Page 51 of Henrikk’s Secret

Asher took hold of his face and gently turned him back. “We can be like that again.”

Henrikk looked doubtful, but he nodded and helped Asher to his feet. They looked like a pair of drowned rats, so far away from the court life they’d grown accustomed to.

Their camp was nowhere in sight, but Asher recognised where they were from his frequent treks. “We’re on the opposite side of the island.”

“Of course we are,” Henrikk muttered as they began the trek.

Asher’s throat was parched, and Henrikk made a comment on how he could have razed an entire village for a glass of cool water.

“But I won’t,” he added with a sidelong look.

What might have been a throwaway comment from their soldier days now rang with a hint of truth, and they fell into silence. Asher suspected Henrikk was thinking the same thing as he was: he might not have resorted to such thoughtless violence, but maybe the Other Henrikk would have.

Asher tried not to think about what the Other Henrikk in Wintermaw Keep was doing. Hopefully, he was free of the dragon’s influence. But what if her magic lived on in him?

They walked in silence for a while, both deep in thought.

“You know,” Henrikk began when they neared the camp, “Dargotika had the power to open a new portal to send you back to Wintermaw Keep.”

“I know.”

“Just making sure.”

Asher chuckled. “In case I want to change my mind about unaliving the dragon?”

Henrikk’s eyes narrowed, a playful smile teasing his lips. “She was your ticket back to Wintermaw. All you had to do was give up the name of whoever hid Barbara.”

“That’s right,” Asher said carefully.

“You’re still not going to tell me, are you?”

Asher shook his head. They left the beach, entering the welcome shade of the jungle where the thin path that Henrikk had cut made the going easier.

“I thought it was the dragon you feared,” Henrikk said, “but it’s me. Whoever you’re protecting, I’m the one you’re afraid of. Even now that the portal is closed, you won’t say his name.”

He glanced at Henrikk when he heard the masculine pronoun.

“Oh yes, I figured it out,” he continued. “It was Nathaniel, wasn’t it?”

Asher tensed as a fearful jolt shot through him. “The prince?” He glanced down. “What makes you suppose that?”

“I suppose that for several reasons. One, because from how you’ve guarded this secret, the person had to still be at the castle. Someone you care about. If they were long gone, the risk of revealing their name would be minimal.”

“Hmm…?” It was a noncommittal sound prompting Henrikk to continue.

“Two, because there was only one other person besides you and me who had the authority to tamper with the patrol routes of the castle guards.”

“The Crown Prince does not have that authority,” Asher pointed out.

“Officially, no. But given his status as my son, his influence alone carries enough weight to force his will upon others.”

Henrikk was on the money with his theory, but Asher did not give any indication that he was getting warmer.

“Three,” Henrikk continued, “I can understand why you did not want to risk jeopardising the cover of any potential spy at the castle. But why not reveal the perpetrator’s identity now that the portal is closed? Why not tell me right now, here on this beach, when we have no chance of ever returning to Wintermaw? It shouldn’t make a difference who it is now—unless it would have some sort of impact on me. Perhaps, you fear for my sensibilities.”

Getting hotter. Asher picked up his pace. The camp had just come into view.

Henrikk grabbed his arm and brought him to a halt. “Perhaps, you worry how I would cope to discover that it was my son who had betrayed me, not you.”