Page 148 of The Prince's Mage

Upon second thought, that came out more threatening than he meant for it to. He just meant—

The door opened, and Aimilia was in front of him. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, straight as a pin as always. She was dressed in a plain chiton; he could see her red and gold commander’s cloak hanging up beside a stunning peplos. How she’d managed to get one on such short notice, he had no idea.

Although he suspected Marcella had something to do with it because his people certainly hadn’t brought anything like that and it looked more Sordes than Runai.

He thought it was a little frivolous. It was going to be mostly hidden under her commander’s cloak regardless, so why bother?

It wasn’t like Aimilia needed anything special to look beautiful.

“What do you need from me, Your Highness?” Aimilia asked, her grip on the doorframe tightening.

“I—” This was already not going the way he’d planned. His own hand was clenched in his cloak. “That is… I wanted to speak to you. I haven’t had the chance since you returned my cloak. And I didn’t exactly thank you properly when you did.”

Aimilia’s eyes doubled in size and she shook her head. “That’s—That’s really not necessary. Honestly, you shouldn’t be thanking me at all, for anything—”

“Commander, I disagree.”

Aimilia fell silent and stared at the ground.

Huh… Usually when he used that tone, making it clear he would not tolerate any argument on the matter, Aimilia immediately argued the point. Even when she didn’t previously have a disagreement on the matter. His tone was enough to motivate her to find a point to argue.

These changes in her behavior as of late, even before they’d left Areator…

“Thank you, Commander,” Nikias said. If she was going to let him get through this without interrupting, he had to take the chance. “Taking care of my cloak is just one of many things I have to thank you for.”

She looked up sharply. “Your Highness, really, you don’t—”

“And while I appreciate the fact that you seem to be attempting to finally show me an ounce of respect, you don’t have to do that.”

She’d only called him ‘Your Highness’ a handful of times now and he hated it. Once he might have appreciated his brother’s brat of a friend showing him some respect, but not like this. Not now. He didn’t want to be ‘His Highness’ to her.

He continued, “You can call me Nikias. I’ve never minded. I’ve never thought you were disrespecting me when you didn’t use an honorific.”

She looked back down, and Nikias held back a sigh.

“Regardless, I need to thank you for everything you’ve done as of late.” At his words, Aimilia’s hands twitched and she bit her lip. He took a deep breath. “You… You have been better to me than I have ever deserved. After Gavril and Marcella ran off and my father was found unconscious, you were still there. After everything I’ve done, you didn’t abandon me. I—”

Nikias swallowed thickly and Aimilia was still staring at the ground. Why couldn’t she face him? Was she as overwhelmed as he was?

“The hardest decision I’ve ever made was whether or not to take you with me.”

That had Aimilia looking up again, her face paler than before, a slight shake to her hands. “What? W—Why? It’s—It’s not like I needed to be in Areator. I—I was the most useful with you, and I was losing my mind not knowing if Gavril and Marcella were really alright, and—”

“I know. I knew you would be furious with me if I didn’t take you. So that really made the decision for me. Outside of my worry the demon would single you out. Outside of my certainty you were the only person who could ensure I got through facing the demon again. I knew you needed to be there for your own sake. But I still must thank you. You were the only thing keeping me anchored, and I did not deserve your help. But you were still my rock even in your fury at me for ruining everything. Your loyalty…”

He’d been mentally trying to figure out the perfect phrasing ever since he’d last seen her, but now that he was here, his words were failing him. It also didn’t help that his aching sore legs were distracting him. He needed to wrap this up.

“Thank you. For giving me your loyalty even when I didn’t deserve it.”

Aimilia squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. When she opened them, he could see the water in her eyes. “I—I’m not—I didn’t—Loyal?I—”

Clearly this was too much. He hadn’t intended on overwhelming her so, but he should have anticipated it with her recent changes in behavior. She was perfectly normal when they were around anyone else, like she’d always been. It was when they were alone that she was different.

“You can try to argue with me, Commander, but I assure you that you will not win this one, and we don’t have time to argue anyway. I didn’t intend to take up a lot of your time. You have to get ready after all,” Nikias said, gesturing to her clothes hanging up in the background. “Be careful though, you wouldn’t want to outshinePaxMarcellaon her wedding day.”

Aimilia took a deep breath and stepped back into her room, eagerly taking the out he provided. “Don’t worry, I helped her already and there’s no danger of that. I’ll see you in the sanctuary, Your—” Aimilia’s grip on the door tightened before relaxing. “Nikias.”

Then it was closed, and Nikias immediately leaned against the wall for support as he started to slowly make his way back to his room to rest his legs. But he couldn’t help the soft smile on his face as he went.

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