Page 115 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Bav looked sharply at Tama. “You didn’t say anything.”

She wouldn’t quite look at him. “People started to disappear from our side of the mountain. Just gone. We thought at first that they were sneaking into Filon or Tond, trying their luck away from our land. That’s happened occasionally over the years.” She blew out a breath. “And then someone finally escaped. King Forex was forcing them to swear Fealty or die, then putting them to work in the mines.”

Pel and Bav both stared, stunned.

“He wouldn’t.”

They both said it, but neither of them sounded certain.

If King Forex thought so little of the exiles that he was willing to wipe them out, whywouldn’the try to compel their Fealty first? Because that would make him stronger, and he hated to be the King of the smallest realm.

Putting them to work in the mines, presumably under strict supervision, helped lower the risk of rebellion and the story getting out. It still seemed like a terribly short-sighted plan to Pel, but then, he wasn’t convinced his father had ever been a planner.

Pel was definitely beginning to understand why the exiles felt their position was untenable.

“Was that why you were evacuating?” he asked.

Tama shook her head. “It was that awful raid. The people who died.” She met their eyes squarely, looking first at Bav, then at Pel. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but it wasn’t us, I swear.”

Pel frowned.

“Truly,” she assured him, voice a bit shaky. “I—”

He raised a hand. “I’m not doubting you. I’m wondering if Father could actually be underhanded enough to have staged the whole thing.”

He still didn’t think his father was a deep planner, but he’d been immensely frustrated about the exiles for years, and maybe that had inspired him to a moment of terrible cleverness.

Tama looked surprised and hopeful.

Bav added, “I’m afraid at this point, I wouldn’t put it past him, although I would have expected him to be more triumphant under the anger, not able to hide his satisfaction, you know?” He looked at Tama. “Are you sure it couldn’t have been an unsanctioned raid?”

She opened her mouth on what looked like a hot retort and then closed it again. Emotions chased themselves across her face, too fast to read. “I can’t absolutely swear to it. We have angry folk, too, who feel like the situation has to change, and they’re running out of patience. But…” She shook her head. “It’s an awful risk, with repercussions that we saw first-hand. I can’t believe anyone would think the benefits outweigh the risks,especially since we didn’t get any of the supplies. All it did was set people against us.”

Several Tondians had lost their lives—but all of the exiles had been put in danger. Pel could see her point.

“But if it wasn’t King Forex and it wasn’t us, who does that leave?” Tama asked.

They exchanged glances and shrugged, because it seemed that they had run out of possible culprits. They certainly hadn’t fully eliminated either group, but there were reasons that made it seem unlikely.

“Tondian rebels?” Pel suggested uncertainly after a moment. “Fed up with the raids and thinking this would bring about a definite resolution?”

Another set of shrugs. Another possibility, that was all.

“The problem,” Bav said, “is that whoever did it for whatever reason, it was a small group, and it’s now impacting a much larger one—a group, moreover, that has very few advocates.”

Tama’s eyes strayed to Tor, but she didn’t say anything.

It was Pel who said, “I believe I can speak for Tor when I say that he is categorically opposed to your wholesale slaughter. He doesn’t really care what rules are in place; he’s never going to support killing innocent people. However, his mother put the peace accords together, and he may feel they’re best maintained as they are without risking one part tearing down the rest. Also, as you heard, it’s not like he’s in any position to convince anyone of anything right now.”

“But you think he might be willing to try?” she asked carefully, her eyes gleaming with the hope she couldn’t quite hide.

“I think so,” Pel agreed.

He didn’t feel entirely comfortable speaking for Tor about something as monumental as this. It was possible that the idea of revisiting or breaking the peace accords really would be considered treason… but he was pretty sure he knew Tor wellenough to theorize his response. Tor had been scarred by these mountains, but he’d gone up them in the dark in a storm and risked his life for strangers.

Unfortunately, the fact that people might think he was dead and otherwise that he was a traitor who’d fled rightful imprisonment in the dungeon in Nexa was kind of a problem.

Also, he was in a magical coma, though Tama’s magic would hopefully rectify that soon. Tor’s skin definitely felt warmer to the touch, and that had happened when Wavilon healed him, too. Now, Pel just needed to be patient, even though he was practically jittering out of his skin with the need for Tor to wake up.