“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lex said, his grin still in place and widening at the corners, if that was even possible. “I also heard it’s a girl.” He dropped his voice at the last part as if we were sharing a secret of some sort.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. He’s bringing her here? And why didn’t I know about this?”
Lex held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Hey, man, I don’t know why he didn’t tell you. Lover’s quarrel, perhaps?” He shrugged his shoulders and dropped his hands. “At any rate, I heard she’ll be joining us sooner rather than later, like within the next month. Figured you’d want to know so that way, you know, you can do whatever it is you do to prepare the Mages and whatever.” He threw his hands around in a circular motion which encompassed the entirety of my office and the destruction on my desk.
“Anything else, Lex?” I was growing impatient and was suddenly exhausted.
Lex picked up a random missive on my desk and studied it, or at least appeared to study it. “Do you get a lot of these? Requests to parade naked through the streets?” When I didn’t answer he just continued on as if I had. “You should approve them more often. Nowthatsounds like my kind of party.”
“Out with it, Lex,” I practically growled.
“Okay, okay, no need to go all bear on me,” he said as he dropped the paper back on my desk and crossed one booted foot over his leg. “Apparently she’s also joining the Academy.”
While that information was new, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Ellowyn was from a wealthy family loyal to Alois and had emerged as an incredibly powerful Creation Mage. As much as I disliked the girl, even I could appreciate the waves of power that flowed from her after she Awakened.
“And she’s staying in the palace,” Lex finished in a rush.
What the fuck.
“WHAT,” I barked. My home with Alois was my safe space. We had an agreement that we didn’t even entertain women at the palace—we had a separate home for just that purpose, not that I’d used it. But still, the palace wasours, and now he was inviting her to live in it?
“And that’s my cue to leave!” Lex hurriedly pushed out of the chair and made it to the door of my office in three long strides. I was still so fuming and processing the information Lex dumped on me that I almost didn’t hear his parting remarks. “Oh, and maybe keep it between us? That I was the one that told you, that is?” His eyes, so normally full of laughter, were serious for once.
I gave him one stiff nod and his smile returned.
“Great!” He rapped his knuckles on the door frame as he went to leavebut stopped for a second time. “Maybe you should hire someone to, you know, go through all the nudist petitions and stuff. Because, uh, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to sign what you signed today.” And with that, he left.
I quickly grabbed the paper he was looking at earlier, desperate for something I could control. I crunched it in my fist in my haste and had to smooth it against the top of my desk before I could read it.
We, the Nudists for the Utopia of Trees, or NUT for short, request to have a gathering in the front courtyard of the palace on the first day of the next moon cycle in order to bring attention to the unfair and destructive force that is the lumber industry. We also request the participation of Lord d’Refan and General d’Alvey to show solidarity with our cause.
I crumpled the missive into a ball before tossing it into the unlit fireplace. Their name was fucking NUT. I ran my hands through my hair and groaned before looking at the utter disaster that was my office. I hadn’t even made a dent in the paperwork added to the piles on my desk while we were gone, my to-do list was a mile long, and I needed to visit with the Mages sooner rather than later.
Maybe Lex was right, I do need someone to help with all of this administrative shit.
I sighed and rose from my chair, deciding that all of these issues would still be here in the morning. And it looked like it was going to be an early morning with everything I had left to do. Most importantly, however, was the conversation I needed to have with Alois. I clicked the button on my wall, extinguishing the orbs on the ceiling, and reactivated the security on my door before exiting the administration building and starting the short walk back to the palace—my home and, apparently, Ellowyn’s.
Chapter 24
Rohak
The walk home was quick, but much needed after the harrowing afternoon I had. The temperature was cool in the city, and the constant breeze chilled my body, but inside I was still an inferno of frustration.
Why would Alois do this without consulting me first? Fuck, eventellingme first?
It seemed odd and completely out of character. We were close, closer than brothers, and told each other everything. I scoffed at myself.
I sound like a teenage girl.
I continued mulling over the information Lex gave me earlier as I approached the outer gates to the palace courtyard. The Mages recognized me and my magical signature, and immediately opened the gates. As I stepped into the modest courtyard, I barked a laugh at the image of a hundred-odd people, naked and talking about the utopia of trees. Which, honestly, didn’t make any fucking sense.
But what did I know.
I strode quickly through the courtyard, which was really just an open grassy space with a few benches interspersed amongst a random clustering of bushes and the occasional tree, and climbed the five steps that led to the front doors. While Alois and I called our residence “the palace,” the namewas really an intimidation tactic for visiting dignitaries. It was, in all honesty, more of a modest manor house, similar in style and architecture to that of the manor in Hestin. Grey stone dominated the exterior of the building, weatherworn and smooth at this point, but beautiful nonetheless. The doors were a deep mahogany, carved with reliefs depicting the rise of Vespera and Alois’ line. Alois had the doors commissioned from unknown Elemental Mage artists in the inner city, which, after their work here, made them a household name for the elite in Vespera. They were also the artists who created the monstrosity of my desk, and I always got the strange sense that if I looked long enough, I swore I could see them move.
But it was just a trick of my imagination and phenomenal artistry.
The doors opened of their own accord—some sort of security measure invented by Art or Gene—and I made quick work of passing through the foyer and into the shared spaces on the first floor. The servants quickly bowed or curtsied, but I paid them no mind today. Usually, I was at least polite if not begrudgingly friendly, but I didn’t have the capacity for it after the news Lex shared. They clearly recognized this as they scuttled away quickly after paying their respects, not bothering to interrupt my brisk pace.
