Page 107 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Pel

There was a moment where neither Pel nor Bavil seemed to know what to do, and then they were suddenly in one another’s arms, hugging one another too tightly.

“Pel, by the goddess, what are you doing here? What’s going on? Are you all right?”

For just a moment, Pel let himself sag against his big brother, because everything was definitely not all right, and maybe Pel was tired of needing to try to figure this out.

Maybe he just missed his brother.

He sighed against Bavil’s solid shoulder, and then he made himself stand upright again, because he was still his own fully functional person, and just because he was exhausted and maybe felt like crying didn’t mean there was time to fall apart.

He regarded his brother for a moment, and then he admitted, “No, it’s not really all right. Oh, Bavil, everything’s gone terribly, terribly wrong.”

“What’s happened?”

Pel swallowed, and his eyes strayed over to the strange woman.

Bavil’s eyes went large. “Oh, sorry, this is probably terrible timing. This is Tama. You probably don’t remember her, Pel, but we used to play together when we were here as children. Her father was the healer in this area.”

Pel tried to focus on what his brother was saying. He was introducing Pel to the woman that Beluna was holding at sword point. The woman had told them that she was meeting someone, and Bavil had rushed in ready to defend her. She had a name—which, obviously—but Bavil was the one who’d shared it, and that meant—

“Are you having a private assignation up the mountain?” Pel asked.

He hadn’t meant to sound quite so incredulous, but just at the moment, the notion that his brother happened to show up here to meet a woman in a cave strained credulity.

Bavil stiffened, although the woman—Tama—was regarding them with amusement.

“And if I am?” he asked belligerently.

This would normally be the point that Pel made a snarky remark about not being able to keep it in his pants, but that felt incredibly immature all of a sudden. Pel had more important considerations.

“That would explain why you’re here,” he said instead. “Sorry, I don’t think I’ve slept properly in a couple of weeks. I, uh, really didn’t expect to see you here.”

Bavil’s shoulders immediately dropped. “What areyoudoing here?”

“I remembered the cave, too,” Pel said wryly. “And I needed somewhere… safe to come for a little while.” He looked at Bavil, glanced at Tama, and then back to his brother. “There’s no way to politely ask this, but I feel like I’ve run out of options. Do you trust her?”

Bavil nodded, his expression grave. “Yes, I trust her.”

So Pel stepped out of the way so that Bavil could see all the way into the cave.

His eyes widened. “Is that—?”

Pel nodded. “He’s injured. He must be magically exhausted again, because it’s been almost two weeks, and he still hasn’t woken up. I needed to get him somewhere safe, and this was the only place I could think of.”

“You could have come to me,” Bavil said immediately.

He looked hurt, Pel thought.

“I, uh, I really hoped so,” he admitted, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “But I wasn’t willing to risk it with Father. His letter to the High King didn’t cast Tor or I in a good light, and it… really made a mess of everything.”

Bavil opened his mouth, but then Tama stepped into the mouth of the cave.

“That’s the High Prince? And you think he’s in a magical coma?”

Pel hesitated, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t already admitted as much. Bavil trusted her, and Pel didn’t feel like he had much choice but to do the same—and pray that his brother’s judgment was accurate.

Tama pushed into the cave and went to kneel beside Tor. Pel rushed over as she reached for him, but Bavil was following and caught his arm.