Page 39 of The Prince's Fealty

“Of course,” Pel’s mother agreed immediately.

“How many exiles are willing to pledge their Fealty?” Tor asked. “What percentage of the whole?”

“Just over five thousand are waiting,” Pel’s mother told them. “There are fewer than a thousand who refuse to pledge their Fealty to anyone.”

Pel couldn’t really blame them, not now that he knew what some of the rulers had been doing during the war, not now that he knew what hisfatherhad been doing.

Five thousand people wouldn’t match any of the existing realms in size, but the Fealty was still, unquestionably, treason.

“Could we have a few minutes alone, please?” Tor asked.

The others obediently rose to their feet.

“I’ll send Cavun out to retrieve you when we’ve finished talking. If you can just step a little ways into the forest.”

“Of course,” Pel’s mother said.

Bav still didn’t look happy, but he also looked like he didn’t want to let them out of his sight. Cavun and Tama both looked like they had something to say.

Tor raised an eyebrow at Cavun. He made a complicated face, and then he spoke.

“Not everyone joined the exiles during or immediately following the war. There are some who joined more recently, who didn’t like the way they were being treated in Tond. They’re just people who are trying to live a good life. I think you’d be good for them.”

He nodded at them and then went to stand just outside the cave. Pel wondered who he knew who’d joined the exiles. Was that why he’d sided with the two of them when they’d gone up the mountain? Well, that was fine with Pel. Seeing the exiles as people seemed to be exactly what was lacking these days. These people had renounced their Fealty and fled twenty-five years ago—and now they were willing to pledge themselves to Tor simply because he’d stood up for them, defending them when no one else had. They hadn’t even all been there, and it had made enough of an impression.

Now it was just Pel, Tor, and Tama around the fire. She was wringing her hands together and looking altogether distressed.

“What’s wrong?” Tor asked gently.

“He accused me of doing only what served me and not thinking of other people and what they needed or deserved to know.”

They didn’t have to ask who “he” was.

Tama sucked in a sharp breath, then exhaled through her nose in a harsh burst. “He’s not wrong. I promised I wouldn’t say anything, but I always knew he deserved to know.”

What would have happened if she’d told Bav? Would he have kept it from everyone? Would he have revealed it to Pel and Lara? Would they have tried to meet? Might it all have gone horribly wrong?

There was no saying now, of course. Tamahadn’tsaid anything, and it didn’t seem like Bav was going to forgive her for that anytime soon.

“He needs some time to work through it all,” Pel offered, not liking to see her so distressed, although part of him really did wonder what might have been. He tried to envision knowing that his mother was alive, maybe meeting up with her, having one parent’s approval…

It was hard to imagine.

Tama’s nod was stilted, and it was clear she wasn’t at all convinced. She looked down at her hands, seemed to realize that she was wringing them, and abruptly stopped. She dropped them to her sides, where they curled into fists.

“I was about to do it again,” she said, not looking at them. “Hide something because I wasn’t sure that it would help our cause. Because I wasn’t absolutely certain, and I convinced myself that it wasn’t my place to interfere.” She looked up at them, resolution etched onto her face. “But I’m sure that you don’t know, and I’m pretty positive, so I can’t—I can’t not say anything, even if it makes you decide not to risk it.”

Pel and Tor exchanged glances, clearly both baffled. Pel watched her shoulders rise and fall as she drew another deep breath and let it out in a rush.

“When you bonded,” she said, sounding like she was picking each word carefully. “You were intimate, weren’t you?”

Pel felt heat crawl up his face. This was definitely not a topic that he wanted to discuss. He glanced at Tor, who was looking at Tama with a very narrow gaze.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Because I felt something else when I healed Prince Pelun. Not just that you’re bonded, though the magic is unmistakable. There’s a chance that I’m wrong. But it felt… different.” She licked her lips. “It felt like it does when I heal women… sometimes.”

Tor sucked in a sharp breath. “How sure are you?”