Page 14 of Burn Bright
"And you're one of my people," he countered. "It was ill done of me, and I'd ask for yourforgiveness."
Ask? Or demand? "As you wish, yourhighness."
Evaron's eyes narrowed. "You say 'as you wish' but your eyes say, 'I'll see you in theDarkness'."
His Darkness was a place reserved for those who lost their path from the Way of Light. I knew only a little of the religion the citygoers flocked to. "What is forgiveness to aprince?"
"It is everything to a man who has watched others overstep their place in thislife."
Who was this man? Prince who brooked no argument, or a charmer determined to please? Whoever it was he meant when he said 'others', it had cast a vast shadow over him, Ithought.
I softened. "To grant forgiveness seems an easy thing. Perhaps you should earn it, or how can you tell if it'sreal?"
He looked taken aback. "Earnit?"
"You clearly dislike the sanctions against wolvren, and yet you allow your boyhood friend to wear a collar. You ask for forgiveness, and yet you were quick to demand an ill old man venture out into the snows. Your father bleeds us dry with his taxes, and here you are, throwing good coin about my village as if you meant to make it rain gold. Perhaps if you lived a different life, you would not have to ask forforgiveness."
He was definitely taken aback now. "Did you just—" Then a shocked laugh escaped him. "You did. I don't think I've ever been chastised bya...."
"Village girl?" Isuggested.
He rubbed at his mouth, his eyes twinkling. "I was going to leave it at 'girl'."
I rolled my eyes. "I doubt you've never been chastised by a girl. I've heard all the stories, youknow."
"Well, not for throwing coin around, or ordering my country's men to fall in line. Or for Cas." His brow furrowed, as if he didn't like the thought. "I don't have much choice in Cas's predicament. That's my father's doing, and you cross my father at yourperil."
"Even ason?"
"Especially ason."
None of the stories I'd ever heard about the king were complimentary. His legacies involved endless wars, and the crushing destruction of his foes. Crippling taxes, and thousands executed for a long-ago rebellion... I barely knew Prince Evaron, but I decided to reservejudgment.
If he took after his father at all, then I'd be dealing with a miniaturetyrant.
What would it have been like to be raised by such aman?
Evaron cleared his throat. "Am I allowed to wash the blood off myface?"
"Only if you wish to die a gruesome death in thesewoods."
He looked at mesharply.
And despite myself, I softened. "I jest. The blood doesn't protect you. You asked for Vashta's protection, and she granted it when you entered. Her protection shall rest over you like a mantle, until you leave thesewoods."
Little lines curled in the corners of his eyes. "You have almost as bad a sense of humor asCas."
"Casimir has a sense ofhumor?"
Evaron rubbed his mouth again. "Only with those he trusts. It's a smalllist."
I'd seen the pair of them act throughout the day. If I didn't see the wolvren collar, then one would almost think themfriends.
"Tell me about these woods," he finally said, and then seemed to recall my previous words. "Please."
"What would you like me to speak of? Gravenwold... it's not just a forest. It's not just trees. Do you wish to know the length and breadth of it? The ruins it chokes with its vines? The creatures within it? The Heart? The OldWays—"
"Let us start with the Old Ways," he said firmly. "How do you know of them? What arethey?"
