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“ C aptain Casseign. Coordinate guards for perimeter security, if you will.” Niam nodded to Rufe and Draylon. “These two men are the best the Cormiran military offers. I believe you can benefit from their counsel.”

Casseign saluted. “Yes, Your Majesty. I’ve benefitted from Lord Rufe’s counsel many times already.”

Niam returned to the house. Seasons might pass before he wanted to let his sons out of his sight again. He muttered, “How has life come to this? I’ve been a good king, haven’t I? Looked out for my people. Why, then, do so many oppose me?”

He hadn’t heard Lady Exa following until she answered, “It’s not good or bad, but the nobles want to be spoiled by riches taken from the poor.

They believe the station they were born to should automatically increase their wealth and standing.

You discourage their sense of entitlement, setting an example for people to see.

The better you do, the worse they look in comparison. ”

“Sometimes I wish I’d been born a commoner.”

Exa gave a deep laugh. “Rufe was born a commoner, as was I.” She stopped herself, then resumed. “Excuse me. King Consort Rufe. Draylon told me. I’m so used to Yarif calling him simply Rufe.”

“You know Yarif well?”

A shy smile flitted over Exa’s face, relaxing her usual serious mien.

“We were children together, and we went to the same schools. His mother insisted he learn with commoner children so he wouldn’t get the grand ideas some nobles have.

My father was a merchant.” While many Delletinians wouldn’t consider her beautiful—her strong features tended toward handsome—the more he came to know of her, the more he realized why Yarif loved her. Mother would love her as well.

“Where did you learn to fight?”

Her grin made her appear girlish. “My five older brothers were all soldiers. They taught me, hoping I’d join the military one day.”

Niam had known Yarif’s mother but wouldn’t share that she’d been his aunt.

If Yarif hadn’t passed on the information to his friend, there might be reasons.

After all, he’d recently been accused of treasonous acts with Delletina, and the general population hadn’t even been aware of his mother's kinship to Delletina’s former queen.

All in good time, once the kingdom accepted her role in the empire.

Maybe.

“May I make a suggestion, Your Majesty?” Exa leaned in to murmur.

“Anything. ”

She winked. “While a sword takes time to learn to use well, practice with daggers. You’ll never know when the skill might prove valuable.”

“My mother taught me some.”

“As my mother taught me. Is your mother Dragan like mine?”

Niam lost his train of thought when Uri and Quillan rushed toward him. He embraced his sons. “Can you bear to stay here one more night, boys?”

“Yes, Father,” they said in unison.

Quillan added, “They didn’t mistreat us. Just kept us locked up and called us Delletinian scum.” He grinned. “They didn’t think we could understand them.”

Know your enemy, Niam’s father once said. Mother had ensured he knew Craician and taught his sons, though Uri still struggled. Craician wasn’t an easy language to learn.

Uri and Quillan’s lives had changed, so much innocence lost. Niam would wait for later to inform them of their new stepfather.

Lady Exa cooked a meal of rabbit stew from stores in the manor, and Niam curled up with his sons in one bedroom, the straw mattress not nearly as fine as his usual goose down. The boys didn’t complain, but Niam missed Rufe.

Soon, my love, soon.

The grizzled old warrior Vihaan attached himself to Quillan and Uri, appointing himself as their bodyguard, as he’d done in Dellamar.

“You have Commander Vihaan of Glendor, recently assigned to the emperor’s personal guard, guarding your sons. You couldn’t ask for better protection,” Rufe told Niam as they rode side by side down a steep trail.

“How well do you know the emperor?” Niam had met him long enough to sign documents and share a meal, and had heard good things about Avestan. Still, he wasn’t ready to trust completely.

“My father sent me to Cormira to study.” Niam knew that wasn’t exactly true. Rufe mentioned fleeing home when his brother’s bullying grew too much to bear. “I told him I wanted to be a soldier. Nobles’ children picked on me because word got around about me being a bastard.”

How would Rufe adjust to no longer being considered shameful? He spoke so calmly about what must have been a truly awful time in his life: away from home, bullied, trying to fit in.

Niam maneuvered his mule around a fallen tree before resuming his position beside Rufe. “What did you do?”

“The ones with the loudest mouths were generally the highest-ranking, so I started there and fought my way down. It wasn’t like their rank did them much good at our school, being younger sons and daughters and not in line to inherit.

In the end, they’d either be married off for connections, or we’d all be soldiers.

A hard-working bastard was just as likely to rise through the ranks as a lazy noble. ”

Niam wished Rufe would stop referring to himself as a bastard. “I’m sorry.”

Rufe whipped his head Niam’s way. “What for?”

“That you had such a hard time.”

Rufe grinned. “Not near as hard as those who thought me an easy target. Anyway, I met this big brute the others seemed to bow down to, too afraid to approach him because he outranked them all. I figured if I took him down a notch or two, the others would leave me alone.”

Is he talking about Draylon? “You fought him?”

“I tried to. He laughed and threw an arm around my shoulders. I bested others on the sparring field and wound up facing off against him. We’re pretty evenly matched.

I lost the first round, won the second, and we’ve been friends ever since.

To this day, we’ve never seriously fought each other except in the sparring ring, though we’ve fought many battles together. ”

Rufe’s unmistakable admiration inspired a touch of jealousy in Niam. “Who was he?” he asked, though he was quite certain he knew.

“His Royal Highness King Draylon of Renvalle, though known as Prince Draylon back then, second son of Emperor Soland Aravaid. Through him, I met his brother, Avestan. The emperor didn’t approve of me, which made Draylon like me all the more—contrary old git.

I wouldn’t have advised you to deal with Soland, but Avestan?

He’s nothing like his father. If he says something, he’ll do it.

Having Draylon vouch for you makes him doubly willing.

Draylon might be the younger son, but Avestan respects him. ”

A tendril of unease crept up Niam’s spine. “Is Vihaan here as his spy?”

Rufe shook his head, tossing his ebony curls. “He might report back if you were planning an insurrection, but he’s got his own mind and knows when something is important to say and when not to. I admire the man, and he’d been a steady ally to Draylon.”

Some of the jealousy faded. “Draylon truly is like a brother to you, isn’t he?”

“Now he is. I admit to being a little in love with him once, but we’re awful as lovers, fantastic as friends.” Rufe continued, a touch of sadness in his tone. “My brother Ronwith and I were close once until he became aware he outranked me.”

Princess plodded along beside Niam’s mount, her footfalls adding a gentle cadence to Rufe’s words.

“I take it the revelation didn’t go well.”

“Despite my parents’ best efforts, he became one of the spoiled noble children determined to go through life accomplishing nothing but spending their inheritance before it became theirs.

” Rufe shook his head. “Sometimes I wonder if I could’ve done something different, had a greater impact on his life.

In hindsight, I think my friendship with Draylon fueled some of Ronnie’s cruelty.

I don’t believe he died in a hunting accident.

One day, I hope to discover what really happened. ”

Niam reached over far enough to give Rufe’s hand a quick squeeze. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. ”

Rufe's grin brought brightness to an otherwise gloomy day. “You’re here now. I knew my place early in life, resigned to never being the heir, and made peace with my circumstances. I used to wonder why my parents had me out of wedlock. When I grew older, I understood how they’d been in loveless arranged marriages and fell in love with each other.

I think the goddess always intended me to be the bas—” At a glare from Niam, Rufe changed to “Illegitimate son. Though I appreciate Avestan's efforts, I didn’t need to be legitimized. I never wanted to be a duke or needed a title to make me feel complete, but the title meant I got to bond with you, so I have no regrets.”

A shout came from ahead. Rufe spurred Princess into motion, trotting toward the head of the line.

The shouting increased, the line coming to a standstill.

Mules reared, screaming in fear. A riderless mule darted past Niam, heading the other way.

The boys! Niam kicked his mount into gear.

The clang of metal on metal made his blood run cold.

He steered his mule through chaos, fighting to see the head of the line through the trees and a turn in the road.

Vihaan charged toward him on foot, carrying Quillan and Uri on his sides. Niam dismounted, taking his boys from the warrior. “Find a place to hide,” Vihaan ordered. “Stay quiet. Don’t come out for anyone but me, Rufe, or Draylon.” He waded back into the fight, sword drawn.

Niam dodged mules to the edge of the road, plunging into the deep woods. Where could he hide?

“Papa? I’m scared,” Uri cried .

“Shh… It’s all right. We’ll be all right.” Niam’s heart pounded. How could he expect his sons to believe his words if he didn’t? They had to be all right. They hadn’t gone through all these trials to lose now.

Niam wandered far enough into the woods to mute the battle sounds so he could hear anyone approaching. A modest hole beneath a rotted log looked promising. Niam poked a stick inside. Empty.

Digging with the stick enlarged the hole.

“Uri, Quillan. Inside. Quillan, keep your brother calm. They won’t know you’re there unless you give yourselves away.

” Niam kissed his sons. What if this was the last time he’d see them?

No, he couldn’t think such gloomy thoughts.

“You heard Commander Vihaan. Don’t come out for anyone but him, me, Draylon, or Rufe. ” He wouldn’t waste time on titles now.

He covered the hole with sticks and leaves, heavily enough to hide the hole but lightly enough so the boys could breathe.

“Where will you be, Papa?” Quillan asked.

“I’ll be nearby. If I see enemies, I’ll lead them away from you.

” He pulled Rufe’s dagger from a sheath at his side as an afterthought.

“Use this if you have to.” He handed the blade to Quillan.

These boys were too young to face such dangers.

They should be with their tutor in their classroom, laughing over some silly joke or with their heads bent over their lessons.

Did they even know of Master Wedgeworth’s demise?

Another reason to hate Lord Whreyn .

Niam dashed into a thick growth of shrubs, leaving himself an escape route. No one would see him as long as he remained still. If enemies approached the hole, he’d lead them away. By all the gods who ever lived, please keep Quillan and Uri safe.

If Niam escaped with his life, he’d learn to fight and do whatever Rufe said, never to feel helpless again.