Page 53 of By Mistake
"Thank you," Shimari said, taking bottle and glass from him.
"How is your cake?"
Andrus looked happier than Oresti had ever seen him, like a child seeing…well, cake…for the first time."I've never had anything like this.My mother would make these little sort-of tart things sometimes when fruit was on the verge of going bad and so was really cheap, but that was normally only at the very end of the season when the vendors just wanted to be rid of it to move on to the new season.Those were my favorite times of year, when we could afford something nice.I didn't know you could get cakes so fluffy and with so much frosting.The cost of the sugar alone would be…"
Oresti would never stop aching over the life Andrus had led until now.He always donated so much of his own funds to helping people, but clearly it still was not enough, or perhaps some reviews needed to be done.Then again, Andrus was a special case, specifically ostracized and tormented because of Farthing.
He could not wait to put that man where he belonged.Patience was crucial, but he really fucking hated it.
"His time is coming soon, pet," Shimari said, eyes glittering, wavering between green and red."Speaking of which, his wife is fucking his personal assistant."
Oresti rolled his eyes.
His own food was simply a pile of rice and meat fried up nicely, generally taken from the day's leftovers.It was one of his favorite late-night meals, frequently enjoyed after a long night of arresting killers or running down people who could tell him where the killer was hiding.
When the food was done, Shimari looked at them with more heat than the fire that bathed them all in its flickering glow."So, Your Highness, do you want to fuck me while I fuck him?"
"I want that very, very much."
"I'm not doing anything," Andrus said, "not after all that cake.Put me down!"
Chuckling, playfully slapping the ass right beside his face where he'd slung Andrus over his shoulder, Oresti carried him back to the bedroom with Shimari leading the way.
Fifteen
Breakfast was in a private dining room with Coret, Greivs, and Princess Alina, who listened with a sharp glint in her eye to all they had to tell her, from Shimari all the way to their plans for Kressen, and finally all the people they were concerned about regarding Andrus.
"You do like to keep me busy," Alina said when they'd finished."Leave the court to me, of course.Anyone thinking of poisoning his soup will be given reason to think twice, and thrice for good measure.What are your plans for containing Kressen?"
If she had any opinions on the fact she was having breakfast with a demon, she gave no sign of them, which Andrus suspected was entirely in keeping with her and part of why she was such a formidable and deeply respected crown princess.
"The safest thing would be to bind him to a pair much like I've been bound to Andrus and Oresti," Shimari said.
"So I assume that would be Lord Whyte and Greivs?As we want to contain this knowledge as much as possible," Alina said.
"What!"Coret said.
Andrus gave him an amused look."Did you not see that coming?"
"Of course not," Coret replied."I only found out all of this yesterday, and then only because nobody knew I could see auras.If you'd known that, you probably wouldn't have let me anywhere near you."
"You're a good choice, Lord Whyte," Alina said thoughtfully."Of all the court, you'd be on my very short list of candidates.I'd prefer we not be mucking about with demons at all.Father is going to have kittens, you realize."
Oresti waved a hand carelessly in the air, as only the son of a king could."Father is wily.He'll like having two zero demons in his pocket, as it were.Mostly he'll just be glad they're not simply running amuck."
"I'm starting to wonder how many others are just waltzing about," Coret said, glancing at Shimari."They're not, are they?Would you be able to tell?"
"If they were in proximity, I would know, but if they're off in another country, no, the distance is simply too great.The last I heard, they'd not been summoned for quite some time, save for Tashka, who was sealed away much like I sealed away Kressen.I do not know if that is still true, or if he finally returned home, or whatever."
Coret said, "The last confirmed summoning of Tashka of the Marrow was a little over four hundred years ago, when he was called up by a bloodthirsty general staging a coup and ordered to slaughter thousands.Afterward, he was never seen again, though rumors circulated at the time that he'd been chained and locked away.That was in the kingdom of Renest, which after that coup became Sollow, which less than a hundred years later then became two kingdoms, Renest and Katil.Fascinating history, really."
"I will laugh if he's still in chains after all this time," Shimari said, and followed with the promised laughter."He must be beyond irritated by it.Maybe I'll make a game of trying to find him when everything has quieted down."
Oresti gave him a look."You are entirely too amused by the idea of all your fellow demons being locked up for centuries at a time."
"It equates to mere days in the grand scheme of things for us.Like being stuck in a jail cell for a night.An annoying inconvenience, but a whole lot of nothing in the end.Time passes differently when you have an endless supply of it."
"Sounds exhausting," Andrus said, "and heartbreaking."
