Cecilia Tan - The Prince's Boy by Cecilia Tan

Author:Cecilia Tan [Tan, Cecilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

32: Jorin

When next I woke, I found Kan lying next to me, propped up on one elbow, as if he had been watching me sleep.

Much like Kenet used to. And will again! I told myself, but at that moment he felt very far away. And who knew if Seroi had somehow changed him by now?

These thoughts must have shown on my face. Kan stroked my hair in sympathy. “You’re not alone anymore,” he said. “You’re a Night Rider now.”

“Kenet is alone,” I said. “His only ally is his childhood guard, but even he cannot keep him safe from the Lord High Mage. I fear for him.” Judging by the light coming through the tent’s canvas, the sun would soon be rising. “Seroi was training him for his coming of age ceremony. I fear he has dark designs on the prince.”

Kan’s eyebrows knitted. “Tell me what you know.”

I told him what I could. That Kenet was under some kind of magical compulsion not to tell anyone, but that he was able to confirm or deny my guesses. That I knew Seroi milked him and that after their practice, Kenet was... different. “I think it was making him ill. His skin looked ashen and his milk...” Could I say it?

“Did you taste his milk, Jorin?”

I nodded. “And he mine. But we never... yesterday was my first time.”

“So you said,” Kan reminded me. “What did his milk taste like?”

“Normally, sweet. But after he had been to see Seroi, bitter. Almost burnt.”

Kan’s expression darkened. “And when was this coming of age ceremony to be?”

“Midsummer,” I said. “Tell me what you know about it.”

Kan shook his head. “For me to tell you what I know about the Night Arts will take considerably longer than the time we have available,” he said. “Is Kenet in danger?”

“Yes, but you already knew that. And I do not know enough to do more than guess at exactly what Seroi had in mind. But even you, with what little you know of the Night Arts yourself now, can make a guess.”

Yesterday six Night Riders had planted their seed in me. I was bound to them now. “He means to bind the prince to him.”

“I believe so, yes. By being the first to plant his flag in fertile ground, so to speak, Seroi can make a claim that subsequent invaders cannot.” He shook his head. “I want to stop it happening as much as you do. With Kenet in his control, Seroi would be even more of a force to reckon with than he is now.”

“He already has the king wrapped around his finger,” I said.

But Kan shook his head. “But he does not control him the way he would if Kenet were bound to him with Night Magic. He manipulates Korl the King other ways, the usual ways, with fearmongering and deceit and flattery and shows of might at the proper times.”

I looked up at him. “Kan.”

“Yes, Weltskin?”

“Does the first... always have...” What were the words I was searching for? My voice shook a little.

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