“Randall has my horn?” Gary demanded, starting to get worked up again. “What the hell is he doing with it? Why would he not just bring it back? He better not be planning on using it in some kind of spell. I don’t care who he is. If he refuses to give it back, I will rip out his stomach and then shove it down his damn throat.”
I couldn’t even take the time to be awed by his unnecessary savagery. Too many thoughts were swirling through my head, most of all that Randall was alive, that he’d been seen. I cared, yes, that he had my friend’s horn, and was irritated that he was being so fucking secretive about it, but he was alive. He hadn’t been imprisoned or, worse, consumed by Myrin. After he’d shown up in that house after Morgan had died, it was only seconds before he’d disappeared with Myrin. That had been the last time I’d seen him. Apparently he’d been busy.
“Sam?” Ryan asked, and everyone turned their attention to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I said hoarsely. I coughed, shaking my head. “Yeah. I just—it’s good. You know? I mean, it’s—it’s good. That’s all.”
“What do you think he could be doing?” Justin asked me. “You knew him better than any of us.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But Randall doesn’t do something without having a reason. Ever.” I looked at Gary. “And even though he’s an asshole, he would never do something to intentionally hurt you. That’s not who he is. If he has your horn, it’s part of a plan that we don’t yet know about. He wouldn’t be using it for a spell. It’s not his. It’s yours. He knows that.”
“Still gonna stomp over his old ass,” Gary muttered. “Hiding my horn and shit. Gary’s gonna bring the pain, you mark my words.” He leaned up against Kevin as the dragon whispered something in his ear. Gary nodded tightly before sighing, his shoulders slumping.
“So, what,” Ryan said. “We just… wait? Until Randall decides to let us in on whatever he’s planning?”
“Looks like,” I said. “I tried summoning him on his crystal the last night before I left, but I got nothing. I can try again later, but I think he’s gone underground.”
“What about the dragons?” Justin asked. “The Great White. Could he find Randall?”
I shook my head. “Not if he doesn’t want to be found. And I really doubt that Randall wants to be found by anyone, much less the Great White. We just have to hope he’ll reveal himself soon. We don’t have much time left, whatever he’s planning.”
Justin looked resigned at that, but I thought he’d expected the answer. “Okay. We’ll table that for now. Gary, I’m sorry, but we have to have faith that Randall knows what he’s doing.” He swallowed thickly as he looked down at the map of Castle Lockes. “Now we need to talk about my father.”
I wondered at the toll the past year had taken on Justin. He’d grown up knowing one day he would be king. He’d trained for it, done everything asked of him—the lessons, the training, the diplomacy. And where he’d once been cold and rigid, he’d now become less so, and I knew that one day he’d make a great king I’d be honored to serve, and not just because he was my best friend 5eva.
But none of us had expected for him to have to act in his father’s stead so soon. The King was still in his early sixties, and even though he’d been in mourning like the rest of us the last time I’d seen him, he’d been healthy and strong. He was meant to rule for years still to come, and Justin was going to spend that time learning all that he could. And while I would be advising Justin when he took the throne, all decisions came from him. The weight of Verania would be upon his shoulders.
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.”
“There is so much wrong about you,” I muttered. Then, “Can we please get back to my problems because I would like to talk about me some more?”
“It sounds like to me that you’re the jealous one,” Gary said.
“No! Didn’t you hear anything I said? She’s the jealous one because of the bond I share with Justin and with how much Ryan loves me and worships the ground I walk on when he’s not super pissed off at me like he is right at this very moment.”
“And where are Justin and Ryan?” Gary asked.