Pel was just opening his mouth, probably to say that people were more important than schedules, when they offered a short bow and turned and walked away.
“I like them,” Tor said, smiling.
Pel’s gaze flickered from watching Tramili’s retreating back to Tor, and his face softened. “I don’t know what we’d do without them. They keep everything organized—and they’ll make sure those baths are delivered quickly, so you’d better get up to your room.”
“Call for me if you need anything,” Tor requested.
Pel gave him a playful shove.
“Go get cleaned up and warm, and you can see about being a hero again after that, all right?”
“Get cleaned up yourself,” he admonished.
Pel rolled his eyes, but then they were heading their separate ways.
Tor tried not to worry as he headed for his room. They’d stayed until everything was stable. Tor couldn’t actually watch an embankment day in and day out, certainly not one the length of the Great River in Tond. If there was a problem, they’d call for him. Assuming Pel was right about the weather, they were hopefully past the worst of it.
The bath was indeed filled with alacrity, at least half of the folks who brought buckets adding in an extra bow and thanking him for what he’d done.
By the time the bath had been filled, it felt like half the staff must have been through to thank him. It had been a long time since anyone had done that, and he couldn’t decide if it was because they didn’t see Tor like that in Alossa anymore or because he hadn’t done anything worthy of being thanked for in quite a while.
Upon sober reflection, it was probably a combination of the two. Varex had acted like Tor had to earn back the Crown’s trust—while preventing him from doing anything that might allow him to do so. Tor had responded by being as irresponsible as possible, which obviously didn’t help his case, but at the time, it had felt like the only thing hecoulddo.
Would it have been different if Tor had approached it differently? It had felt like all the decisions had already been made, but maybe that was all Tor had been able to see.
He had his troop, and those guards had always stuck by him. They congratulated one another when things went well and commiserated when they went poorly. But Tor didn’t remember being truly thanked for what he’d done, not like this.
Maybe that was still tied up with his duty, whereas this had been simply something hecoulddo. Yes, he was the High Prince, but Tond wasn’t his home. He’d just been in the right place at the right time.
The bath was glorious, banishing the chill that had permeated his bones and letting him get properly cleaned. It was the beginning of June, but somehow, the unrelenting rain created a damp that made it feel like it was still February.
By the time he and Pel made it to dinner, the King had heard about what had happened.
“It appears that we have you to thank,” the man said, gazing sourly at Tor.
It was clear he didn’t like to be beholden to anyone.
His children were united for once in their joint annoyance at this behavior, but Tor gave a little shake of his head, and Pel subsided angrily. Bavil and Larexa exchanged glances, and then they didn’t say anything either.
“It was pure chance that I was there at the right moment. No one expected rain as bad as this, which made the river rise past every high-water mark. I’d guess that with another hour or two of work, they wouldn’t even have needed my intervention.”
“They should have gotten to it sooner,” the King argued promptly.
Because of course he did.
“It was certainly too bad that no one could be spared to advise you sooner so that the guards could have been dispatched to assist,” Tor agreed smoothly, as though that had been what the King had been saying.
Pel looked down at his plate, and Tor couldn’t tell if he was still angry or was trying not to betray his amusement. Tor hoped it was the latter.
“We’ve got guards there now that we’re aware,” the King pointed out virtuously.
“Of course you do,” Tor agreed, as though he didn’t know Pel had been the one to send them. “I’d expect no less. We had a similar series of flooding a year or two ago in the east of Alossa. The King had to keep sending guards to assist. It took weeks of work.”
“Waste of money,” the King grumbled. “Should have done the work correctly to start.”
“You know,” Tor said pensively, “that does sound like a much wiser idea. I’ll make sure to mention it to my brother.”
As he’d expected, King Forex looked altogether pleased at the idea that he’d thought of something before the High King. With him in a more jovial mood, it was an almost convivial dinner.
