“General,” Nico began cautiously, “Don’t be too hard on him. He ain’t bad for a human and–”

“I said leave!” the blue-eyed beastman roared, silencing Nico.

“I ain’t under your command, Harlow,” Vargas countered, looking ready to fight, “so I’ll be staying right where I am.”

So the blue-eyed beastman's name was Harlow. General Harlow. I’d heard that name before. He'd had something to do with the whole Falyn and Jerran fiasco. By all accounts, he was an antagonistic prick... but he probably wouldn’t kill me. At worst, he’d slap me around a bit.

With that in mind, I calmly said, “It’s okay, Vargas. I can handle whatever tongue-lashing he’s got planned for me. I doubt he intends to do anything that might jeopardize the treaty. Whatever else happens, I won’t suffer any irreparable harm.”

“Sounds like the human’s smarter than you are, Vargas,” Harlow growled, “Take those other humans back to camp. I’ll decide with the tigers later if they’re still welcome to join us.”

“You are interfering with Royal justice!” Sir Nolan interrupted, clearly upset that he was being ignored, “Sir Evan has to answer for his transgressions, and I refuse to leave without him.”

“You’ll be leaving without your limbs, if you aren’t careful,” Harlow threatened in a low voice, “so I suggest you fuck off while you can still walk.”

Sir Nolan was a brave man, but even he faltered in the face of such an outrageous threat. Probably because he believed it. I believed it too. Which only made me wonder why I was so certain Harlow wouldn’t outright murder me once we were alone. Still, my intuition was rarely wrong.

“And as for you,” Harlow scowled, turning his glare to Vargas, “do us all a fucking favor and help Nico get the rest of these assholes out of here. You have my word of honor that the human will survive this. All his limbs will remain attached and unbroken. Happy?”

Vargas scowled, but this time he didn’t refuse.

Nico turned to the knights and sauntered toward them with a menacing grin, “So, we doing this the easy way or the hard way?”

“The easy way,” Sir Wilson quickly assured him, raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

Sir Nolan looked like he wanted to protest, but thought better of it. He gave a single, curt nod and held his tongue.

More and more, I felt like I had given Sir Wilson too little credit before. Even if he had turned me in, there was at least a little common sense in that head of his.

Nico gave Harlow a brief nod and headed back toward the cluster of trees he’d emerged from, dragging Vargas along with him.

The knights followed slowly behind, glaring at me startling hostility as they departed. It was clear that, in their eyes, I was no longer one of them. A single night beyond the inner city’s walls and I’d already managed to burn bridges that I once believed impervious to flame.

The only exception was Sir Wilson, who showed no hostility at all. He watched me with sorrow and regret, glancing back more than once before finally following Nico back to camp.

We’d been close, Sir Wilson and I, given that we were the same age and had joined the knighthood at the same time. I’d always hoped that, if I ever found the courage to tell him these things, he would understand.

Only I didn’t tell him. Instead, he overheard me confiding in people I barely knew. I hadn't trusted him enough. Perhaps that was why he reacted so poorly.

And yet, he was the only one who spoke in my favor. There was still hope. Maybe I hadn't lost everyone.

Then everyone was gone, and I was left alone in the woods with the blue-eyed beastman. Now that I knew who he was, I wanted nothing to do with him. A good face can't fix a bad personality. However, my upper and lower body seemed to be at odds with each other on that point, and my heart fluttered wildly between them.

I’d always known that I didn’t desire women, but this decidedly unpleasant wolf general was my first official confirmation that I definitely desired men instead. Still, it was nothing remarkable, and I wasn’t naive enough to mistake lust for affection.

But those eyes. I could have drowned in them without a single regret. And those lips—so full, so soft—I caught myself wondering what they tasted like. I loved the way they moved as he spoke.

Oh, shit. He was talking again, and I was definitely not listening.

“Fucking hell!” Harlow cursed, glaring at me, “Are you stupid or something? I asked you a question.”

“Could you, um, perhaps, repeat it?” I asked, my cheeks burning as I realized I’d been tuning out his voice to stare at his face.

Harlow’s eyes narrowed in contempt, “Seriously, are you stupid? Do I need to speak slower for you to understand?”

Unsurprisingly, when I actually listened to the words coming out of that sensual mouth, his face became a lot less appealing.

I straightened my back and stiffly replied, “I don’t know why you feel the need to insult me. I’m not the least bit stupid. I was distracted, which shouldn’t be surprising, given the circumstances. I will apologize for my inattentive listening skills, but only after you apologize for insulting me.”

“I’ll apologize for calling you stupid if you can manage to prove you aren’t,” Harlow scoffed, “Now, I’ll say it nice and slow for you. Why…were…they…trying…to…arrest…you?”

“For being amiss in my Royal duties,” I answered promptly, offering no elaboration.

“Imagine I’m as stupid as you are and explain what the fuck that means,” Harlow demanded impatiently.

“The short answer is that I avoided being intimate with women,” I explained simply, already tired of the conversation, “There’s a longer answer, but you won't find it any less ridiculous.”

Harlow’s face twisted in annoyance as he studied me, as if deciding whether I was worth his time.

Finally, he said, “I’ll take that long answer. Those fuckwads are the people your Prince supposedly handpicked for this, and I need to know if they’re going to cause trouble. And just so we’re clear, I haven’t decided that you aren’t here to cause trouble either.”

I sighed under his glare, “I’m not, but I doubt there’s anything I could say to convince you of that.”

“And just when you had me convinced you’re a complete moron, you go and say something smart,” Harlow mocked, “So, the long answer?”

“Fine,” I snapped, fed up his attitude. It would be better to end this quickly, so I grudgingly explained, “Silver hair with silver hair begets the golden eyed heir. Simply put, it is the Gods’ given duty of all Royals to procreate. We are expected to perform our duty at least once per moon cycle, regardless of personal desire, with the goal of conceiving the next King. Due to my own carelessness, the other knights figured out that I’ve been avoiding my duties, and assisting others, specifically fertile women, in avoiding theirs. As such, they have labeled me an apostate and intend to drag me back to the inner city.”

Harlow didn’t say anything, just watched me with an inscrutable expression.

“However,” I added cautiously, thinking of all the work Elantro had put into this arrangement, “you have nothing to worry about regarding the knights and their mission. They are not a danger to anyone but me, and I’m not in any real danger. The worst they’ll do is drag me back to the city. My freedom will be restricted, but I will not be mistreated. Otherwise, they will train with your soldiers then go home, nothing more. They’ll keep to themselves, and they won’t cause trouble for the tigers. Normally, they wouldn’t bother with outsiders at all.”

"Of course they wouldn't," Harlow snapped, his words dripping with disdain, "Cause you all think you're so much better than us, right?"

"You're misunderstanding," I responded quietly, holding my ground as Harlow loomed over me, "and quite frankly, I think you're doing it on purpose. 'Outsider' doesn't specifically mean beastmen. Anyone not born in the inner city is an outsider. And no, I don't think I'm better than you or anyone else. It's not about being better or worse. We are simply different. Between you and me, it seems like the one with prejudice regarding species would be you, General."