The Prince's Mark

Chapter Thirty Two

Hours passed in the Frosted Castle and Yash never called for Tracou to return to the top of the tower. This suited Tracou perfectly well, but Pendaer took offense. Being invited to stay and then left with the mass of knights inhabiting the ground floor was strange and it gave Pendaer something else to complain about.

The two of them spent the day watching the Winleans. Tracou couldn't do it for too long at a time, though, because his mind kept wandering back to Mirthal.

No matter what, Tracou would go to see him tonight. If things got bad enough he could topple this castle all on his own, he was sure of it. Hopefully that would be enough.

That evening, Tracou and Pendaer sat at a long table in the center of the hall along with the knights. Karthik sat across from them. Some serving girls brought them a basic dinner of ale, meat, and some kind of flat bread. Tracou ignored the bread for now and ate the meat since Mirthal couldn't. Beside him, Pendaer glared down at his plate.

"This is what people who work in the Winlean royal castle eat?" he grumbled.

"Looks like it."

Pendaer eyed Tracou. "And what about the dezmek royal castle?"

"I don't know. But I eat better in my manor."

Nodding solemnly, Pendaer picked up his bread, rolled it up, and took a large bite out of it. Both the meat and the ale were out of the question for him.

Oh well. Tracou had to give up sleep for this, so he didn't feel much sympathy. As he took a drink of the ale, a hand settled on his shoulder which nearly made Tracou choke. He turned and found a pair of servants standing next to him, each with a platter of food. The girl on the left had an assortment of fruits and vegetables and the girl on the right had pies and other pastries. Tracou blinked at them. One of the girls spoke to him and Tracou managed to catch a single word—Yash.

"They're gifts!" Karthik said, eyes glued to the platters. "The Royal Scholar wanted to give you something..."

The servant girl spoke again, this time to Karthik.

"Oh, because he doesn't have time to talk to you today."

"Do you know why he can't?" Tracou asked as the servants set the platters along with a large, colorful sack on the table in front of him.

"Ah... King Ekayavan is very ill. The attack from the elf frightened him to the point that his heart might stop beating... But, um, please enjoy the food. It's for you only—no one else is allowed to eat it without your permission."

"I-I see."

"Stupid." Pendaer smacked his arm, which didn't hurt but the intention was bad enough. "Tell him that the de—tch! That Tracou is exceedingly grateful for this generous gift during such a stressful time," he said to Karthik.

Karthik conveyed the message to the two servants, who gave a short bow and left.

A table's worth of eyes had latched onto the food in front of Tracou. If he didn't eat any, people might hassle him, so he took an apple and bit into it. Pendaer reached out and grabbed a pear, but Tracou whacked him on the wrist before he could pull the food off of the platter.

"That's not for you," Tracou hissed.

Pendaer kept his grip on the fruit, but didn't move. "And why not?"

"If I give some to you, other people will bother me and I won't have any left."

"Give me the pear and I'll give you the meat."

"Then everyone will offer me their meat... if they have any left."

Gritting his teeth, Pendaer let go of the pear and shoved the rest of his bread in his mouth instead.