Chương 45: The Lull Before - Part 19

Their return was silent, and while the prince’s words bashed around Baptist’s head and made his thoughts nothing more than mush, the prince seemed to return to his normal spirits - at least in the presence of the captain, who was almost finished roasting the grouses. The prince insisted on helping Baptist clean the carrots, but for the sake of making the process quicker and easier, he convinced his master that he would prefer them raw.

“I don’t think,” the prince said eventually, after nearly twenty minutes of silence. “My brother was bluffing.”

“King Ingo?” Rudolf asked, cleaning a wing bone of the grouse to get at the last morsels of taste. “About what?”

“Killing Batt,” Heiko said. “Which would be the most humane of his options.”

The slave dropped his gaze when unbidden memories of the guardsmen barracks pushed forth. His heart hammered and, abandoning his desire to please completely, he looked to his master like a dog begging for protection.