Without Words

Chapter 41

Any doubts Tomas may have had about Dove being the missing princess disappeared the moment he saw her brother. The prince had the same blue eyes, the same fair hair, and the same fine boned features - only with a more masculine turn. They could have been twins if Tomas didn't know the age difference. It dawned on him that he really had been playing bodyguard to a princess.

"A spy, you say?" The sharp voice jolted Tomas's mind back to the present. The prince was speaking, and suddenly Tomas realized he had been wrong in assuming Dove's brother shared her eyes; these had none of her gentleness.

"Yes, your Highness," said one of the guards who had brought him here. It was the angry one, much more subdued now in the presence of the prince. "We found him trying to sneak out of the city before curfew. He was on his way to report his findings."

Tomas bristled at the accusation. He was about to defend himself when one look from the prince stopped him. He had seen looks of that sort before from other authority figures. It meant "hold your tongue". He almost spoke up anyway, but the prince spoke before he had the chance.

"Rather silly of our enemies to send in such a suspicious looking spy." He tilted his head. "The hair really does give it away."

Angry - as Tomas had taken to calling him - cleared his throat. "Well, your Highness, he was clever, see. He had his hood up so no one could see nothing." A self-satisfied look spread across his face. "Not that it fooled us, of course. We knew there was something up with him. And so there was!"

"Ah, yes, a hood. What an impenetrable disguise!" A small smile had worked it's way onto the prince's face. It was infuriating. His cold eyes met Tomas's again."You don't seem to be the most competent spy, I have to say."

Tomas couldn't hold it in any longer. "I'm not a spy!" he exploded. "These two buffoons have no idea what they're on about!"

"Is that so?" asked the prince as the guards beside him made sounds of displeasure at being called buffoons. "Then do you deny that you were out before curfew was over? Do you deny that you are from Pommern? Do you deny that you are here gathering intel? Do you deny that these guards had a right to arrest you as they did?" At some point during his outburst, he had risen to his feet. The smile had slipped from his face. "And do you dare deny that your country declared war on us when you kidnapped our princess?" His voice had risen throughout his speech, but at the last line he was scarily calm again.

Tomas was momentarily stunned into silence. For an instant, the prince's eyes had lost their coldness, replaced by a blazing fire. But almost as soon as it appeared, it was gone again.

"I cannot deny that I am from Pommern, as you well know." He tried to keep his voice level. Shouting now would not help his case. "And if I was out before curfew ended, it was without my knowledge. Perhaps I was suspicious looking, and these guards had a right. But the rest..." And here Tomas paused, meeting the prince's eyes. "The rest I can easily deny."

The prince's face seemed etched in stone as he lowered himself back into his seat. "Then you also deny knowing nothing of my sister? Since you deny her kidnapping, of course."

At the question, Tomas froze. He swallowed hard and looked at the floor before answering. When he did answer, it was slow and deliberate. "That I cannot deny." He lifted his head and then added, "Your Highness."

The prince's face was unreadable. He didn't even blink. Tomas could almost feel the room growing colder the longer those eyes rested on him. The light filtering through the blue fabric of the tent only added to the effect, intensifying the chilling stare. Tomas silently wished for him to say something, anything. He already knew that with a single sentence he had doomed himself. But still he awaited the confirmation.