“Anyone can be ambushed or overwhelmed,” Rin said stubbornly, crossing his arms and glaring.
Smugly, Tor pointed out, “But no one will know that I’m me.”
Rin’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
Tor grinned, feeling lighter than air. He hadn’t realized just how much his worry was weighing him down. “Why, that High Prince Torex will be continuing on to Glomar in Vayrin, of course, and Sir Rinil will be visiting Tond.”
Rin eyed him doubtfully. “You do realize I’m not your brother, right?”
Tor grinned at him. “You sure aren’t. He would never agree to something like this.”
The other man still looked doubtful. “I’m blond.”
They were almost the same height, and the build was close enough, but it was true about the hair.
Tor’s grin deepened. “That can be fixed.”
Rin expression was almost horrified. “A dye job? Really?”
Tor offered his most endearing look, fluttering his lashes. “You love me, don’t you?”
Rin rolled his eyes but said immediately, “You know I do, you reckless fool.”
Tor couldn’t stop smiling because he already knew Rin was going to do it.
“Obviously, Terila knows what I actually look like, more’s the pity,” Tor added, “but if you buy me a few days, I’ll be well away, and it will be much harder to figure out where I’ve gone.”
After considering for a moment, Rin told him, “I think you’ll have to leave in all state in your carriage.”
Tor made a face but didn’t protest overmuch given that Rin was doing exactly what he wanted. It was perfectly logical. Anyone could be in a carriage, and no one would know the difference. It was a lot harder to look like someone else when you were on horseback.
Tor got into the spirit of it. “And as we get farther away from Alossa and our close neighbor Lotar, we’ll no doubt be far more concerned about attacks. We should wear full armor.”
Never mind that Vayrin was also one of their closest allies.
Rin nodded solemnly, managing to keep a straight face. “Absolutely. And by the time anyone works out that there’s actually just one person in the carriage instead of two, you’ll be well away. You’ll want to be seen on the way?”
Tor nodded. “I mean, I need to go through Vayrin for at least a little while anyway to adhere to my brother’s orders. Then we’ll split off, and I’ll go quietly through Bessar to get to Tond.”
Anything to avoid Filon and King Nostex. Fernila’s father was bluff, jovial… and a windbag who was so very proud of his daughter the High Queen. Nostex was already going about how their next child would inherit Filon one day and he couldn’t be more proud. Tor might not think much of Fernila, but even he thought she should get a bit of a break before she was under pressure for more children—Cala wasn’t even a year old yet!
Not to mention, if Tor had to sit through one more interminable dinner or lecture on Nostex’s many exploits in days of yore, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.
“You’re sure about this?” Rin asked him seriously.
Tor met his eyes squarely. “Given how sober I am, Rin, I can probably say with all honesty that I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
Rin eyed him for another moment and then gave a firm nod.
“Then it shall be as you wish.”
As always, the good thing about Rin was that once he committed to something, he was all in. And for all that he was often the life of the party, he was actually capable of a great deal of subtlety.
Tor made appropriately reluctant sounds about needing to finally make his way to Vayrin.
“You have a plan,” Ada said, her eyes narrowed and intent on his face.
They were walking in the castle gardens, seeing what green and growing things were poking up through the earth. Hena and Para were playing some obscure game that seemed to involve running around and yelling a lot. Ada was keeping a weather eye on them.
