“No more attacks on any of our towns,” I said. “Stop al fighting against us. If you keep slaughtering them, it wil be hard to convince my people to trust you. And besides that, if it’s al going to be your kingdom, you’re destroying your own property.”

“Those are valid points,” Oren said. He’d taken to walking again, and he had his back to me. “How does Loki play into al of this?”

“He’s Vittra,” I said. “By being kind to the Tryle, he wil help convince them that you’re not bad. That this has been a misunderstanding. He’l help gain the trust of the people on your behalf.”

“Are you sure you want him though?” Oren turned back to face us. “I could send Sara in his place.”

“They already know Loki,” I said. “They’re beginning to trust him.”

“You mean you trust him.” Oren smiled wider at that. “He didn’t tel you, did he?”

“That’s too vague,” I said. “I can’t possibly know what you’re referring to.”

“Marvelous!” Oren laughed. “You don’t know!” I licked my lips. “Know what?” I asked.

“It’s a lie,” Oren laughed again.

“It’s not al a lie,” Loki said quickly. From the corner of my eye, I saw the way his skin paled, and I heard the tremor in his voice.

“The scars on my back are not a lie.”

“Yes, wel, you earned those.” Oren stopped laughing and gave him a hard look. “You failed me one too many times.”

“I didn’t fail you,” Loki said carefuly. “I refused you.”

“No, you failed.” Oren stepped closer to him, and Loki struggled to keep eye contact with him. “She didn’t run away with you. She chose someone else over you. So you failed.”

“What?” I asked, and a sick feeling grew inside my stomach.

“I wouldn’t have brought her back here,” Loki said, and he wouldn’t look at me.

“You say that now,” Oren said and stepped away from him.

“But that’s not what you said when you got back.”

“I was in the dungeon, and you were beating me!” Loki shouted. “I would’ve agreed to anything.”

“You did agree to anything,” Oren said. “You agreed to seduce the Princess, to trick her into faling in love with you so you could bring her back here to me. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right, but –” Loki started, but Oren cut him off.

“You went to her palace and got caught on purpose so you could stay with her, spend time with her, manipulate her,” Oren said.

“That’s not exactly how –” Loki said.