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It was neither an agreement, nor a denial, simply an acknowledgment that she'd spoken.
"Okay, well, I'm off to bed too, I think. Goodnight, Your Highness." It was clear there would be no sharing of confidences tonight. Any friendship would have to built later, over time.
Blythe couldn't help feeling she'd dismissed an opportunity to get to know the prince that wasn't going to be offered again.
"Goodnight, Miss Whitney-Jones."
Blythe did her best not to wince at his acceptance of her formal address and just as formal response to it.
It was for the best.
She was still telling herself that hours later as she lay sleepless in her solitary bed.
Tor didn't see Else until lunch the following day. They were eating alone in the private gardens. She wore dark glasses, her hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail.
"This is a different look for you," he teased. "Still feeling the effects of last night's champagne?"
She flopped into a chair and flipped him off. "My parents are spending the day shopping."
"So, you can get away with it, huh?"
"Exactly." She stared up at him morosely. "If they have their way, I'll have a husband soon to make sure I'm always up to their perfect standards."
"I have an idea about that."
"What?"
"I'm going to cancel my gap year and tell my family it's because I want to spend both years of graduate school with you." Which, in one respect was very true. If Tor wasn't going to spend his gap year traveling and pursuing a relationship with Blythe, he would prefer to have the company of his best friends for both years.
"I'm sorry," Else said, clearly knowing why he no longer felt the need for the time between university and pursuing his MBA. "But I don't see how that's going to curb my parents' enthusiasm for me getting my MRS."
"I am going to announce it at dinner tonight."
"So?"
"So… I'm also going to say that while you and I are not ready to make anything official, we have an understanding."
"That's brilliant." Else praised him, showing more animation than she had since finding him in their favorite secluded picnic area. "Not a lie, because we do have an understanding."
"Yes, we are never going to get married." He smiled grimly.
"But it will buy me at least a couple of years. You know once we get our MBAs, they are going to push for us to set a date."
"I know it's not a long-term solution, but if you want to continue with the pretense, we can tell them we don't want to set anything until I finish my two years of military service. Since, I will most likely spend the entire two years in a war zone, that it entirely practical."
While both his older brothers had done their two years of military service, neither the king, nor his heir could be risked in actual combat or the more dangerous peacekeeping assignments. As the third son, Tor, on the other hand, had served in a reservist capacity in the Tapt Oyerian Military since he was eighteen, attending weekly training during the academic year and longer sessions in the summers for both combat skills and officer training.
He would have six weeks of final training before deployment to a high priority location for their allies.
Else frowned, pulling her sunglasses off to glare at him with bleary eyes. "You're going in as an officer."
"I am." But he had no intention of hiding behind his position or royal privilege. His friend knew him well enough to know that too.
Else's grimace of acceptance said as much. "You're sure you're okay with pretending we have something between us?"
"I am." Tor had no intention of actually lying to his family.
It would all be implication. Which he had no problem with. Because if they knew him at all, or had listened to him talk about his best friend, they would know that implication could never be what it sounded like.
