Counting Shadows (Duplicity)

already familiar with their product.”
    He grins wolfishly. “Hungry princes have to eat. Even the broke ones.”
    “Even the
banished
broke ones?”
    His grin rapidly disintegrates into a tight frown. He lets out one of his hum-growls and crosses his arms over his chest. It looks like he’s pouting, and it’s almost cute.
    “You should apologize for that,” he grumbles.
    “I probably should,” I say. “But I won’t.”
    He grunts and then looks toward the ocean. His eyes look strange out here on the beach; they’re such a vibrant shade of red, and don’t match the dull, clouded-over surroundings.
    “Well,” Lor says slowly, “I’ve answered all your questions.”
    “Who says I’m done asking them?”
    “Let me try that again.” He turns to me, his jaw gritted and his eyebrows narrowed. “I’m done answering your questions. Got it?”
    I nod. Something tells me that Lor never anticipated our conversation going so far. So…
deep
. He expected me to ask his favorite color and what his family’s castle looked like. He hadn’t expected to mentally relive his banishment and imprisonment.
    I hadn’t anticipated for the conversation to turn out this way, either. But I’m still not satisfied. I still want more.
    “We’ve been out for too long,” I say. “Someone is going to notice. We need to go back.”
    “To the castle?”
    I raise an eyebrow at him. “Where else?”
    He shrugs and turns his attention back the ocean. Waves roll in, the swells carrying the scent of salt and rotting seaweed.
    “I have one more question,” I say. He doesn’t respond, and I take it as permission to proceed. “Do you miss your country?”
    He bites his lip and just stares off into the ocean. I wonder what he sees out there. Can he see more than I can?
    “I miss my home,” he finally murmurs.

Twenty-Seven
    We ride through the surf on our way back to the castle. Our horses kick up water and sand, and my dress is ruined. And I don’t care.
    Lor grins as we race across the beach. He seems to have forgotten that he’s afraid of horses, and he stands in his stirrups and urges his stallion on faster. I trail behind him just slightly, even though I have to hold Tamal back. I want Lor to think he’s winning this race. I want to see him grinning.
    It’s amazing how he can do that. Just grin like there’s nothing wrong in the world. Like he hasn’t been banished, like his brother didn’t plot his murder.
    Like Ashe isn’t dead.
    I remember what Ashe told me once, when I’d asked how he could be so stoic when he lived in a country that hated him.
“Everyone hurts, my little sparrowhawk,” he’d said to me, his voice so quiet I could barely hear it. “Some just hurt differently than others.”
    Maybe Ashe was wrong, and not everyone hurts. Maybe Lor is the crazy one, and not me. Because people shouldn’t be able to smile, not when they’re in pain. Right? That has to be right.
    Lor throws up a fist and lets out a whoop as we reach the end of the beach. He turns to me, probably to share some snide remark about his victory. Then he sees my expression.
    And his grin fades.

Twenty-Eight
    Lor’s stallion grows nervous as we reach the end of the beach. I’ve let Lor take the lead, and he tries to guide his horse along the path heading up the cliff and away from the beach. But his horse tosses his head and snorts, refusing to move. Lor jerks at the reins and kicks him, urging him forward.
    “Give him some head,” I say. “It might calm him down.”
    Lor turns and gives me a perplexed look. “He already has a head.”
    I roll my eyes and Lor glares at me. But it’s not as severe as earlier, and I swear there’s amusement in his eyes. The look only lasts a moment, before his stallion skitters to the right, nearly tossing him off.
    I sigh. “Lor, it’s really not that hard. Just get him under con—”
    Tamal rears, cutting off my words. I yelp and grip at the saddle horn. My horse lands, his front hooves spraying up sand, and lets out a piercing whinny. He tries to turn around, but I yank at the reins and don’t let him.
    “What is your
problem
?” I demand the horse through gritted teeth.
    He replies with another shrieking whinny, and tries again to turn around. As I struggle with him, I catch a glimpse of his eyes. They’re wide and terrified, the whites showing all around his iris.
    “We need to get back to the stables,” I say, risking a glance up to look at Lor. “Something is spooking