The Prince and I - 22

Connor looked at his uncle in shock. “You think that was Aemornion?”

“You know of him?”

“I knew his son, before he was killed in the last war. I never actually met Aemornion himself.”

And that makes me feel really young compared to Connor I thought a bit morosely.

Sadron nodded. “Yet another reason Aemornion hates the idea. That war was over your father’s attempt to form the trade alliance.”

“But it was between our people, not us and humans.”

“In his mind it’s all part of the whole. With no attempt at an alliance, there wouldn’t have been a war to try to stop it and his son would still be alive.”

“I have a question.”

“Another one, Richie?”

“Sorry, but yeah. If Aemor-whatever had captured Connor would you have done as he asked and ended the negotiations in order to get him back?”

“No.”

I heard Connor draw in a shocked breath and slung my arm over his shoulders, glaring at Sadron. “You’re a cold son of a bitch.”

“I’m the king. My people and my land come before anything, even my love for my nephew.”

“He’s right I’m afraid. I don’t like it but…” Connor had stiffened at his words. Now he also pulled away from me.

I took his hand, holding it tightly, surprised he allowed it. I supposed he needed contact with someone who cared. Or at least that’s how I took it. I could understand what his uncle was saying; he did have a responsibility to his subjects, but still… “We need to keep Connor safe so neither of you faces that possibility.”

Sadron gave me a stern look. “Yes we do. But only those of us who are involved with what is happening. You will not be a part of it.”

“Why the hell not?”

“You are both human, and too young.”

“Yeah, right, throw my age back at me. Look, I might not have been around for forever but for damned sure I know a thing or three about how to survive. I hate to point this out but if it weren’t for me Connor might already be in the hands of this Aemor person.”

“Aemornion,” Connor whispered before returning to the topic at hand. “He’s right, uncle. Without him they probably would have captured me the second time. He’s the one who really showed me how to hide and stay safe from the cops and… and what have you—including Aemornion and his henchman.”

“Practice.” I smiled tightly. “I’ve been playing keep-away since the day I left home.”

Sadron nodded, studying me. “Why did you run away?”  

“My step-mom started coming on to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell your father?”

“Come on, if you had a kid and your wife was trying to seduce him and he told you, would you believe him?”

“I would hope I would listen and then try to find out if he was telling the truth.”

“Yeah, well you’re not my father. He places his ‘honor’ over everything else. If his people found out he’d married a woman who couldn’t be trusted around his own son he’d have… lost face I guess you could say. I figured it was better to just get out of there, for his sake and for mine. Fending her off was getting hard to do, especially since I wasn’t willing to tell her I didn’t like women that way.”