“Standing there won’t make you warm any faster,” Silver chided, already heading toward his car. It was a sleek neon yellow racer, with two front seats and a bench seat in the back that almost no one could fit in. The model had only been on the market for two weeks now, and the price was astronomical, to the point that even being one of the richest planets inthe universe, only one percent of Igna’s could even dream of affording to purchase one of their own.
Silver had gotten his the day of release and had refused to allow anyone else to go near it, let alone drive it. He’d given his driver a month-long holiday in fact, so for the past couple of weeks it’d been just him and Nuri on the drives to and from work, with Silver dropping him off at his apartment like he was the employer instead of the other way around.
It’d made Nuri uncomfortable at first, but when Silver had ordered him briskly to “get used to it” Nuri had gritted his teeth and shoved those feelings aside. The Emperor wanted to drop him off at home every night like his driver? Fine. That was his prerogative, Nuri would simply lean back and enjoy the ride.
Silver reached the car first, sliding into the driver's seat. He turned it on while he waited for Nuri to join him, then reversed them into the lot fast enough that Nuri’s skull almost connected with the passenger window.
“I’m not even buckled yet,” he mumbled before he could help it, stilling when Silver chuckled at his side, clearly having heard him.
“The cold always makes you ill-mannered.” Silver pulled them out on the street, keeping to the ground roads, the car hovering about two feet off the snow-covered pavement as they traveled away from the building.
Nuri only realized they weren’t going the right way after he’d secured his seatbelt and sat back. With a frown, he turned to Silver, but the Emperor beat him to it.
“We’re going home,” Silver told him, leaving no room for argument.
Still, Nuri was tempted to point out that the estate was Silver’s home and not his, but then the Emperor flicked the heat onto full blast, and the gusts of warmth against Nuri’s frozen cheeks had him sighing contentedly.
He decided it was an argument that wasn’t worth having and let it go.
Chapter 2:
In high school, when they’d returned from breaks, Nuri had been allowed to spend time with his family. He’d gone home to the downtown two-bedroom apartment he’d shared with his two siblings, and Silver had returned here. During that time, he’d been given not only a break from school but from having to take responsibility for the Imperial Crown Prince as well.
Then they’d reached college, and attended EK U., one of the most prestigious schools on the planet, paid in full by Sij Rien. Since the tuition was three times the amount it’d been for the private high school, Nuri had found himself unable to reject Sij when he’d been asked to take a room in the mansion and accompany Silver home during school breaks as well. He’d been given some leave to meet with his siblings, but it hadn’t been the same.
It’d been almost a decade since he’d lived with his family properly, and while usually he was far too busy for daunting thoughts such as those to fill his headspace, Nuri woke the next morning feeling melancholy. Maybe it was a mixture of how drab it was outside and the call he’d had with Neve yesterday, but he got ready for the day as if going through the motions, one minute lying in the four-poster bed in his assigned room in the East wing and the next standing in the hallway fully dressed.
He’d thrown on the first suit he could find, a plain black with a white dress shirt underneath. His multi-slate had already been set to work mode, and N.I.M. was rolling down the hallway, almost at the wide stairwell that led straight to the main level. The AI began plopping down the steps, as if it didn’t care that Nuri wasn’t right behind it.
It didn’t, he reminded himself as he sighed. The AI didn’t have feelings. It could communicate with him using a series of beeps and whistles that he mostly understood now, and it had long since learned his patterns and habits and could usually guess what Nuri wanted even before he knew himself. But that didn’t mean it felt things.
How could it, when its creator didn’t understand emotions himself?
The bitter thought toward Silver made Nuri feel a tiny inkling of guilt and he ran a hand over his face as he descended the steps. There were moments when he wished he could strangle the Emperor and other moments where he was admittedly terrified of him, but those reactions never came without prompting. It wasn’t fair for him to be angry toward Silver over his own feelings. It may have been because of him that Nuri had to push his plans with his sister, but it wasn’t technically his fault.
Neve’s words about quitting flashed through his mind as he entered the foyer and turned down a side hall that would leadto the dining room. The estate had been decorated a hundred years ago by Silver’s Grandmother, and much of it had remained the same since then. Marble statues were set in corners, some of Swifts, others of regular Igna. A few had been crafted after the likeness of someone important, but others were merely artistic pieces his grandmother had taken a fancy to.
The walls were done in marble as well, a smooth, light gray that was almost white, with streaks of lavender and violet throughout. Swifts always had white hair and blue horns, but their eye colors varied, and the Rien family had been known for their purple ones for generations. Everything was gilded in silver and polished to a shine, details that Nuri seldom noticed anymore.
He was burnt out and needed a break. It felt like ever since the issue at the crowning ceremony it’d been one thing after the other. He couldn’t even recall the last time he’d had a full weekend off, let alone a day. Every time it rolled around, Silver would assign something new, or plan a business trip the two of them absolutely had to take. Nuri was exhausted and he feared it was beginning to show.
Perhaps he should have insisted he leave for his trip on time after all. Surely Silver could get on without him for a few days, and while the project was important, it wasn’t like Nuri held that much power over whether or not things got done.
Although…he was the one who kept in touch with the main departments, contacting them and playing messenger between them all, each other, and Silver, despite everyone wearing a perfectly acceptable multi-slate with top communication functions.
“Are you all right, Master Narek?” Falc met Nuri at the doors to the dining room, startling him out of his dejected thoughts.
Falc was in his mid-sixties and had been with the family his entire life. His hair was graying and he had an intense presence about him that used to make Nuri feel like he’d made a mistake whenever the older man would approach him. That’d been back when he’d been a kid, however, and things between them now were rather normal. If anything, sometimes Nuri felt Falc was the only other person on the planet who understood the difficulties he went through thanks to the Emperor.
“Yes,” he forced a smile that didn’t quite make it to his eyes, “just tired.”
Silver was already seated at the table when Nuri entered. He had his tablet out and was scrolling through what was most likely the news. There was a plate of mostly untouched food in front of him and an empty coffee cup. His hair had been styled in the usual fashion, and he appeared well-rested. The suit he’d chosen was one the color of his namesake.
Taking the seat across from him, Nuri waited for the maid over his shoulder to refill Silver’s cup before speaking. “Good morning.”
Silver hummed a reply, lifting his cup without glancing at it to gulp down half the contents in one go.
The dining room had originally been designed to host dinner parties, with a long white table with navy blue trim and floor-to-ceiling curtains made of spun gold. They’d been pulled from the three lancet windows, all of which overlooked the South gardens. The snow was still coming down in droves, making it impossible to see much of anything outside, but during their brief Spring, it was Nuri’s favorite view in the whole estate.
