Page 25 of Pining for the Prince
Miss Triband’s zombified cat wasn’t as complicated as Gwil had expected and he’d managed to restore order with half a tin of tuna and magic-enhanced catnip—the latter he would deny having in his possession if quizzed. He’d not heard from Hyax since the day before and if he didn’t show up soon he’d have to try to use a couple of contacts to reach him, one of them being his sister, and he’d rather not have that conversation unless he had to. It wasn’t just the job, but he was used to seeing Hyax most days, he’d become accustomed to the blond-haired git ignoring boundaries he’d once tried to set, like keeping his visits to the office and not his living space, which lasted all of three days. They’d not parted on the best of terms. Telling someone you thought their parents were hiding something from them was never a good conversation topic, and he’d not been pleased that Hyax hadn’t believed him about him fucking Chase.
He had finished a stack of invoices when Hyax walked into his office and sank into the chair opposite. However, there was none of the usual refinement or elegance about his appearance, in fact it looked as if he hadn’t slept in a while and was best described as rumpled.
“Did you get hit by a truck?”
“No, royal protocol. It’s much worse.”
“I suppose you didn’t ask to be a fairy prince.”
“Fae, not fairy. I don’t call you a neck-sucker.” Hyax tutted. “Stop trying to wind me up.”
“I’m not, well, not much. Besides, you never get bothered by royal protocol, you keep telling me you’re too far down the succession line to worry about it.”
“I am. Usually. But when I confronted my mother about the stone, she called a family meeting and then afterwards, all of a sudden being fourteenth in line to the throne involves a lot more state interference.” He yawned, just about covering his mouth in time. “Chase’s tale also fits with Goya being called to the palace. Then I had to explain the strange feeling I got in the British Museum, because there was concern other fae might already be experiencing the effect of the stone being missing, which in turn led to our association as I offered our help. They triggered an ancient rite to distract me.”
“Who’sthey? And distract you from what?”
Hyax tutted and rolled his eyes. “My parents and the Stone of Ljin or, as you know it,the green one.”
He’d come to the conclusion Hyax hadn’t known what was going on since he’d disappeared and had taken so long to come back. “Chase called it a stone of transmutation.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Each of the stones relates to a core magical fae theorem. My mother confirmed that the bloody thing’s been stolen, so it’s no longer aligned with others in the coronet and is causing misbalance in certain aspects of fae magic.”
“Like at the museum?”
“Exactly, and because I’ve a high proficiency in fae magic it affected me proportionally. I should’ve realised something wasn’t right, but the British Museum has a number of artefactsin its archive and so I put it down to that. Now, looking back, something must have amplified the upset.”
“I can imagine it’s causing a bit of upset at home as well,” Gwil said.
“To put it mildly. And it is also a huge embarrassment if not a political minefield as the other tribes aren’t aware. The fae losing an important magical object is unheard of. Goya’s only been told it’s a missing jewel. And my parents didn’t want me getting involved.”
He could understand that the disappearance of part of the crown jewels would be a touchy subject, but Hyax would be ideally placed to help, especially if the jewel turned out to be in London. “Sounds like you persuaded them otherwise.”
“After a fashion, but it did mean that I had to do a little bit of thinking on my feet. But in the end I’ve been able to combine both.”
“Both?”
Hyax rolled his eyes. “You’re slow today. Investigating the theft and dealing with the rite.” He wrinkled his nose. “I’m not sure you’re going to like it, though.”
Dear God, what had Hyax gotten himself into now? “Are you going to have to stay in the fae realm for longer, or something so you won’t be available to help me here?”
“Er… no… that’s not what I meant about you not liking it. My parents have informed me that they expect me to get married—that’s the rite in question.”
Why did he have to fall for a fae? A bloody royal one at that, who might be low enough down the succession list that his parents tended to leave him to his own devices but could call on tradition to pull this sort of bullshit if they wanted.
“I… er…” It felt like he’d been punched, while Hyax was unattached he could harbour his little fantasy about getting together one day, but not if he were married. “Do they havesomeone in mind? Might some of them object to you working with a vampire?”
“There’s fucking list of suitors,” he spat. “Has been since I reached the age of consent but none of them are to my tastes. But they don’t have specific anti-vampire tendencies beyond the average reticence.”
By the sounds of it Hyax wasn’t going to capitulate without a fight but how easy that would be he had no idea. “I hope you told your parents of your displeasure.”
“I did more than that, I told them I was already seeing someone—I put it a little stronger than that, I said I was betrothed. Although we had yet to set a date for the wedding.”
“Betrothed? I don’t think I’ve heard that term since the 1890s.” He was aiming for bemused, maybe nonchalant, but he didn’t think he’d managed it.
“Archaic nonsense is a family trait. But the only way to stop them from marrying me off was to have beaten them to it. The rite can’t be enforced if the party cited is already attached.”
“Right, and who is this fantasy fiancé of yours?”
