Page 26 of By Mistake
Everything went dead quiet around him, and then a buzzing filled his ears, the words churning in his head."You can't.You can't be serious.That's a joke, right?"
"No," Andrus said miserably.
Oresti walked numbly over to the table, poured a cup of still-steaming tea, and threw it back.Then he sat down heavily and poured another cup."Explain this to me, Andrus, because I should be arresting you right now for committing an execution-level crime.Do you haveany fucking ideawho you've summoned?"
Anger filled Andrus's face, and he bristled like a pissed off cat."Yes, I know who I've summoned!I'm not a fuckingidiot."
"You did it by accident!"Oresti howled.
"That doesn't make me so fucking stupid I don't know my demons!"
"I didn't say—"
"Enough," Shimari said, voice reverberating in a way that made Oresti's bones vibrate.He moved to stand between them, arms outstretched toward them both."What is all this shouting and bickering like children?You both have more sense than that."
Oresti's hands balled into fists."Somebody tell me what in thehellsis going on around here.I was gone three days—"
"And you should still be gone," Andrus said."I told you to go.Your Highness."
All of Oresti's anger left him."Andrus…"
"What do you want?"
"To see you.To not be sent away again.I liked what we were building."
"What we were building was based on a lie that you were an inspector and not aroyal prince," Andrus replied."I'm nothing, a nobody, a poor—" He stopped, eyes going wide before he looked sharply away.
Heart racing, Oresti fetched the gift he'd tossed aside when he'd seen Shimari.He still couldn't comprehend the demon of all demons was in Andrus's parlor.Summonedby mistake.
Shoving all that aside for the moment, he handed over his gift."A small token of apology.I truly never meant for everything to happen the way it did.I'm sorry I wasn't honest from the beginning."
Andrus's hands trembled ever so faintly as he took the gift, untying the ribbon and opening the box.Oresti had wanted to give something more extravagant, but was absolutely certain that wouldn't be received well.So he'd settled for practical: a beautiful pair of lambskin gloves, dyed black with a spray of wildflowers stitched on the back and mother of pearl buttons.They wouldn't fit perfectly, as he hadn't had Andrus's measurements, but hopefully he'd gotten close.
"They're beautiful," Andrus said quietly."Thank you."He stood there staring at them, running his thumb over the soft leather.Given the changes in the house, the beautiful clothes he was wearing, a pair of gloves seemed suddenly unimpressive, but Andrus still stared at them like they were precious jewels.
Oresti really did want to keep him forever.
"Master, take a seat," Shimari said, and then gently led Andrus to sit on the opposite side of the table, before taking his own seat right between them.
Oresti sighed, brought back to the matter at hand."Tell me everything, Andrus."He watched as Andrus poured tea and added ridiculously tiny amounts of cream and sugar, heart hurting at the reflexive conservation of expensive foodstuffs.Andrus probably didn't even notice he was doing it.
Huffing softly, Shimari took everything away from him, fixed the tea properly, and handed it back.
"It was fine," Andrus muttered.
"You're not poor anymore," Shimari retorted."Stop acting like it."
"Demon," Oresti said warningly.
"I meant to summon a brownie, like I said before," Andrus cut in, staring at his tea as he spoke."I— I was going to leave, move to a village or something.I hadn't really figured that part out yet.Staying here was no good for me, and once Farthing learned of you…" He laughed sourly."I was worried how badly he could hurt, even kill, a nosey investigator.Stupid me.You were never in danger from Farthing."
Oresti could say nothing to that, because it was largely true.Farthing himself was no threat."Depends on how much he's willing to pay to hurt me or my family, and I can tell you right now he is not my sister's greatest admirer.We have him in sight for a few things; it's merely a matter of pinning them to him, and he's good at making certain his scheming never sticks."
"Oily is definitely the best way to describe him," Andrus replied.
"I can't believe you were going to just vanish into the night.That was never going to work."
Andrus glared."How do you know that?You would have had no idea where I was or how to begin to find me."
