Page 132 of A Crown of Lies

“Does it matter?”

Kat didn’t answer. He hated this, everything about it. He’d known from the moment Isaac brought up children it would drive a wedge between them.

Isaac sighed and came to put his arms around Kat from behind, leaning into him. “I know this is hard. But it’s the right thing to do. Once you get to Greymark, you can find a good person to take him in. He doesn’t have to stay with you.”

“But you want him to.”

That was what hurt the most, knowing that Isaac hadn’t intervened simply because he was a child in need of rescue. He’d done it because he saw a way for him to get what he wanted, and he’d just expected Kat to go along with it. He hadn’t even asked. He just did it! And after Kat had clearly expressed his feelings on the matter.

“We’ve only been married a few weeks,” Isaac said, his voice strained. He rubbed Kat’s upper arms and kissed the back of his neck. “Maybe it’s not the right time for us, but he didn’t get to choose, Kat. This isn’t about what I want. If we ever decide to be parents, then that must be a decision we maketogether.”

Kat sighed, shoulders slumping. “I still don’t see why I can’t go to Brucia. I could hand him off to be with the other orphans for Aryn and Mercia to raise when they return.”

“It’s the first place Michal will go looking for him if he changes his mind about Aleksander being a threat,” Isaac said as Kat turned around. “I don’t doubt Aryn’s ability to protect the children he looks after, but Aryn and Mercia aren’t even there right now. They went to D’thallanar with Ruith and Isheda. Aleksander needs someone to look after him and protect himnow.”

“Aleksander?” Kat frowned.

“Or Aleks for short,” Isaac said with a shrug. “A child needs a name, Katyr.”

“But that doesn’t mean you have to give him one!”

Isaac lifted his chin with two fingers. “Focus, Kat. This is a rescue mission. Ieduin will help you. I’m sure you’ll be able to find a wet nurse there, someone to help. Then all you have to do is watch over him like a bodyguard until the talks here are over and I can join you.”

“And what am I supposed to feed it in the meantime?” Kat gestured to the baby fussing on the bed. “It’s not like I have a spell to make me lactate, Isaac!”

Isaac chuckled, though Kat didn’t find it funny.

The knight turned away and went back to where he’d been packing a little while ago, lifting a small clay pot. “I went to the kitchen already and took this. It’s goat milk in a spelled container. The cook told me it’s not ideal, but if you mix it with some sugar and salt, it’ll keep him from starving, at least for a few days. They gave me a special pot with a spout, and some straining cloths if nothing else.”

Kat sighed, trying to think of another excuse. “It’s a two-to-three-day ride to Greymark through bandit country. Just making it there will be difficult, let alone doing it with an infant.”

Isaac lifted an eyebrow. “Kat. You are a trained mercenary with a sword. Act like it.”

The mage flushed at Isaac’s words. He was right. Kat was behaving like a stubborn child, but he really didn’t want to do this. All he wanted was to crawl back into bed with Isaac and pretend the last two hours had never happened. Instead, he was about to embark on a journey for a place he’d never been, and he’d have to do it allalone.

Isaac kicked the packed bag over to Kat, who picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. Then the knight wrapped Aleks up tightly in a bundle that he brought to Kat, all but forcing him into Katyr’s arms. Kat did not want to touch the baby, let alone hold it, but he didn’t have a choice.

“Hold his head up,” Isaac advised gently, adjusting how Kat held him.

He’s so small, Katyr thought.And light. He weighs nothing. Gods above, it’ll be so easy to drop him, and he’s completely helpless.The weight of responsibility settled on his shoulders, and he looked up at Isaac, his throat tight. “Isaac, I really don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can,” Isaac said, drawing Kat’s forehead to his. “I have faith in you. I love you, Kat.”

“Then come with me.” That was the other half of it, wasn’t it? Ever since Trinta, they’d barely been apart. Even a few hours without Isaac by his side felt unbearable. Katyr didn’t know how he would survive weeks apart. “I need you. Please, Isaac. Don’t leave me alone.”

Isaac kissed his lips gently. “You aren’t alone. You have Aleks. And when you get to Greymark, Ieduin and Rixxis will be there to help you.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the window, where the faintest light had crept into the sky while they readied. “You must go, Kat. Before the sun comes up.”

Isaac helped him fashion a quick sling with a sheet that would keep the baby against Kat’s chest while they rode. The ride would be tough and cold, but Isaac assured him that being able to hear Kat’s heartbeat would keep the baby calm and help him sleep through most of it. If he cried, Kat was supposed to change him and feed him and that would make him quiet again.

They rushed to the stables together where Isaac saddled up a fast horse and helped Kat up onto it. With one last kiss, they parted, and Kat rode away, numb from head to toe.

Hoofbeats echoed off the sleepy walls of buildings as he rode for the gate, the baby squirming against his chest. Katyr held his breath as he approached the guards. They might stop him. Then what? Would they recognize the prince he had tucked to his chest? Would they arrest him for kidnapping? What if Michal had already changed his mind and instructed the guards to stop him?

The guards barely glanced up as he rode by.

Kat did not slow the horse, pushing close to full speed for as long as he could. The sooner he made it to Greymark to get rid of this baby, the better. Once he found someone to take Aleks, he could ride back to Ostovan and never think about this again.

As the sun came up, and the miles stretched behind and before them, Aleks’s squirming got worse, and he let out a hacking cry.

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