Page 3

Chapter

Three

C assius opened his mouth in fury, but the bodyguard was faster than him in demanding an answer.

“What was that?” the young man cried.

Cassius didn’t need the bodyguard’s words to know that Lord Armand had done something terrible. Even with his limited skills in the craft, he’d felt the movement of significant magic in response to whatever the nobleman had molded.

“What did he do?” Princess Miriam asked, grabbing her bodyguard’s arm, her face a mask of concern. “I didn’t feel anything.”

“I did,” said the bodyguard, sounding shaken. Cassius could still see very little of his features, but the part of his face that was visible seemed pale, increasing the impression of his youth. “I can still feel it. He’s attached an enchantment to me.”

“To you?” Prince Theodore repeated sharply.

“Of course,” said Lord Armand. He spoke with dignity, but his form sagged wearily. It was an alarming sight to see how much the enchantment had depleted his energy, because it meant that the volume of magic he’d used had been immense.

“Whatever I think of today’s events,” the nobleman went on, “I am not so unmannerly as to attempt an enchantment on a member of the Siqualian royal family.” His gaze narrowed in on the bodyguard, his tone becoming significantly less respectful. “The enchantment will not harm you unless you or your masters intend to play Carrack false. You are tethered to Prince Cassius in body, and your safety is bound to his.”

“What have you done, Armand?” Cassius said furiously. “What does that mean?”

Lord Armand drew a slow breath, marshaling his energy to speak again. He was clearly unchastened by the prince’s tone. “Merely that this young man will dedicate his magical abilities to keeping you safe, Your Highness. He will not be able to go more than twenty feet from you until the enchantment has run its course, and if any harm befalls you, he will suffer twice the effect himself.”

Cries of anger went up from a number of the Siqualians, although Cassius noticed that the bodyguard himself was regarding Lord Armand in horrified silence. Cassius was too blinded by his own anger to spare much attention for the other unfortunate party to this disaster.

“How dare you, My Lord?” he cried. “That is not your place! You will lift the enchantment immediately!”

“It’s not that type of enchantment, Your Highness,” Lord Armand said stubbornly, still trying valiantly to keep his weary form upright. “I crafted it and put it in place. I do not continue to uphold it, and it’s not in my power to remove it. It will remain in force until it runs its course.”

“And when will that be?” Princess Miriam demanded .

“When the marriage alliance is safely completed,” Lord Armand said.

Cassius clenched his hands into fists. “This is unacceptable,” he said, too mortified to look at the other royals.

It was humiliating that he had so little control over his own delegation. What a show of weakness! He cursed his former self for not fighting harder to exclude the overly reactive nobleman from the trip. And quite apart from his mortification, it was a blasted nuisance! He didn’t want some teenage boy hovering within twenty feet of him for who knew how many months.

“But a tethering enchantment is a form of compulsion magic.” The bodyguard had found his voice again. “That’s illegal!”

“Illegal unless expressly authorized by the king,” Lord Armand said smoothly. “And I have written authorization from the king to use whatever magic I deem necessary for the—”

“ Your king,” Princess Miriam interrupted furiously. “But you’re in our kingdom now! And Father would never have authorized such a travesty of an enchantment. You absolutely cannot take Flor with you.”

Flor? Cassius felt a flicker of surprise at the informality between the princess and her bodyguard, but he didn’t let it distract him.

“You have taken a gross liberty with the trust my father placed in you,” he told Lord Armand tersely. “I will be expressing that view to him in the strongest terms.”

The response was weak, he knew. Far too weak for the situation. But the terrible truth was that there was no conviction in his threat. His father wouldn’t care about the inconvenience—or indeed the physical danger—to the bodyguard. Nor would he care about Cassius’s annoyance at having a stranger foisted onto him, not if that stranger was there for his protection and magically bound not to let him be harmed. Cassius had a horrible suspicion that even the justified offense of the Siqualians would be brushed off by his father. Over the months since an unexpected addition had joined his court, Carrack’s king had become dangerously convinced of the superiority of his kingdom over the other kingdoms of the Peninsula.

But he couldn’t get lost in his resentment toward the oily Sir Keavling now. That was a problem to be faced when he returned to Crandell.

Cassius drew a breath, trying to gather whatever was left of his dignity. It didn’t help that he felt like a drowned rat—they were all of them saturated down to the skin after so long out of the shelter of the trees. To add insult to injury, the rain was just beginning to slacken. If only it had done so five minutes earlier, there might not have been sufficient magic from its movement for Lord Armand to form such a powerful and sophisticated enchantment.

It was no use wishing it hadn’t happened. It had, and he needed to find a way forward.

“I agree with Her Highness that we have no right to expect her bodyguard to accompany us,” Cassius began.

“It is no longer in my control,” Lord Armand said maddeningly, leaning to the side and catching himself just in time to stop his shoulder from touching the prince’s. “The bodyguard is tethered to you.”

“You have grossly overstepped,” Prince Theodore said, his jaw working. “You will all accompany us to Sindon to sort out this mess.”

“Absolutely not,” said Lord Armand, a flicker of feeling restoring some of his energy. “His Majesty’s orders are very clear in this regard. We are expected back in Carrack in a matter of days.”

Cassius ran a hand through his hair—sopping wet, of course—wishing he could wake from the nightmare.

“For my part, I would not object to diverting to your capital,” he told Prince Theodore. “But I’m afraid Lord Armand is right that we are expected back in our own capital imminently, and a failure to appear might cause significant problems.”

It was as openly as he could speak of his own father, and he hoped the other prince would understand the warning. Cassius hardly recognized his father lately—he didn’t trust the king to keep his head if he thought his kingdom had been slighted or his son compelled in any way. Even the imprisonment of his favorite advisor—a course Cassius wouldn’t blame the Siqualians for taking if they got Lord Armand into their castle—might be enough to stoke his anger into a flame. And war between the kingdoms was the opposite of what Cassius was trying to achieve.

“I fear our only course is to each return to our own capitals until the nature of the threat can be identified,” Cassius went on. “Please be assured I remain as committed to the alliance as ever. We can resume arrangements once we are confident there is no continued risk of attack to Her Highness.” Any talk of reconsidering Carrack’s position had to be abandoned. His kingdom had wronged the other now—however little his father or Lord Armand might acknowledge it—and they needed to tread carefully.

Prince Theodore stared narrowly into his eyes for a long moment before letting out a short, tight breath.

“Very well.”

“Theo!” Princess Miriam sounded scandalized. “Surely you’re not going to let them take Flor with them! ”

“It seems none of us have any choice in that aspect of the situation,” the prince said, his tone conveying how strongly he disapproved.

“I refuse to accept it,” Princess Miriam said staunchly. “No one’s even tested it.” Again showing that startling lack of formality, she seized her bodyguard by the arm and dragged him away from the group.

Sure enough, when they’d gone about twenty feet—Cassius suspected exactly twenty feet—the bodyguard came to an abrupt stop.

Cassius knew why. He could feel the tug around his midriff. It was as though someone had put their arms around him and was attempting to pull him toward the bodyguard. But the pressure of the pull was about what he’d expect from the physical strength of someone the bodyguard’s size. That was to say, not enough to make his larger, stronger frame move at all. So he remained standing still, and the bodyguard was forced to come to an abrupt stop.

The princess and the bodyguard were looking back at him, and with a sigh, Cassius took three steps forward. They did the same, before the pressure again appeared, and the bodyguard came to a stop.

“So the enchantment is active,” Prince Theodore said heavily.

“I’m afraid so.” Cassius sent another angry look at Lord Armand.

The princess and her bodyguard rejoined them, neither looking very happy.

“Then we’ll come to Carrack, too,” said Princess Miriam. “Or at least I will.”

“You certainly will not,” said Prince Theodore sharply. “Someone just tried to kill you, Miriam, and we still have no idea why, or who was behind it. My first priority is to see you safely back to Sindon.”

“But—”

The princess’s protest was cut off by the bodyguard.

“It’s all right.” The quiet voice was hard to catch, even though the rain had slackened enough that it no longer filled Cassius’s ears. “I mean, it’s not all right, it’s a disaster, but I’ll manage.”

“No.” The princess looked close to tears, her reaction making little sense to Cassius. “I can’t allow this.” She turned to her brother. “Theo, fix it! You have to stop this somehow.”

Prince Theodore stepped to his sister’s side. “We will fix it,” he assured her quietly. “As soon as we possibly can. But in the meantime, Flor will be fine.” He looked at the bodyguard, his face showing more conflict than his calm words conveyed. “Won’t you?”

“Of course I will.”

The reply was staunch, but again something in the lean frame of the bodyguard made him seem very young indeed. Cassius could have groaned. This whole mess was a responsibility he didn’t want to be saddled with. If he had his way, Lord Armand would be thrown in the dungeons the moment they got home. It was infuriating to think the king would more likely accept the nobleman’s account rather than his own son’s, and applaud Lord Armand for being the only one willing to take initiative.

“I’m tough, Your Highness, I’ll be fine,” said the bodyguard. “I’ll be more than fine. I’ll make myself useful. If Siqual is determined to proceed with this alliance, I will do my utmost to keep your future husband safe as I’ve been requested to do.”

There was perhaps a slight edge to the way he said requested , but Cassius disregarded it. He was too busy feeling humiliated by the earnest promise of protection from this lean young man who was little older than a child.

No one was particularly pleased with the outcome, but once the decision had been made, they all hastened into motion. Cassius’s head guard naturally expressed confusion when the young bodyguard made to join their group. Cassius, his pride smarting from falling prey to Lord Armand’s heavy-handed ways, merely told him that the young man would accompany them for now to provide additional protection. Further explanations could wait until he’d figured out how to recount the incident without painting himself as an ineffective sap. The guard looked baffled—and perhaps a little offended—but he didn’t comment. He was no doubt eager to get his charge moving.

The leave-taking between the royals, while awkward, at least stopped short of open hostility. But when Cassius found himself back on the road, riding north in the center of a rotating ring of guards, the silent presence of the bodyguard riding behind him made him feel as though he’d stolen something from the Siqualian group.

The young man didn’t seem inclined to talk. He wasn’t brooding, and he showed no disrespect. In fact, any time he glanced back, Cassius saw him looking around with as much focus as the guards, as if in acceptance of his new role as Cassius’s bodyguard. But he avoided eye contact with Cassius, and responded without words as often as possible when addressed.

Lord Armand, still depleted from crafting the enchantment, had wanted to ride in the carriage, but Cassius had insisted that he travel on horseback. Let the fool suffer the physical effects of his officiousness. Cassius and the bodyguard would be suffering them through no fault of their own.

He took vicious satisfaction from watching the nobleman’s exhaustion as the head guard pushed their group hard until well after they’d crossed the border. When Cassius caught a discussion between the leader and his second-in-command about whether it was safe to sleep in Torrens, however, he decided it was time to relent.

“We are absolutely not riding through the night,” he said shortly. “It’s been a long and frankly disastrous day, and we’re all exhausted. I have no immediate fear for my safety. We should stop as soon as a suitable inn presents itself.”

“Very well, Your Highness.”

If the head guard disagreed, he didn’t say so. At least someone on the delegation respected Cassius’s authority, he thought, casting another angry look at Lord Armand.

The sun was dipping below the horizon by the time they finally stopped at an inn, and Cassius wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the nearest bed and sleep. But there was the small problem of his new tether. Still not eager to reveal his humiliating situation to all of his guards, Cassius sent Lord Armand to speak with the proprietor of the inn, telling the head guard merely that it had been decided that the bodyguard would accompany them all the way to Crandell, the Carrackian capital.

Soon enough, Lord Armand strode back, and Cassius stepped away from his guards to consult with the nobleman. Naturally, the bodyguard followed.

“I have secured three rooms,” Lord Armand informed him. “It’s all that they have available. One room will be for you, Your Highness, and one for myself. The third will be occupied by some of the guards, to serve as reinforcements on hand in case they’re needed. The rest of the guards will camp in the open, from which group pairs will enter the inn to maintain a rotating shift outside your door through the night.” He eyed the bodyguard, who was keeping his face lowered now they’d come to a stop. Perhaps it was part of his training, a sign of deference. “You will wish to guard the prince’s door throughout the night, I imagine, to ensure magical protection as well as the physical protection offered by the guards.”

The bodyguard cleared his throat. “Yes, My Lord.” The voice was wooden.

“Nonsense,” said Cassius impatiently. “He can’t stay awake all night. He has to be allowed to sleep.”

The nobleman shrugged. “If you’d prefer to have the boy sleeping on the floor of your room, I suppose that’s your affair, Your Highness. I wouldn’t wish it in your shoes, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there.”

“Oh, isn’t it?” There was acid in Cassius’s voice. “I thought you believed your opinion to be the universal decider of every matter, My Lord. I have a better solution. You can camp with the guards, and he can take your room.”

“Naturally, I would be glad to obey were it in my power to assist, Your Highness,” Lord Armand said unconvincingly. “But I’m afraid that solution is impossible. The inn has only three rooms, and none of them are next to one another. If he were to take my room, he would be outside the twenty-foot limit of the tether.”

“Curse your tether and your limits.” The words escaped Cassius before he could get his temper under control. He drew a deep breath, feeling enough sympathy for the unfortunate young bodyguard to curb his tongue. “Very well. He will share my room. I trust that my guards will protect me without his assistance from any threat that arises in the night.” He glared at the nobleman. “As they were capable of doing all along.”

Lord Armand just bowed, apparently unchastened. Once he’d disappeared up the stairs of the inn, Cassius turned to his new companion. He couldn’t help noticing that the boy looked very pale. He even thought he caught a tremor in the bodyguard’s hands as he tucked them behind his back.

“I don’t think I can face the public room tonight,” Cassius said, forcing a friendly tone that was in no way reflective of what he was feeling. “I’ll ask them to bring a supper to the room. You’re very welcome to join me.”

He flagged down a maid and requested food to be delivered, then led the way up the stairs. He could tell which room was his because there were already two guards stationed outside it. Nevertheless, the bodyguard made a point of preceding him into the room and checking it thoroughly.

“I see no sign of danger, Your Highness.”

“I’m sure my guards already checked.” Cassius closed the door on the corridor and sank wearily into a chair. “But I applaud your thoroughness.”

The bodyguard cleared his throat. “I will leave you in peace, Your Highness.”

Cassius flicked a strand of hair off his forehead, his brow wrinkled in confusion as he studied the bodyguard. The boy was standing stiffly, looking wildly uncomfortable.

“To go where? They’re bringing our food here.”

“I will eat separately from you, Your Highness.”

“Unnecessary,” Cassius assured him, waving a hand.

“I must respectfully disagree,” said the bodyguard. “I appreciate your consideration, Your Highness, but I am ready to guard your door with the others. ”

“Absolutely not,” Cassius said sharply, straightening in his chair. “You’re clearly dead on your feet, and we have a full day of travel tomorrow. If you pass out from exhaustion as soon as we set out, it will be a significant inconvenience for everyone. I insist that you sleep. I won’t pretend I’m excited to share a room with a stranger, but it’s the only option available to us, so we must make the best of it.”

The bodyguard made no answer, his posture more rigid than ever. Cassius thought he saw the boy’s lip quiver, and he barely held in a sigh. The whole situation was so ridiculous. Was common decency going to require him to soothe the boy’s feelings on top of everything else he had to contend with?

All at once the absurdity of the situation broke over him—that this near-child, whom he felt the need to coddle so as not to upset him, had been Lord Armand’s idea of indispensable protection for Carrack’s crown prince. He should probably take note of what that said about the bodyguard’s magical abilities—given magic craft was one area in which Lord Armand was truly knowledgeable, unlike diplomacy—but in that moment, he was more inclined to laugh.

He refrained from doing so, but the impulse softened his irritation and made it possible to give his new companion a genuine smile.

“Come, it’s not such a disaster. I must be the only prince to ever fall into such a ridiculous mess, but I’m sure neither one of us will bite the other.”

“We can’t,” the bodyguard responded unexpectedly.

“What?” Cassius blinked.

“The tethering enchantment,” the boy explained. “That’s what a tethering enchantment does. Well, this one does more than the basic, which is impressive, given even a generic tethering enchantment is a sophisticated form of magic craft. Lord Armand must be very skilled to have worked in such intricacies as the distance limit, and the compounding and inverted safety restraint.”

“The compounding and…what?” Cassius felt like a dunce. Clearly the bodyguard had far superior knowledge of magic craft.

The boy’s tone was impassive as he replied. Too impassive. “The extra aspect of the enchantment that will activate if you suffer harm during the course of the tether, and will cause me to suffer twice whatever harm befalls you.”

“Ah.” Cassius winced. “That is the most regrettable part of this deplorable business.”

The bodyguard didn’t respond, instead pushing on with the original explanation. “As I said, this particular enchantment is impressive. But in addition to its extra features, it will function as a basic tethering enchantment. The fundamental aspect of tethers is that they prevent either party from raising a hand against the other.”

“Oh.” Cassius tilted his head to the side. “I see.”

It made sense. Lord Armand was seven kinds of a fool, but he did genuinely think he was protecting his prince. He wouldn’t have tied Cassius to someone who might use that access to hurt him.

“Well, now you know you’re safe with me,” he said, trying to lighten the tension. “I couldn’t harm you even if I wanted to. Not that I would wish to. To be frank, it would feel like hitting a child. How old are you? You look about fifteen.”

For a long moment, the boy didn’t answer. Then, to Cassius’s surprise, he abruptly dropped his formal posture and rubbed both hands down his face in a gesture of weariness .

“Your Highness, can I please implore you to allow me to stand guard out there?”

“You can.” Cassius leaned his elbows on his knees, fascinated by the bodyguard’s strange behavior. It was time to try to figure the boy out a little. “But I’m afraid it will fall on deaf ears. Whether we like it or not, we’re to spend a great deal of time in each other’s company. I think we’d best get to know one another a little. For example, I don’t even know your name.”

A knock on the door prevented the bodyguard from answering. He stood stiff and silent once again as Cassius received the food and thanked the maid who was delivering it. Once she’d withdrawn and the door was closed behind her, he turned back to his companion.

“Where were we? Ah yes, your name. The princess called you Flor. Do I take it your name is Florian?”

The bodyguard let out a long, slow breath. So long and slow, in fact, that Cassius half expected him to get light-headed. He seemed to be swaying slightly on his feet, at any rate.

“My name is not Florian,” he said, his voice free of the assumed gruffness for the first time. “You’re right, Your Highness, that we will be in each other’s company whether we wish it or not. And I don’t think I’m capable of maintaining the deception under prolonged scrutiny.”

“Deception?” Cassius half-lifted from his chair, his senses on alert. Had the boy lied about not being able to harm him?

The bodyguard swallowed visibly, but the voice that issued from under the hood was resolute.

“Yes, Your Highness. A deception that was never intended to have so great an impact on you, I swear. My name is not Florian. It’s Flora. And I’m certainly not fifteen. In fact, my summers number twenty.”

Cassius could only watch in numb shock as the bodyguard lowered the hood at last, loosening a waving cascade of hair in the next movement. The features Cassius had previously only glimpsed were transformed by the effect, and he found himself staring speechlessly into a face that unmistakably belonged to a young woman.