Page 9 of Ties of Dust

“When the marriage alliance is safely completed,” Lord Armand said.

Cassius clenched his hands into fists. “This is unacceptable,” he said, too mortified to look at the other royals.

It was humiliating that he had so little control over his own delegation. What a show of weakness! He cursed his former self for not fighting harder to exclude the overly reactive nobleman from the trip. And quite apart from his mortification, it was a blasted nuisance! He didn’t want some teenage boy hovering within twenty feet of him for who knew how many months.

“But a tethering enchantment is a form of compulsion magic.” The bodyguard had found his voice again. “That’s illegal!”

“Illegal unless expressly authorized by the king,” Lord Armand said smoothly. “And I have written authorization from the king to use whatever magic I deem necessary for the—”

“Yourking,” Princess Miriam interrupted furiously. “But you’re in our kingdom now! And Father would never have authorized such a travesty of an enchantment. You absolutely cannot take Flor with you.”

Flor? Cassius felt a flicker of surprise at the informality between the princess and her bodyguard, but he didn’t let it distract him.

“You have taken a gross liberty with the trust my father placed in you,” he told Lord Armand tersely. “I will be expressing that view to him in the strongest terms.”

The response was weak, he knew. Far too weak for the situation. But the terrible truth was that there was no conviction in his threat. His father wouldn’t care about the inconvenience—or indeed the physical danger—to the bodyguard. Nor would he care about Cassius’s annoyanceat having a stranger foisted onto him, not if that stranger was there for his protection and magically bound not to let him be harmed. Cassius had a horrible suspicion that even the justified offense of the Siqualians would be brushed off by his father. Over the months since an unexpected addition had joined his court, Carrack’s king had become dangerously convinced of the superiority of his kingdom over the other kingdoms of the Peninsula.

But he couldn’t get lost in his resentment toward the oily Sir Keavling now. That was a problem to be faced when he returned to Crandell.

Cassius drew a breath, trying to gather whatever was left of his dignity. It didn’t help that he felt like a drowned rat—they were all of them saturated down to the skin after so long out of the shelter of the trees. To add insult to injury, the rain was just beginning to slacken. If only it had done so five minutes earlier, there might not have been sufficient magic from its movement for Lord Armand to form such a powerful and sophisticated enchantment.

It was no use wishing it hadn’t happened. It had, and he needed to find a way forward.

“I agree with Her Highness that we have no right to expect her bodyguard to accompany us,” Cassius began.

“It is no longer in my control,” Lord Armand said maddeningly, leaning to the side and catching himself just in time to stop his shoulder from touching the prince’s. “The bodyguard is tethered to you.”

“You have grossly overstepped,” Prince Theodore said, his jaw working. “You will all accompany us to Sindon to sort out this mess.”

“Absolutely not,” said Lord Armand, a flicker of feeling restoring some of his energy. “His Majesty’sorders are very clear in this regard. We are expected back in Carrack in a matter of days.”

Cassius ran a hand through his hair—sopping wet, of course—wishing he could wake from the nightmare.

“For my part, I would not object to diverting to your capital,” he told Prince Theodore. “But I’m afraid Lord Armand is right that we are expected back in our own capital imminently, and a failure to appear might cause significant problems.”

It was as openly as he could speak of his own father, and he hoped the other prince would understand the warning. Cassius hardly recognized his father lately—he didn’t trust the king to keep his head if he thought his kingdom had been slighted or his son compelled in any way. Even the imprisonment of his favorite advisor—a course Cassius wouldn’t blame the Siqualians for taking if they got Lord Armand into their castle—might be enough to stoke his anger into a flame. And war between the kingdoms was the opposite of what Cassius was trying to achieve.

“I fear our only course is to each return to our own capitals until the nature of the threat can be identified,” Cassius went on. “Please be assured I remain as committed to the alliance as ever. We can resume arrangements once we are confident there is no continued risk of attack to Her Highness.” Any talk of reconsidering Carrack’s position had to be abandoned. His kingdom had wronged the other now—however little his father or Lord Armand might acknowledge it—and they needed to tread carefully.

Prince Theodore stared narrowly into his eyes for a long moment before letting out a short, tight breath.

“Very well.”

“Theo!” Princess Miriam sounded scandalized. “Surely you’re not going to let them take Flor with them!”

“It seems none of us have any choice in that aspect of the situation,” the prince said, his tone conveying how strongly he disapproved.

“I refuse to accept it,” Princess Miriam said staunchly. “No one’s even tested it.” Again showing that startling lack of formality, she seized her bodyguard by the arm and dragged him away from the group.

Sure enough, when they’d gone about twenty feet—Cassius suspectedexactlytwenty feet—the bodyguard came to an abrupt stop.

Cassius knew why. He could feel the tug around his midriff. It was as though someone had put their arms around him and was attempting to pull him toward the bodyguard. But the pressure of the pull was about what he’d expect from the physical strength of someone the bodyguard’s size. That was to say, not enough to make his larger, stronger frame move at all. So he remained standing still, and the bodyguard was forced to come to an abrupt stop.

The princess and the bodyguard were looking back at him, and with a sigh, Cassius took three steps forward. They did the same, before the pressure again appeared, and the bodyguard came to a stop.

“So the enchantment is active,” Prince Theodore said heavily.

“I’m afraid so.” Cassius sent another angry look at Lord Armand.

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