“She didn’t say,” Alrik said stiffly.
“Oh. Well . . .” Finnvid reflected for a moment and realized he could say it honestly. “No. Nothing unnatural, I don’t think.”
“But you still want him alive?”
“Well, yes. He was good to me. And more importantly, I think he could be useful.”
They left it at that. Finnvid thought about asking to see Theos; he could visit the Elkat soldiers injured in the battle as well, and offer his healing skills, such as they were, to everyone.
Unfortunately, the queen mother remained a factor. Finnvid had ensured that she was busy elsewhere when he’d asked for his brother’s time, but he knew she’d still hear about the conversation, just as she’d hear about anything else that happened in the castle. She always knew everything, eventually. And she was much harder to fool than Alrik. If Finnvid slipped, even just a little . . . if he let his fingers linger on Theos’s arm with no reason, if he looked too often or too long in the wrong direction, if he didanythingto suggest an attachment, she would know about it. He couldn’t take the chance.
“You should see the tailors,” Alrik said just before Finnvid reached the office exit. He turned, and Alrik smiled fondly at him. “Your shirts don’t fit anymore.”
Finnvid moved his shoulders. He’d noticed the tightness when he’d dressed and had dismissed it as part of adjusting to tailored Elkat shirts after wearing loose tunics for so long. But now he looked down to see the shoulder seam threatening to burst, and realized that the fabric was tight around his biceps as well. Everywhere, really; a shirt that had once been loose was now filled past capacity. “Torian training,” he said, forcing himself not to think about Theos and his demands on the training grounds. “I’ll remedy the situation.”
“We need to look like royals and play the part our people expect,” Alrik said.
That wasn’t something Finnvid could afford to argue with right then, so he obediently went to the tailors, and spent the afternoon wearing one of Alrik’s shirts, itself a little on the small side. He ate dinner that night with his mother and Alrik and Alrik’s pregnant wife, making appropriate comments about the coming heir and trying to think of a way to sneak off. But his mother was watching him as intently as a hunting falcon. Finnvid was the rabbit, currently under cover; as soon as he moved he’d be spotted and doomed. Only in this case it wasn’t Finnvid the rabbit who’d be in trouble, it was Theos the wolf.
So Finnvid stayed still, and then went to bed like a good boy, and the next morning he managed to subtly ask his brother for news of the Sacrati prisoner and was told that he was recovering well and had been moved out of the storeroom.
“Oh, really?” Finnvid tried to sound unconcerned. “Where have you stashed him now?”
“They found somewhere easier to guard him. Now that he’s stronger, they wanted him more securely chained.”
“Alrik, he’s a man, not a god. He can’t break chains.”
“He got those chains wrapped around the neck of one of the guards last night. There were two other guards in the room with him, and the doctor as well, and they were barely able to save the guard.” Alrik looked at Finnvid closely as he added, “He’s an animal, Finn. A savage.”
Finnvid felt ill, but managed to say, “He’schained up, after being ambushed in a place he’d been told was safe and losing all his friends. And yousaidthe guards had been abusing him after his injuries—was this guard one of those?” He moderated his tone. “I guess it makes sense to chain him more securely for everyone’s safety. But has anyone talked to him yet? Explained the mistake? Shown him the letter? Heshouldbe enraged, Alrik. He’s just being angry at the wrong people right now. We could change that.”
“I’m still thinking it over.”
“And mother is still pressuring you to . . . what? To kill him, so it’s tidy? That’s shortsighted, Alrik.”
“She thinks it’s too late to take your path. She thinks we’ve committed to the warlord, and there’s no going back. So if we’re on his side, we need to follow his instructions and kill them all.”
“It’s too late for that.” Finnvid wasn’t sure if this was wise or not, but he needed to try. “Andros—the kind Sacrati I mentioned yesterday—he didn’t come into the valley with us. I told you, remember? If he sees the Torian regulars going back without the Sacrati, he’ll know something’s up, and he’ll return to Windthorn before they do and make sure the Sacrati side is represented.”
Alrik stared at him. “Damn it, Finnvid.” He ran his hands through his hair, and for the first time Finnvid realized that being the king wasn’t easy for his brother. Alrik alwaysactedlike it was, but that was just part of his policy of showing the people what he thought they needed to see. “The Torian regulars headed out the morning after they arrived. They’re already long gone.”
“Then Andros is long gone too. Or maybe he crept in among the regulars—he had friends among them, I know. Maybe he heard the story. But if they’re racing back to Windthorn to report? A sole Sacrati will move faster than a band of regulars. He’ll arrive first, so we need to keep this Sacrati alive, and we need to make him as comfortable as we can.”
Alrik still looked undecided, and their mother came in then so Finnvid gave up the argument for the moment. He’d have better luck speaking to Alrik privately than getting into a duel with his mother.
That day was spent trying to act as if nothing had changed, and the day after that as well. Finnvid tried to catch the rhythms of castle life so he could know when they were disrupted, and did a little more skulking around, trying to figure out where Theos was being held. The valley had no real dungeon; the few prisoners they ever took were kept in chains, usually out in the open. He’d not seen anything of the sort lately, though, and he noticed enough guards heading for the cellars that he decided Theos was likely down there. Not a good sign, if the man was still being held in such unpleasant conditions, especially considering his injuries. But at least he was still alive.
How long could he last for? Finnvid needed to come up with a plan, something more than his continued campaign with his brother. But any overt steps he took would almost certainly alert his mother and result in Theos’s death, not his escape.
It was a horrible situation. And it all got that much worse on the fourth night.
Finnvid was a hero, and he’d returned home after a long and dangerous mission. He needed to be celebrated. The queen mother had put together a feast, and there would be dancing afterward. His new clothes were ready, and he’d looked so handsome when he tried them on. The queen mother was delighted.
Finnvid let the planning continue, and tried not to be sick.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Finnvid’s skin crawled as he stood in line with his family and they greeted friends and relatives in the Great Hall. No traces of blood left, not there or in the entry, and yet Finnvid was sure he could still smell it. Would he ever again be in the room and not be reminded of the carnage and his own guilt? But he made himself smile, and he ate and drank and after dinner, he danced with some of the eligible daughters paraded by him.
