your shield.”
“The more important…” Toren cursed. “Foolish and misguided, indeed.”
Only moments ago, those words had angered Ber, but now, the weight of them trickled into his soul. “Ididsave you many times, and I don’t regret that. It brought me Tes and Speran, so I would do it again. And yet… Well, I suppose we can’t have two different pasts at the same time. We can only make the most of our past choices.”
Toren’s shoulders slumped, and he rubbed the base of his palm between his eyes in a weary motion he didn’t usually display. But when his hand dropped, there was relief in his expression, too. “Thank you for sacrificing for me,” he said softly. “But no more, Ber. I told the court the truth for a reason, and part of that reason is to prevent you from hiding.”
“Well enough, but Tes—”
“Both of you,” Toren interrupted. His gaze shifted to Tes. “King Ryenil must be weakened by his injury. There is no better time to gather your allies out in the open, and I’m happy to be the first to step forward.”
Ber groaned.I was afraid he would say that.
Tes pinched her eyes closed,allowing herself a single moment for the hurt to pass. Not because of anything Toren had done, though. No, it was the truth of his words. Much as she’d said to Ber earlier, they couldn’t afford to stay here and abandon Centoi. And it didn’t matter how much her heart longed to remain in a sun-dappled garden beside her husband, their son nestled against his chest. They couldn’t do that.
Soon enough, they would have to leave Speran here once more.
When Ber’s fingers tightened around hers, she finally pried her eyelids open and gave a tired nod. “Yes. We shouldn’t leave here in haste, but plans must be made. I don’t want to wait around to see if my father sends an army. Once I’ve prepared, I’ll challenge him for the throne myself.”
