Prince of Traitors

Rahmi

Val clutches the chest of money in her arms as we walk through the encampment away from the king's tent. I walk beside her wordlessly, trying to calm my frayed nerves. I shove my hands into the pockets of my jacket.

Beside me, I hear Val push a sigh out through her nose. "What is it?" she asks, her voice quiet.

I'm quiet for a moment before I answer her. "The king," I begin. "He's sending an attack up into the mountains."

"And?"

I turn my head to look at my sister, and she's staring straight ahead, her expression cool. "And you don't care that he's going to attack innocent people?" I snap.

My sister shrugs and glances at me. "Sure I do. But who are we to tell a king what he can and cannot do?" We reach the end of the encampment, exiting the rows and rows of tents and distancing ourselves from the soldiers inside. The dirt road turns to cobblestones as we enter the town limits of Drymere itself. The quiet town is just waking, the chimneys in the tiled roofs spouting their dark smoke.

"It shouldn't matter what he thinks he can do," I say. I glance back toward the encampment. "My friends could be heading right into a trap."

"Rahmi," Val begins, stopping and turning to me. Her voice is sharp, but pitched low. "We were hired for a job. We got away with lying to the king, and we got paid. Your friends should consider themselves lucky that we spared their lives at all. We owe them nothing more." She turns to keep walking, and I grip her arm, pulling her to a stop. My sister glares daggers at me, still clutching the chest of money.

"You know, for all we preach 'only the wicked,' you seem awfully eager to abandon the innocent now," I say coldly.

Val rolls her eyes. "What do you propose we do?" she asks. "Betray the king a second time?" She barks a laugh. "Because that will end so well."

"Have you met us? We'd be fine," I remark.

Val gives me an incredulous look, her eyebrows shooting upward. "You're awfully confident."

I grin at my sister. "Just like you taught me."

Val snorts. Smirks at me. She sighs and hoists the chest up onto one hip, hugging it with one arm. She runs her free hand through the ropy coils of her hair, and it falls over one shoulder. She averts her gaze and gnaws on her lip.

"Just—" I begin. "We need to stay."

My sister looks at me. "For your friends?" she asks.

I nod, feeling sheepish. "I want to stay nearby for a little while, make sure they're okay."

"What do you suggest?" she asks, shifting the chest into both her hands. "That we go up into the mountains and find this tribe for ourselves? We can manage a lot of things, little brother, but not that." She turns and we resume our walk toward Drymere.

"No, but we can get a room at an inn here," I say as we enter the town. "Keep an eye on the mountains." I look to one side, where the mountains tower over the town.

Val glances sidelong at me. She sighs. "Fine," she says. "I suppose we've got nothing better to do."

As we enter Drymere, I spot an inn marked with a wooden sign swinging above the door. It's a modest, three-floor building, with exposed wooden beams and rough bricks, and shutters that still rest closed over the windows.

My sister and I pay for lodging in a room on the top floor for a month with a gold crown coin from the chest. The innkeeper eagerly promises to send up a couple meals, hoping to earn himself more of our money with the added hospitality.

Our room is spacious, with two large beds and a table to take our meals, a hearth tucked into a corner. The washroom, the innkeeper explains, is down at the end of the hall. Val sets the chest on the table with a grunt.

She sighs, drums her dark brown fingers atop the wooden curve of the top of the chest. "One million crowns," she muses softly. "I do hope your friends are worth it."