“Yourpeopleare thieves and liars!”
“We steal because your rulers forced us to, but we would never stab our family in the backs just to advance a political agenda.”
With each flung barb, Brandow’s temper rose along with his voice, but Eiri remained calm. Crown prince though he was, Brandow had clearly never learned that the first person to lose their temper in an argument would be the one who lost. More than that, though… just the knowledge that Brandow would let Syrus die just because the queen wanted to punish Eiri made him sick. He couldn’t imagine turning on Akari like this.
“I will not stand here and trade insults with my brother’s whore,” Brandow sneered, and that barb actually slid under Eiri’s skin, riling his temper up in an instant. Not because the man had insultedhim, though. He was used to that. But the way one word mocked and belittled the relationship he and Syrus had barely even finished the foundation of had him seeing red.
“Don’t. He wants to make you mad,” Xan whispered in his ear. “Don’t give him that satisfaction.”
Even with Xan’s encouragement, it took Eiri a moment to calm down. It helped that getting worked up made him light-headed and he had to clutch even tighter to Ellis to stay standing. Brandow watched him with a smirk, clearly thinking he’d scored a decisive blow in this ridiculous argument. Eiri was happy to disabuse him of that notion.
“I’d rather be a whore than a lapdog. At least I get some pleasure from my work.”
There was a sort of twisted pleasure in seeing Brandow’s smirk disappear and his face go red with fury as Eiri’s words hit their mark. The mages beside the prince edged away from him, their attacks on Xan’s ward flickering for a moment as they glanced over at Brandow. Ellis’ eyes widened, but Xan outright laughed, a sound of pure delight.
“I knew I liked you,” he said to Eiri, wrapping an arm around his waist in solidarity while actually helping him stay on his feet. Unlike the two mages Brandow had brought, Xan seemed unfazed by the magic he was pouring into his ward to keep them safe.
“My mother wanted your execution to be private, since you fucked your way into our family, but I won’t rest until I see you hanged in the center of Lodie,” Brandow hissed. There was no trace left of the aloof prince he’d pretended to be. He reminded Eiri most strongly of Vonyers in that moment: arrogant, vindictive, and cruel. A fitting heir to thethrone of Vaetreas.
“Your interpretation of my marriage is the most interesting version I’ve heard. Especially since I distinctly recall you being present when the contracts were signed that forced us into this.” Eiri tilted his head, pasting on a concerned expression. “If your memory is so bad that you can’t remember what happened just weeks ago, perhaps a throne isn’t the best place for you. I wonder… did your mother drop you on your head as a child?”
Xan outright burst into laughter, his messy curls falling into his face as he doubled over. In his defense, the look on Brandow’s face was truly a sight that Eiri would never forget.
“No one has ever dared to speak to me that way,” he snarled, and Eiri just rolled his eyes.
“Then clearly it was long overdue.”
Brandow’s temper snapped. Ignoring the warnings from his mages, he threw himself at Xan’s ward, his hard gaze locked on Eiri. The spell rebuffed him easily, only pissing him off further.
“Stop playing and break down this fucking ward!”
The mages exchanged wary looks before one, an older woman, finally spoke.
“Your Highness, if we try anything else, we could seriously injure Lord Cormyr, Prince Ellis, and Prince Syrus.” Unsurprisingly, Eiri’s welfare didn’t concern them.
Brandow spun to face her, his hand hovering over the hilt of the sword at his side. “I don’t care! They knew the risks when they decided to commit treason. Break. Down. The fucking ward. Or I will have you arrested. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
The two mages dug into their bags of supplies, coming back out with something clutched in their hands.
“What do we do?” Eiri kept his voice low and his eyes on Brandow.
“The mages are just doing their job,” Ellis replied just as quietly, glancing at Xan from the corner of his eye.
“I’m aware of that, but if they get through to us, we’re as good as dead. I can’t let that happen.”
They were at an impasse. No matter what happened, Eiri couldn’t see how this ended with any of them walking away. If Xan repelled the mages, soldiers, and furious prince in the room, then what? Eiri could barely walk, and Syrus was still unconscious. The four of them would be fish in a barrel. A novice recruit would be able to capture them if they tried to escape. On the other hand, if Xan’s ward failed, the queen would execute Eiri before nightfall, and it was likely Syrus wouldn’t survive the night, either. Xan would be imprisoned at best, and while the queen might not be able to get away with killing two of her children, whatever fate awaited Ellis wouldn’t be a kind one.
Xan clearly had to be a powerful mage, but even he couldn’t hold on forever. The four of them were completely alone in Lodie, without allies or support. Brandow had the might of the throne and the goodwill of his countrymen, which came with a near-endless supply of soldiers and, more importantly, power over the narrative. No matter what lies he and his mother spun to explain what happened here, the people would believe them. Eiri had seen enough of Vaetreas to know how the common folk revered those that held power over them, even when those rulers clearly didn’t have their best interests at heart.
The mages exchanged quick whispers, then moved forward until they nearly touched the chalked line on the floor. The woman opened her hand palm-up to reveal a handful of crushed rock, with glints of a reddish crystal sprinkled throughout. Beside her, the man held a bundle of dried herbs. Eiri didn’t recognize any of the reagents, but from the sudden tension in Xan’s body, they were in trouble.
“We’re running out of time,” he muttered to Eiri and Ellis. The woman on the other side of the ward, her back now to Prince Brandow, gave a tiny wince of apology. Neither mage looked pleased about this, but either their loyalty to the throne or their fear of Brandow was enough to push past their doubts.
“Eiri, are you a mage?” Ellis asked. He kept his voice low, but the two mages were close enough to hear. This wasn’t something Eiri had ever intended to reveal to anyone in Vaetreas, but apparently Ellis had figured it out. Considering he’d watched Eiri pull the fluid from Syrus’ lungs, it didn’t come as a surprise.
“I am, but not like Xan. I used everything I had to heal Syrus of the poison. Until I can get back down to the ocean and replenish, I’m useless.”
