11. A New End #2
As Noble fastened cufflinks on his shirt’s sleeve, he thought that Aria would probably wear a bardic robe to such an event.
A long, flowing gold gown tied at the waist, with his hair loose and soft around his face.
They would sit side-by-side while they ate roasted carrots and shared dinner rolls and clinked together their glasses of red wine.
Noble stared at himself in the mirror, at the dark circles around each eye, and groaned.
He tried to wipe the mourning and memories from his face. He was in no mood to party, but alas.
A knock sounded at the door. “Come in.”
The door creaked slowly, and Noble spun around to see his aunt. Princess Prittey. She said, “I figured I’d find you in here.”
Noble let out a thoughtful hum. “Well, it is my room.”
“You’ve not come out much. Only to ride that horse, or spar with your friend.”
Noble shrugged. And then gestured for Prittey to come in. “Have a seat, if you’d like.”
She was tall and dark-skinned, with two dozen small braids wound together in one larger braid that fell down her back.
Her dress was simple—too casual for dinner downstairs and the gala after—and she said, “I haven’t gotten to talk to you at all since you’ve come to stay.
I wanted to say hello. And give my condolences on your marriage.
” She sat in the wingback chair near the window.
“Thanks, Auntie,” said Noble. He sat on the edge of his bed, opposite her. “But I’m truly beyond that now.” He didn’t care about losing Virginia. She barely crossed his mind these days.
“You’ve begun to court a new lady? Someone we’ll see tonight?”
Noble sighed. He was used to these questions now—his mother, his other aunts, and even the staff all wanted to know if he’d set his sights on a new woman to be his bride. “No.”
“No desire?”
Noble snorted before he could stop himself. He’d endless desire. For Aria.
Prittey smiled knowingly. “You can tell your auntie, Noble. Who is she?”
Noble watched her for a moment. Prittey was perhaps the only person in his family that he could trust to tell this to.
Keeping it quiet like this might have been why his mind was fixated on finding Aria in every place.
He was suppressing something outwardly, and his insides were having to bear the pressure.
But the timing was suspect. “Why did you come here now?”
Prittey’s smile turned to a smirk. “You are a clever boy. Morgan sent me. Before he left, he came to my suite.”
Noble groaned. “Of course he did.”
“He told me that you needed my guidance. Specifically mine. Which means you’ve probably done something that will let the family down, huh? Tell me. What’s wrong with her? A convicted felon? A princess from Nightveil?” Prittey gestured for Noble to continue on.
“He’s an elven bard.” Noble spoke in a rush, like he may not be able to get the words out if he’d spoken more carefully. “His name is Aria Charms of Highfell. I met him long ago, but we only became friends recently, and I—” There it was. The point where he’d choke on it, on the truth. “I love him.”
Prittey’s smile fell, replaced by a round-eyed look of shock. Noble's hands numbed. His mouth was dry. Prittey said, “Never did it cross my mind that you may have proclivities beyond the fairer sex.”
“You and I both.” Noble's voice cracked. “But I’ve thought about it with no end the last fortnight, and I think I’ve always liked men like this, but…"
“You also like women.”
“Yes. And so, that’s where I put my energy, and I married Virginia, and I never had to think about anything else.
Until now.” He couldn't meet Prittey's unwavering gaze.
He'd said it aloud: he liked men. And it wasn't relieving, and he didn't feel stronger for it.
No, in fact, he couldn't breathe. His stomach rolled.
Prittey checked her pocket watch and hummed. “Well,” said Prittey, “You're such a sweet boy. It makes sense you'd love everyone.”
Noble peeked up at his aunt, hands shaking.
Prittey rose from the chair and placed her hand upon Noble’s chin, tilting his head up. She smiled. “You needn't fear me. Or anyone, Noble. Do you need me to say it? I still love you, of course.”
Noble tried to wrest away the tears that suddenly blurred his sight. “I love you too.”
“Will you dine with me and tell me of Aria Charms?”
A tear broke free, chasing down his face, and Noble swiped it away, like he could escape Prittey's notice if he moved quickly enough. “My mother’s expecting me at our family dinner.”
Prittey kissed the top of Noble's head. “Let tonight be a bit of practice for you in disappointing Countess St. Clair. First, you miss dinner.”
Inside Prittey’s room, Noble pushed around the remaining peas on his plate.
He still had yet to eat meat since parting ways with Aria.
He thought perhaps he would never do so again.
Aria had changed him fundamentally, and he liked his diet of breads and vegetables.
He’d already told Prittey everything—started from their first disastrous meeting in Argosin and made his way all the way to the night they finally made love.
He did spare her the details, which he knew Aria would appreciate.
Prittey asked, “He’s no title?”
“No.” Noble looked down. He wouldn’t have one either, if he went through with this.
“Good thing your name’s Noble, Noble. No one can divorce that from you.”
The words settled over him, a comforting blanket of truth. He would always be Noble, wouldn’t he? “The family could pretend I didn’t exist, though.”
Prittey snorted. “They did that to me, and look at me now. At the family estate. Doing as I please. And my brother still somehow loves me, even as king.”
“My mom doesn’t like you much, though,” said Noble, and then he cringed at his own honesty.
Prittey drank her wine and sighed. “You care a lot about being liked, huh?”
Noble said, “I suppose I do.”
“Is your mother’s affection more important than Aria?”
Noble raised an eyebrow. He saw his mother sparingly—and even at their closest, she’d never been affectionate. She placed a chilly kiss upon his cheek in greeting once per day during this stay, and that was the most they’d embraced since he was a toddler. “No.”
“Then go get him.”
Noble laughed, but didn’t feel it within. “It’s not quite that simple. He doesn’t share my feelings, Auntie.”
“That is a problem. Why not?”
Noble said, “I’m spoiled, and we had a bad history together. I don’t think he trusts me, or anyone, to treat him right.”
“Will you treat him right?”
“Of course.” He used this phrase a great many times while flirting with women in his life, but for the first time, he meant it, “I’d fight the gods for him.”
Prittey giggled girlishly, and Noble could see shades of how she looked at his age, forty years ago. Her lined skin smooth and shining, her hair thicker, her body less skin and bones. “What did he say to you when you told him you loved him?”
Noble took a moment to drink from his wine glass. A long moment. His eyes looked over Prittey’s suite, rather than meet her gaze.
“Noble? You told him you loved him, did you not?”
He put the glass down, unable to avoid it. “Not exactly. He fell asleep when I said it, and the next day—we got into an argument. He’s embarrassed to be seen with me, because everyone thinks he’s my adame, and he doesn’t want that.”
Prittey understood without Noble’s explanation, which came as a surprise. “It’s got a fraught past, that work. I think it’ll go out of fashion by the end of the century.”
“I’d never really thought about it.”
“You haven’t had to—you’re a human.”
Noble eyed Prittey. “You’re a human, and you’ve thought about it.”
“I’m old. I’ve had a lot of time to do a lot of thinking. Also, I’ve courted more than one elf in my lifetime.” She grinned as she added, “They’re pretty.”
Noble agreed deeply. He groaned into both of his hands. “He’s so pretty.”
Prittey laughed. “I understand.”
“What do I do?”
“Well, I’m no expert on loving a man—” Her nose wrinkled at the concept. “But I think the first step is telling him you love him, and that you want him, and not as an adame.”
“As a husband.”
She tilted her head. “You really do love him. More than a title? More than the riches of our family state?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell him that. And if he says no?” She reached for the wine bottle and said, “The good news is that you’ve opened up a whole second world of courtship. With men.”
He didn’t want a second world. He didn’t want anyone else. His heart tightened. “What if he already has someone else?” Hampenstead may have forgiven Aria for their night together. Aria may have chosen him.
“Noble,” Prittey poured the remainder of the wine into her glass and said, “There are a thousand ways this can go wrong. That’s how love works.”
Distantly, Noble heard the first bells of the Gala, and the announcement of the guests as they arrived. “I need to tell him how I feel.”
“I believe you do.”
Noble said, “Thank you. Really. Not just for talking to me, but for…” For being who she was. For choosing love over reputation. For showing Noble he could do the same.
“You’re welcome.” She leaned in as he bent down to place a kiss upon her cheek. “Enjoy the party. Then tell your elf he’s got to marry you.”
“Got to?”
“Well, I’m dying to meet him, now.” She laughed, and he couldn’t help his responding grin. “Go find him and say what you must so that I may get to take in his beautiful visage.”