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I pushed back from my desk and inhaled, capturing Arden’s lingering scent in the air. She had curled up in the chair near my desk, reading a book for a while before returning to Jagger’s quarters to go to sleep.
A new rush of frustration, unrelated to the festival, came over me. I wanted to touch her.Neededto.
Even though I couldn’t kiss her, my feelings for her were stronger than ever. All I wanted was for her to be okay during all of this, especially with all of our families coming.
Had she done okay with Jagger’s family? They were fairly harmless in the grand scheme of things, but all of them had a pretentious streak that would rub Arden the wrong way. It rubbedmethe wrong way, and I’d known them for most of my life.
My mother was just as harmless as Jagger’s stepmother, but my cousin, Elias, had a vendetta against me. And because he had a vendetta against me, he’d extend that honor to anyone I cared for. Even if Arden and I weren’t openly together, everyone we were around knew we were close.
I stretched and sat back down at my desk, working through a few extraneous tasks related to the crime prevention across the kingdom to pass the time. An aide broke my focus by stepping inside and clearing his throat.
“Your Highness, your family has arrived, and you have a guest,” the aide said.
I looked up from my papers, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll see them when I come for them.”
The aide shifted his stance, glancing down at his feet for a moment.
“Lord Elias is waiting outside and would like to meet with you to discuss matters in the kingdom before the festivities start.”
I snorted. “Tell him to fuck off.”
The aide looked over his shoulder right as Elias barged in, an enforcer directly behind him. I growled. My eyes had been on him for less than ten seconds, but the sight of him already had my blood boiling.
As expected, he was dressed in an expensive, flashy suit. To my dismay, we shared many traits—curly hair, brown eyes—but thankfully, our similarities ended there. He’d had the misfortune of inheriting his father’s drawn, angular features that made him look just as devious as he could be.
“Hello, Your Highness,” Elias said, a smarmy smile spreading across his face. “So nice to see you.”
“You’re bothering me. Get out,” I hissed.
Despite my very real demand, he wandered in further, taking a look around my office.
“I actually have business to discuss. The aide was right.” Elias waved the aide and enforcer off, and they stepped outside. “Would you rather get it done now, or draw out the misery knowing you’ll have to deal with me later?”
At least he was aware of how much I hated him.
“What do you want to discuss?” I asked.
“The crime prevention program you and the others have been rolling out.” Elias kept wandering, smelling a flowering plant that Arden had grown for me while practicing her abilities.
“Fine. Sit.” I sighed and created a small gust to push back the seat across from my desk. “How is it going in your region?”
“My aides are still gathering data on its effects.” Elias glanced at the chair I’d created for him but took his time coming toward the seat. “But in terms of the actual implementation of it, it’s going well.”
“Good.” I studied him, my eyes widening when I noticed where he was looking.
“Whose is this?” He picked up Arden’s gray hoodie, which was bunched up with a throw blanket on the couch.
I blew it out of his hands, guiding it to myself and tucking it into my drawer.
“My guests are none of your concern.” I nodded to the open seat.
“Mm.” Elias smirked. Once he had something, he wouldn’t let it go. “Smells female. Are you courting someone? Will we meet her?”
“If you don’t have more business to attend to, then get the fuck out of my office.” The papers on my desk rustled as my control on air slipped.
“Fine, fine.” Elias held his hands up in front of him and backed toward the exit. That smirk was still on his face. If he wasn’t mostly out the door, I would have punched it off him. “See you at dinner.”
An enforcer closed the door behind him, and I slid down in my seat. Elias was probably crafting rumors already. It was only a matter of time before he started spreading them. I’d find out at dinner.
