Jaik nodded. “We will find Alis, I promise.”
“Really?” I demanded. “So we know Honor is keeping secrets, and that she has some kind of enchantment on her. It might very well be a disguise. Who knows if this person we’re seeing in front of us is really who she is. Gods, even Talisyn thinks that she’s really someone else, even if his ideas are preposterous.”
“I love that I’m getting dragged into this for ridicule,” Talisyn said mildly. “Someday you’re all going to regret not listening to me.”
“She’s obviously hiding something. We can’t trust her. And even if she is well intentioned, that doesn’t mean that whoever enchanted her is. What if she’s being controlled? What if she hurts one of you?”
Honor paled at the thought and Jaik looked troubled. He started to protest, but Honor cut him off.
“Maybe he’s right,” Honor said. “I don’t think that I could ever do anything to hurt any of you but maybe it would be for the best if we made sure that I don’t have the chance.”
Jaik’s face seemed to war with itself as if he hated to admit there was any chance his precious Honor wasn’t perfect. Grudgingly, he asked, “What do the two of you think?”
Honor and I exchanged a glance. Then she said, “Maybe at night when we’re sleeping, one of you could keep an eye on me.”
“Or maybe we could chain you to the bedposts,” I suggested. The second the words left my mouth, I wondered why the hell I’d suggested that instead of locking her up—and why I had such a strong mental image of a bare-chested, red-lipped, bright-eyed Honor with her arms spread, her delicate wrists encircled by metal bands.
Honor flashed me that too bright smile. “Sorry, Branok. But you’re not making the list of people who are authorized to chain me to the bedposts right now. Now if Jaik or Talisyn wanted to…”
For some reason, the thought of Honor chained to the bedposts and at my mercy drove me mad even though I thought she might well be a traitor.
“It would be for the best to make sure that Honor can’t hurt any of the royals while we figure this out,” Lynx agreed. “We can take turns both protecting Honor and keeping watch to protect ourselves.”
“And Alis,” Honor prompted. “We need to get Alis.”
She was working a con on us all. I’d proven she was enchanted, that she was drawing my friends into her magnetic power, and she was twisting it to get what she wanted all along.
“We don’t have time to steal Alis,” I said, “And Pend isn’t going to give her up, he wanted her for a reason. We certainly can’t start a war with your father right now, Jaik.”
“Yes, he wants Alis for some reason, and no one else is curious why that is?” Honor demanded.
Jaik was pensive. “If we’re going to steal Alis, then I guess we probably need Caldren. My brother doesn’t have many uses, but I have to admit when it comes to criminal misbehavior, he certainly has his gifts.”
He wasn’t even listening to me. He was fully under her spell.
Honor nodded, looking satisfied. “It’s time the two of you stopped fighting.”
I didn’t think even Honor had a magic spell that would fix things between Jaik and Caldren.
Jaik let out a groan. “All right. I’ll talk to Caldren. I’ll have Damyn summon him.”
“Summon him,” Lynx repeated. “That sounds like that will go well.”
Jaik shrugged, leaning back in his chair. Despite his relaxed posture, he carried a sense of coiled muscle ready to strike. “Well, I am the prince and I do have the power to summon random barkeeps with rebellious tendencies, bad habits and light fingers.”
Honor sighed dramatically, twining a thread of red hair around her finger. “He is pretty amazing, isn’t he?” she asked in a dreamy voice.
Jaik quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t make me spank your ass.”
Honor’s small grin and faint blush gave away just how much that threat was not a deterrent. And I groaned. I couldn’t help feeling like I was always losing control of things whenever Honor was in the room.
“Let’s send Damyn a message,” Jaik said, “and then it’s time we all got some rest. I’ll take first watch and Honor, if you are inclined to do any more sneaking out… you’re going to find yourself chained to me at night.”
She shrugged. That didn’t entirely seem like it would be a deterrent for her either.
Honor was going to drive me mad.
If she didn’t murder me first.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Jaik
The thought that I was going to have to see my brother set me on edge. But I sent a message to Damyn, who was at the encampment with the other shifters; they’d all be curled up together and asleep in the soft hush of the snow.
Meanwhile, I forced myself not to pace around the softly lit den. Talisyn and Honor were sitting on cushions on the floor, playing some game where they slapped down cards and laughing; nothing stopped the two of them from having fun.
Branok and Lynx had disappeared to the library, which was always their answer when life turned weird. Arren had just disappeared, as he often did.
It was hard to believe that Caldren and I were once close, even though we’d often been at odds when we were growing up. Now I always felt anxious around him. He was judging me, and in his eyes, I’d always come up short. He would always think that he should still be the one to lead the royals.
There was a heavy knock at the door down the hall. I got up from my chair, reluctantly.
“It is so very hard to get along without servants, isn’t it?” Honor looked up, giving me her cheeky smile.
I didn’t manage to look amused, but then she said I never looked amused anyway.
“We have you,” Talisyn teased her. “Won’t you wait on us?”
“Not a chance. You’re already spoiled enough.”
Talisyn managed to look affronted. I left their banter behind as I headed into the hallway.
Arren skulked out of the shadows behind me, his hand on his hilt.
I hadn’t even seen where he’d come from. “I see you have a healthy distrust for my brother as well.”
Arren just grunted. “Not taking sides. Always ready for anything.”
“Great. Thanks for the loyalty.”
“Taking sides isn’t loyalty,” Lynx added, stepping out of the shadows and into the hall himself. He leaned against the wall, his posture casual, although I was sure he could get to his weapon in a hurry. Lynx and Branok like to hide how they were always armed. Arren liked to show it off. “I remain convinced that one day the two of you will stop your feud and we’ll be welcoming Caldren back with open arms.”
I scoffed. “And yet it’s your twin who’s convinced that Caldren is working with my father now.”
Lynx shrugged. “Branok thinks everyone is working with our fathers. You thought he was unduly suspicious when it came to Honor.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t think Honor would ever intentionally work with Pend, at least, not against us. But the enchantments make me wonder if someone’s using her. She might not even know.”