NOAH #2
He was in a black tailcoat with satin lapels, and the crisp white waistcoat and bow tie contrasted with the navy-blue sash of the House of Valoria.
At his neck he wore the Order of Saint Maris neck badge, which was a silver-and-white-gold Maltese cross with a deep blue sapphire in the center.
He had a restrained row of medals, including the crest of the king on his breast pocket, and mirror-polished shoes, and I’d had an immediate image of how it would’ve felt to be kneeling at his feet tying those shoes, had he allowed me to tonight.
Maybe he would’ve touched me again. A hand to my hair. Fingers to my cheek. Lips to my lips…
But he hadn’t. He’d dismissed me. He’d put the distance I’d asked for between us, and now here I was, closing it.
Stupid, I told myself, even as I made my way past the foreign secretary, who was talking to the prime minister. Then the crowd parted, the two royals everyone was here to see tonight came into direct view, and it felt as though a lead stone dropped into the pit of my stomach.
Prince de la Vega had a hand resting lightly on the arm of Nicholas’s jacket, and while he was all smiles to everyone who congratulated them on their upcoming nuptials, Nicholas seemed slightly less enthused.
His lips were tight, his head held high in that regal way he had about himself, but every now and then he would look at the man beside him with a curious expression I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
It wasn’t affection; there was no genuine smile or humor between the two of them, and his eyes weren’t sparkling like they had the time I’d made him laugh.
But there was an interest in whom he was going to be committing his life to as he did his best to get to know the prince in front of a room full of people.
One thing was for certain: Nicholas didn’t need a fanfare to announce that he had arrived. He merely had to step inside for everyone in the room to feel that royalty had entered their orbit.
Maybe the prince could learn a thing or two from him about that.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I’d been so focused on Nicholas that I hadn’t heard anyone come up beside me. Not that that was unusual; most people wouldn’t talk to the staff of the palace. But then again, most people weren’t Prince Gabriel.
“I… Nowhere, Your Royal Highness.”
Gabriel leaned in slightly and said, “So formal, Mr. Bennett,” then plucked a glass off the tray. “You look very dashing this evening.”
I wasn’t sure how to react, considering my job tonight was to be invisible. “As do you, sir.”
“I do, don’t I?” He smirked as he moved to stand beside me. “These gatherings are so boring, don’t you think?”
The last time I checked, I wasn’t supposed to think. But when the prince asked you a question, the one thing you didn’t do was ignore him.
“It’s a lot of people, talking about—”
“Boring things.”
“I wouldn’t know, sir.”
“No?” Gabriel brought his glass to his lips and took a sip. “Tell me, Bennett, what do you do for fun?”
I gazed around the room, looking for Baxter, knowing that if he caught me standing here chatting it up with the prince, he’d have my hide. Even if it was Gabriel who’d instigated it.
“I… I don’t really do anything. I’m too busy working.”
Gabriel turned to look at me, a frown pulling between his brows. “For my brother?”
“For whoever’s employment I’m under, yes.”
“Well, that won’t do. You need to tell him to give you some time off.”
I snorted at that. The idea of telling the king anything was preposterous. “I don’t think so.”
“Why?” Gabriel glanced at me over the rim of his glass. “He’s not that much of a monster.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head and then turned to look in the direction of the king, my heart squeezing when I saw him laugh—actually laugh—at something the prince just said. “He’s not a monster at all.”
If Gabriel noticed the way my voice changed, he didn’t say anything.
“What do you think of Prince de la Vega?” he asked.
There was no way he could possibly think I was going to answer that. But when I thought he’d leave and let me go on my way, Gabriel just stood there waiting.
“He’s, um, got a big…personality. And sword.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Noticing his sword now, are we?”
“It was kind of hard to miss.”
Gabriel looked over to his brother and Prince de la Vega and nodded. “That it was.” Then he drained the rest of his champagne in one long swallow. He placed the empty glass back on my tray and inclined his head. “Thank you for the drink and the interesting conversation.”
“Of course, Your Highness. Anytime.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes slightly, and something about the way he ran them over my face made my breath catch. “I’ll remember that. Have a good night, Bennett.”
As he walked away from me, my gaze followed his every step, and when I caught myself, I quickly looked back to Nicholas to see that he’d moved over to the dining table to take his seat at the head of it, with the prince to his right.
Dinner was about to be served, and as the King and Prince of Valoria took their seats, I couldn’t help but look between the two, something niggling at the back of my brain.
No.
No, it can’t be…can it?
I quickly shoved the ludicrous thought of the twins’ switching places out of my mind as the dinner bell was rung, and made my way back down to the kitchens. I had a long night ahead of myself, and the last thing I needed was to get caught up in wishful thinking.