Page 147 of Settle Down, Princess

“You see how it is, Your Grace. The army forged a bond between us, one we are doomed to preserve until the end of our days.”

I was making light of things, as if my feet weren't dancing as fast as they could to distract the lot of them, because at least one or two lords looked into the fire. They watched the antlers blacken, then stared at the three of us. News of what we were to Arik filtered through some circles, further demonstrating my brother’s lack of suitability as king in noble circles. A prince might form a pack with other lordlings, but not the son of a thief and the son of a blacksmith.

“Of course,” the duke said before tugging on a velvet rope. “I’ll have the maids prepare a room for the three of you.”

“Gods…” Roan sank down onto a soft bed once we were led deeper into the estate by a chamber maid. “I could sleep for a week.”

“A few hours,” Arik corrected. “We need to get back to the capital as fast as we can. Gods know what my brother is doing.”

“To Jessalyn.” I loved the way her name rolled off my tongue. It was as close as I could get to kissing her. “You worry about what he will do to Jessalyn.”

“Of course I worry.” Arik bit that off as his fingers sank into his hair, raking across his scalp. “I have since the moment I met her. No, before that. My brother is a sadistic bastard and those pricks…” He jerked his thumb at the door. “Think they know exactly how this is going to go, just like last time.” He crossed the room in quick strides, turning to walk back. “Arrogant, coddled, oblivious—”

“So tell us, brother.”

He stopped at the title I gave him, searching my eyes and I caught the moment he broke, if only for a second, then mastered himself.

“Magnus is a monster. He always has been, but this country has stood back as he commits act after act of cruelty. They didn’t try to stop him when he killed any one of the other princesses. Not when he killed any number of the prostitutes your father sent him. Not when he visited casual cruelties on his playmates…”

Arik’s blue eyes went wide and staring, not seeing us or the room, because right now he wasn’t in Fallspire. He was back at the palace, a young boy elevated beyond all expectations by his royal father. The king introduced Arik to Magnus thinking that was all it took, not realising it was like leaving a lamb in a pen with a rabid pup.

“And definitely not when he hurt me as a child.” Arik’s focus snapped back to us and he stared into each of our eyes in challenge, waiting for us to make comment. I shot Roan a warning look, but a tiny nod made clear he understood. “No one has bothered to stand up against Magnus before now.” Arik shook his head. “Not even me.”

“But that ends now.” There was a gentleness in Roan’s voice I didn’t expect as he moved closer. “Doesn’t it, Arik? He’s just one spoiled psychotic little monster. Remember when we managed to rescue the border lord’s daughter that the Lanzenians had taken. They were going to pass her around the entire garrison when the ransom money came in, return her to her father broken, but we got her out.”

Arik snorted as he stared at the floor.

“And remember when they sent us on that mission to retrieve those secret plans from the general visiting the border,” I said. “He had a whole damn platoon camped around him, but we managed to get past them. Had the papers and were galloping back to our side of the border before anyone even knew we were there.” I moved until he was forced to meet my eyes and when I had his attention, I held it. “You’re the Bastard Prince. We’re your band. Together we’ve been able to survive for far longer than anyone intended. We can get through this, brother, you know we can.”

Arik might have been a brutalised child, the bastard son of a common born woman, an unwanted, unloved presence in the palace, but his father had done one thing right. That same damn arrogance of princes was never kept down for long and I watched it rise now. His lips quirked, his eyes sparkled as he nodded.

“Those idiots are going to fuck up everything, aren’t they?”

“Well, they did last time.” I shrugged. “Trusting Lord Vatarion? Who does that. The house is notorious for being turncoats of the highest order.”

“They have a huge number of men to bring to a battle,” Arik replied wryly. “Its why everyone always seeks their favour.”

“So lets avoid that,” Roan said. “No bullshit wars with pricks who play both sides while soldiers die on the battlefield.” His focus flicked my way. “No bloody Guild games. Lets keep all of them out of this, including those stupid lords.” He nodded to the door where we could hear the muffled sounds of their carousing. “We’ll get some sleep and then talk to the people that matter.”

“The Duke’s hunters.” Arik nodded. “His grooms. Gods, I’ll even talk to the stable boys and see if there’s anything useful to be found there.”

“But after a good night’s sleep.” I feared that I’d taken the wrong tact, because Arik’s smile faded the moment I said that, but if I felt the weight of exhaustion crushing down on me, he must as well. “You’ll be no good to the princess if you’re falling out of the saddle.”

“He’ll be no good to her anyway.” Roan shot me an outrageous wink. “Always ‘rushes’ into things, does Arik.” He slapped our brother on the arm. “Don’t worry, lad. I’ve got all the stamina she needs. I’ll make sure she never even notices the fact you go off too quick.”

“One minute is what we’re calling stamina now, is it?” I asked, pulling out a small belt knife to clean my nails. “Interesting.”

“All she has to do is hurt you and you’ll be coming in your pants like a lad,” Roan shot back. He slapped his arms around himself, doing a reasonable approximation of a couple kissing before raking his nails down his own back. I admit I stiffened at that, well used to the joke, but never having visualised Jessalyn doing just that. If she dug her nails in just so—

“How about we focus on the mission?” Arik stood taller and despite the lines of exhaustion in his face, I could see the shadows disappearing from under his eyes. “You’re right, Silas.”

“I often am,” I replied with a smirk.

“No one’s lifted a finger to end my brother, but he’s spent all of the years I’ve been in the army trying to get us killed and we’ve survived every attempt.” That arrogant smile, I was glad to see it back. “Honing us into the kind of weapon that would be perfect to slide between his ribs. Get some sleep. We’ll be up early in the morning to talk to the staff and check out the stables.”

“And what about you?” I asked.

“I’ll be in bed soon enough, Mother,” he said, grabbing his cloak from the chair he’d tossed it over, wrapping it around himself before walking out the door. “Rest now.”

---