“No, I don’t think so. Off you go, Sam.” He raised his voice a little to be heard over the bitten-off grunts and the sounds of wood on wood. “You’re all dismissed for the day.”
Sam was quick to jump to his feet, pulling Darcy up with him. They both headed towards the barracks while the older guards took the time to place their weapons back into the timber racks where they belonged before leaving.
Evan bent and picked up Sam’s staff, holding it in front of himself with both hands. “You know, that looked rather fun.” He swung the staff around in a wide arc and Thomas had to dodge swiftly to one side to avoid getting smacked upside the head.
“Oops!” Evan said. He flashed Thomas a wide smile and spun the staff again. “Can I have a turn? I think I’d be quite good at it.”
Thomas took a moment to weigh up whether he was more likely to earn a reprimand for refusing the duke’s request or for whacking him with a big stick. In the end he reasoned that his chances were fairly even either way, but that he’d get in slightly less trouble for an accidental blow than an outright refusal, so he might as well play along. “Certainly,” he said, grabbing Darcy’s staff out of the dirt. “Have you ever fought before?”
Evan laughed. “Heavens, no. I’m more decorative than dangerous. But how hard can it be, really?” He held his staff out in front of himself and waved it. His movements were so stiff and awkward that Thomas wanted to grab the weapon from him before he could hurt himself, but Evan had a firm grip on the staff and a gleam in his eye that told Thomas he’d be wasting his time. “So I just hit you, do I?”
“Youtryto hit me,” Thomas said.
“I mean, you’re a substantial target,” Evan said, looking Thomas up and down. He took a half step forward and swung his staff in a jerky motion that only managed to frighten off the ravens that were perched on the fence railings. “I meant to do that,” Evan said. “Terrible things, blackbirds.”
“Try and relax,” Thomas said.
Evan took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, and some of the tension left his frame. He was still holding his staff all wrong though, and Thomas couldn’t help himself. “Begging your pardon, but.” He dropped his own weapon and stepped forward, then grasped the duke by the shoulder and spun him so his back was against Thomas’s chest. He placed his hands over Evan’s and gently adjusted his grip, then pulled the staff closer to their bodies so that Evan’s elbows were bent at the correct angle. “Like that,” he said, “and plant your feet. Otherwise you’ll end up arse over teakettle.” He slid a foot between the duke’s and nudged them out into a wider stance.
Perhaps Thomas was imagining it, but he could have sworn Evan leaned against him. His body was a warm, solid weight, and Thomas exhaled slowly and willed his cock to behave.
After a moment Evan let out a long breath of his own, stepped forward, and turned to face him. When he advanced this time, it was with more confidence, and before Thomas could blink, Evan had managed to aim his blow in the right direction.In what was surely a stroke of luck, his staff connected solidly with Thomas’s. His face lit up with a grin, and he swung again.
This time Thomas was prepared, and he blocked the thrust easily, holding his own weapon at each end, raising it sideways, and using his bulk to shove Evan backward.
For a moment it seemed like Evan might hold his ground, but then he stumbled back a step and promptly fell over, landing on his arse in the dirt. He sat there, arms resting on his raised knees, and let out a chuckle. “Well done, Captain. You must be a skilled fighter to take me down so easily.”
Thomas wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he wisely stayed silent and extended a hand. Evan reached up and grasped his forearm in a surprisingly firm grip, pulling himself to his feet. He reached around and dusted off the seat of his pants with a sigh.
“Did you want to try again, Your Grace?” Thomas prayed the answer was no. Apart from that one lucky blow, Evan seemed to be as hopeless at this as he was at everything else, and Thomas had no intention of being the one who sent him to the physician.
Evan brushed at the dust on the front of his tunic. “Call me Evan. And I don’t think so. Physical activity isn’t for me after all.” He paused, and the corners of his mouth tugged up in a wicked smirk. “Well, notthisphysical activity.”
Thomas swallowed as the image of Evan’s bare arse flashed through his mind. He pushed it away and busied himself picking up their weapons and putting them in their racks. When he turned around it was to find Evan’s gaze fixed on him, assessing him in a way that sent a shiver up his spine for no discernible reason.
“Was there something else?”
Evan blinked. “You know, I think there was, but I can’t quite—no, wait. Yes! Leo wants to see you.”
Thomas paused in his movements. “Did His Majesty say why he wanted to see me?”
“Oh, I think it was something about a threat to the crown.”
Thomas’s gut clenched. “Someone threatened the king?”
Evan’s eyes widened. “Did they? Then you should go and tell Leo about it at once!”
Thomas opened his mouth to tell Evan he was an idiot, then thought better of it. Instead, he hurried up the path to the castle.
“We don’t know much,” King Leopold said, running a hand through his messy hair. From his tousled appearance, Thomas suspected it wasn’t the first or even the tenth time he’d done so today. “Just that there have been some whispers around the place that someone is targeting a member of the royal family. Nothing concrete, but I want you to be extra vigilant until all the guests have left. Double the patrols.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” Thomas said, his mind already ticking over.
“It might be nothing,” Prince Felix said, leaning over from where he was sitting next to the king and smoothing down his husband’s errant locks, “but given that it’s not the first time someone’s tried to knock Leo off his perch, we prefer to exercise caution.”
“I’m not a parrot,” Leopold snapped, shooting Felix a glare. That in itself was evidence that the king was more worried than he was letting on. “Besides, they might not be coming for me. They might be after you.”
Felix snorted. “They know better than to take me on.” He patted the short sword he kept strapped to his thigh. He wore itat all times and had done so ever since someone had kidnapped him back when he’d still been the king’s bodyguard and secret lover.
