Paxton set to pacing again, breathing fast, trying to control his raging emotions.
When they finished eating, they began the slow trek back down the mountainside. It would take a good part of the day, which was fine, because Paxton had a lot to think about. He needed to decide what to do. He wished they hadn’t had to sell his grandmother’s seaside cottage when she passed. It was the perfect home, away from others, where one could live out their life in solitude. Because that’s what Paxton needed to seek now. Solitude.
He would have to decide whether or not to tell his family, or to let them believe he was abandoning them. Tiern should probably know, given the chance that his own children could be burdened with this curse someday.
A pang of hunger hit Paxton around high noon and he kept his eyes peeled for prey. After half a mile, when the grade in the ground’s tilt began to lessen, Paxton thought he spied a nut tree with a small clearing under its canopy. He cut a paththrough the brush until they reached it.
Large green orbs hung limply from branches, and the ground was littered with them.
“Walnuts!” Harrison exclaimed.
The men set to crushing the tough green outer shells underfoot and peeling them off. The inner shells had to be pried open with their knives. When Paxton finally got his first one open and poured its broken contents into his mouth, his stomach gave a loud growl.
“Pax, your hands are filthy,” Tiern pointed out.
Paxton dropped his hands to his sides too quickly. “I’m not going to waste valuable water cleaning my hands.”
He turned to pick another nut, putting his back to them.
“River’s probably less than a mile east,” Harrison said. “We can detour there to wash up if you’d like.”
Paxton responded without turning. “No. I’d prefer to get back sooner if it’s all the same to you.”
“Yeah,” Tiern said, kicking a rotted nut. “I want to find out if the Ascomannians found the beast. Seas alive, I’ll die if that Volgan barbarian killed it.”
Harrison let out a dry laugh. “Can you imagine the princess married to the likes of him? Sad day for our kingdom.”
The bitter nut on Paxton’s tongue became so dry, he nearly choked. He took a glug of water, the hunger pains suddenly turning to a burning sensation of rising bile.
“Can I ask you something?” Tiern said to Harrison. The lieutenant raised his chin. “You and Princess Aerity . . .you’re . . .” Tiern shook his head and looked away. “Never mind. It’s not my business. Sorry.”
Paxton’s heart kicked, and he eyed Harrison, who had gone still.
“No, it’s all right,” Harrison said. “We’ve known each other since we were young. I care for her a great deal.”
The three of them were quiet a few moments as they cracked into the next round of nuts. Paxton felt hyperaware of the lieutenant as curiosity burned through him.
“So,” Tiern went on, casually prying at a shell. “You have a past with her, then?”
Harrison stopped and faced him, a meek grin on his face. “Is there something you’d like to ask me directly, Tiern?”
Tiern cleared his throat. “I suppose I just wonder . . . if the two of you . . .”
Paxton felt as if he should intervene to make his brother stop, but he was shamefully interested in what else Harrison might reveal. Jealousy sensitized his skin.
The naval officer moved toward Tiern, his smile disappearing. “The princess is an honorable girl, and I am an honorable man.”
“Of course,” said Tiern, faltering. “I didn’t mean that. I just meant, are you in love?”
This gave Harrison pause. He stared down at the walnut in his hand for a long while. “Like I said, we care for each other.” At that, he turned away, reaching up to pluck another nut with his free hand.
A sense of mild relief washed through Paxton, and Tiern finally shut up. The fate of the princess was not Paxton’s concern, and he’d do well to put her from his mind altogether.
He crushed the next walnut under the heel of his boot so hard the entire thing went to bits, insides and all.
Chapter
30
