Loving the Forbidden Prince

*****

AYLETH

Ayleth wasn\'t sure how long she slept. All she knew was that she woke as the water grew cold, quickly washed herself and dried, then pulled on a mostly-clean long-shirt to sleep in.

Listening carefully, there were no more voices next door, so she unlocked the door and opened it slowly to give him time to warn her if he was undressing. "Falek, I\'m done—oh!"

Falek and the woman were both standing in the middle of the room, between the two beds. One of his hands clasped her waist, the other fisted in her hair. When Ayleth opened the door they whirled away from each other, the woman putting one hand to her mouth, while Falek whipped around to face Ayleth then froze in place as if he didn\'t know what to do. His blue eyes caught hers, locked and pleading.

"I\'m… I\'m so sorry," she whispered.

"No, I\'m sorry, Sire," the woman said breathlessly, bobbing a curtsey. "I should be going."

Falek\'s eyes widened and his hand snapped out to catch her arm. "Parys, please—"

"Please let me go," she whimpered. Falek yanked his hand back like he\'d been burned, and the woman ran for the door, opening it with another hurried apology to Ayleth, then slipping out.

When the door was closed and her footsteps faded down the hall, Ayleth\'s heart sank.

"Falek, I\'m so sorry."

He shook his head, but he wouldn\'t look at her. "It\'s for the best," he said a moment later, then cleared his throat. "We should rest. We\'ll have an early start in the morning."

Ayleth nodded, but didn\'t move. Neither did Falek. She felt like she should know this woman. Know about her, in any case. She felt like this explained a lot.

"Falek, is she—"

"Please, Ayleth. Don\'t," he said hoarsely. He turned his head to look at her, and there was such pain in his eyes she felt it like a blow. "Please… just go rest."

Ayleth nodded and backed out of the room with another whispered apology. She closed the door carefully and dragged herself, heavy-footed across the room to climb into bed.

It was a long time before she got to sleep.

*****

ETAN

Paced in the shadow of trees a mile from the gates. The massive steel balusters of the gate had swung into place twenty minutes earlier, and the last of the travelers who\'d gotten out in time had already passed.

"We have to get back in," Etan muttered.

Borsche, seated on a fallen log to his left shook his head. "Short of throwing yourself from the wall to your death, there is no getting out of the Fortress City once the gates are closed. That\'s why it\'s called the Fortress City," he said dryly, but his eyes kept darting towards the black smudge of the city where windows of the taller buildings and Palace at its center mad small squares of light.

She could be behind any of those, safe and warm. Or she could be in the hands of her parent\'s men, being tortured, tormented, hurt…

Etan clawed his hands through his hair. "We can\'t just leave them in there!"

"We can, and we will. Falek and I both have contacts in the City. He will ensure she\'s safe, and he will bring her out at dawn. It was the agreement we made in case either of us was delayed or unable to make it out. This is why we plan, Etan, so we know what to do when the Father throws circumstances at us that are—"

"The Father keeps throwing circumstances at us that threaten to take my wife from me!" Etan hissed. "At what point do I begin to believe that His intentions are for her harm?!"

Borsche\'s eyes snapped up to meet his, dark in the dark, tiny pinpoints of light fixed and intense, let Etan know exactly what his mentor thought of that statement.

"You give voice to your fear and doubt. It is not wise," he muttered. "We cannot know what has happened or is happening until morning. You need to rest—"

"No. Which is why I suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long and tense day."

10:03

Etan snorted, but Borsche didn\'t stop.

"—and if you can\'t, then I suggest you spend the time pleading for her life with the very God that you walk so close to insulting. It\'s good that He\'s gracious and applauds your protection of your wife. If you were mine to deal with, I would whip your ass until you bled. You look at what we have navigated in the past month, you will see how heavily He has worked in your favor, and then perhaps you\'ll…. Adjust your words."

Etan shook his head, but didn\'t speak any more of his doubts. "So tell me what your plan was. What are they doing?"

Borsche sighed and looked at the City with narrowed eyes. "In the event that the citizens of Anvor had been alerted to our flight, we were to try to make it through the City and meet here. If we were unable, we were to take rooms at the Inn recommended by our eyes and ears that was closest to the North Gate. And we were to rise early, when the guards were sluggish and about to change shifts, leaving as soon as the gates opened—but not to be first in line. Rather to make certain that there was no ambush set at the gates, then leave at a walk, just like any traveler with a long road ahead."

"So she\'s at an Inn with Falek?"

"Likely, yes."

Etan turned to frown at the City again. "He won\'t sleep. He\'ll be tired when they arrive."

"And yet, we will move on at least for a few hours, to make certain no one from Anvor is following."

"So, where will we meet them tomorrow?"

"Right here," Borsche said.

"We have nothing to do? Nothing to… help?"

"No. Which is why I suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long and tense day."

Etan snorted, but after a few more minutes of pacing, he realized Borsche was right and came to join him near the log.

"I\'m not going to sleep—at least, not for a while," he said quietly. "Why don\'t you rest and I\'ll wake you when I get drowsy?"

Borsche smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Then the bastard curled up in his bedroll and was asleep within minutes.

Etan shook his head. He wished he could do that… but instead his eyes were continually drawn back to that dark, looming city, and the plaguing questions of his wife\'s safety.

With a deep breath, he sent another pulse of love through the bond, reassuring himself when it was returned, though it seemed… distracted.

She was alive and well enough to do that much. He would let that comfort him. And once she was back in his arms, he\'d never allow them to be split again.