Page 111 of The Freedom You Seek

“And Dion?”

“Yes, Nayana?”

“Be safe.”

This female would be my undoing one of these days.

By the time I returned downstairs, everyone had already gathered around one of the tables. The room had been fully cleared out, and not even the staff were anywhere in sight. I sat down in a chair, stared at the offending parchment lying in the middle of the table, and snarled at it. Only then did I feel four pairs of eyes burning into me.

“Why are you all looking at me?”

“Because the potential consequences will affect you the most.”

“I disagree. The letter is addressed to you, Fig, not to me.”

“Stop lying to yourself, Dion. You know better than that.”

I felt a muscle in my jaw tick. “Still, this affects us all.”

Antas’ expression was serious. “For me, it’s not even a question. I don’t care about the threats my dear half-brother spouts. Do you?”

My jaw worked, and even though I wasn’t sure of my answer, I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”

“Neither do I.”

“Or me.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, Dion, but I don’t give a rat’s ass about punishment.”

As he spoke, I stared open-mouthed at Thain and canted my head in surprise. “What—”

“Don’t look at me as if I’d just destroyed your whole worldview. You may be a self-centered bastard, and we have our issues, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to turn my back on what’s right just to spite you.”

Shit, why had Thain decided to be the bigger man? I couldn’t even direct my anger at him if he agreed with me.

“You have to consider telling Nayana the truth.”

I narrowed my eyes at Antas. “It’s better for her if she doesn’t know.”

“She will find out, anyway. Should it not be on your terms?”

“I’ll think about it. For now, nobody says a word, and we’ll proceed as if nothing has happened. We’ll continue to travel toward Amalach as fast as we can and ignore this piece of trashdear grandfatherhas sent to us.” I sat up straight, determination in my eyes and heart, and realized that the ever-present invisible chains around me were loosening—just like that. Or maybe I hadn’t noticed they had already been doing this for weeks.

Seeing Antas smile at me, I slowly began to understand. This was exactly what he had hoped to achieve when he tricked me into accompanying him. I threw him a dirty look, then addressed everyone again.

“Are we all in agreement?”

As one, my comrades nodded. “As you wish, Your Highness.”

I wasn’t happy. After the deal Dion and I’d struck, I’d waited patiently for about an hour. When he finally came back, he was in such a rush that my headache flared up even worse than before. He forced me to hurry out of the room and placed me on the horse in record time without saying a single word, as an explanation or otherwise. He was radiating so much doom and gloom that it made me sick to my stomach, and the other men wore grave faces as well. It was as if I’d stumbled upon a funeral, but I didn’t dare to ask in case someone they knew had actually died.

Of course, nobody explained what had happened that had them all in a mood.

What annoyed me the most, though, was that they’d also rushed me through my goodbyes to Rewi and Bryon.A brief hug, a few sentences, some exchanged promises about meeting again real soon, and they’d been gone. My heart hurt, and the way no one cared about my misery made me livid.

“You could have granted me the hour I’ve spent alone in the miserable bedroom to say goodbye to my friends,” I snapped at Dion as he steered his horse toward the main road.

“You’re right, and I apologize for my oversight.”