“With good reason.”
Maz fixed me with a hard stare. “Why? Because you’ve faced defeat from time to time? You’ve been a rebel, a prisoner, a spy, an assassin, but you’ve always been a king, Aiden. A good king fights for the wellbeing of his people, which you’ve always done. A better king owns up to his mistakes and still tries to make the better choice.” He poked me in the chest. “That’s you, brother.”
Something deep in my soul twinged. It’d been waking for days, a long-buried hope. A raw desire caged by fear.
I clapped Maz on the back. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”
“I know,” he said with a brief grin. “But only because you saved me from that mine. I’m with you to the end. Your Highness.”
I chuckled, some of the earlier tension waning, and shoved him away. “If you ever call me that again, I’ll use you for target practice.”
He guffawed, then turned serious again, his eyes on the horizon.
“We’ll get there in time, Maz,” I said. “Your family will be safe, and you will get to go home soon. For good, this time.”
He gave me a sad smile. “I’ve already lost half my family. I don’t relish losing more. Will you... will you watch over them if I die?”
I frowned. “Of course. But this isn’t goodbye, Maz.”
“And it never will be.”
We trudged back to the dismantled campsite to find Henry and his two men standing with Kiera.
Shayn—her ex-lover, judging from the earlier discomfort between them—stood closer than necessary to her, talking enthusiastically about something.
I ground my teeth together, a hot, sickly feeling stirring in my stomach.
“Easy, brother,” Maz muttered under his breath. “Don’t kill him before he helps us.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” I growled, stalking up to the group.
I didn’t care about the red-haired soldier. I’d probably never see him again after this. He certainly hadn’t seemed to care about Kiera last night. Saying he should’ve known better than to get involved with her.
Kiera was worth far more than his sullen regret.
“Got everything?” I demanded.
Henry faced me, the sun of his captain’s badge glimmering in the dawn. “Yes. We have a shipment ready. Just meet it downriver within the hour. Here, I brought these.” He pointed to a pile of dirty, threadbare clothes. “Shayn will put the shackles on once you board.”
I forced myself not to flinch. It was my least favorite part of this plan. But we had to make it look real for any patrols and checkpoints.
“This is where I leave you,” Henry continued. “With any goodwill of the Four, I’ll see you in Aquinon, Falcryn.”
I shook his outstretched hand. “Thank you for this. And your alliance.”
He nodded and moved on to say a quiet goodbye to Kiera.
Within moments, they disappeared again.
We stared at the wispy pile of clothing.
“At least impersonating a Shadow-Wolf had better clothesandweapons,” Maz said mournfully.
It would take about five or six days to get to Calimber, and we were going to spend every one of them wet and cold and shackled.
For Rellmira.
Isnatched what could laughably be called a shirt and trousers.
