Prince of Traitors

Jasper

It's late at night when the injured are treated and the village is finally cleared of the soldiers' bodies. The tribe's hunters downed a deer this morning before we arrived, and it roasts in the big stone oven off to one side of the tribe's meetinghouse, the huge circular structure at the top of the road. It's less of a building and more just a large circle of stone pillars holding up a thatched roof.

In the center is a gigantic fire pit, ringed by stones and surrounded by worn wooden tables where the Navaarim gather. The fire pit sits below a big oculus that lets the smoke drift up into the sky. Owin tells me the tribe shares its meals and trades resources here at the meetinghouse, as well as holds village council meetings and things like that. The maypole and fire pit outside, she explains, is reserved for festivals, weddings, and other celebrations.

Owin and I slowly make our way to meet Kieran at the meetinghouse as the Navaarim gather for dinner. A few of them give me lingering looks like they don't know what to think of me. It helps that Owin is with me. She runs into a middle-aged woman and a young teenager on the way to the meetinghouse; she grips the woman's hands as she assures her that her wife is safe in the Astrian camps. The woman and boy hug her tightly, thanking her for the news.

I stop Owin outside the meetinghouse with a tap to her arm. She turns before we enter. "Do you know what I just realized?" I ask.

She raises an eyebrow. "What?"

I give her a smug smile. "Our deal is fulfilled," I say.

Owin laughs a little. "I had almost forgotten."

I fish the chain around my neck out from under the collar of my shirt. I take Zinat's engagement ring off of the chain and hold it out to Owin. Her hand lingers on mine for a moment before she takes the ring from me. She slips it onto her pointer finger. "Thank you, for everything," I say, my voice quiet. "I wouldn't have made it out there without your help."

She smirks up at me. "Oh, I know. You're an idiot," she says. She puts her hands on her small waist.

I laugh, grinning at her. "You say that as if I don't already know it."

She laughs, and it sounds like the kind of music that I never want to stop hearing. Her laugh trails off after a moment, and she examines the ring on her finger, gnawing on her lip. "I, uh..." she begins. "I was wondering, since you've come all this way, and you're here with us anyway..."

I cock my head to one side to look her in the face. "You were wondering... what?"

She raises her silver eyes to mine. "Would it be completely mental if you just... stayed?"

"Stayed?"

She shakes her head, averts her gaze. "Forget it. It's ridiculous."

I laugh a little, because I don't know what else to do. "No, no, it's not," I say. Owin looks up at me again. My voice is wary when I speak again. "Do you want me to stay?"

Owin opens her mouth to respond, and closes it. She's quiet for a moment before she mutters, "Kind of."

I'm stunned silent, and then my face breaks into a grin. "Are you asking me or telling me?"

This surprises a smile from her. "Whichever works." She glances down at the ring and back up at me. Her voice is a soft whisper. "For a big idiot, you're not so bad to have around, Your Highness."

I scoop up her hand in mine, feeling the band of the ring against my skin. "Then this big idiot will stick around for you, my lady," I say gently. I lift her hand to my mouth and brush a kiss to the tops of her knuckles like she's a noblewoman in a royal court.

Owin's lips part slightly, and she steps closer to me. I lower our hands, but I don't let go of hers. Her skin is soft and warm, and she looks up at me. Her lovely face hovers just inches from mine. "You'll stay?" she asks, her voice cracking on the edge of a whisper.

My voice is barely a breath when I reply, "Yes."

Owinsmiles up at me, her full pink lips parting in a wide grin, her eyes shining inthe light of the setting sun, and there is nothing more beautiful or moresacred in the world.