Page 18 of The Prince

“They don’t think, they act, and they rely entirely on their magic to protect themselves should something go wrong,” Caro filled in easily, fully aware of how asinine his family could be. “And I go by Caro now.”

Thris nodded. “Since you found this fortress, I assume you know why Namin sent us here. We’re to prepare to attack Toval, and it’s a way to distract the army from planning a coup.”

Braxton snorted. “Sounds like the distraction isn’t working.”

“Oh it’s not, I assure you.” Thris’s smile was angelic and his eyes twinkled with mischief. “Namin has been so kind to build us this stronghold in which we’re protected from Namin’s provocations.” His mien turned more serious. “We’re smuggling as many dissidents from the military out here as we can, and we’re hoping the barracks will be fully habitable by winter. We’re putting stores away from hunting and some gathering of nature’s bounty out here, but it’s going to be tight. Still, it’s better than waiting to fall through ice on the pond, or to slide off a slippery tower, which is what we would all be waiting for if we stayed in Svental.” He sighed. “Our plan was to amass numbers and wait through the winter, during which the rest of our citizens will have endured hunger and freezing temperatures for months, compounded with the knowledge that nothing will change in the spring because we have nothing to plant. When we attack then, we’ll have full support.”

“But you want to attack sooner,” Braxton added, his eyes narrowed as he studied Thris.

Thris nodded, then stopped and shook his head instead. “Hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people are going to die this winter because of the gross mismanagement of our so-called leaders. At least if we took over now, we could try to mitigate that. But we don’t have the numbers to be successful right now and…” He let out another heavy sigh as he trailed off, shaking his head again.

Caro frowned. “And you don’t have another ruler to instate in the king’s place.”

“Exactly.”

Thris glanced at Caro and quickly looked away, but Caro could read between the lines even without that look. He was the bastard child and the family whipping boy. Yes, he had the royal magic, but none of the nobles whose support Caro would needas king would ever agree to stand behind him. The coup plotters needed someone else to take the throne after the coup.

Royal families all had their version of the golden-colored magic. Braxton’s family could summon weapons. Caro’s had the sight. Yaroi could shift into an animal form. If Namin put a king or queen on the throne without golden magic, none of the other countries would agree to trade with them, seeing them as weak. Namin would get cut off completely from the rest of the world and be in worse condition than they were now. They needed to find someone of royal Naminese blood, but that too wasn’t enough. The magic was only passed down by wielders. Should Caro have children, they could be born with the magic. Caro’s sister only had the barest drop of it in her; she didn’t have enough power to hold the throne, and it was doubtful her future kids would be any stronger. Thris had to find another bastard like Caro, a child of King Cyphus or Prince Cadell, the only other two who could pass the power down, and then put them on the throne.

A thorny issue without an answer. Caro rubbed his fingers across his forehead, hoping to stave off the budding headache he could feel building, and then rubbed downward over his nose so he could rest his chin on his palm. But…his fingers stopped on his nose as an idea came to him.

“If numbers are an issue, the majority of the Tovalian army should arrive by this evening,” Braxton was saying as Caro slowly dropped his hand into his lap. “If it means removing the constant threat on our border from Namin, we would be happy to aid in deposing your king. I don’t know if I can help with finding you a new one though.”

“Ask Ama,” Caro blurted out, then clamped his mouth shut.

Thris only looked at Caro curiously, but the way Braxton’s face went blank said maybe he did know the truth about Ama. Orat least he suspected. Whether Ama actually knew anyone in his family with the golden power who might qualify was a question, but there was a chance.

“I’ll ask,” Braxton replied before turning back to Thris. “Either way, King Cyphus cannot remain on the throne. Your people will be so grateful to have the food and grain Toval will lend you this winter; they won’t mind the regent you appoint doesn’t have golden magic. That will give you at least a year or two to find someone before the international community starts to take note. We can hash out the finer details when Fen arrives.”

Thris nodded slowly as his frown smoothed. “Right. We will definitely ask for Prince Fenwick’s opinion, but I believe it’s fair to say we have the beginnings of a plan. I will send word to my operatives in the city to expect our arrival. Which only leaves the thorny issue of how to get close enough to the king and prince fast enough that their magic won’t have time to warn them.”

There were no doubts or worries about betraying his birth family in Caro’s mind as he opened his mouth and said, “I can help with that.”

Chapter Thirteen

“THE WAY OURpassive magic works is it identifies threats in time for us to move to a safe location.” The firelight flickered over people’s faces, barely visible in the dark, but they were all listening intently. Braxton sat on Caro’s left, Fen just past him. The rest of the group were the people tasked with infiltrating the royal apartments and capturing or killing King Cyphus and Prince Cadell. “If your intent is to take your belt knife and stab me, and you’re thinking about doing just that, my magic will warn me. The important bit iswhenthe magic warns me. If you’re two rooms away and thinking about stabbing me, then I have the length of time it will take for you to traverse those rooms to flee. If you start thinking about it right now, when you’re five feet away, I might have enough warning to dodge, but not enough to escape ahead of time. That means you cannot even think about harming one of us until you’re close enough to strike or you’ll never get close enough.”

“Damn,” Grall said, groaning. “My pre-battle mental focus would ruin our plot completely.”

“Mine too,” Thris admitted. “How do we get around that magic?”

“And isn’t talking about it right now going to warn them?” Fen added, glancing to his left, across the field of low brush and grass where they were camping, toward the direction of where Svental was located only a few miles away.

Caro shook his head. “There’s an outer limit to our power. Otherwise, we would never get any peace. I promise you, my father and brother likely think about killing me regularly, and I didn’t notice until the assassins were in the castle in Etoval about two minutes away. Like I said when we were planning this, I can guide you through the secret passages.” In fact, the plan was based heavily on Namin’s most recent attempt at killing the Tovalian royal family, minus the poisoning, of course. Caro’s group would copy their use of the secret passages to sneak into the royal chambers and get close to King Cyphus and Prince Cadell. “What we need to do is think innocent thoughts as we approach. How nice the walls look or how clean the floors are. Sing a song in your head or think about the good you’re doing to support Toval and Namin. When you draw your weapon, only think that you’re checking to see how shiny it is. One stray thought aboutkillingthem could ruin it.”

“Tough not to think about why we’re creeping up on them,” Thris said, frowning. “But if that’s the only way to actually win, we’ll have to succeed. Is there any other way they might notice us?”

“Only if they actively call on their magic.” Caro shrugged. “When I’m using my magic, I can see through walls and hear conversations in other rooms. But only when I’m actively using it or I’m alerted to a threat. It’s not something automatic, otherwise. As long as we’re quiet and thinking innocent thoughts, we shouldn’t have any issues.”

Thris let out a heavy sigh, but a moment later, he grinned. “Right. We’re going to have some fun tomorrow. We leave assoon as it’s light enough for the horses, so let’s get some shut-eye.” He clapped his hands on his knees and stood, then ambled off toward his bedroll.

Caro also thought it was time to try getting some sleep. He stood as well, and Braxton, who so far had only been a supporting presence at Caro’s side, joined him. They walked together toward where they, Fen, and Char had laid out their bedrolls. Char would remain behind at this camp with Alina and the handful of other supporting staff but had cooked for them the last few nights as they traveled through Namin. Caro wasn’t certain he would ever be able to eat regular food again.

His bedroll was exactly as he left it. Caro sat on top of it to take off his boots, but paused midway through loosening the laces to let out a heavy sigh.

“You going to be okay tomorrow?” Braxton asked, settling onto the bedroll next to him.

Caro sighed again. “My father and brother earned everything coming to them, and considering how they treated me, it’s almost poetic that I’m the one leading their doom to their doorstep. Just…” He shrugged, unsure how to put all the thoughts swirling through his head into words.

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