Page 56 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Pel sounded more like he was repeating words than comprehending their meaning.

Tor nodded.

“How is that possible?” Pel demanded. “I mean, that’s exactly what it looked like, like you suddenly got a huge influx of magic, but isn’t that… not possible?”

“Healers can loan power,” Larexa agreed with a nod, “but you can’t… you can’t just borrow it!”

“The King can borrow magic,” Pel added, frowning. “That’s what the Fealty is for.”

“But Tor isn’t a king,” Larexa argued.

Now, they were both looking at him like they’d never seen him before.

“No,” Tor agreed, since their expressions indicated it was important he confirmed this fact. “I’m definitely not a king. But the High King is my twin brother, and we’ve always been a little more connected than the average siblings.”

Pel looked like he was getting a headache, a furrow appearing in his brow that Tor wanted to smooth away. “But the High Kingis in Alossa right now.”

“Yes,” Tor agreed. “I mean, as I think was clear, I didn’t know it was going to work. I was terribly afraid it wouldn’t, in fact. But I had to try. And so I just… reached for the connection that’s always been there. I don’t really know how to describe it.”

It had felt like he was reaching and reaching and reaching across all the distance between Tond and Alossa… but also reaching deeper and deeper into himself. He hadn’t needed the pink tint to his magic to tell him that he was overextending himself. The knowledge of it had hummed out from his core through every part of him. Since the alternative was unacceptable, Tor had done it anyway. And then tried to do something that, as Pel and Larexa had pointed out, shouldn’t have been possible. Tor and Var had never tried to share magic from such a distance. It hadn’t occurred to them when they were younger, because they were almost always together. But they’d shared magic a lot back then, once they’d realized they could.

And when Torhadfelt that connection, when it had snapped into place, it was just what he remembered. It was the warmth of Tendrilling with Var, when their magic intermingled, when theycouldn’t have been closer. Tor had never needed so much, but it wasthere, and he’d taken it so gratefully.

Pel was still looking at him as though he were seeing a stranger, and Tor really didn’t like it. Quietly, he admitted, “I didn’t want anyone else to die.”

Pel’s face softened, and he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Tor’s mouth despite the fact that his sister was still in the room.

“I know you didn’t. And you saved everyone, even though some of them seemed to be determined to destroy themselves. It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I’m so proud of you.”

Tor smiled, feeling those words settle in his chest. It had been a long time since someone had said that to him.

They were interrupted by the arrival of food, which was awesome, because Tor wasso hungry, and he was ready to leave this subject behind. He didn’t have any more answers. But he was certain Varex would have felt what happened, so Tor needed to get back to Alossa.

Pel helped Tor with everything. He drank two bowls of soup with Pel’s help, ate three sandwiches, which Pel cut into absurdly small pieces, and snacked on a variety of raw vegetables. He also drank another half dozen glasses of water. It felt like he could just keep eating forever, but he reminded himself that there was actually a finite amount of space in his stomach.

Pel hovered, which was slightly insulting and actually fairly helpful. Tor reminded himself that he’d apparently been unconscious for five days, and Pel would have had to deal with that on his own. When Tor thought of how he would have reacted in Pel’s place… Yes, if Pel wanted to practically spoon-feed him, Tor was just going to have to deal with it.

The food filled his belly and seemed to settle comfortably inside him, although he was pretty sure that he was trying toreplenish a part of him that didn’t actually get filled up with food.

Although, from what he remembered, rest and nourishment after a magical coma were both important.

Larexa admonished Pel to make sure that he ate something, too, and Tor realized that he was being remiss in his duties. Looking more carefully, he noticed the circles under his eyes and the general hollowness of his features. He frowned.

“Have you not been taking care of yourself?” he asked, concerned.

Pel shot him a completely unimpressed look, and gestured up and down Tor’s entire self. “Excuse me?”

Tor couldn’t help but laugh. “Just because I’m occasionally very unwise doesn’t mean you need to be the same.”

For a moment, Pel tried to maintain his stern expression, but it didn’t last. His lips tipped up, his expression turning extremely fond. It was one of Tor’s favorite looks. Though, to be fair, he liked all of the man’s looks.

With a sigh, Pel admitted, “It was stressful bringing your unconscious body all the way back from the mountains, not being one hundred percent certain what was wrong and simply trusting our healer could fix it.”

Tor made a face, his stomach lurching at the idea. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound very pleasant.” Belatedly, he added, “Sorry I put you through that.”

Pel just rolled his eyes. “It’s not like you planned it.”

That was certainly true, but Pel had still dealt with the consequences.