“Mom,” Kade said, sounding exasperated. Florian’s heart was pounding in his chest; he wanted to interject, but for all his racing thoughts, he couldn’t put a coherent sentence together.
“All these men, always the same,” Meriwa muttered, moving back to her basket of blankets. She pulled some out and started sorting them into a wardrobe on the opposite wall. “Off to have their adventures, leaving their women behind to keep things running. Psh! I’m sure poor Tatiana is saddled with all the responsibility as always. The title should have gone to her, not some child raised on Earth. It’s a shame.”
“Meriwa!” Kallik snapped, outright scowling now. “This is our guest. A king, whether you like it or not. Would it kill you to have some respect?”
“Please,” Kade added. The woman sighed, glancing back at Florian.
“Begging your pardon,” she said, though her tone didn’t change. “You’re still awfully young. Maybe you’ll learn yet.”
“Florian has learned a lot in the time he’s been in the Veil,” Kade said quickly, taking a protective step toward him. “He’s brave, and kind—all good qualities for a king. And he’s...” He trailed off, glancing nervously at Florian with color rising in his face. The air in the room suddenly seemed much colder than it had been, the atmosphere instantly shifting. “He’s, um, my...”
“Kade,” Kallik interrupted in a low warning tone, and when Florian looked back at him, his eyes had narrowed suspiciously. “What are you saying?”
Despite the flush in his face, Kade’s brows furrowed defiantly, and he stood up straighter next to Florian. “He’s my boyfriend,” he said, and despite himself, Florian smiled. It still felt good to hear.
“Damn it, Kade,” Kallik sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “I told you you’d have to stay focused if you were going to serve the fae.”
“I was focused. Iamfocused,” Kade snapped. “For five years I’ve been focused on nothing but the Winter Court.”
“It’s not that he isn’t focused, Kallik,” Meriwa interjected. Her eyes lingered on Florian—something in her expression had changed, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint the emotion on her face. “It’s that he’s too ambitious by far.”
“Ambitious?Ambitious?” Kade said, sounding stunned, as he turned to look at her. “Is that really what you think? That I’m trying to, what, take the Winter Court for myself? Really?”
“Maybe she’s right,” Kallik sighed.
Florian frowned. He hadn’t expected their first meeting to go this way, but seeing Kade all but withering under his parents’ scrutiny sparked a hot anger in his stomach. Nobody would take their relationship seriously unless hemadethem take it seriously, it seemed.
“Whatever you’re thinking is going on, you’re wrong,” he said, and all three looked at him sharply. He drew himself up to his full height, chin up, making no effort to hide his irritation. “You think he’s using me for some kind of power he doesn’t already have? Is that it?”
“King Florian—” Kallik started, and Florian rounded on him angrily.
“You said it yourself. Iama king,” he snapped, and it almost pleased him to see Kallik shrink away, glancing down at his lap. “I think I would recognize someone using me for power if I saw it. I was interested in Kade first. It was my idea, and it happened before Jerah died. If Kade really wanted my power, he could have killed me at any point. Like you said, I lived on Earth almost my whole life. Kade is the one who taught me how to fight. If anything, he’s already the one with more power between us. But I trust him, and I care about him, and I know he—”
For the first time he faltered, glancing over at Kade. The taller man’s expression had morphed entirely, his eyes wide and utterly enraptured—he looked completely smitten. “I know he cares about me. This has nothing to do with my father or the Winter Court.”
For a moment there was silence, as his words lingered heavily in the air. Kallik couldn’t meet his eyes—Kade was looking at him with the same dumbfounded look—and Meriwa’s eyes were narrow. Then, finally, she started to laugh, tension starting to drain from the room.
“Oh, good. You seemed a little spineless at first, boy,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I suppose you’re adults after all, so you’ll do what you want. Maybe he’ll be good for you, Kade. And, Florian, try to get him out of his shell a little bit. His standoffishness is his worst quality.”
“Um,” Florian said, entirely taken aback. Considering she had immediately treated the revelation with suspicion, he hadn’t expected that sort of reaction from her. “Uh… Alright.”
“Anyway, I have the rest of this laundry to deal with,” she sighed, continuing as idly as if they had just been discussing the weather. “Kade, be sure to say hello to your brother and sister before dinner. Your cousins would like to see you too. Ani had her baby, oh, two months ago now, I know she’d like you to meet her.”
“A baby girl?” Kade asked, snapping out of whatever reverie he had been in. There was still some warmth to his cheeks as he turned to face his mother. “What are they calling her?”
“Sesi,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “The plainest name possible. Can you believe it? Some people havenoimagination.” She continued muttering to herself even as she left the room, the door swinging shut behind them.
Next to him, Kallik sighed deeply. Florian looked back to see that he was peering up at him with a cowed look.
“Please accept my apologies, King Florian,” the older man said. “I... had no intention of insinuating anything about you. That should have remained between me and my son. I apologize.”
“I accept your apology,” Florian said stiffly, though he glanced nervously over at Kade as he said it. But the other man had the beginnings of a small smile on his face, reassuring him.
Kallik sighed once more, seeming to gather his thoughts, before gesturing for Kade to come closer. They both stood in front of him as he wrung his hands together before speaking again.
“King Florian,” he said, looking up at him. “Is it true, then, that you’re a Changeling? The prophesied prince?”
“Yes,” Florian said, nodding, at the same time Kade answered, “He is.”
