N.I.M. Narek:Okay.
S.R:Meet me at Club Spade in an hour. Don’t be late.
Nuri held his breath as he waited for what felt like forever before another response came in.
N.I.MNarek: What’s the game?
S.R:It’s simple. You’re going to pick me up at the bar.
This plan was crazy, and wild, and extra, and Nuri didn’t care. He owed it to himself to do this. To give them one final chance. One shot for Silver to show him they could really be something. That he’d learned from his past mistakes. That Nuri could trust him.
That the love he claimed to feel really was real after all.
Chapter 32:
The bar at Club Spade was packed, and more than once, Nuri had to turn someone away when they tried to sit down next to him. He’d gotten a table off the side, in a spot clear enough to spot from the entrance, and that seemed to be backfiring by drawing a ton of unwanted attention.
He’d arrived early, unable to sit in the manor waiting, and was dressed in one of the expensive silk suits Silver had purchased for him for some off-world event he could no longer recall the details of. It was a dark shade of blue, so dark it was almost black, and he’d left the jacket hanging in the closet, not wanting to overdo it.
There was dress code at the club, and on top of that, Nuri wanted to play the part he’d assigned himself. No one trying to lure a bedpartner would come dressed in any way other than to impress.
A single woman stood on a circular stage in the center of the room, an instrument tucked between her shoulder and chin. In appearance, it closely resembled a violin, though there were six strings, four in silver with one in gold on either side. The sound emanating off it switched from light and airy notes to deep and low, picking up with every passing moment.
Sound was only part of the pleasure one got from that type of instrument, though, and Nuri found himself awestruck, with his lips slightly parted as he watched swirls of color flick and twirl straight from the instrument.
The colors were bright, almost neon, practically glowing in the otherwise dim lighting of the place. They popped like fireworks and flowed like glow sticks dancing through the air, a mixture of vibrant yellows and cool blues. Now and again, the woman would hit a specific note and a burst of violet would join in, but it didn’t happen often.
It was string music, the notes slow and sad, the complete opposite of what Nuri expected from a sex club. It called to the melancholy in him. The loneliness. Perhaps it’d been designed that way to work in the club’s favor. To urge people to turn to one another and seek solace in a strangers embrace.
“That’s December,” Silver’s voice was low when he appeared from the crowd, as if summoned by Nuri’s thoughts.
“I know who she is.” He didn’t offer the Emperor a seat, sipping from the glass of bourbon he’d ordered simply to keep his hands busy. “She’s one of the most famous musicians in the galaxy.”
December Trace was one of a mere thousand known players of the bieska, an instrument that required more than just practice to learn. Because of their rarity, bieska players were well sought after and could rake in a large sum of coin for a single three-minute-long performance.
“Imagine how much more popular she’d be if she could master more than three colors.” Silver stood close to Nuri’s side so he could be heard over the music, but he was careful not to touch him, and when a waiter came over to ask if he wanted anything, he shook his head.
“Her son is said to be a prodigy,” Nuri recalled. “He’s already mastered the three primary and secondary colors.”
Silver cocked his head, eyes narrowing slightly.
Nuri pretended not to notice, still carefully keeping his eyes on the stage and not directly at the Emperor.
“You sound too interested, Narek. I wasn’t aware you even liked bieska music.”
“There isn’t a person alive in the universe that isn’t affected by bieska music,” he replied.
“And this son of hers? You seem to know an awful lot about him.”
“Everyone knows about his accomplishments. December talks about it in interviews all the time. He also happens to attend Vail University.”
“Where your siblings went.”
He hummed in the affirmative. “Neve has gone to a couple of his recitals. She even sent me a video clip once. It was beautiful.”
“It,” Silver’s voice tightened, “or he?”
Was it wrong of Nuri to be purposefully making him jealous like this?
