Page 112 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Tama filled the silence. “Actually, I used much the same excuse. People spend their time teasing instead of questioning why you’re gone or for how long.”

Pel hadn’t considered that, but it actually made a lot of sense. It had certainly never occurred to him to question what Bavil was doing. How much had Bavil’s persona been carefully crafted to leave this impression?

“Is she the reason for what happened with Princess Marwila?” Pel found himself asking his brother, despite the fact that this was probably not an appropriate time.

But the thing was, he’d wanted to understand for years, and he’d never felt like he could ask… until now, despite the fact that they were stuck up a mountain in a cave.

Now Bavil looked embarrassed. Pel wasn’t certain, but he was pretty sure that Cavun and Denil had taken their seats on either side of Pel and Tor deliberately, giving them a protective buffer just in case they needed it. Beluna was at the mouth of the cave, keeping an eye out.

But maybe Pel didn’t need that protection. Maybe he should have asked for an explanation three years ago.

Quietly, Pel admitted, “I should have asked you that a long time ago. I mean, asked what really happened. I’m sorry I didn’t. Sovereign Gornexi and Princess Marwila were so upset when I stayed with them on the way back from Vayrin. I was stillsmarting from Princess Terila rejecting me, and thinking you’d done something similar to Princess Marwila hit a little too close to home.”

Pel had retreated and built walls upon walls to keep himself safe. After all, if he couldn’t even trust his siblings, who could he trust?

Bavil stared at him for a long moment, and just as Pel convinced himself that he’d made an awkward situation worse, Bavil stood up, skirted around Cavun, and pulled Pel to his feet so that he could wrap him up and hold him tight, tight, tight.

“I love you, you fool,” Bavil told him.

Pel felt tears sting his eyes, and he pressed his face into his brother’s shoulder and mumbled, “I love you, too. I always loved you. That’s why it hurt so much when it seemed like you and Larexa didn’t really want anything to do with someone like me.”

Bavil pulled back, and his expression was stern. “Don’t you ever say anything like that! Father is a prejudiced fool. He’s never seen you for who you really are. I know lots of people don’t.” He glanced down at Tor’s still form. “That’s why I’m so glad he came. I still don’t understand it, because I thought the two of you were going to be the worst combination ever, but it turns out that his persistence was actually for a good reason.”

And suddenly, Pel laughed. “He recruited both of you, didn’t he? That’s why you spent so much time together and whispered all the time.”

It explained so much. Why they’d all been friendly but nothing more. It fit in perfectly with Tor’s original goal, but Pel suspected that like so much else, it had grown a life of its own.

Bavil rolled his eyes. “He clearly needed all the help he could get, at least at the beginning. Honestly, though, he seemed to figure out what he wanted and go after it without needing much intervention from either of us.”

Oh, if only Bavil knew. Given that Tor had announced the plan at High Court, Pel suspected it would come out everywhere eventually, but now didn’t seem the moment.

Pel had just acknowledged that he’d spent three years being angry instead of getting answers, so it wasn’t like he wasn’t familiar with making a mistake.

“Tor is definitely too charming for his own good,” Pel agreed, since that much was true regardless. “And he’s been sure for weeks that something was going on. I wasn’t imagining some of the things you said, though, was I?”

It was probably weird to be asking his brother for reassurance that he’d been rude, but the words were out now.

Cavun shifted over and urged the two of them to sit down again, which they did, this time next to one another. That allowed Pel to twine his fingers with Tor’s, which made relief and warmth surge through him.

Bavil sighed and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “No, you weren’t imagining it. The problem is that we came up with the act while you were away, and we didn’t think about how it would look to you or how it would affect you. You got so angry, and we realized we were hurting you, but it felt like it was too late to change course because we’d established our behavior with Father. We tried to soften and correct afterwards, but it clearly didn’t work. We didn’t realize how bad it was going to get. I’m so sorry.”

Pel could state quite honestly that he’d dug his heels in and built a wall that reached towards the sun. He hadn’t trusted any overtures, and he’d heard attacks in everything.

“Butwhythe act?” Pel demanded. “What was it all for?”

What could have changed so much while Pel was gone?

Bavil sighed. “It’s not really my story to tell, but I don’t think Lara would mind. It probably wasn’t a very good plan, but with Father so determined, it was the only thing we could come upwith. We should have just told you when you got back, but you were so angry, and we were worried that you wouldn’t agree to go along with it.”

“Go along with what?” Pel prompted, frustrated.

“The whole ruse to break the engagement. Honestly, it worked a little too well. Gornexi was so angry that it was all Marwa could do to prevent them from actually attacking me.”

“Princess Marwila was in on this, too?” Pel asked, stunned.

In retrospect, it made a lot of sense. It wasn’t like Bavil had been having sex in public. What were the chances that Princess Marwila and her sibling would happen across him at just the right moment?

Non-existent, apparently.