Black Weasel laughed for a long time before clapping the Red Eagle Prince on the shoulder.
“Prince, there’s only one way. Explain yourself to White Deer. Get money from her and go back to Atania. My job’s just to deliver you safely. Doesn’t matter to me what happens after.”
“There… isn’t another option.”
The prince answered weakly.
Wolf frowned.
White Deer wasn’t some nanny soothing a child. She was a tribal chief with her eyes on the throne. Would she really drop her ambition because her son shed a few tears?
No.
The moment the prince meets White Deer, it’s over.
During the journey to Stol, Wolf had come to genuinely like the Red Eagle Prince. He was kind, gentle, refined. On this deranged continent of savagery, he’d wither like a flower thrown into frost.
Wolf stepped forward.
“Your Highness. There is a way to return right now.”
“What?”
The prince stared, stunned.
“A way? What way?”
“A negotiation. Your Highness should propose that Black Weasel escort us to Lebanon in Atania. Offer to pay more than whatever White Deer promised him. The Lebanese royal family values you highly. They’ll pay willingly.”
He’d heard Stol people barely honored loyalty. Offer enough to betray White Deer, and Black Weasel wouldn’t hesitate long.
Wolf looked straight at Black Weasel.
“Lebanon may be a small kingdom, but it’s wealthy. Name your price. Please escort the Red Eagle Prince to Lebanon.”
“Huh. Bold little bastard.”
Black Weasel scratched his cheek and chuckled.
“I guarantee you won’t lose out. Lebanese gold coins are highly valued in Atania. Any exchange house—”
Mid-sentence, Wolf’s eyes drifted to the boy.
The pale face beneath the hood had gone stiff.
When their eyes met, the boy gave a faint shake of the head.
What’s that for?
A split second later, something cracked against the top of Wolf’s head.
* * *
A black-furred ox plodded along, hauling a massive cart.
White sunlight scattered like pale smoke. The summer had been poor this year; perhaps winter would be milder than usual. Yesterday’s snow had mostly melted, leaving the ground raw and reddish beneath the rolling wheels.
Black Weasel sat on the front board of the cart, driving the ox. He glanced back.
Beside a large chest, Silver lay on his back with one arm under his head. Only his lips were visible beneath the hood.
“Why’d you do it?”
Black Weasel asked without turning fully.
Silver said nothing.
“Because he’s your age, you wanted to go easy on him? You know we only have food for three at the hideout.”
“……”
“I can forgive you slacking off while I work. I won’t forgive you interfering with my work. Back there, you interfered. That’s a whipping offense. Skin peeled off your back.”
Black Weasel tugged the reins.
“But I’ll let it slide this once. First time you’ve done it. Second time, I won’t.”
The cart wheels rattled.
Black Weasel sank into thought.
Silver wasn’t friendly with anyone. Yet he’d talked with the prince’s servant for a while. And the way that servant had looked at Silver—
‘Spellbound’ was the only word that fit.
Silver was beautiful, sure. But that kind of gaze?
And that servant—pureblood at a glance. Strong in a fight, too.
Black Weasel’s heart thudded like wheels on gravel.
Spruce. And ash.
Both manifested after twenty.
Unless tested at birth, even the person themselves wouldn’t know which they were until that age.
A line from an old tale brushed past his ear.
Even so, they are drawn to each other by instinct… like a lock long rusted shut finally meeting its key. Even before the scent’s magic begins.
* * *
Everything rattled.
Wolf groaned and opened his eyes. The top of his head throbbed.
Where am I.
His hands were bound tight. He was curled up, crammed somewhere dark. Each jolt of the floor sent his body slamming against wood.
A chest.
He was inside a chest.
“Your Highness? Where are you!”
The moment he shouted, a loud bang followed. Someone had punched the lid.
“Shut up.”
The boy’s voice.
Something rustled beside him.
“Wolf. You awake?”
The Red Eagle Prince whispered faintly.
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
“This isn’t about me, Wolf. You need to watch what you say. I have political value as my mother’s puppet. You’re only a servant.”
Cold spread through Wolf’s body.
He remembered the boy shaking his head during the negotiation.
Was that a warning not to interfere?
“Do you know what happened after you passed out? Black Weasel raised his axe to cut your neck. He wouldn’t listen, even when I begged.”
The image of Black Weasel laughing loudly flashed through Wolf’s mind.
He was a killer.
Through and through.
“Luckily, that one stepped in and stopped him. I couldn’t understand the Stol words, but it was clear. Anyway, we’re stuffed in a chest being transported somewhere. Feels like a couple hours already.”
That one saved me?
Wolf’s heart pounded.
The prince let out a deep sigh.
“I’m truly sorry. This is entirely my fault. Wolf, I promise—I’ll at least get you back to Atania.”
“Your Highness. When we go back, we go together. Princess Charlotte is waiting for you.”
The shaking stopped abruptly.
The lid flew open.
The boy grabbed Wolf by the collar and flung him out of the cart. The prince was dragged out after.
The boy cut the ropes binding their hands with a dagger.
A forest at sunset blocked the path like a wall. Wolf glanced around, then froze at the sight of the animal pulling the cart.
Is that… a cow?
It looked like a black bear.
The answer came quickly. When the boy unhitched it, the beast let out a low “Moo—” and lumbered slowly into the trees.
Black Weasel climbed down and gestured.
“Follow. And you—servant. Mouth off again and I’ll kill you for real.”
Wolf lowered his head.
He decided to keep quiet for now.
People show their true nature in crisis. Only after arriving in Stol had Wolf realized something about himself he’d never known.
If common boys had to put it into words—
He had a temper.
No—
More than that.
Something savage. A Stol instinct he’d believed he’d shed while growing up in Atania.
The realization made him miserable.
Damn it.
The forest was dim, barely touched by sunlight.
Black Weasel took the lead again. The boy followed behind Wolf and the prince.
Wolf kept feeling the presence at his back.
I want to say thank you.
If they were walking side by side, he could at least whisper it.
After a while, Wolf cautiously glanced at Black Weasel—then turned slightly.
Huh?
Where’d he go?
The boy was gone.
For a second, Wolf thought some hidden pursuer had taken him down. He was just about to call out to Black Weasel—
When the boy slipped out from behind a nearby tree.
“What.”
He stared flatly.
Wolf felt foolish.
Went to take a leak?
Wait.
“What’s that in your hand?”
“What does it look like? A rabbit. It ran past. Threw a dagger.”
“That’s a rabbit?”
“You never seen one?”
The boy’s brow twitched.
Wolf stared, mouth hanging open.
The ox that looked like a black bear had been strange enough—
But a rabbit with curly fur like a poodle?
And that tail—long.