same soldiers not only being at Woodingdene but precisely where we might be is virtually nil."
"It's a risk all the same, Jewd," Faris persisted.
"One I'll take if it helps to keep you safe."
"No."
Jewd's gaze darkened and his brow creased in a mixture of irritation and confusion.
"Just leave it," Faris urged and walked away. He had to prepare for his departure.
"What's going on, Kilt? What's this about?" Jewd called after the outlaw but won no answer.
"It's about fear, I think," Leo said quietly.
Jewd looked around, surprised. "What do you mean?"
Leo shrugged. "He loves Lily. Has Kilt ever loved anyone before?"
Jewd paused, thinking. "Not a woman."
"Well, you said it. I reckon if he was prepared to confess, he'd own up to loving Lily, and he loves you. His two favorite people in the world are suddenly at risk. Perhaps for the first time in his life something worth losing is being genuinely threatened." Leo swung his hand around in an arc. "Look at the way he lives. His home is the forest, his closest friends are outlaws. He owns nothing. What money he needs he steals." Leo gave a sad laugh. "He doesn't even keep it. When my father used to talk about the highwaymen of the north, I imagined you were all rich and debauched." Jewd gave a rueful smile. "Now I learn their leader gives most away."
"Aye, his favorite recipient is the convent in the mountains. Plenty goes to the Academy at Cremond, of course."
"Did my father know this?"
Jewd nodded. "He would have had his suspicions, I think, and I imagine that's another reason he came looking for Kilt in the first place. He probably reasoned that no one who gives so much away could be all bad. And he found that to be true, because he gave him his most precious possession of all."
"His heir," Leo said, a maudlin tone creeping into his voice.
"Are the relations any easier between you two?"
Leo shrugged. "Not really. He's very angry. And he's hardly ever been affectionate toward me so I can't tell. I'm just Leo, the irritating burden. Lo knows why he protects me."
"Loyalty to Valisar. I know he has a strange way of showing it but he's a king's man."
"Not this king's," Leo admitted.
"He has every right to be angry."
"He does. It was stupid and impetuous. I know that now." Leo shook his head. "Kilt is right. My actions were the revenge of a child, not the disciplined action of a king."
"All true. Did it satisfy you?"
"Pardon?"
"Do you feel relieved? Set free by Freath's death?"
"I feel hollow. Freath's death did nothing but answer a sort of primeval rage. Seeing him again made me think of those terrible few days in the ingress, but more than anything it made me realize how angry I feel at not knowing where Gav is - or even whether he's alive or dead. Seeing Freath has re-opened a lot of wounds. I wanted to make him pay for all that pain he caused me."
Jewd sighed. "It's a pity Freath had to die to make you realize that nothing will give you back what has been taken from you. Make sure his death counts for something, your majesty. Let it make you a better king, or all the lives he risked and lost were for nought."
Leo nodded thoughtfully. "In the meantime, what are we going to do about Kilt?"
"You're going to stay safe. I'm going to follow him."
"If you disobey him - "
Jewd snorted with disdain. "He's not my mother! Or my keeper. I go my own way."
"All right, then. I'll tell him of your plan if you don't let me come too."
"No! How many more times do we have to say that?"
"Plenty, because I'm not hearing it. Lily's my friend too. I'm the reason she's even here. And all this dangerous deception ultimately finds its way back to me anyway. Everyone is taking risks for the restoration of the Valisar Crown. I have to stand up and be counted, or what sort of worthy king am I?"
"Leo, you're twenty-two anni."
"Old enough, for Lo's sake! I think you mouth twenty-two but you think twelve!"
"We're all doing this to protect you, not risk you."
"But we have to stop the fear at some point and take action. I'm ready, I'm trained, I'm hardened. Let me come along just as someone who watches your back. I won't get close enough to give any trouble, I give you my word. I'll take it all in from a distance and report to