things even further. And now... now he knew he was in love with both of them, and he’d never even told them. If he had any regrets at all, it was that.
“I don’t think you’re stupid,” Hannah said staunchly. Her expression softened with a smile. “I think that maybe you’re still figuring things out, like everyone else.”
“I will be very annoyed if I get executed before I tell Calarian and Lars that I like them,” Benji said.
“I think you more than like them,” Hannah said softly.
Benji screwed up his face. “Maybe.” And okay, yes, he more than liked them. He loved them, but that didn’t mean he was ready to admit it out loud. “The sex is great.”
“Ew!” Hannah poked him with some bread. “That’s my brother-in-law you’re talking about!”
“His dick is very large,” Benji said. “I mean, really, it’s prodigious.”
“Benji!”
Benji grinned, and took another sip of beer, and they settled into comfortable silence for a while. Then he said, “So, would you happen to know what the method of execution is here in Tournel?”
“That’s not going to happen!”
“Sure,” Benji said. “But, you know, if it did...”
Hannah sighed. “Well, I think criminals used to get stoned to death, but–”
“Oh! That doesn’t sound too bad!” Benji said, brightening at the idea. Death by medicinal herb wasn’t the worst way to go.
“No, I think...” Hannah furrowed her brow. “It means being killed by having stones thrown at you.”
“Oh!” Benji said. “That is not what I was picturing, but yeah, your way makes more sense.”
“But I think for treason, it’s a guillotine,” Hannah said, the words coming out of her in a rush.
Yikes. Benji flinched.
“We don’t actually have a guillotine though,” Hannah said. “So Gretchen would have to make one, which would probably take a while. So it’s not going to be sudden, is what I’m saying. Gunther might want to do this quickly, but that’s not going to happen. And meanwhile, I know the councillors have written to the kings in Callier, so even if you do get sentenced to death, they’ll intervene on your behalf, right? Because they know you!”
Benji made a seesaw motion with his hand.
“What’s that?” Hannah asked. “What does that mean?”
“I mean, I think they like me,” Benji said, uncomfortable with the idea that his life might depend on it. “But I did once steal their wedding silverware to redistribute the wealth. And I might have told them both, repeatedly, that I hoped they’d be first up against the wall when the revolution came.”
“Oh,” said Hannah softly.
“But I’m still pretty sure they like me,” Benji said. “I mean, I’m likeable.”
“Oh,” Hannah said again.
“What?”
Hannah jolted. “Nothing.”
“I said I’m likeable, and you said ‘oh.’” Benji wrinkled his nose. “Am I not likeable?”
Hannah made the seesawing motion with her hand back at him. “Well, I like you,” she said. “But you do sometimes come across as a little... abrasive.”
“Huh,” said Benji, and considered that for a moment. “Is it because I’m always wishing death on people and threatening to murder them?”
Hannah nodded, her eyes wide. “A little bit, yeah. That and always calling them stupid humans.”
“Is that not quirky and charming?” Benji asked curiously.
“No,” Hannah said. “No, it’s really not. Sorry.”
“Huh,” said Benji. “Another epiphany.” It’s not like he’d ever wanted to be quirky and charming, but if he’d known it meant people were less likely to cut his head off, he would have at least tried to pretend. “I’m fucked, aren’t I?” he said with a sigh. “And not in a fun way.”
Hannah bit her lower lip. “You’d have to have your trial first, and be found guilty. And like I say, we don’t even have a guillotine.”
“Like that would stop them,” Benji grumbled, as he thought of all the ways Gunther could kill him right here in his cell. What really rankled, though, was the idea of him being the one to have his head chopped off. He’d spent his life advocating for the beheading of kings, and now he was going under the blade?
Rude.
“It’ll be fine,” Hannah said, patting his knee. “Gretchen told the guards Gunther’s not allowed in the cell because you might prove a danger to him.”
Benji’s brow furrowed. “But Gretchen doesn’t have the authority to do that, does she?”
Hannah threw back her head and laughed, a long, tinkling peal that was at odds with the surroundings. Then she smiled brightly and said. “Have you seen my wife? Tell me you’d argue with her.”
“That’s very true,” Benji said, and felt slightly better.
Hannah stood and gathered up