“Never,” Everand replied. “Would you think less of me if I told you I thought you were sexy when you were making your threats?”
“By the gods!” Captain Ryze moaned. The large man shifted on his bench seat, stomping his booted feet on the floor so that the noise filled the carriage like thunder. “Can you two be more disgustingly sweet?”
“I’m sure we could,” Everand mocked. “Would you like us to try? We’d be happy to.”
“Ugh! No! I’m feeling nauseated enough already.”
“You’re jealous you don’t have anyone who adores you as much as I adore Prince Everand,” Hugo taunted.
“I’ll have you know I have a husbandanda wife at home who think I’m greater than the sun in the sky, but we still manage not to be as disgusting as you two.”
Hugo’s heart squeezed, and he sat up straighter. “You’re married?”
“Is it that hard to believe?” Ryze sniped.
“No, but I was thinking that if things had gone poorly tonight, you could have died. Your husband and wife would never have seen you again,” Hugo murmured. He’d eventhreatened the man’s life. He could have robbed those two people of their love.
“So? I’m a knight of Wulia. I follow my king’s orders. Even when he sends me on a possible suicide mission.”
Hugo fell silent. He didn’t doubt Captain Ryze’s loyalty. The same could be said for the knights and soldiers of Branem. They all obediently followed the king’s commands, believing he was doing what was best for the kingdom. And yet, Hugo had to wonder if either king stopped to think about the families of these soldiers as they issued these insane orders.
“Get some sleep. It’ll be a few hours before we reach the castle,” Ryze grumbled.
Everand bumped against Hugo in the darkness and brushed a kiss to his shoulder. “Everything will be okay. Don’t worry.”
The only problem was that worrying was what Hugo did best.
Hugo missed seeing Onisa.
Captain Ryze refused to allow him to peek out of the shaded windows. Upon stepping out of the carriage, guards ushered them into the castle, giving Hugo only glimpses of great stone walls and battlements but not much else.
Their hands remained tied behind their backs as they were jostled and shoved through the castle in the early morning hours. Hugo blinked his tired, burning eyes and glanced around, trying to take in his surroundings. It was so different from the palace in Branem, which was filled with marble, white walls, and golden adornments. The palace of Wulia was all cool gray stone, iron sconces, and elegantly painted ceilings. Hugo wanted to linger so he could admire the exquisite paintings of woods, fae creatures, and even some celestial beings. But dawdling wasn’tpermitted, and all too quickly, he was pushed into a grand study filled with books and swords. Augustine would have loved this room. Not for the books, but for the swords. His youngest brother loved all kinds of weapons, but mostly the sharp, pointy ones.
The passing thought of his brother caused a sigh to well up in his chest as his mind wandered next to Dorian and his mother. Would news of what happened at the ball have filtered to his family yet? What kind of horrible son was he not to think of them when he was attempting to protect the prince?
No, it was his duty to protect the prince. Dorian could look after their family in his stead.
“Who is that?”
Hugo’s gaze darted to see a man half-hunched behind a massive desk, pointing at him.
Captain Ryze stepped forward and bowed. “He is Crown Prince Everand’s fiancé, Your Majesty.”
That was the king? He hadn’t expected to be taken directly to him.
“My name is Hugo Baker, Your Majesty—” Hugo stated. He bowed, but Everand took a step in front of him, blocking him from the king’s line of sight.
“It is an honor to meet you at last, King Victor,” Everand stated, bowing his head. “I wish it were under more agreeable circumstances. If we could but discuss?—”
“Agreeable circumstances?” The man behind the desk rose to his feet and stalked around the desk. As he drew closer, Hugo took in the man’s startling white hair. At first he thought that King Victor was an old man, but as he looked closer, he saw the king appeared to be roughly the same age as Everand. His hair was such a pale shade of blond that it was white.
He wore a severe black suit that outlined strong, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. But Hugo’s stare keptreturning to his face. Particularly his eyes and the shape of his eyebrows. They were familiar.
Too familiar.
Was it possible that he was related to Prince Everand?
No! That couldn’t be.
