In reply, Berkant only smiled and took hold of his wrist, dragging him outside and around to the front of the cabin, where his horse was already saddled and waiting. Though how they'dgotten her to cooperate, he did not know. "Feather, are you growing soft?" he hissed.
She gave him an impatient look and an even more impatient snort.
"Spoiled brat," he retorted without heat as he swung up into the saddle. He rolled his eyes when he was neatly boxed in by the soldiers, Berkant riding beside him, all to ensure he would not bolt. "I said I would come."
Berkant only continued to smile and ordered the soldiers to move out.
When they reached the palace a day and a half later, all he wanted was to turn and run. And never make this damned trip again. He was used to doing it every few weeks, not several times in a row. Dismounting, he followed Berkant through still more secret entrances, finally emerging in the king's chambers again. Berkant led him into the room in which he had slept before and bowed. "His Majesty will be free to speak with you shortly. Someone will come to fetch you. See you later." He winked then was gone.
Making a face, Ramsay nevertheless obediently stripped out of his filthy clothes and washed off, then put on the new clothes that had been set out for him. What was the point of all this, he wondered as he pulled on the fine clothes. Did they want him to resume his duties full time? That seemed the likeliest, but there was no way he could do it.
Not if it meant watching the five of them every single day, while always standing apart.
He'd just finished dressing when the door opened and Nadir—no, it wasn't Nadir. "You're Ender."
"Yes," Ender said, clearly pleased. "Most cannot tell, even with the jewels. When I first arrived, I looked different enough it was fairly easy, but not anymore."
"Yes, well, most think I am harmless."
Laughing, Ender motioned. "His Majesty awaits, Lynx."
Increasingly disconcerted at the way they kept calling him that, Ramsay followed Ender from the room, through a couple of hallways, and finally to a small dining room where the king already sat waiting. Ender bowed, smiled at them both, then left, closing the door quietly behind him.
"Please, sit," Shafiq said, motioning. "I am happy to see you again and hope you are not too unhappy." He poured them wine as Ramsay slowly sat.
Ramsay did not know much Tavamaran etiquette, but he was pretty certain kings were not supposed to pour wine. "No, Majesty. I simply do not see the point of my presence here. I returned your son. Past that, I serve no purpose."
"That is not true," Shafiq said softly, and took a sip of his own wine. He was dressed more casually than the two other occasions Ramsay had seen him. The collar of his robe was unfastened, and Ramsay tried not to think about slipping a hand inside and pushing the clothes away entirely. It was not his place to entertain such thoughts.
"You saved my son: that is a debt I can never repay," Shafiq continued. "If not for your presence, I do not know what would have become of him except tragedy. My wife died of illness only a year after he was born. Kaj was very dear to both of us, and he is all that I have left of her."
"He's a beautiful boy. He— He reminds me of my brother."
Shafiq's expression then was so understanding and kind, Ramsay could hardly bear it. "He died."
"He was killed by men angry with me and the throne," Ramsay said flatly. "I told them to protect my brother, and they said they would, but they were not there when the assassins came for my brother." It still hurt so Goddesses damned much.All his years of service, and they had done nothing to answer the one favor he had begged of them.
Shafiq's hand covered his own, squeezing gently. "Did you at least kill the men who did it?"
"No," Ramsay replied, and tossed back his wine, not particularly caring at the moment if he was being rude. "Empty revenge will not bring my brother back, and if my king had kept his promise, my brother would not be dead. I simply left."
"Hmm," Shafiq said, hand still covering Ramsay's. "I am sorry that the burden of killing Mazin fell to you. My council would have preferred he be taken alive, but I am just as happy to have him dead and the matter over. The rest of his family was arrested and executed yesterday."
Ramsay stared at the table. "I am sorry he betrayed you, Majesty. I am sorry that I had to kill him."
"Do not be. Mazin was… misguided and desperate, and he never quite fit. We tried, of course," he sighed softly, "but he never wanted to be in the harem, not really, and he never should have been. I made a poor choice in the hopes it would appease various persons, and instead it almost cost me that which I hold most dear. But Mazin put himself on his destructive path when he chose his family and their corrupt ways over everything else he was offered. You should not have been forced to kill him. That was not your responsibility."
"Any threat to His Highness was my responsibility the moment I chose to protect him," Ramsay replied. "It is hardly the first time I have killed men." Though he always hoped each time would be the last. "Please, trouble yourself no further upon it. I am honored my meager skills proved useful here in Tavamara."
Shafiq snorted. "Meager skills. My guards are all highly trained and rigorously tested—often. Those who guard me directly must meet the highest of standards. You finished themin a matter of seconds. Berkant, before he gave up his life to join me, was the best hand-to-hand combatant in the country. You draw even with him. I suspect that in a life or death fight, you would best him, and he has said the same himself. Everything about you leaves 'meager' far behind in the dust."
Ramsay jerked his head up at the words and their underlying heat. There was no mistaking the implication in that tone. "Majesty—"
"Let me put this to you plainly," Shafiq said, hand tighter on Ramsay's now. "You saved my son. Whatever you want is yours for the asking. I do mean whatever you want, regardless of cost or time or effort on my part. But what I hope you want is to join me, to be mine. Jankin has always loved you. Ender and Nadir are quite entranced by you, and Berkant is complaining that since fighting you, everyone else he spars with is too easy a fight. It can be a hard life, but if you want it, the life is yours."
"But— But Mazin— I killed him."
Shafiq smiled sadly. "Mazin never fit. We all tried, but the hard truth was that he never wanted to fit. I offered, and he accepted, but we both acted for the wrong reasons. You, however… from the first, I thought you would fit."
