Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
What was he supposed to do to help heal this old wound? If they didn’t, there would be more wars and more death for Branem and Wulia. There was no way in hell he wanted to watch Everand ride into battle if he could help it. All this fighting needed to stop with their generation, and he suspected the only way that was going to happen was to convince King Victor to let this old wound heal at last.
But how the hell was he going to get an audience with the king?
Twenty-Three
Two days passed without hearing anything from King Victor or any of his advisors. Hugo couldn’t complain too much. They were given three very good meals each day and an extra-thick blanket to help cushion the bed and keep warm at night. There wasn’t much they could do about boredom. He and Everand would sit next to each other in their cells and tell stories about their childhoods. Naturally, Everand’s stories were far more interesting, but Hugo couldn’t miss the fact that Everand asked a lot of questions about his brothers as if he wanted to know them. He even offered to help Dorian find a suitable husband, but Hugo was quick to pass on his offer. Dorian didn’t seem to be in any rush, and Hugo didn’t want to pressure his brother into something that wouldn’t make him happy.
It was a weird way to get to know Everand, but their lives had been such a whirlwind recently that part of Hugo secretly enjoyed having the chance to slow things down and learn more about the man who dominated so much of his thoughts.
Shortly after they’d finished their afternoon meal on the third day, Captain Ryze appeared at Hugo’s cell door.
“Get up and dust yourself off. The king wishes to see you.”
Hugo and Everand jumped up at the same time and rushed forward.
“Just Hugo?” Everand demanded.
“He didn’t ask for you,” Ryze answered as he inserted the iron key into Hugo’s door.
Hugo flashed Everand a weak smile even as he tried to brush the dirt and hay from his filthy clothes. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” The words might have wobbled as they left his dry mouth. A chill seemed to dig into his skin, biting to the bone.
Everand clutched the bars between their cells so tightly, his knuckles turned white. He tried to return Hugo’s smile, but it didn’t stick, and there was no chasing away the fear from his wide blue eyes. “It’ll be fine. Remember your promise to me. Behave. Do as he says.”
“I will. Don’t worry. I’ll return soon, I’m sure.”
Just before Hugo stepped out of the cell, he darted across to Everand and smashed his face against the bars so he could steal a kiss.
“Gods, three days trapped together and you’re still disgusting as ever,” Ryze complained.
Hugo winked at Everand and strolled out of the cell with the captain. “And why do I feel that your husband and wife gave you a very amorous welcome when you returned home from your mission in Frostbourne?”
Ryze’s lips twitched, likely fighting a grin as some memory flashed through his mind. He got control of his facial expression and slammed the door shut behind Hugo. “That’s none of your concern. Do I need to bind your hands, or are you going to be obedient?”
“I promise to behave,” Hugo replied. He walked through the dungeon, the captain at his side. There were dungeon guards at regular intervals who watched him as he passed.
As they climbed out of the lower levels, Hugo inquired, “Have you heard anything about the men you had to leave behind in Branem?”
“Hoping they’ve all been executed and their heads set on pikes along the castle wall?”
“What? No!” The captain’s words made Hugo stumble on a step. As he was about to tumble back, Captain Ryze’s powerful hand caught his elbow and set him on his feet. “Why would I think that? I don’t want to see anybody hurt. I thought that as their captain, you must be worried about them. It’s been almost three days since the ball. There has to have been some news, right?”
Ryze stopped in the middle of the hall, his dark-brown eyes narrowed on Hugo, making the jagged scar on his left cheek dig into his flesh. Standing so close in the bright afternoon light, Hugo could see that Ryze wasn’t as old as he’d thought. He couldn’t have been more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight, but there was a light sprinkling of gray at his temples and the weight of worry resting in his eyes. In contrast, there were also hints of laugh lines around his mouth that were likely the result of two loving spouses.
“But we’re enemies.”
Hugo wrinkled his nose. “Only because two old kings got into a spat over the same woman. I don’t have a grudge against you, and I can’t imagine that you have any real hatred for me. I’m not that annoying.”