Page 12 of Bleeding for the Prince
He realised Hyax hadn’t jumped to his defence, meaning he must be at least in part agreeing with his mother.
“Your changing status brings with it different social engagements, and the ones you would have gone to previously saw you in a different role. I don’t think it would hurt for you to undergo some training in order for you not to feel at a disadvantage.”
“So, this has nothing to do with you thinking I’m some ill-mannered oik?”
Hyax rolled his eyes. “Of course I don’t. But I saw you today, and you were uncomfortable being treated in a new, more respectful way. I was trained from birth to deal with my role, and you’ve been dropped into the deep end without even a pair of water wings to help.”
Hyax wasn’t wrong in how he’d felt at the garden party, but he wasn’t a character fromPygmalionwho needed sanding down and buffing up to be presentable. “Seems like overkill to me. After a few times, I’ll get used to it.”
“Gwil, please, can you at least agree to a couple of sessions.
“I’m not going to show you up,” he said, and he’d felt a pang of hurt Hyax might not think him good enough.
“You could never show me up. I swear this isn’t about that. While I do think it’ll help with some confidence-building, there’s more behind the request. The royal bonding rituals that we might want to use have specific requirements, and I don’t wantyour lack of etiquette training to be used as an excuse to prevent us from considering those options.”
Put like that, he wasn’t going to say no, but he wasn’t going to be happy about it either nor was he going to go in blind. “What will the training entail?”
Hyax smiled. “Thank you.”
“I haven’t said yes, yet.” Fucking princes and their sense of entitlement.
“I promise there’s nothing arduous. There are all sorts of protocols for certain royal settings, and you do have an official role.”
“When will you want to start?” He’d lost the fight; he might as well get it over with.
Hyax winced. “It’ll be a royal tutor. Let me arrange for you to meet one, and we’ll combine it with seeing my tailor.”
He should have known that he would be at the mercy of a professional, and he would hate to think what sort of dried-up old windbag he’d be stuck with if they were the sort to teach the fae princelings how to be posh. “Can’t you do it?”
“A relationship I don’t think we should have. We’d probably kill each other if I tried to tutor you.”
“Joke’s on you, Hyax, I’m already dead.” He got Hyax’s point, but it wouldn’t stop him from being a flippant bastard.
“All right, that we survive your training with our relationship and all our appendages intact and I don’t lob off your head.”
“Fine.”
Hyax kissed him. “I know it’s not something you want to do, but I do appreciate it.”
A series of beeps from the other room prevented the kiss from descending into something more interesting. Hyax threw back the bedsheets. “That sounds like my collection charms at Dante’s are ready for a first look.”
CHAPTER SIX
Gwil knew he wouldn’t get much out of Hyax for a while, not when he was collecting the initial read-out from his monitoring charms. From previous experience, the first phase of the analysis took time, and Hyax hated to be disturbed. He decided rather than hang around and get in the way, or brood on being signed up for etiquette lessons, he would head back to Dante’s. Now was as good a time as any to do a couple of follow-ups and, once done, he could bring Hyax back something for dinner, as the blond prat had a habit of forgetting to eat when he was concentrating.
Being closer to the weekend, the store was busier, but still less crowded than it would be on a Saturday evening as Gwil made his way to the wedding and bridal department. He’d half expected to be greeted on arrival, even though he hadn’t informed Daniel he was coming, he thought the store would have certain ways to track who was on the premises.
Daniel had explained that a lust potion had been released on the second floor in the bridal fitting rooms, and Gwil felt like a fish out of water as he tried to look around inconspicuously. He hadn’t realised how expensive wedding dresses could be, and hiseyes watered at the price tag of a couple of them. He could have bought a car for the price of one of the designer gowns.
A young woman appeared at his side. She was short and petite with bright amber eyes and pointed ears. Fae or elf, he wasn’t sure.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“I’m just looking.”
Her nose twitched. “Are you here on behalf of the bride? Or are you considering wearing the dress yourself?”
There was no hint of derision, and he’d seen some stunning men in women’s clothing, but he wouldn’t be one of them. He’d admitted he scrubbed up pretty well in his consort robes, but a full evening gown would be a challenge. “I don’t think I’d pull it off. Haven’t the hips for it.”
