“Branok is currently staying behind and watching her to make sure that she can’t possibly do anything to Talisyn,” Lynx reported.
“Yes, Talisyn is such a poor lost little lamb. He could never defend himself.”
Lynx shrugged. “Well, he didn’t have all that much in the way of wits to begin with, and he might lose them entirely to a pretty woman.”
I was surprised. Lynx had realized Honor was a beautiful woman? He was usually so oblivious. “Really? I thought that you were immune to her charms.”
Arren’s gaze swept back and forth between the two of us. Then he growled, “Are you ever going to open the door? Are you just going to torment your brother by leaving him out in the snow and torment me by leaving me in this conversation?”
“You are an unrelenting ray of sunshine,” Lynx told Arren.
I didn’t really want to face my brother. But there was no point in stalling any longer. I swung open the door.
Caldren stood there, his dark hair dusted with snow. He clapped his gloved hands together, and particles of ice that had formed on his gloves dropped off. “Took you long enough.”
I glanced past him into the night. “Do you have any friends lurking out there that you want to have come in?”
“No,” Caldren said which didn’t leave me remotely convinced that he didn’t, in fact, have friends lurking out in the night.
He’d been quick to replace our band with another. Caldren always landed on his feet, no matter how many other people were knocked down in the process.
Once the door was closed, Arren and Lynx stepped forward to search Caldren.
Cal rolled his eyes. “If I had any evil designs on my brother, he’d be long dead, I promise. But go ahead if it amuses you.”
He loosened his sword belt and let it fall to the ground. “You’d think you wouldn’t have to worry. A dragon shouldn’t fear a wolf.”
“Well, I know firsthand how dirty you fight,” I retorted.
Arren briefly searched Caldren. Then I nodded, and Arren and Lynx melted away.
Caldren looked from the arches they’d disappeared through to me with a grin. “You really love ordering people around, don’t you?”
“As do you, if I recall correctly,” I said crisply. “Come on, I need to ask you for a favor.”
“Oh I like the sound of this.”
“It’s not for me. It’s for Honor.” I expected that to make some dent in my brother’s armor.
But he just smiled back. “Oh, but you want so very badly to prove yourself to her. Don’t you? So I think it is indeed a favor for you, Brother.”
“You love to call me that.”
“I know you want your family to be who you choose, Jaik, but I’m afraid you’re stuck. As am I. We can’t escape being royal-born.”
I scoffed. “If I were you, I wouldn’t complain too much about being a royal. It’s likely the only thing that keeps you alive despite all your rebellious antics.”
“You just wish you had the courage to rebel.”
I wasn’t taking his bait. “I’m not getting drawn into one of these pointless arguments with you again. It’s not serving either of us.”
Cal stuffed his hands into his pockets. He seemed to be in a good mood, rocking back on his heels. “Can anything help the two of us? I tried to make up with you, remember? Did you change your mind, do you want to talk?”
It was just like him to claim the moral high ground. I knew how muddy his boots were.
“Maybe your apology didn’t sound like an apology.”
“Maybe you just don’t know what an apology sounds like because you’ve never made one yourself,” Caldren shot back..
I was on the verge of saying, “I’ll apologize if I ever find myself wrong,” when I realized he was baiting me once again into being the absolute worst version of myself. Some people bring out our worst selves. It’s not always a reflection of who they are. But it’s a sure sign that we don’t need to spend any time around them.
“Come on.” I turned and led him into another, empty den in the castle. Although there was a fire burning merrily here and the room was full of dark, rich wood and beautiful tapestries, it still felt cold with my brother’s gaze on me.
Being around Caldren reminded me of how I felt around Pend. I would never be enough. I would always be a disappointment.
“And what does our girl Honor need?” Caldren asked brightly.
That our girl was painful but I did my best to ignore it. She was mine. Always.
I was starting to think I could share her love if she wanted. Honor had drawn Talisyn and I even closer together. My four friends and I intended to unite the kingdom when we took the throne, to rule together. So why not one woman to unite us all?
I wouldn’t raise the idea for a while. Branok and Lynx were being hard-headed toward Honor, even by their standards. But eventually, it would be the right time. We’d all be happier with her in our life. It would just take some time for these idiot friends of mine to see that truth.
“You know how Father insisted on taking Alis. Honor needs answers from her,” I admitted. “I didn’t have a choice that day. I chose Honor.”
“Certainly the only choice.” Even when Caldren approved, he sounded condescending.
I forged on anyway. For Honor, I could even deal with my asshole brother’s patronizing nature.
“Alis knows something about Honor’s past. We need to get her out.”
“Father has Alis in his dungeons in the city,” Caldren mused. “He’s not keeping her at Alino with most of his prisoners.”
Caldren had to show off that he knew exactly where Alice was.
“Of course he’d have her there,” I said. “That’s where he sends the most valuable prisoners. Whatever she knows, we need to know.”
Caldren was watching me as if he didn’t believe that I had known that information before he gave it to me. “So let me see if I am picking up what you’re trying to suggest, Jaik.”
I knew he was going to be a dick, and I gritted my teeth, determined to get through it.
“You think that someone should go in and steal what are father’s most important prisoners from his best guarded prison. But you don’t want to do it yourself because, well, who would? So instead, you thought that you would ask me for a favor despite the fact you cheerfully helped destroy my life, disinherit me and strip me of everything that ever mattered. Is that correct?”
He spoke brightly, but there was a hard, vicious edge under his light tone. Caldren had mastered that nothing-matters tone over the past few years.
“I can make it worth your while.” I didn’t want to fail Honor. I had to admit that Caldren was a far more skilled thief than I was.
Caldren let out a laugh. “I don’t need any of your money. I grieved our old wealth for a little while, but now it’s lost its power and I don’t intend to fall under money’s spell again.”
“Well, a favor then. I can offer you a favor.”