“But what’s Mum got to do with this? She hates all this political talk. She’s not a negotiator.”
“Not in the traditional sense, no. But she has a way of understanding people. I’m hoping she might be able to crack the ice a little. We’ll give you the full run down tomorrow, I promise. But for now, I need you to go back to the apartment. Think of it as a night off,” he suggested. “You can play a video game. Watch a movie. I’ll even have dinner sent up to you.”
That was a rare prize indeed, a meal without the need to sit in a stiff suit in the formal dining room, and that alone was enough to get Ryu to agree. “Fine. But I want to know everything that goes on tomorrow morning. This stuff is interesting! And if Mum can negotiate, then wow, I want to know what she can do.”
“We’ll tell you every word. I promise. Now go on. And how about you invite Kentario over as well. Danag’s going to be tied up here for a while, and with Cael out of the city, he’s likely at a loose end tonight.”
Flaming heck. Just when he’d thought something was going normally, his father decided to throw that at him. “Kentario’s normally not allowed to hang out with me in our apartment.”
“Oh, nonsense,” Sou said. “We tried not to have him distract you from your studies, that’s all. But now you’ve finished your exams, it doesn’t matter either way. Besides, your birthday’s in two days. You two could have a little early celebration. Order some ice cream from the kitchen, or something.”
“Yeah, cool,” Ryu said, not caring what his father thought of his snarky tone. He headed for the exit in a hurry, once more baffled by the sudden change of rules. Despite what Sou said, there was no way in the world he would let Ryu invite his bodyguard over on a normal day, and certainly not when he was home alone.
Maybe he should stop trying to figure things out and just run with it, he decided. What was the worst that could happen?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ryu felt his heart skip a beat as he heard the knock at the apartment door. Then, an instant later, he reminded himself that he was being ridiculous. It was just Kentario, for goodness sake. They’d eaten dinner together countless times in the past – albeit with the rest of their families present at the same time – and there was absolutely nothing unusual about having his bodyguard over to share some food. Regardless of the fact that they’d be firstly in Ryu’s apartment, and secondly alone together for the meal, for the first time ever.
And no, he scolded himself, as he opened the door, those two facts put together didnotmake it at all like adate.
“Okay, so what gives?” Kentario asked, as the door opened. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, wearing nothing more fancy than a singlet t-shirt and jeans. He pushed himself up, unfurling thick, muscled forearms and hands that were surprisingly artistic, given the strength of them. “Has the world ended, or something, ‘cos I’mneverallowed to hang out with you when you’re home alone.”
“Dunno,” Ryu said, with a forced casualness, still inexplicably nervous about being here alone with Kentario. He led the way through the living room into the kitchen. “Maybe Dad’s lost his mind. There’s some big meeting with the Arctesian ambassador, and normally, there would be a formal dinner for him and all his advisors. Apparently, we’re not doing that this time around. Dad was spouting some rubbish about the ambassador being intimidated if the whole royal family was there at once.”
“Tell me you don’t believe that,” Kentario said.
“Of course I don’t. International ambassadors are used to rubbing shoulders with presidents, royalty, nobility, commoners, you name it. You should be able to put a whole bucket load of any of those in a room and he should still know how to keep his cool. I think Dad was just looking for anexcuse to get rid of me. But at this point, I figure I got to sit in on half the meeting, which is half more than I got to do last time, so I’ll take that as a win and not push my luck.”
“Well, it’s nice to see they’ve decided at least one of us is capable of doing our job,” his bodyguard said.
Ryu winced at his bitter tone. “Yeah, I noticed they hadn’t invited you to come,” he said, not sure what he could say that wouldn’t make things worse. For something to do with his hands, he set about taking plates and cutlery out of the kitchen draws and setting them on the table. It was better than just standing there awkwardly, trying not to stare at Kentario. “Maybe they just figured that with Danag and a handful of guards, we were pretty much covered,” he suggested, trying to find a positive side.
“Yeah, or maybe Maro just hates me,” Kentario said. He fetched two glasses from the cupboard and filled both with water, setting them on the table beside the plates.
“Maybe it’s not Maro,” Ryu said, taking the dinner tray out of the oven. The kitchen staff had brought dinner up about ten minutes ago, and he’d put it in the oven to keep warm. “He was spouting plenty of praise about you during the festival. He said he wished more of the Guard were like you.”
“Well, who the hell else would want me sidelined?” Kentario asked. “Because if it’s not Maro, then-”
“Maybe it’s my dad.”
That pulled Kentario up. He stared at Ryu across the table, disbelief in his eyes. “He thinks I’m not good enough to protect you, or what?”
“I don’t know. I’m just saying, Maro’s not necessarily the one with the final say on it. Honestly, I don’t know why either of them would have a problem with you. And if it is Dad, then why is he suddenly insisting I invite you over for dinner? Serious, nothing that’s happened in the last month makes the slightest bit of sense.” Ryu sat down with a huff, taking the lid off the tray of food. But despite his deteriorating mood, he couldn’t help but moan in delight. “Finally! Praise Selene. For once in my life, we get to eat fish and rice, like a normal bloody Galandane.”
“Maybe he’s just trying to distract you from the fact that he kicked you out of a diplomatic meeting,” Kentario said, serving himself some of the fish. It was salmon, Ryu noted with satisfaction – his all-time favourite meal.
“That just means he’s going to play hardball,” Ryu said. “I don’t know what Mum’s got to do with it, but Dad wants to cut a deal that’s probably going to undermine some other group of people or give unfair privilege to Arctesians living in Galandeen, and he doesn’t want me around to see it. Which is fine,” he added with a sigh. “Sooner or later he’ll figure out that I’m not that breakable, but it’ll probably take a good year or two after I turneighteen. More likely, he’s trying to hide the fact that he didn’t let you be there in the first place. Has Maro said anything, by the way? About the kidnapping, or your training, or anything else? Any reason why Dad wouldn’t be happy with you?”
“Nothing,” Kentario said. “And part of me keeps telling myself to just settle down and ignore it. Maro’s a straight up kind of guy. If he had a problem with me, he’d say so. So maybe it’s just… I don’t know… too many things going on at once? Your eighteenth birthday, your high school graduation, and the Festival, and Sou’s probably having kittens about you finding your soulmate. Maybe he’s just being the overprotective dad, and the way he’s expressing that has gone sideways a bit?”
“You know, that would actually make sense,” Ryu said. “And that would be a huge relief. Because if they seriously wanted to replace you, I would have a heart attack. I couldn’t stand the idea of having anyone else as my bodyguard. I mean, just look at this.” He gestured vaguely to the table in front of him. “According toformal tradition, I’m supposed to serve myself first, and you’re not supposed to start eating before I do, and there’s probably a whole pile of rules about me not being allowed to put the plates on the table because I’m doingmenialwork, but neither of us gives a shit. We both just sat down and started eating.” Swearing was not generally a part of Ryu’s vocabulary, but with only Kentario here, he was able to let his guard down in a way he never did, even with just his parents around. “How on earth would I ever find anyone else who justgetsme.”
An odd look came over Kentario’s face. He studiously concentrated on his rice for a few moments. “What about your soulmate?” he asked finally. “What are the chances of them ‘getting’ you?”
“I don’t know. I used to think not at all, but Jasmine was pretty cool, right?”
The look of horror on Kentario’s face was comical. “You want to marryJasmine?”
