Finnvid frowned. For their entire adventure together, Gunnald had been happy to take charge whenever Finnvid didn’t insist on having a voice, and now he was feeling deferential? Yes, of course he was. Now that they were back in Elkat, independent action could get him in trouble, but actions taken on the direction of a member of the royal family might win him favor.
Of course, Finnvid wasn’t the only member of the royal family Gunnald had recently been in contact with. He could very well have been sent by the queen mother to spy on her youngest son. “Are the other Torians cared for?” Finnvid asked. “I promised them food and beds.”
“We sent them to the traders’ inn. They’ll be fine there.”
Finnvid nodded. “And your men? They’re well?”
“Your brother’s men asked them a few questions and then sent them to the barracks. We’ll grant them leave to go visit their families once we’re sure they’re not needed here.”
“Then I think we’ve done everything we can.” Finnvid knew it was an unnecessary risk, but he couldn’t keep himself from adding, “You heard what I said about the Sacrati. About keeping him alive so he can be useful. Do you agree?”
Gunnald frowned. “It’s a bad situation. Is it better to kill him and keep things tidy? We’ve already—” He stopped himself. “It’s complicated,” he said finally. “I’m not sure how Windthorn will react. I’m not sure the other Torians will tell the story we want them to. To be completely, coldly rational, it might be safer to kill them all, really. But ifno onecomes back from this trip alive? I can’t imagine the Torians reacting well to that.”
“You didn’t know what the warlord’s letter said? You didn’t know this was going to happen?”
“I’m a soldier! Maybe not as skilled as the Torians, but I’m a man of honor. To live with them, train with them, travel with them, and then betray them?” Gunnald’s outrage seemed genuine. “No, Prince Finnvid. I did not know what the letter said.”
Finnvid believed him, and it was a relief. “But Zenain knew. He was ready for it when the Sacrati were attacked. He held his men back, kept them from joining the battle. If they’d fought, the Sacrati might have won. But he didn’t let it happen.”
“It would seem so.”
“And insisting that we be accompanied all the way home . . . that was his idea, too. Ekakios was ready to go home at the border, but he didn’t trust Zenain on his own. He worried that Zenain might hurt me, so he put his men in danger to protect me.Me. And I brought them tothis.” Ekakios was dead, the other Sacrati were dead . . . Finnvid thought of Andros again, stepping off the path as if to answer a call of nature. He was out there somewhere, and he didn’t know that his comrades were dead, and Theos imprisoned. He didn’t know how horribly wrong it had all gone.
Gunnald’s hand was warm and strong on his shoulder. “You were betrayed too, my prince. You didn’t know.”
“It’s a leader’sjobto know. I’ve been prancing around, acting important because my father was king, but what have I ever done to earn anyone’s allegiance? Why should anyone trustme?”
Gunnald smiled grimly. “I had similar questions this summer when you were put in charge of the mission.” He watched Finnvid for a moment, then shrugged. “I’m starting to change my mind.”
Maybe that should have made Finnvid feel good, but instead it was just another weight on his already exhausted shoulders. He forced a smile and tried to think like an Elkati prince. “I appreciate that.” And though they were alone in the hallway, he leaned in a little to say, “Can you keep an eye on things for me? You know, with the injured Sacrati, and the other Torians. Your men too, if there’s any trouble there. I think my family expects me to give up on all my responsibilities now that I’m home, and I can see why they’d expect that; it’s certainly consistent with how I’ve behaved in the past. But this wasmymission, and I don’t feel like it’s over yet.” That was good. No mention of his feelings for Theos, no overpowering guilt or anger. Just a sense of responsibility. If Gunnald reported this conversation to the queen mother, there should be no repercussions, and if he didn’t, Finnvid might get some information from it.
Gunnald nodded, apparently pleased to have a mission. “I will. And if there’s a problem . . . I can come to you for help?”
“Come to me,” Finnvid agreed. He wasn’t sure what help it would be in his power to give, but he supposed that washisjob; he needed to spend his time doing what was needed to ensure that hedidhave power, and could be useful.
And the first step in that was acting as his family expected him to. “I’m retiring for the night. Get some sleep yourself, Gunnald.”
The older man smiled, and Finnvid very much wanted to trust him. But he couldn’t be sure, and guessing wrong would be disastrous.
So they parted without further conversation, and Finnvid went to his rooms and felt guilty about the soft, clean sheets he crawled between, while so many others were fighting for their lives. But there was nothing he could do about that, not right then, so he lay still and tried to clear his mind. It took longer than he’d have liked, yet eventually his exhaustion claimed him, and he faded off to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“It’s no use planning a strategy for where we were yesterday.” Alrik was imposing, standing up and leaning over his desk to glare at Finnvid more effectively. They were in Alrik’s study, morning light streaming in through the long, narrow windows. “Maybe we made a mistake. We were operating on the best intelligence we had, and I’m still not convinced it was wrong, butmaybeit was a mistake. If so, it’s been made. It’s too late to change it based on anything you learned in Windthorn.”
“No, it’snottoo late.” Finnvid would never have dreamed of arguing with Alrik before the trip to Windthorn, but anyone who could defy an angry Sacrati could absolutely contradict his own brother. “Itwasa mistake yesterday. A horrible mistake. And itdidchange things, yet not so much that we’re doomed, I don’t think. We just need to adjust our strategy.”
Alrik stared at him but didn’t say anything, so Finnvid continued. “If we do nothing, then the warlord has gotten what he wanted. He’s ensured that we’re in his pocket, because every other Torian faction hates us. That must have been his motivation for ordering the attack, right? To get rid of a few strong Sacrati, and to ensure that we couldn’t go behind his back and deal with the Sacratiorthe reeve, since we’d just killed the Sacrati menandthe reeve’s son.” It was easier to stay calm when he thought of Theos as a pawn rather than as a forceful, vibrant man.
Still he had to push a little. “But wehaven’tkilled the reeve’s son. Have we? He remains alive?”
“Alive,” Alrik agreed. “He’s hanging on. There were a couple arrows that did him no good, and a few slash wounds from when the guards reached him.” He shrugged. “And the head injury, and maybe some extra bruises from afterward. The men were pretty pleased to have a Sacrati in their power.”
“That needs tostop!” Finnvid caught himself and didn’t speak again until he was sure he could control his voice. He let a little anger bleed in to cover for the horror that had been in his last words. “It’sstupid, Alrik. Our only chance now is to claim that we made a mistake. We were tricked by the warlord. We followedhisorders, but as soon as we realized they were wrong, we did everything we could to rectify the situation. We gave the Sacrati survivor the best treatment and we are willing to support our Windthorn allies as they work to deal with the problems in their valley that brought death and destruction toourcastle.”
“If there’s internal conflict with the Torians, we need to back the winner,” Alrik said with a frown. “Sacrati are legendary—and their performance yesterday shows that the legend is deserved—but there aren’t many of them. And Torian regulars may not be quite so elite, yet they’re still great warriors. I’ve spoken to some of the men who traveled with you about the Torian training they did, and they all admitted it was tougher than anything we’d even consider in Elkat. They weren’t training with Sacrati, just regular Torian soldiers. You really think a small band of Sacrati could take on the Torian war machine?”
“You’re leaving two factors out,” Finnvid said. He tried to sound completely confident in his ideas. “You have to consider the resolve of the soldiers. The Sacrati would be fighting for their lives, and to revenge a savage attack on their own. They’re atightgroup, Alrik. They would be completely committed to their battle. The Torian regulars? The warlord is a skilled manipulator, I’ll give him that. Yet I traveled with the Sacrati and the regulars on the way here, and they got along well. That’s what I saw in training at Windthorn, too. The Sacrati were more intense, but they often exercised right alongside the others.” Finnvid decided not to mention that the Sacrati and the Torian regulars had all probably had sex with each other. “I’m not sure the Torian regulars would follow the warlord into battle against their own.”
