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Just a week, Damen had said, and Laurent had scowled but agreed, after Damen had argued his case with great conviction and stamina, and now here they were, two days out of Ios, caught already.
At least they'd enjoyed a good meal at the inn.
"Charls!" said Charls. He looked pleased, as if someone had taken him aside and told him, I need to find two runaway kings to tell them something important, rather than, I am the ruiner of fun.
"Charls." Laurent inclined his head, his expression revealing nothing. "You remember Lamen, of course."
"Of course," Charls said, gesturing. "And you must remember my step-brother."
"Named Charls," said Damen, because he could not seem to help himself.
"Naturally," said Nikandros. Charls would have recognized him, probably, from their earlier meeting, when Laurent had still been his prince, and Damen ... someone other than his king. "May I introduce to you this orphan I have taken on as my apprentice?"
"Not named Charls, surely."
"A coincidence," said Nikandros. "It seemed fate."
Charls nodded approvingly, as if he found this story to be completely believable. Granted, this was not as it had been before, when getting caught would have meant certain death. No one was hunting for them - or at least, Damen amended, no one who wished them ill.
"He seems very young," said Laurent.
Nikandros shrugged. "Fifteen."
"A good age for an apprentice," said Charls.
"I thought so," said Nikandros. "And, of course, there is much to learn with this new tax system King Laurent and King Damianos have set up. Honestly, I don't mean to complain, but all these new rules strike me as needlessly complicated. Although I'm sure they mean well."
Charls frowned. Probably, he wasn't quite sure how to respond.
"Good intentions are worthless," said Nicaise. "I think they're just idiots who know nothing about cloth. Or taxes. Or anything." He looked at Laurent, as if challenging him to deny it, to say, I am one of these two kings, and I reject your opinion of my abilities.
Laurent's left shoulder dipped very slightly in what could barely be called a shrug.
"Charls, I think your apprentice is being a bit harsh," said Charls. "Personally, I think the new system is very fair and well considered."
"He's had a bad childhood," said Nikandros, making it sound like an explanation, rather than an excuse. "You should hear how he talks to me sometimes." He shook his head. "I fear that Charls may never learn to show affection to people other than by insulting them to their faces."
"Well," said Laurent, "if it is only to show affection, then I am sure nobody will be offended by him."
"I respectfully disagree," said Charls. "After all, it's hardly good business to insult your customers. You certainly have your work cut out for you training him, Charls."
"Oh, he's fine with the customers," Nikandros said. "As I told you, he only insults people he actually likes. Why, once, he even stabbed someone with a fork. At dinner."
"It can be awkward to tell people your feelings when you're that age," said Laurent. "He'll probably simply outgrow it at some point."
Or not, Damen thought. He did not think Laurent was the person who had wished to see a slave whipped to death simply for being Akielon anymore, but then, that person had never truly existed in the first place. Laurent had been drunk, then, and he had known who Damen was.
"Charls said I should look at your inventory," Nicaise said, to Charls. "He claims that it will teach me something useful."
Charls rose at once. Damen wondered what story Nikandros had told him. "Naturally. I will be happy to accompany you and answer any questions you may have."
"Be sure to mind your manners now, Charls," said Nikandros. "Charls is a very good friend of mine, and he deserves your respect."
"If he shows respect in the same way he shows affection, I'm not sure if that is the best advice you could have given him," said Laurent, as Nicaise and Charls headed for the back of the inn, where Charls's wagons stood.
Nikandros shrugged. "I'm just reminding him that the ones who really deserve his ire are you two, not poor Charls."
"Hardly poor, last time I checked," said Laurent.
"I left you a note," said Damen. Laurent glanced at him. He had not known about the note, then, which was fair enough, given that Damen had not told him.
Then again, surely Laurent had not expected Damen to leave no word at all.
"I found the note," said Nikandros. "I understand the note, and why you're here."
"And yet you feel your kings deserving of your ire," said Laurent. His tone said, Explain this to me, please, and be prepared for my own ire, if your explanation fails to please me.
"I thought you dead, once," said Nikandros, ignoring Laurent.
"Did you leave him a note telling him that you were dead?" Laurent asked. "I know that we agreed that it would be pleasant not to be disturbed, but that does seem a bit extreme."
Nikandros still ignored him. "You are my king and my friend, and I am here to tell you that you cannot leave your duties, your responsibilities behind without telling anyone. In advance, and in person. The Damianos I grew up with was not a coward."
Damen considered his words very carefully. "The Nikandros I grew up with was like a brother to me, and I would never deliberately do anything to hurt you."
Laurent looked at him and did not say, The same, alas, cannot be said of other people's brothers.
"You were thoughtless," said Nikandros. "That is your defense? He persuaded you to do this, and you went along with it, not considering the consequences."
Damen opened his mouth to say that, actually, the idea had been his, but Laurent was quicker.
"I can be very persuasive."
That statement, Nikandros chose not to ignore. "You are not like him."
"I left word with Jord, Lazar, Pallas and every single member of the council," said Laurent. "Well, their secretaries, at any rate, after making it clear that they were not to share the information unless there was a pressing need for it."
"But not with me."
"No," said Laurent. He did not look at Damen. Nor did he add, As you are Damen's close friend, I assumed that he would have told you himself.
"And not with Nicaise."
"Nicaise is fifteen years old," said Laurent. "Moreover, it did not occur to me that he wouldn't find out within a few hours of our departure anyway, regardless of whether or not I told him."
Nikandros sighed, but didn't argue the point.
Laurent continued. "If, after finding out, he didn't immediately share that information with you, he probably did so for the same reason you chose not to share the contents of the note with him."
"He really did stab me with a fork once," said Nikandros, a bit plaintively.
"Congratulations," said Laurent. "Yet another thing you share with your king and best friend."
"I should have told you myself," said Damen. "I'm sorry."
"Good. Tell me next time," said Nikandros, which was more than Damen had hoped for: forgiveness as well as acknowledgment that this would happen again, that always, there would exist the possibility to slip out of the palace and stop being king for a short while.
"I really don't think he's going to stab Damen again, though," said Laurent. "He seems much more fond of you, these days."