While I was close with them, it never compared to my connection with Lena. Edmund, Hendry, and Torrin still saw me as the Prince. They still saw me as royalty, as someone different than them. But Lena never did. She never held back, bowed down, and certainly never held her tongue. I loved it.
That’s why I hadn’t wanted to tell her. I didn’t want things to change between us. Now that she had caught me in this lie, I didn’t know how I would regain her trust. And I had to wait an entire week before I could see her again.
I buried my face in my hands.
“I know you want to go to her, Silas, but trust me, it will be better if you wait.”
“I still don’t understand why you are okay with any of this,” I said quietly, then rested my hands on my thighs. “Royalty must wed royalty. That’s what I have been told my whole life. That, when I am of age, princesses from all over Tovagoth will come with their families to offer up alliances to strengthen our kingdom and gain us more riches, more power, more land—you once told me this, too.”
I had kept Lena a secret for my first few visits to the Outer Ring, and I certainly hadn’t told my mother I had been outside the castle walls. I begged her to let me go out again after arriving home that first day, and that was the only time she seemed adamant about it being a one-time thing. She agreed to it the following day. And to my surprise, when I finally came clean about Lena, leaving the castle walls, the training, all of it, she wasn’t even upset. It never made sense.
“What changed?” I turned to face her more fully. “That first day out I thought would be my last. Even when I told you about Lena, only speaking about her as a friend, you didn’t seem to mind. It just goes against everything I have been told. I am so glad for it, but that doesn’t make it any less puzzling.”
She gave me a soft smile and placed a hand on my cheek. “It’s one of those things I know are meant to be.”
I returned her smile and refrained from rolling my eyes. “No one can know ifanythingis meant to be.”
She laughed through her nose, then stood and smoothed out her dress. “Head to the courtyard for training. Torrin won’t like it if you’re late.”
She was out the door before I could ask any more questions.
The courtyard was full of soldiers-to-be, ages twelve to seventeen. I had started my one-on-one training far before that. The man who went by my stolen name began to train me when I was four. With play swords, of course. Once he was gone, I was trained by the absolute best in our armies. Considering I had no social life, any life at all, training took over most of it. I had been far more advanced than any of the boys here when I started at twelve, but still, it felt like the honorable thing to do, to train alongside them.
I walked over to where Hendry Bonnevau was standing, his tawny, bronze arms crossed, listening to what one of our other soldiers in training, Roland Aubeze, was saying to him. Roland was a year under Edmund and me but had a lot of promise.
Roland saw I was walking over and bowed, the corners of his lips pulling upward, before walking away. He was sarcastic and goofy for the most part, but like most people, he felt like he had to put a mask on in front of me.
“Where’s Edmund?” I asked, looking around the courtyard for him.
“Knowing him? Probably running here after sleeping in again.” I looked at Hendry, who gave me a grin, and his mismatched eyes of deep brown and light blue darted to the side. I followed his gaze, and sure enough, our blond-haired friend was running up the stairs, out of breath. He ran past Torrin on the steps and saluted as he did so. A few more seconds and he would have been late.
“Just made it,” he huffed with a smile, bending over to catch his breath. “Slept in by accident.”
“Gods, Edmund, you are too predictable.” Hendry snorted. “It would have been awkward for me if I would have had to discipline my friend.”
Hendry was a couple of years older than us, and since we were not in active war, he was stationed here to train the youngest soldiers. It was weird having him advance to a leadership role, though I suppose he was always teaching us things even before his promotion.
Up the steps walked Torrin, who gave Edmund a disapproving glare.
Torrin Brighthell was one of the best in our army. While he was entrusted with guarding the royal family, he also oversaw the teaching of our soldiers in training. Despite being only twenty-five, he had risen through the ranks with ease. “Edmund Estielot. Almost late again, I see.” Edmund shyly rubbed the back of his neck. “You can’t expect to be an Otacian soldier if your men cannot rely on you to make it somewhere in time.”
Edmund’s mouth formed a tight line, and he nodded. “Understood, sir.”
“Morning warm-ups begin now. You all know what to do.”
We all split into our regular groups. Our warm-ups were pretty similar to what I did with Lena. Torrin led my and Edmund’s group of boys aged sixteen and older; Rurik, one of the King’s generals and the oldest one here at age forty, took the boys thirteen to fifteen. Hendry now taught the new recruits.
Only a few minutes of warm-ups had passed before the sound of a sickening smash suddenly had my head snapping to the side. Leaning over and grasping his face was Roland, blood pouring out of his nose. Stalking above him were three more boys from his group. There were so many soldiers in training I didn’t even know their names, but they appeared to be fifteen like Roland was.
“That all you got, pillow-biter?” the blond one spat, his two friends next to him laughing. Roland’s hazel eyes burned as he wiped his nose with his forearm and went to stand, only to be kicked by the brown-haired boy standing next to him. Rurik just watched.
“Are you not going to stop them?” Hendry barked to the older soldier, who just shrugged with mild amusement.
“If the lad is a…pillow-biter as they say, perhaps a beating is needed to remind him not to broadcast his deviancy. Can’t fight wars effectively if your men fear…” He gave Roland a look of disgust. “Well, you know.”
My fists curled at his words, and just as the blond-haired one went to pummel his fist into Roland once more, I charged forward and yanked him by his collar, sending him flying back and crashing onto the concrete. He gaped at me as I glowered at him, his friends giving me the same expression. Edmund ran up and helped Roland to his feet.
“None of you are to put a hand on Roland again, do you understand?” I turned to Rurik, who stared at me with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. “And I will see that you are replaced for your incompetence and unprofessionalism.” My fists trembled at my sides, but my voice remained strong. I had never made a command like this, never exercised any power. But seeing my friend be treated so poorly, and after everything that had happened with Lena…
