Like it was now.
Like it had been since his father had been taken prisoner.
And I hadn’t been here to help.
“Why is the King still alive?” Kevin asked.
I winced at that. It was a fair question, but it was still a little graceless.
Lady Tina surprised me when she was the one to answer. “It’s a way to keep Veranians in line. As long as the King remains alive and reasonably well, Myrin can threaten the people with harming their King.”
“Killing him would have sparked a revolution,” Justin said quietly. “There would have been an all-out war. Many people would have died. By keeping him alive, Myrin can play upon their fears. For all they know, their King is being tortured daily.”
“And he’s not?” I asked, as much as I didn’t want to.
Justin shook his head. “From what our spies tell us, he’s kept reasonably well in the dungeons. Myrin hasn’t been to see him in months.”
“You have people on the inside? How?”
Justin looked at me. “Did you expect us just to sit around waiting for you?”
Ouch. I deserved that. “No,” I said evenly. “I didn’t.”
He looked chagrined. “I didn’t mean it like—”
“You did. And that’s okay. I don’t blame you. If anything, you should blame me. I should have—I don’t know. Done something different.”
Ryan stiffened a little at my side but didn’t speak.
“You did what you had to,” Justin said. “And while I don’t like how you went about it, you had your reasons, which I’m sure I’ll hear all about later. But we don’t have time for it now.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Because we’re going to infiltrate Castle Lockes and rescue my father.”
I took a step forward, magic beginning to hum in my blood. “You have a plan?”
He nodded toward Lady Tina. “She does. And you’re going to be working with her on it. We need you now, Sam, more than ever. Now that you’ve returned, it’s time we take Verania back.”
Godsdammit.
Chapter 8: Dark Wizards Can Kiss Our Asses
“AND ANOTHER thing, where does she get off being all buddy-buddy with Justin?” I raged. “He’s not her best friend 5eva. He’s my best friend 5eva, and she’s just jealous because Justin likes it when I give him hugs and braid his hair. We have pillow fights and eat flan and talk about boys and whatever. She doesn’t do that with him, and she never will!”
“I am so glad I never went to your sleepovers with Justin,” Gary said, lying on a pile of blankets in his and Tiggy’s barn. “I’ve seen you eat flan before. It isn’t attractive.”
I waved at him dismissively as I continued to pace. “There is no way to eat flan attractively. It’s impossible.”
“Bullshit. I can do anything attractively. It’s not a flan thing. It’s a you thing.”
I scowled at him. “Tiggy, tell Gary to stop being a jerk and that I’m right, and also tell me I am attractive because I need to feel good about myself.”
Tiggy looked up from where he was sitting amongst his brooms, having spent the last hour organizing them in a system that only he understood. “Gary not a jerk. We all right. And I love you.”
“You are the best thing in this world,” I told him seriously, and he grinned at me. I glanced at Gary. “And I would say the same thing about you, but apparently you’ve developed a taste for Lady Tina strange since I’ve left, so.”
Gary gasped. “You wipe that filth from your mouth. I will have you know that I am not about the ladies. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you know how I feel about the mens.”
“You like them inside you,” Tiggy said, frowning down at a push broom like it’d offended him somehow.
“Exactly, kitten. I am a whore for cock. I mean, sure, I let Honest Helga tie me up and whip me, but that wasn’t sexual. I just like how she wields a whip.”