“They allow children to enroll in these camps?” Madden sounded just as surprised as everyone else around him appeared.
Rin shrugged. “It’s pretty common where I’m from. They don’t, like, put a real blaster in our hand on day one or anything like that. But they train us in hand-to-hand combat and teach us the proper way to shoot and hold various weapons.”
“And you were the best at shooting?” Brennon guessed.
“I was the top in every category.” It wasn’t a lie, but Rin hoped none of them asked him to prove it.
“Aren’t you oddly perfect for the role of Consort,” Madden drawled. “We were all afraid we’d have to look after you as well, but it’s nice seeing that won’t be the case.”
Rin wasn’t ready to dive into all of that, so he turned to Kelevra. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Let’s see what you’ve got, Imperial Prince.”
“Teasing me will get you everywhere.” Kelevra winked, and then he extended his arm toward the target, only, he didn’t bother turning to watch where he was shooting. Instead, his gaze locked onto Brennon, making eye contact and holding unflinchingly as he fired all eight rounds.
Rin was scowling by the time he was finished, but Madden let out a low whistle.
“Nice,” Madden praised, and it was enough to pique Rin’s curiosity enough to glance over.
All of Kelevra’s shots had made it in the center bullseye.
“The Devils of Vitality always hit their mark,” Kel stated, though he was still starting Brennon down, and his true meaning wasn’t lost on any of them.
“Don’t threaten my friends,” Rin said. He kept his tone even, knowing better than to make it seem like he was siding against Kelevra in front of others. A part of him also understood that the Imperial Prince was holding himself back by only taking things this far.
Sure enough, Kel grunted. “He’s lucky I haven’t already blown out both of his kneecaps for doing what he did.”
“We’ve talked about it,” Rin said, easing closer so he could position himself more firmly between him and Brennon. “He’s apologized and admitted he was just drunk. It’s not going to happen again. Besides, I’m the one it happened to. I forgive him, that’s what matters here.”
“Is it?”
“Kelevra.” Rin waited until the Imperial Prince finally tore his gaze away and looked at him. “Seriously. If anything like that ever happens again I’ll—”
“You’ll let me kill him?” The challenging glint in his eyes shown bright in the florescent lighting.
“No,” Rin stated, but before Kel could get mad, added, “I’ll kill him myself. No one takes advantage of me. Period.”
Brennon made a strangled sound but smartly didn’t intervene in the conversation.
The corner of Kelevra’s mouth tipped up slightly and he gave an almost imperceptible nod. “Noted, Consort. Just keep in mind, I let this pass because you’d be angry otherwise. That’s the only reason. I’m not the forgiving type.”
Rin couldn’t forget that detail if he tried.
Chapter 30:
“Why do you bother with these every single day?” Rin asked, frustration ringing in his voice as he tugged on the thin white strings, tying the pale yellow corset Kelevra had selected for the day.
The Imperial was standing in front of him, facing the full-body mirror attached to the closet door, and whenever Rin met his gaze in the glass it was to find him watching with a massive shit-eating grin on his devilish face.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he grumbled, pulling a little harder than necessary on the next strings before tying the whole thing off at the bottom.
“I can’t help it,” Kelevra replied. “My Consort is helping me get dressed in the morning. Surely that’s something I should be allowed to find enjoyable. Even if you complained throughout the whole process.”
“Seriously,” Rin blew out a breath and stepped back, indicating he was done, “why go through this every day?”
“I like them,” he shrugged and spun around to face him, “so it’s not a waste of effort to me. Sort of like how you likemeso trying to make this work by offering to help with my clothes and moving in here wasn’t a waste of your efforts.”
