The first day of their journey led them westward towards the coastline of the ocean that bordered Brenlyn in the far west. This ride was long, hard, and uninterrupted. Of the five members of the trip, none of them had endured this length of riding recently. Riyel and Tal, however, had undertaken long journeys from their time in the Sarian army, Raul in his past military experience, and Kiva in previous trips of this nature. Trysti, the only one of them who was not an accomplished warrior but an orator, was tired by the time Kiva called for a rest after midday. The sun scorched their backs and the horses sweated and breathed heavily. A favorite brook that ran through the forest was the chosen resting spot. As the horses refreshed themselves with draughts of cool water, the five companions rested in the shade of an ancient tree. Kiva shed her leather jacket and rinsed her sweaty palms in the cool water, running her hand through her hair. Raul helped an exhausted Trysti from her saddle, Tal passed out a few strips of dried meat, and Riyel refilled the canteens. After refusing food, Kiva sat quietly away from the rest of them and observed.

Raul and Trysti were looking over a map of the coast, no doubt planning their route despite Kiva's previous journeys. Trysti's long black hair hung in torrents around her curved black eyes and dark skin. Raul, no less than ten years her elder, was a dark, rugged man. His eyes, hair, and unkempt beard were dark brown, and his eyes were deep set and unreadable. He was a tall, strong-shouldered man who was grim, silent, but fair. As the two sat together, Kiva smiled a little. She recognized the softness in Raul's typically hardened features as he watched Trysti. He was not the first man to be enraptured by her vivacity; it was only surprising because of his rugged, detached demeanor.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Tal. She had hardly considered the man since his arrival in Lavri as Riyel had overshadowed him in every sense. He had remained behind the scenes since arriving in Lavri, helping with the emergency drills and evacuation plans. He had the same dark hair and eyes as she and Justyn, and his eyebrows were furrowed towards his eyes. He was a small man in stature, but toned and lithe. For a moment, Kiva detected something intelligent and highly observant in the way he appraised her.

"I don't believe we've actually met." His voice was as dark as his features. "Tal."

"Kiva."

"I suppose we both already knew that."

The corner of her mouth turned up. "True. You are from Sari? From Vinrys's army?"

Tal nodded slightly, "Yes. I was employed in planning and intelligence after rising in rank from a footsoldier."

Kiva regarded him anew, surprised at his declaration. He spoke without a hint of arrogance, and Kiva wondered for a moment what intelligence and planning had been involved in Sari's army. The Lavri Resistance was smart but simple; they relied on speed and agility rather than careful planning and spying on neighboring nations. With a neighbor like Sari, they had never reached beyond their borders for help.

"And your role in Lavri?"

He smiled at her, cocking an eyebrow. "It's much the same. However, Vinrys had many networks of infiltration and recruitment scattered throughout the world while your Resistance, alas, only have me."

"So why did you come on this trip, then, if your focus is infiltration and recruitment?"

"Who says that my focus has changed?"

Tal smiled again from the corners of his eyes, then returned to scarfing down a few bites of dried meat and packing the refilled canteens without another word.

The second half of their day passed in fast riding and no breaks. They reached the coast in the mid-afternoon, but Kiva did not bring their party to a halt until they arrived atthe first outpost. They were welcomed by Lavrian warriors and given dinner and lodging. That night, as they sat at the roughhewn table and ate fish the guards had caught for dinner, Trysti captivated the men with tales from Mevyl. As Trysti wove her story, Kiva again observed the change in Raul's demeanor and remarked it with greater interest. Earlier she had considered it simply an admiration of Trysti's gorgeous features, but he seemed enthralled with her now. Perhaps it was simply the warm light of the torch brightening his features, but Kiva suspected otherwise.

After dinner, Kiva went to check their armory and to ensure that they were stocked and the weapons well taken care of. Riyel joined her after thanking the men for their meal. As they walked side-by-side to the armory, he remained silent. Kiva glanced up at him.

"You're quiet. What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking of everything we don't know about each other."

"You make it sound as if we're strangers."

"Of course not. There are different ways to know someone."

A moment passed between them. "Thank you. For bearing with me, even when I wanted to give up. You push me to look past my fear. I...I need that." Kiva shuddered at the word need.

Confessing that she needed anything—maybe even him—was terrifying. They reached the armory and began to take inventory, examining rows of swords and crossbows.

"What do you want to know?" His voice was low, and she thought she detected a tremor of fear.
Kiva looked up at him, staring into his eyes more intensely than she had ever dared. "Tell me about your family. You mentioned them once. When we were discussing Vinrys."

Riyel looked to his hands, running his fingers over the smooth metal blade of the sword he was examining. "Yes. My family. My family is from Silenka, the island at the far east of Zeina, past Sari. My father, he was a good man. Not loving or demonstrative, but he was good. He was regular, a common man with common principles and a common heart. I don't remember much about him other than that, but I think he was good. I hope so. My mother was ambitious; although she was a farmer's daughter without a coin to her name, she wanted more for herself and her family. She was constantly scraping together whatever coins she could gather to make the house a little nicer, dress a little better.

"When I was very young, perhaps only four or so, Vinrys visited Silenka. We lived in a tiny town, and he happened to be riding through, I think he was hunting or something. I remember crossbows and maybe a few dead deer draped across a squire's horse. He was drunk and shooting the crossbow wildly in all directions through the town. No one dared to say anything because we figured he was royalty until an arrow came towards me and my family. It ripped through the outside of my right shoulder, leaving a gushing wound. You can still see the scar."
Riyel paused the story to pull his shirt down, revealing a jagged scar on his right shoulder. Kiva instinctively reached out and traced the soft, raised skin that covered the injury. He shuddered under her touch before continuing.

"When blood started to rush from my wound and my mother attended to me, my father had enough. He was a blacksmith, and he threw down whatever he was carrying and spoke out against Vinrys, demanding he leave them in peace or put the weapon away. Vinrys, drunk and cruel, shot my father through the heart with an arrow." Riyel's voice dropped. "When Vinrys caught sight of my mother, he recognized her beauty. He made some rude, churlish comment and she spit on him, screaming obscenities. She managed to grasp one of the pieces of iron my father was fashioning that was still hot and stabbed him with it.

"Rather than being offended by her audacity, he admired her resilience. Over my father's dead body, he took both my mother and me and installed us in the court of Silenka where his younger brother was king. He thought the court needed her wild courage and brass and made her his mistress. Over the years, my mother lost her anger and instead decided to seize power from within. Originally, she wanted to save the people from their tyrannical overlord, but I think she really just wanted power. As the years waned and she grew in power, she...she and Vinrys began a love affair. Even though he had killed her husband, I think she was intoxicated by his power. Although Vinrys was married and king, he still visited my mother as his plaything and supported her. Eventually, she overthrew Vinrys's brother and, with Vinrys's full support, became Queen of Silenka."

Kiva's jaw had long been unhinged by Riyel's story as she stared at him in utter disbelief.

"I grew up in the shadow of my mother, who was both feared and hated by nearly everyone. When she replaced Vinrys's brother and took the throne, I too was legitimized as the Prince of Silenka. As soon as I was old enough to choose for myself, I ran away, anywhere, to escape my mother and Vinrys and all of my memories. However, my mother's guards caught me, and so both she and Vinrys could keep an eye on me, I was installed into Vinrys's army. I rose in rank and became a general, hoping to affect some change or at least make a way for my own escape, but I had nowhere to go and I was watched constantly by my superiors. The Resistance gave me an escape."

She had expected nothing of this sort of a story, the horrifying tale of a child who watched his father be murdered and then his mother fall in love with the murderer. Somehow, Riyel's mother had risen to power and become Queen. He had been the child of Vinrys's favorite mistress. Riyel was the Prince of Silenka. 

All of her wonder at the revelation was set aside when she looked at him. His shoulders sagged, his eyes cast down, his hands tightly clenched together. For a moment, she wondered if this was how he had appeared growing up in the court of Silenka. Like a boy who had been horribly mistreated by the world. The fire inside had been quenched and he appeared more like a burn victim than the flame she knew him to be.

Saying nothing, Kiva placed a hand on his broad shoulders that were now cowered and hunched. She then took one of his hands and weaved her fingers between his and rested her head against his shoulder. She didn't need to say a word.

~~~~~
Finally! A little backstory about Riyel! What do you think? Are you surprised that he's (sort-of) royalty? What other secrets does he hide? 

Thank you SO MUCH for helping The General and the Princess pass 1k reads! I am so thrilled by the response and I'm grateful for all of you!

~ Hannah