Page 20 of The Mage's Rake
“I see.”
Second Voice didn’t sound pleased with how First Voice was responding.
“Why?” asked First Voice. “Do you feel differently?”
There was a silence. Second Voice must have answered with some kind of gesture.
“If you have concerns,” First Voice said a little stiffly, “I recommend approaching the King or his advisors.”
“I have concerns about the treaty. If it were to fall through, Sumarene would be placed in an awkward position. It would need a strong leader.”
“Well, then let us hope—and work toward—a peaceful treaty with the North,” said the First Voice mildly. “I’m sure you will alert His Grace, Duke Gareth, or one of the king’s other council members if you hear of anything.”
“You would support a throne undermined by the Munni?” asked the Second Voice sardonically. “You would trust a young impressionable king—“
“We’ll always disagree on the matter of the king and his Munni guards—“
“His lover is—“
“None. Of. Our. Business,” said the First Voice now coldly, all pretense of friendliness gone.
The ensuing silence fell heavily between the two toms. First Voice then urged his friend to reconsider, to share his concerns. No doubt First Voice was thinking the same thing that Hugh and I were thinking—someone was about to target the upcoming treaty with Esteria. There were only a few options as to who that might be.
I stared up at Hugh then, noticing the tense muscle that rose out of his collared shirt. His jaw was taut with tension and the muscles of his arms around me tensed. Every nerve of him screamed alarm and fury. It was taking everything within the knight to not betray our position. However, Hugh didn’t needmy silent clutching fingers to stay him. He remained seated in the shadows with me, listening to the insidious whispers of catkin who wished to harm the king.
Eventually, the two toms left, and we were able to ease back for a moment. After exhaling a gusty sigh, I glanced at Hugh and offered a crooked smile.
“I suppose we ought to be thankful about your proclivities, Hugh.”
I slowly eased out from between the curtains and looked around cautiously just in case. No one else was hiding in the room alongside us, but I was still on edge. I wasn’t used to sneaking about and eavesdropping on people’s conversations. My voice remained low-pitched, just in case. Hugh followed behind me more slowly.
Running his hands through his wild hair, Hugh stared at me, clearly disturbed about what he’d heard. He rubbed his face slowly and turned about the room once. After a moment, he made up his mind. Casting a quick look at me, from head to foot, Hugh pursued his lips. Ruffling my hair and messing at some buttons on my collar, he leaned back and looked at me critically.
“Alright, that will have to do.”
“Are you attempting to make us look like we have been making love?” I asked curiously.
“Better than people realizing that we might be skulking about in window seats.”
Was Hugh expecting me to throw a fit?I realized that perhaps he wasn’t as certain about me as I would like. I had certainly fallen into the habit of frowning at him or scolding him whenever we met up. Part of it was the misery of watching Hugh enjoy himself in another cat’s company. Part of it was the self-hate that mounted as I struggled to make heads or tails of what to do.
After all, if I was to be honest with myself, I didn’t wish to end up as another one of Hugh’s flings. I wished to have him for myself, for him to pledge himself to me as my one-and-only knight… and I would gladly promise myself to him in turn.
Of course, it was not that easy. No matter how much knowledge I had gained in the White Tower, nothing had prepared me for the delicate dance of love. I had gone about it all wrong, I now could see. Was I too late? Pushing away my fears, I smiled up at High and flicked my tail lazily.
“Well, if you wished to add even more of an element of truth to the idea…” I suggested playfully.
Hugh chuckled then, leaned forward to kiss me on the cheek, and placed his hands on my shoulders. What he saw behind my spectacles, I did not know. I hoped he saw more welcome than before. Hugh smiled then, revealing his fine white teeth and the sparest of dimples that I had glimpsed only a few times before.
“Alan, you have been quite the surprise, and perhaps someday, after all this is said and done—“
“After you have found true love?” I asked lightly.
“To lift the curse?” Hugh tilted his head and then laughed again. “I’m not certain what that would look like, to be honest.”
“Well, there’s no harm in trying out a variety of approaches to breaking it,” I pointed out. “Like kissing and… other things.” I ended with a blush.
“That’s… one way of going about it, I suppose,” Hugh smirked then. “You really are full of ideas, tonight, Alan. You have me thinking about all sorts of possibilities.”
