Then he looked over at Pel, who was looking at the two of them with a very neutral expression on his face, the one that he tended to adopt whenever he was with his family for too long.
Maybe it didn’t matter whether you had a lot of magic or not. Pel wasbrimmingwith passion.
And one of his passions was archery. With the promise of the rain finally tapering off, Tor didn’t want to delay any longer. He sauntered over to the man.
“We never did manage that archery competition.”
“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Pel’s concerned gaze roamed over Tor.
“Absolutely,” he promised. “I can even rest and recover if you want, because I was thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if the people had a bit of a break? What if they came to watch?”
Tor had apparently been speaking more loudly than he realized, because the King said suddenly, “Watch? Watch what?”
Before Tor knew it, the entire family was involved in the planning of an archery competition that had definitely grown beyond just Pel and Tor entertaining one another.
Tor watched how, with a few deft touches, Bavil made sure King Forex thought that he was the one who suggested that they invite the villagers and civilians, a way to help them relax after all the hard work and danger they’d undergone with the flooding, which would ensure that they worked harder than ever afterwards.
There was even going to be ale and food, maybe dancing.
Pel looked the way he usually did when he was with his family… except there was also an undercurrent of excitement and pride. This was one activity where he believed in himself—and perhaps where he felt that it was so demonstrable that others had to believe in him, too.
Tor eyed Pel and gave a sort of shrug and grimace to try to show that he hadn’t actually meant for this to get out of hand.
Pel’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really want all those people to see you lose?”
Tor grinned, loving Pel’s confidence. “I absolutely do.”
“You’re on,” Pel said, a smile curving his lips and a bright spark in his eyes.
Fortunately, they were surrounded by Pel’s family, so Tor didn’t lose his head and try to kiss him again.
Chapter Seventeen
Tor
The day of the archery competition dawned like a day in June should. A little cool in the morning but without a cloud in the sky and a promise of being pleasant—but not sweltering—later in the day. Tor couldn’t have asked for finer weather.
The townsfolk, villagers, and farmers showed up in large number early that afternoon, crowding onto the castle grounds and happy to shake Tor and Pel’s hands. Most of them were still effusive in their praise for Tor—and grateful for Pel’s help, too, if they’d been there to see him quietly toil away.
It suddenly struck Tor that if only Forex had listened to Pel, none of this would have happened. They would all have been perfectly safe, not needing Tor’s intervention at all… but there would have been no particular praise for Pel. He’d seen the need before it had become a big problem, and he could have prevented it entirely, if only he’d been allowed. Which would have been so much better than the chance of Tor being able to do the big, flashy magic at exactly the right moment.
Thinking about it that way, it seemed unfair that it was the showy things that were always rewarded. Tor had always been a bit flashy, liking the grand gestures, the admiration, the giant glowing avatars that everyone stopped and watched.
Varex had inherited an entire country when their mother died, and his duty had become to prevent those flashy moves wherever possible. He’d needed to be like Pel, figuring out the problems before they happened and keeping his people safe day to day.
It had always been part of their personalities, but the divide had grown much larger when Varex became king. Tor had felt like there was no place for him anymore, and he hadn’t appreciated Varex trying to mold him into something that didn’t come naturally to him.
He’d maybe even acted out more ridiculously as his own completely futile form of protest.
He made a face. Rather like he was doing right now. He’d picked the showiest option, the one that threw his resistance in Varex’s face, the one designed to demonstrate how Tor could get around him.
Was that really going to convince his brother that Tor was right? Or was Varex going to be even more certain that Tor couldn’t be trusted at all?
Shit. Why had none of this occurred to Tor sooner?
“Tor? Are you sure you want to do this?”
Tor refocused and realized that Pel was looking at him anxiously.
