Page 116 of The Prince's Mage

Although, he was also a little worried about what was going to happen to him if this all worked out, considering he had also committed treason. When his father woke up and took back control…

He might bring peace between his people and the clans, but was either group really going to let him live to see it?

Chapter42

GAVRIL

During Gavril’s fourth night in the Sordes camp, he was lightly dozing against the ground when the rustle of fabric and a soft “Gavril!” had him opening his eyes.

Marcella ducked into the shelter, her eyes brightening the second they landed on him. He shot up, opening his mouth, but then she was on top of him, throwing herself into his lap. Her arms locked around him as she breathed out, “Gavril, I’ve been so worried!”

His arms being bound behind him to the post hadn’t really bothered him until that moment since it was the only thing keeping him from being able to hold his wife.

He could only just make her out and that was because she was practically sitting on him. The moonlight highlighted her face but not much else past the shelter. The torches the guards around the paddock carried were out of sight—the Sordes’ singlehanded runes didn’t lend themselves to be able to be set like his people’s runes—so he had no idea if they’d wandered off as part of their patrol or something else. But the light was no matter as dawn was not far off.

But he did know he couldn’t let Marcella get caught.

“I’m fine. I told you I would be. Now that you’ve seen it, you should go before your people come back and you get in trouble.”

Her eyes immediately narrowed at him and he received the look on her face that he’d long since learned meant trouble. She sat back just enough that she could take his face in her hands and examine it, and the second her thumb brushed over his split lip he couldn’t stop his soft hiss.

“You are not fine!Thisis not fine! You have done nothing to deserve this, and these men are behaving dishonorably, beating a man who cannot fight back. My people are behaving like the corrupted savages yours think we are,” Marcella said, her voice heated but still low as her hands settled on his cheeks.

“Much as I have wished not to be some days, I am a prince. That comes with representing my people, both the good and the bad. For all the horrors my people have committed against yours, I can hold no grudge against any of yours for taking a few cheap shots.” Gavril tried to pull his face out of her grip, but she just held him in place.

“Well, I can.”

“Marcella,deliciae, this is nothing I have not endured my whole life. I can endure it from your people too. You have endured for months my people’s derision and scorn based off gossip, lies, and slander. I can endure a few days. You should go before you’re discovered. I cannot bear to even think of what the demon might do if she catches you,” Gavril whispered.

Marcella shook her head. “No. I have not seen you in days, and I will not leave you now.”

His heart swelled, and he believed her. She had nothing to gain from coming to see him, only something to lose.

“My past few days have been entirely uneventful aside from the insults and blows. Tell me, have you heard from Nikias?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. I’ve barely seen Hypatia, but Konstantin has been keeping me informed on the fact that there has been nothing to be informed of.”

At the mention of the other man, Gavril couldn’t help his scowl.

She continued on, “He promised he would help me, but so far has been of little use. He won’t tell me exactly what Hirtus told him and Hypatia for me to refute it. He tells me to be patient and he’ll handle Hypatia, but I grew sick of waiting, so I came to find you on my own.” She lifted her left wrist and her fingertips brushed his chest, right over his heart. “It was hard. My sense of your vitae is fainter with those cuffs on, but I was able to find you. Guess it came in handy.”

He tugged on the ropes binding his wrists to the posts but only succeeded in chafing the red, raw skin further. “You would have found me even without it, that I know.”

“Well, Hypatia did a good job hiding you. She’s left you alone, right? She believes… She hasn’t come after you?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not lying to me so I don’t worry?”

“I am tired of lying to you.” He shook his head. “No, I have not seen her. I do not worry for my sake but for yours. I would rather her be here antagonizing me because then I would know she is not with you.”

“Better she be with me than with you. She thinks—”

“I am aware what she and everyone else thinks. That’s precisely why I took my cloak back and didn’t want anyone to know we’re married,” Gavril said.

He could see Marcella’s cheeks flush even in the darkness. “I just—She realized I was hiding something and I thought it would protect you. I didn’t realize it would just make things worse.”

He could be angry she’d gone against his instruction, but after not seeing her for days and before that trying to force distance between them, he just didn’t have the strength anymore.

“What is done is done.” He sighed. “Because of Hirtus’ lies it wouldn’t have mattered in the end. I still would have ended up here. Besides, while Hirtus might have made this look worse than it is and their assumptions on the details might be wrong, they are right in a way.” He nodded toward her left wrist. “You did not have much of a say in this marriage.”

Marcella huffed. She peered around him and at the ropes holding his arms back. She reached behind him and quickly undid the knot, freeing his arms. “There, that’s better. It is too strange not to have your arms around me.”

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