26
Luke
“Look at that muscle!” I exclaimed, wrapping my hand around Al’s thigh and squeezing it. She lay along the chaise with her legs crossed at her ankles and thrown over my lap.
“She’s almost as ripped as you, mate,” Rhett teased.
Clearly, Rhett was exaggerating, but after training with the Prince, Al’s body did look different. Although her training had seemed to be initially focused on her magic, it sounded like her time with the Prince had turned into little more than gym sessions most days. As a result, some of her feminine softness was now replaced by toned muscle.
“I think I can officially say that I can push around more weight with my muscles than I can magically,” Al said, sounding proud and exasperated at the same time. “Of course, my ‘magic’ isn’t much more than a puff of wind these days,” she elaborated.
Obviously, I saw the appeal of unearthing Al’s magical abilities. She had all but healed my own magical powers. And Rhett’s too. But, so far, Al reported that they had had little success in advancing her magical abilities. She didn’t share very many details with me about her training sessions with the Prince these days. Not since she told me about the stunt Nik pulled with leaving her stranded in the middle of an ocean and I had reacted less than favorably to such tactics.
Some of my thoughts of displeasure must have shown through on my face because Al asked, “Luke, why don’t you like the Prince? I mean, I know you don’t love the idea of my training sessions, but you didn’t like him before all of that,” she said.
“You mean other than the fact that he lines up every woman in the Kingdom, decides whether he wants to marry them or not, and has deemed every woman in Valencia thus far unworthy? And this year that will include my—” I caught myself. “Well, it will include you and Karina.”
“Is there something other than that?” she asked earnestly.
“Yes,” I replied quietly. We sat in silence for a moment. “You know about my little brother, Jacob?” I asked.
She nodded her head. My youngest brother, Jacob, who had died in the last war.
“We were all under Nik’s command at the time. Nik was”—I clenched my teeth like it caused me pain to say these next words— “a good commander, overall. He fought on the front lines next to his soldiers, and he fought well. But the day that Jacob died, Nik had separated us. He wanted me in the battalion along the northeastern lines, where we thought we were going to get hit hardest, so I could protect and heal our guys and make them last longer along that front. And he put Jacob’s battalion, which had some of our less experienced lads, farthest away from the action,” I said.
“It made sense, Al. It was a solid battle plan. But I was so far away from Jacob, and I’d promised my mother that I’d protect him. And when…” I paused, my nostrils flaring. I took a deep breath. “When Jacob was injured, I was too far away from him. No one came to get me. When I finally got to him, it was too late. Nik and I had words. More than words… We came to blows. He was mad that I’d left my battalion before the battle was over. I was mad that he hadn’t let me go to Jacob sooner. I won’t tell you which of us was right. Nik and I weren’t friends before, but after…” I trailed off, pursing my lips and tilting my head to the side in dissatisfaction.
“He’s nearly as ruthless as Vandros, Al. Everyone is just a resource to him,” Rhett added.
Al leaned up from her position of leisure and grabbed my hand in hers. I could tell that she wanted to launch into some kind of sympathetic tirade regarding the Prince. But I never liked to dwell on the past, especially not on what happened with Jacob.
“When do you leave?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Tomorrow,” Al responded, letting the topic of Jacob drop.
“What about you?” she asked.
“Same,” I replied.
I was heading to Port City for the Winter Gala at the Silver Court. Al was going to the inaugural Winter Gala at the Golden Court with Cass.
“You and James still planning to stay here?” I asked Rhett.
“Yes. James’s mother and father are coming into town, and I am going to charm their pants right off,” he replied.
“Meeting the parents. Look at you!” Al exclaimed.
“Just a suggestion, but if I were you, I would keep her mother’s pants on, mate. The mother-daughter thing hasn’t gone so well for you in the past,” I teased.
Rhett threw the red apple in his hand at my head. I caught it nimbly in my hand, turned it around, and took a bite, still chuckling.
“Is Karina going home with you?” Al asked.
I looked down at the apple and took another bite, even though I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry.
“Not really with me,” I said. “We are arriving separately, and she will stay in the main house instead of mine. But, yes, we will attend the gala together,” I explained.
Karina was smart and pretty and came from a good family who would bring connections and resources to House Bellamy. And she was always around whether I pursued her or not because Karina had become fast friends with James. I didn’t mind my time with her, but the months of courting Karina I’d promised my parents in exchange for my position on the High Council would be up soon.
“Well, I have to go pack,” Al said, moving her legs off me.
“Let’s have a drink before you head out,” Rhett suggested.
Al was already out of the door. She waved at us over her shoulder. “Sounds good.”
“Luke, I have to ask you something,” Rhett said, after Al was gone.
And then, without waiting for a response, he continued, “What in the hell are you doing?”
I looked exaggeratedly around Rhett’s bar.
“Well, I thought I was sitting here for another minute or two, but if I’ve outstayed my welcome…” I replied jokingly.
“With Al, Luke. What are you doing with Al?” Rhett clarified.
“Rhett, come on,” I said, exhaling out of my nose. We’d talked about this before. And again, before then.
“She made her choice,” I said with a sideways smirk, trying not to sound bitter.
“No, she made a choice because she wasn’t aware of what all of her options were,” Rhett retorted.
“Not to be crude, but I think I made it pretty clear I was on the menu for her, and she chose me time and time again until she didn’t,” I said.
“Bullshit, man. You know, Al. You know how she thinks she has to earn every minute she is here at the High Court. She always feels like she has to prove she is worthy. And then the whole thing with your mom—”
“I told her not to mind my mom,” I interjected.
“And then Karina,” Rhett continued.
“I offered to bail on that too,” I said, but I was getting frustrated.
“Did you ask her to be your date to the Fall Ball instead? Did you tell her you want to be with her, your family obligations be damned?” Rhett continued to push.
“Al and I don’t really talk about these things. Not like you and I,” I said, cutting my eyes toward my friend. “But Al and I have a kind of understanding,” I said.
“Well, I’m telling you right now that it is her understanding that she would never be good enough for your sorry ass,” Rhett barked.
The thought that he might be right gnawed at the edges of my self-assurance.
“She deserves to know, Luke. Not just about how you feel about her, but also how you magically—”
“If we’re going to talk about relationships, what about you and James?” I interjected, switching from defense to offense. “What are you doing? You’ve gone through hundreds, more like thousands, of women over the years, allegedly looking for your mate, and now that you’ve found her, you are going to, what, take it slow?” I asked.
There was a pause, and I didn’t know if Rhett was going to push back on the change of subject.
“You’re right, Luke,” Rhett replied simply. The lack of fight in him took me by surprise, and I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
“That’s why I’m going to ask her father for her hand when I meet him,” Rhett declared.
I stared at him, flabbergasted. And all my frustration disappeared into happiness for my best friend. I stood and clapped him on the back.
“Congrats, man. The High Court isn’t going to be the same without you running around single and terrorizing every woman in sight,” I teased.
“You’re going to be my best man. And I want Al there, too. So whatever you end up doing with her, don’t fuck it up, yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah, man,” I reassured him.
I had no fucking clue what I was going to do about Al.