Page 21 of A Tale of Treachery

“Moonflower? I thought that only grew in heated locations. Nowhere near here.”

I blinked, momentarily dumbfounded. Of course he knew about moonflower. Brandon liked to read and fill his brain with all sorts of useless information. It was one of the reasons we got along so well.

I shrugged and waved my hand at our surroundings. “It’s the Scourged Forest. What else do you expect?”

“And how is your hunt for the moonflower going?” he smirked.

“Not so well. I fell asleep,” I replied, motioning to the spot against the tree where my bag sat.

His eyes were alight with humor, but the quirk of his lips sunk into a frown. A downtrodden expression took hold of his face.

“What’s wrong, Brandon?”

The sudden shift within him was odd and completely out of character. He was the representation of joy and laughter, not gloom. I studied the pensive furrow between his brows and wondered what he was thinking.

He let out a pained groan. “I’m going to have to take you to Aiden. He’d have my head if he found out that I knew you were wandering around the woods at night without protection.”

My lips twisted into a grimace. “No…how about I leave and return with Redmond later?” I bargained, hoping he would let it go.

He wanted to walk away and pretend this never happened. But his loyalty to Aiden came first.

Brandon grumbled in annoyance and held his hand out in offering, like the gentleman he was. “I won’t ask any further questions, but you need to work on your story and make it more believable before we get back to camp.”

I reluctantly took his hand, knowing that there was no other choice. “Fine, but I won’t be changing my story. Luckily, the others don’t have half as much random information swirling about their heads as you.”

“Let’s just hope Aiden believes you,” he murmured under his breath while we walked.

I groaned and followed him.

Aiden was going to be furious.

* * *

This wasthe worst night of my adult life. Between losing a friend, losing control of my magic, freezing my behind off, and getting caught, I wished I’d stayed home and let things be.

But then Eulalia wouldn’t be safe.

I huddled up next to the fire as Aiden glared at Brandon, a look that could kill set along his jaw. His shock when I’d joined their party in the middle of the night was palpable and quickly shifted to full-blown anger. Brandon threw little winks over his shoulder as if he found the situation funny. And George grinned like a lunatic.

The latter brother was enjoying this way too much for my comfort.

The other soldiers in the party had busied themselves, giving us distance and much-needed privacy while Aiden lost his head.

“She was where?”

“Doing what?”

“By herself! Past curfew!”

Aiden’s anger should have been directed at me, and in a way, it was, but he was trying his hardest to ignore my presence and redirected his anger toward the man in front of him. The prince’s voice echoed around the campground, disturbing the peaceful tranquility of the forest and causing the jewel-toned birds that hid in the trees to flee their nests in a loud flurry of squawking noises.

The only indication that the other soldiers were listening was the occasional quiet snicker.

Aiden’s sun-kissed skin was flushed and red with agitation, the veins in his neck bulging. Spittle flew from his mouth with every word he spoke. His blond hair grew matted with sweat.

He looked like a tea kettle on the verge of exploding.

Brandon looked at the ground, an act of contrition that wasn’t quite believable, thanks to the barely contained smirk on his face. The sly tilting of his lips made Aiden even angrier.

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