Page 18 of How Not to Marry a Prince

"Your Highness."

He turned his gaze to the guard who'd remained. "I'm sorry to have—"

"No, Your Highness," the woman said firmly, sinking to one knee, head bowed low. "We were charged with your protection, and to not clear your room before you entered it was a gross neglect of our duty. We beg your forgiveness."

"There's nothing to forgive, please. It never occurred to me he would do something this far out of line. I also should have had the sense to immediately call for you instead of being stubborn and dealing with him myself. Thank you for coming so quickly the moment you heard the ruckus."

"We will do better going forward, Your Highness."

"What's your name?" Amador asked. "I should have asked sooner, but I assumed…" That they were just doing a job foisted on them, that they wouldn't care if he knew their names or not.

"Tera, and my companion is Boris. I'll leave those who relieve us to introduce themselves. It has been our pleasure to serve, Your Highness, and I'm sorry again we failed so miserably."

"Please don't worry upon it. As long as I don't have to deal with him anymore, I'm content."

"You will not so much as see his face." Tera rose at his bidding, bowed, and strode from the room. He could hear her speaking to someone in the hallway as the door closed.

Scrubbing at his face, wishing this whole day was already a distant memory, Amador stripped out of his clothes and put his dressing robe back on. Pouring himself a drink, he sat by the fire to simply unwind. If he tried to go to sleep now, no matter how exhausted he was, he would toss and turn uselessly, or worse, fall into terrible nightmares.

When an urgent knock came at the door, he wasn't even surprised. Probably his bodyguards again. Heaving to his feet, Amador trudged to the door and opened it—and practically seized as he stared at Sohan. Of course. Really he should have expected it; his days weren't complete without Sohan arriving to bear full witness to his humiliation and misery.

"May I come in?" Sohan asked. "Please don't feel obligated to say yes, I am certain you've had more than enough people barging into your space for one night. I wanted only to ascertain personally that you were well." He looked back over his shoulders, a thundercloud falling over his face. "And to speak with your guards."

"Don't punish them," Amador blurted out.

Sohan's head snapped back to him, thundercloud easing slightly but still very much there. "What?"

Amador stepped back and motioned him inside, adding "please" when Sohan hesitated. Closing the door, he folded his arms, then let them drop, hands clenching and unclenching. "I don't want anyone punished or terminated because of me."

"They failed in their duty," Sohan said. "You could have been killed."

"It wasn't their fault! They've stood up for me flawlessly every time they've so much as caught a hint of Ottokar's vile cologne wafting down the hallway. In all the years I've been putting up with him, he's never once crossed the line into breaking into my room. How could they anticipate that if even I didn't?"

"They are bodyguards. It's their job—"

"To protect me from reasonable threats, not anticipate the behavior of someone as— As— As monstrous as Ottokar. Please, I know you're probably tired of me, tending to a guest like some child that can't take care of themselves. You certainly owe me no favors, but please, I am begging you, do not punish or terminate my bodyguards because of me, because of Ottokar."

Sohan stared at him, face drawn tight, eyes pensive. After a moment, he sighed, the tension bleeding from his shoulders. "As you wish. If they fail again, though, I will not be so lenient, not even for you." He stepped closer and offered his hand the same way he had in the library.

Heart pounding harder than ever, Amador once more placed his in it, scarcely daring to breathe as Sohan covered it with his other hand. The gesture was a simple one, not even remarkable, and yet Amador would give everything he owned to make that touch last forever. When Ottokar was in the room, Amador felt like he was suffocating.

When Sohan was in the room, Amador felt like he could breathe properly for the first time in his life.

"I apologize that I have overstepped my bounds," Sohan replied. "I do not regard you as a child, not in the slightest. My parents died when I was quite young, and I have been parent and king most of my life, so I am afraid that I most often express myself by tending and managing those in my circle. My siblings have learned to tell me quite baldly to my face that I should shove it."

Amador scowled. "That seems rude and ungrateful."

Sohan laughed. "Overbearing is overbearing. I take no offense. I am sorry, though, that in my efforts to help I have only added to your discontent. I will have more care." He hesitated, a look of uncertainty passing like a shadow across his face. In the next beat it was gone, though, and he said, "I must depart for a couple of days, to attend a matter at the border. Nothing terrible, but it does require my presence. When I return, I would like to speak to you of something, if it pleases."

"Um, of course. Simply let me know what time is most convenient for you upon your return and I'll come."

"Thank you," Sohan said, the words gentle, but his eyes burning as he slowly withdrew his hands. "I hope you are able to sleep, and dream only of good things. Farewell, Your Highness. I'll see you in three days."

"T-three days," Amador said, and sat right down on the floor as the door closed behind Sohan, holding his hands to his chest in an effort to calm his thundering heartbeat.

What in the world was going on? Why did Sohan want to speak with him? Why not just say it now, instead of making him suffer for three days?

Too much. This whole day had been far too much.

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