his job.
Gods. There were so many parts. I’d been working with him more closely as the years went by, especially now that my brothers were mated and having families of their own. In a weird way, it was an official sign that it was time to be a grown-up.
Not that I ever felt like I could just be a kid. From my youngest recollections, I knew all eyes were on me. My brothers could mess up in public and it was fine. Me? It wasn’t an option. Heck, if I so much as paused before obeying one of my parents, it would’ve been gossiped about all over the island. Even in school, I felt the pressure to be perfect. Had it not been for my brothers and my best friend Spencer and our antics, I’d have grown up to be a very different person—one as boring as those stupid files.
“We are only looking for things that were accidentally on purpose slipped in.” He held up two tins of tea, and I pointed to the left. “I trust the people in place now, but remember the Dagmar Amendment from history class?” I nodded, only having a vague recollection of it… something to do with slipping a tax loophole into something about the parks. “We are just avoiding that. The codes themselves have had enough expert eyes on them and are easy enough to change if need be. It’s the extra things that I have the most concern over.”
Wish I had known that a day earlier. I’d spent the night looking up different earthquake building models to try and understand them better. That was what I got for not clarifying my task at hand, a bad habit I developed out of trying to be the perfect prince back when I was a teen.
“Blueberry or chocolate chip?” I asked. He generally went for the appearance of healthy in front of my dad, but it was just the two of us, so I offered his two favorites.
Someone knocked on the door, and he let out a sigh. “Flax,” he mumbled and walked back to his spot at the table, tea in hand. I didn’t blame him for his lack of enthusiasm over his muffin choice. Seeds in muffins weren’t my thing, but Dad thought it was better for us, so there were always a couple in the mix.
It was only after Father was seated that he asked who was at the door.
“Gabriel, Your Majesty,” my father’s advisor called through the door.
The day was only getting better.
I grabbed the chocolate chip muffin and joined my father as Gabriel walked in looking like the cat that swallowed the canary.
He formally greeted us both, that smirk still on his face. I did my best to ignore him. He wasn’t here for me. He was here to be a thorn in my father’s side. Why my father put up with him—possibly even appreciating him—was beyond me. Something rubbed me the wrong way with Gabriel. Always had, even before the you-have-to-mate crap.
Not that I was bitter about that.
Who was I kidding? I was so incredibly bitter.
“You may let the council know that we should be ready to give our opinion on the proposal as soon as Friday,” my father explained after some random chitchat I wasn’t really paying attention to, instead hiding in my tea and muffin.
“Very well, Your Majesty.” He turned to leave, but then as if changing his mind, stopped. “One more thing, Your Majesty. King Tobias and his son, Prince Raphael, have invited you both to pay a visit. They expressed some concern over the timing, you see.” Timing meaning my impending heat. They didn’t even pretend this was about anything more than an alliance, one I was probably stuck with.
I froze in my seat, not trusting myself to say anything. There was only one thing I consistently did that upset my father, and that was being too forthright with Gabriel when it came to my emotions. I didn’t even think it had to do with hurt feelings or my distrust of the man, either. I believed my father saw my inability to hide my emotions from his advisor as a weakness others could use against me in the future, and I hated that he was right.
Some days, I just wanted to be a person. Not a prince. Just an average person whose job meant punching in and out, leaving their work at work. I wanted to be able to get drunk at the pub and