Pel
Pel licked suddenly dry lips. “Why would you do that?”
It was Prince Torex’s mother who’d established the peace accords, and they included the provision that the land was for the exiles. They’d stay on their side, and the United Realms would stay on this side. Peace maintained.
Voice full of tension, Torex said, “I received orders from the High King. It must have been a little over two years ago. They’d begun raiding in Filon, and King Nostex asked for our help. We patrolled for weeks, and sure enough, a large raiding party attacked. They weren’t expecting us in such great numbers, and our victory was decisive. They were routed. And we…celebrated.”
Torex’s tone was distant, but it turned acidic on the last word.
After a moment, Pel interpreted: “You were drinking.”
“I was drinking,” Torex confirmed, voice thick. “I was by no means the only one, and I didn’t think I’d drunk that much, but—” He cut himself off, glancing away from Pel again. Stiffly, he repeated, “I’d been drinking.”
Pel digested this. He knew how Torex had started this conversation, so he ventured, “You sent guards after the exiles who’d retreated?”
He’d tried not to sound judgmental, but he wasn’t sure he succeeded. Cutting people down after they’d fled? Pel couldn’t condone that, exiles or no.
Torex swallowed visibly. “I received orders from the High King. I wasorderedto send them after the exiles. So that’s what I did.”
“Then you were doing what you’d been ordered to do,” Pel said carefully.
He still didn’tapprove, but he understood a little better.
Torex looked out over the hills for a long moment. “Had I been more sober, I would have questioned those orders.”
Perhaps, but it was easier to say that in hindsight.
Carefully, Pel said, “I must confess that I’m generally a proponent of compassion, but it could be argued that the exiles broke the accord with their raid.”
It was certainly what Forex was arguing now. The counterargument was that a small group of criminals couldn’t be taken to represent the whole and should be dealt with as isolated incidents. That was what they’d been doing since the peace had begun, but Pel wasn’t sure how much longer his father would tolerate it.
Torex was silent for another long moment, and then his gaze darted to Pel’s, and Pel was surprised by the depth of the self-loathing in his eyes.
“Had I been less drunk, I might not havemisread the orders from the High King. The ones that explicitly ordered menotto go after the exiles.”
Pel swallowed.Oh, goddess.
“You read your orders wrong, and people died.”
Torex wouldn’t look at him, but he nodded his head, a sharp, jerky movement. Voice raw, he said, “I can still remember the letter. I’d still swear that it ordered me to send the guards into the mountain.” His face twisted. “But I should have—I should have known better. I should have told him where to stuff his orders.”
Pel doubted that was acceptable even if youwerethe High King’s brother. He frowned. “Why would the High King send you orders like that? Were you considering sending them into the mountains?”
You didn’t order peoplenotto do something out of the blue, did you?
Torex’s voice was still tightly controlled. “He’d apparently received word that I was behaving rashly. There were concerns that I would do something foolish. So he sent explicit directives.”
“Was he right?” Pelun wanted to know. “Was the letter just a convenient excuse to do what you wanted?”
For the first time since he’d started his confession, Torex sounded indignant. “No, of course not! We were victorious; the remaining exiles had fled. There was no goodreasontopursue them, not really.” His face twisted. “The letter said something about an absolute victory, wanting to be certain we sent a message that would prevent further harm in the future.” He scoffed. “I can’t remember it word for word because I apparently invented the entire thing. I hadn’t been captain of the guard for even a year. They’d spent all that time drumming into my head that I was an instrument of the Crown and I was meant to follow orders. And I justdid.” He sounded choked. “Andtwelve people died. Because I was a drunken fool.”
“You made a terrible mistake,” Pel acknowledged. “You caused real harm. But you didn’tintendto do so. And I’m sure you triple-checked every order from that point forward, right?”
He didn’t appear to have stopped drinking, though.
Torex scoffed, the sound as bitter as his words. “I wasn’t given the chance. My brother demoted me and made me a useless accessory with no real responsibility.”
Oh.That actually explained a lot about the drinking. Pel thought there should definitely have been consequences, and maybe High King Varex had judged these the appropriate ones… but Pel could also see how it had left Torex purposeless and hurting.
