A Prince's Hostage by Xander Tracy

Author:Xander Tracy [Tracy, Xander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: M/M Fantasy
Publisher: Etopia Press
Published: 2018-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Elliyan slept better that night, splayed out on a stiff cot with his ass on display, than he had for weeks. Possibly since leaving the capital entirely. He woke up feeling achy, as usual, but without the vicious bite of yesterday. He flexed his toes, feeling his calf muscles respond. No twinges, no stubborn spots. The prince really was a marvel with his hands.

Said marvel was also already gone, which meant Elliyan would be forced into movement soon as well, so he took advantage of the brief solitude while he could. He needed to wrap his head around the fact that he had voluntarily shared his history—something that no man, woman, or child knew—with this man, and for what? An exchange of honesty after the prince bared his soul? Elliyan wasn’t much on honesty, and he definitely wasn’t a fan of equal exchange. He always came out on top—that was the way the game was played, and that was how he lived it. So why had he folded to Rayne’s beseeching look like a poorly constructed house of cards?

“You’re getting soft,” he muttered to himself. “Focus on freeing yourself.” That was still the plan—to learn the secret of the collar’s latch and unravel it before they reached the front, then walk out of here as his own man once more.

And condemn all the men that surround you to a glorious and futile death. Not to mention, Rayne will almost certainly attempt to kill his father by himself, and you’ve seen how well attempts like that work out. Which was to say, not nearly as often as assassins liked to brag. The more money a man had, the more options for protection. Most nobles carried some sort of spell on them to help repel attackers, and the king certainly had bodyguards in addition to the protection of the blood ward. With no reason to trust his son and looking for any excuse to kill him, Elliyan reckoned it would be over almost the moment that Rayne drew his blade.

But still, he only had Rayne’s word for this. The prince made a compelling case, but Elliyan wasn’t ready to hand over his future yet. He wouldn’t be cozened by a handsome face and gentle hands.

Rayne came into the tent and looked at Elliyan. “Good, you’re awake.” He set down a steaming cup of tea on the table. “It’ll be slower going today, so we’re getting a head start. Drink that and get ready to ride.”

Elliyan pushed up into a sitting position and took the cup. “Why will it be slower?”

“There’s a stretch of bog up ahead with only a single road through it. Normally that would be enough, but it rained last night, and now the road is muck.”

It had rained? Elliyan hadn’t even noticed.

“We’ll have to lead the horses through instead of riding them,” Rayne continued, packing up fast and efficiently as he spoke. “It’s only for about a mile, but that’ll still take a chunk of time out of our day.

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