Temperate Penumbras - Part 11

It did not go unnoticed by anyone that Rudolf shot the prince a questioning look.

“And, of course,” Heiko continued, before anyone could press the issue. “It’s not as if we are the agent that will unite the Forest Clans to our alliance.”

Cele considered that. If a prince - exiled or not - was not the moving force, nor anyone in his party, it had to either be Geoff and Baptist or the Gunter person Heiko spoke of earlier. And if not them, a third, unveiled player.

“But that is neither here nor there.” When Cele lifted his gaze, the prince was grinning at him widely. “Our big Ilysian dog has waited so kindly for us. Let us reward him. Tonight, we make our escape to the forest. Strike the flint to spark an idea of alliance with the Forest Clans. And then we will make our way to Ilyos.”

“To Ilyos?” Cele demanded, gazing at Heiko. “Strike a flint to spark an idea, or actually solidify allegiance? Heiko, surely even you are not dense enough to trust nationless nomads just because you asked kindly? I understand-”

“You do not.” It was not forceful, but it quieted the general regardless. “Wasn’t it an Ilysian that said, ‘Perfect plans are never realized’? Whatever strategy I had formulated then does not matter now.”

“Your brother has told you something,” Rudolf realized. His words were almost gentle, and the fact that he said ‘brother’ rather than ‘king’ meant something, though Cele couldn’t discern what at the moment. He only knew it made his stomach twist lightly.

Heiko sighed.

“He builds his campaign as we speak. He will march in three weeks, if things go smoothly, and things always do for Ingo.”

“Three weeks?” Cele demanded, brow pressed. “We must warn King Vincente.”

Heiko took a leisurely mouthful of bread, appraising the general in a way that infuriated him.

“Speak,” he growled. “I cannot sit here with an idle princeling when my countrymen need a general.”

“An exiled princeling,” Heiko reminded evenly, calmly even in the face of the outburst. “And fault does not lie with this exiled princeling for the king of Ilyos dispatching his top general to aid him.”

“Play your frigidity all you want,” Cele sneered, standing. “My country must-”

“Hush!” Heiko bit. The ferocity in his tone didn’t so much as compel Cele to obey as much as it shocked him into stillness. And even when the prince went on to display a playful smirk, the command continued to reverberate. “Is that the tone one uses to quiet a barking dog?”

Cele’s jaw tensed.

“Heiko, I do not want to play your-”

“King Vincente knows,” Heiko interjected, stifling the general’s building agitation. “Before I left the palace, I left him a letter. I know where his rooms are, remember?”

Cele furrowed his brow, demanding, “A letter saying what?”

“Your king likely began preparations the moment you rode north,” Heiko continued, eyes studying Cele. “Unless he is dense.”

“He is not.” He did not say it defensively, but rather as a matter of fact. He retook his seat and after a moment to calm himself, he sighed and lifted his gaze. “You should’ve warned me, at least.”

“Dogs needn’t know the thoughts of their masters.” It was said with a smirk and a challenging look, one that Cele almost too eagerly accepted.

“You believe yourself to be my master?” He snorted. “You are far more confident than you should be.”

“Is that so?” The prince ignored the stiffness of his guards, but Cele couldn’t. Were they coiled to defend their sire, or to hold him back? An immoral part of him hoped it was the latter.

“‘Tis,” the general pressed on. “Masters must be able to dominate the creature they command. You cannot dominate me, Heiko.”

He waited for the color, for the rosy blossom to burst across the prince’s cheeks as it did before when they spoke of sex. He waited for the pulsation of adrenaline it elicited from his belly, but such never came to fruition. Instead, there was simply a pause in which inquisitive jade eyes considered him.

The prince eventually spoke, his tone more solemn than Cele had been expecting.

“Do not fret. I will return this brutish dog to his proper master. We will ride to Ilyos soon enough.”

The general wasn’t sure why his stomach dropped so noticeably.

“Why bother going into the Grey Forest,” he posed, pulling his mind away from the feeling. “If the plan is simply to ride south?”

It was Rudolf who answered.

“Riding through Burke will be easier than through Simo. Patrols will be heightened knowing that the prince has been exiled. Of course, there will be tight patrols in Burke, especially when the king is notified that Prince Heiko is missing, but at the very least, we will be beyond Simonese jurisdiction.”

“Do you know the consequence for aiding an exiled prince’s escape?” Heiko asked, his smile cloying. “It is death.”