“I noticed Dresnor and Drew are keeping their distance. Who is ignoring who?” She nudged Kai toward them.
The gap between him and his men narrowed, and Kai felt a lump form in his throat. There were no words to explain where Rayna and Kai had been all this time. Dresnor either had to be angry or accept the lie that he’d worked to pay off his debt for the cure of their sickness, but he could not tell his friend the truth. Still, they could not remain at odds. “Dresnor, I meant to tell you earlier,” Kai addressed his Kempery-man, “thank you for helping my friends. It means a lot to me that you defended them.”
Stone cold eyes stared back at Kai. The silence between them lingered, but neither man spoke. Captain Drew broke their standoff. “Well, nobody calls Dresnor a liar or a traitor.” He chuckled halfhearted.
Dresnor remained stoic. “I could not stand by and let anyone attack innocent people, Diu-born citizens or not. They did not deserve to be killed, burned in their homes, or dragged away in chains.”
“Well, thank you again.” Kai nodded with respect and turned to walk away.
“Your Highness, are you returning to Diu for good?” Dresnor asked as if he already knew the answer but wanted to hear it from Kai himself.
This was not a conversation Kai wanted to have. Fresh after any battle, emotions ran high. Nightmares plagued the noblest of men, and he knew Dresnor bared the weight of every choice he made in a fight. Those lives were on his hands, good or bad. Just looking at Dresnor, Kai could tell his Kempery-man had slept very little in recent weeks. Kai blamed himself for putting his man through such tribulations.
“Let me be as honest as I can, Dresnor.” Kai stepped in close to his friend. “I love my father and Diu, but there is a new part of my life now that calls me to know my mother’s people. Do I really need to choose? Can I not visit my grandfather in peace? Can I not explore the world without abandoning my people?”
“Unfortunately, you are a prince,” Dresnor responded with an emotional distance Kai had not felt in years. “Diu is a small kingdom, which allows many freedoms other countries do not have. Our traditions are lenient compared to Nebea and Milnos, but it is time you took on the responsibility of the eldest heir to the throne.”
“Are we no longer friends, Dresnor? There was a time you trusted me with your life. Do you mean to say my loyalty is in question?”
“Loyalty?” Dresnor glared. “You wish to discuss loyalty? I have spent months waiting with no visit from you, only letters delivered by Shane. Do you have so little regard to my service you could not come yourself?”
There was no denying Kai had put his own desires above Diu and his men, but he did not back down. “I ordered you home,” he reminded Dresnor.
Rage boiled in Dresnor’s eyes, and the warrior latched onto Kai’s shirt. “You have no idea what your order meant for us. Redmon and Albey finally went home to Diu; they’ve spent these past months in prison for abandoning their post.”
Drew’s hand clasped around Dresnor’s, and their three faces came together. “Let go, Dresnor. You are drawing attention to us. Your Highness, our apologies, we are here to serve, but you left us little choice. It was clear to me that you graced us with a visit earlier today, but you had no intentions of coming home. I sense even now that you will return to Katori the first chance you get.”
Dresnor released Kai’s shirt, and the three men took a step back. Kai brushed his shirt smooth. “I will not justify this insult.” He felt the heat well in his veins. “Remember your place, Dresnor. You will not address your Prince in this manner again.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Months of adventure made Kai’s return to Diu feel bittersweet. Captain Beekman led the march through the city. Kai rode between Dresnor and Drew, Rayna rode behind, and Smoke kept pace, running beside her horse. The citizens were a mix of sweet and sour. Some cheered while others booed his return. Their behavior made Kai wonder if returning was a mistake. How he wished he had consulted the Elders, or at least his grandfather Lucca, for advice.
Diu had been his home for seventeen years, but Diu no longer felt like home after his time in Katori. The city was loud, and the people were brash. Kai saw the separation between the classes as he never had before. In Rimtown, the poorest of the poor offered him no welcome. Midtown greeted him with halfhearted cheers and scowls. One person shouted, “Go back to Katori! You are no prince of Diu.”
The words hurt. Entering Hightown did not improve things. More people cheered, but a few held their noses high and appeared displeased by his return. On nearly every street corner along their path, Milnos guards glared and whispered. The farther into the city they went, the more he noticed the Milnosian men outnumbering the Diu soldiers.
The stroll through the palace felt awkward. Many of the faces he expected to see had changed. The usual guards were replaced with strangers; even the Mryken guard dogs were different. Nobody was the same, not even the servants. Many glared at him and offered no sign of respect, making Kai feel like a stranger in a strange land. Eager to find some sense of normalcy, he used his Beastmaster magic to connect with the Mryken guard dogs. They held their posture but greeted him with the respect of a Beastmaster.
The guards escorted him to his room, but they remained outside his closed door. Kai leaned against the door and wished Smoke were with him, but
