Page 51 of The Prince's Sacrifice

“Thank you, by the way,” it finally occurred to Pel to say at one point in their slow descent. “I really appreciate that you all stuck with us.”

“Of course,” Beluna said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “It’s quite clear that we’re where we’re meant to be. High Prince Torex cares about people. We like that.”

Cavun and Denil both nodded agreement, and Pel was as sure as he could be that they’d just made a declaration of allegiance. Given that he currently had his hands literally full of Tor right now, he would take all the help he could get from people he’d been given a reason to trust.

Pel lost all track of time, but eventually they got low enough that the rain stopped completely, and finally, they emerged onto flat land. If Pel hadn’t been holding up an unconscious Tor,he would have been tempted to climb off Melody and kiss the ground.

Instead, they made their way back to the farm they’d camped at and found that the guards were in the process of packing up. Pel assumed that messengers had already been dispatched to the castle and King Forex.

Pel would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he concentrated on securing transportation for Tor. They couldn’t keep riding tandem like this while Tor was unconscious, and Pel didn’t know how long that state was going to last.

Without compunction, Pel pulled rank and insisted on a private conveyance for Tor. There were other injured guards, and he sympathized, but given it was distinctly possible that some of these people thought Tor had done exactly the wrong thing up the mountain, Pel wasn’t taking any chances. There was no way he’d leave an unconscious Tor surrounded by relative strangers who might hold a grudge.

Pel was reunited with Extraordinary, and he decided there was no point in yelling at anyone just yet, since she was unharmed. Mostly, his annoyance and concern stemmed from the fact that the guards had known full well that Pel and Tor were bringing up the rear. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to want the horses they’d used to get up the mountain to get back down it.

Gremuna claimed that the horses had been used to carry injured guards. Pel was going to choose to believe her for now. (She’d been at the back of the retreat. He suspected the horses were gone long before she got there, but he could be wrong.)

Beluna, Cavun, and Denil continued to stick with them, and Pel was beyond grateful, especially since it meant he could decline any aid from Gremuna and the other guards. He didnottrust them right now.

Beluna made sure the group was outfitted with supplies, and they kept watch while Pel huddled with Tor in the cart. Pel knew it was possible they could travel a little faster if the horse was only pulling one person instead of two, but Pel found it completely impossible to leave Tor rattling around in the back of a cart while he was unconscious. He simply couldn’t do it.

(It didn’t rattle that much. Beluna had been very enterprising, and the back was packed with straw and blankets to make Tor as comfortable as possible.)

There should have been a lot of time to think, but Pel mostly found his brain spinning aimlessly, desperately worried about Tor and filled with too many questions and too few answers about what had happened. Everybody’s behavior had been weird in some way andwhy didn’t Pel know more about magical exhaustion?

He cursed himself and wished desperately that they’d brought the healer with them, but Tond only had one healer, and King Forex had insisted he remain at the castle.

There was nothing that Pel could do except try to make sure that Tor was warm—but not too hot!—and check his pulse and breathing an unreasonable number of times. His heart rate and breathing were slow, while his skin was cooler to the touch than normal.

Pel had been inclined to panic, but thankfully, it turned out that Denil knew that was normal in cases of magical exhaustion. It was almost like all functions were suspended while the magic was rebuilt.

“My parents are scholars,” Denil explained. “They’ve researched a wide range of topics.”

Pel didn’t have any reason to think he was lying—and it wasn’t like he had any alternatives. Beluna made sure Pel ate and drank when they did, and Pel spent the rest of the time clasping Tor’s hand and telling him that he was going to be all right. They got alittle water into Tor in small sips, but Denil assured him that he didn’t need food.

Pel would never, ever have wished for something like this to happen, but ithadclarified a few things for him. He wasn’t going to let anyone take Tor away from him without a fight, and if that meant arguing with the High King, that was exactly what Pel was going to do. He’d fight his own father, too.

It turned out this was a good resolution to have, because when they finally made it back to the castle with a still-unconscious Tor, it was to find an enraged king who was inclined to blame Tor—and Pel—for everything that had happened. He was so angry, in fact, that he actually found them in the stables as they arrived and immediately began to yell at them.

Pel waited for a moment to see if his father was going to pause, but the diatribe showed no signs of stopping.

The last few days had been incredibly trying for Pel. From planning a trip to Alossa, he and Tor had instead been plunged into a nightmare that had nearly killed them and hundreds of other people. Tor had been unconscious fordays, and they nearly had access to a healer, only this petty, angry man was in their way.

Pel felt his own frustration rise and rise until, finally, it exploded.

“Shut up!” he roared.

No doubt it was only surprise that actually silenced Forex, but Pel would take it.

“You can continue your rant later, Father,” he said curtly. “Just at the moment, High Prince Torex needs a healer, and I am not about to jeopardize his health because you can’t prioritize.”

His father was still spluttering when Pel walked away. Cavun was carrying Tor again. Tramili met them in the entryway and assured Pel the healer would be sent straight up to Tor’s rooms.

They’d barely gotten him arranged on the bed when the healer arrived. Cavun, Beluna, and Denil stepped outside, and Pel barely remembered to yell a thank you after them, all his attention on the healer. Wavilon was a couple of years older than Pel, with warm brown eyes that matched his skin color. He was calm and matter-of-fact, and Pel had always liked him.

Pel had no idea if the man had realized what sort of a mood King Forex was in, but he attended to Tor as though that was his sole focus, which Pel appreciated more than he could say.

It was hard for Pel to let go of Tor’s hand, but he knew that Wavilon needed to take them in order to do his… magical scan, or whatever it was he did.