Page 19 of Conspirators' Kingdom

How diligent of her. He grinned.

“I’m to be spoiled for choice?”

“Yes, I…” She swallowed, her eyes devouring the sight of him before she caught herself.

Interesting. Was she pleased with the sight of his body? She had such trouble averting her curious stares.

“You…?” he teased her, leaning on the frame of the door, closer to her. He wondered if he shouldn’t invite her inside, exhausted though he was. He could not afford to let a chance at seduction slip through his fumbling grasp.

She cleared her throat and stared very pointedly at his feet. Even the tips of her ears were pink now.

Pretty.

“I didn’t want any of them to get too confident. A little competition should help speed things along.”

“It’s a good plan,” he replied, reaching out a hand to touch her. “Would you-”

“Tomorrow at noon! Be dressed and ready by then,” she interrupted, jumping back. “And don’t answer your door in the nude again. It’s not… it’s not done in Lethe.”

With that, she turned and fled down the corridor. A pity.

“I’m still wearing my shoes,” he muttered.

It seemed the mages were a prudish lot. He’d have to cure his future wife of this affliction before they returned to his homeland. Shrugging, he turned back to his empty bed, collapsing into it with a sigh. When he closed his eyes, it wasn’t Chloe’s bright green eyes that he dreamt of, but distrustful amethyst ones, both shy and hungry.

He slept like the dead until he heard Bas’ voice. The morning light struck him like a body blow. Head fragile, the prior evening’s pleasant fuzziness had fled, the remnant a distasteful feeling on his tongue.

“You look awful. I hope it was worth it.”

Mereruka groaned at Bas’ reproach. The shifter stood over him in his two-legged form and grinned devilishly.

“Water,” Mereruka croaked.

Bas rolled his eyes but proffered a glass nonetheless. Mereruka gulped it down.

“Stay away from the wine,” he hissed as he rolled into a seated position.

Bas tossed him a set of clothes.

“Get dressed. If what the ambassador said yesterday is still true, we don’t have much time before you’ll need to be presentable.”

“You were here? Last night?”

“Yeah, I was. I got to see—and smell—you in all your drunken glory. Did you drink a whole damn amphora of wine? No, I don’t care. If the ambassador hadn’t ogled you first, I’d have told you to apologise to her for swinging your dick around in front of her.”

“Language, Bas,” Mereruka warned.

“Manners, Dad,” Bas replied in an unflattering imitation of his nagging voice.

“You called me Dad. You haven’t called me that for an age.” Mereruka smiled.

Though he’d as much as adopted Bas as a child, the shifter had refused to direct any sort of endearment his way since he’d hit his adolescence. Gone were the easy hugs and easier laughs. Used to be all he had to do was make a silly face and his adorable little boy would laugh for days. He had to settle for teasing now. Bas blushed and tossed a pillow at Mereruka.

“Shut up! Do you want to know what I learned or not?”

“I’m all ears,” Mereruka groaned as he hauled himself out of the bed and headed to the bathing pool in the adjacent room, his head pounding. When he returned to Maat, he was going to have one just like it built in his home. Mage wine was too strong, but their baths were exquisite. Bas stood in the doorway and looked askance as he spoke.

“Mages don’t live very long. Two hundred years at most. Their magic is limited. Most of them can only command a single element. Those who are able use magic often, but it’s always in very small ways. When I got to the palace, I heard all about what happened here about a year ago. Apparently, three governors plotted with a secret prince to overthrow the current emperor. They all died, but their families were spared. There was a lot of talk about the ambassador. She’s the daughter of one of the traitors, but because she’s also half-sister of the empress, she was only excluded from society for a year. Oh, and you’ll get a good laugh at this. Apparently, a lot of the mages who can’t stand to be around fae thinkyou’rethe cursed ones.”

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