Page 60 of Measure of the Stars

“HOME AT LAST!”

King Adrien hopped out of the royal carriage with all the good cheer of someone whose loverhadn’tbeen abducted by his parents and his best friend’s husband, basking in the sunrise creeping over the palace walls.He had the gall to look almost peaceful, all while Delauney oozed miserably onto the plaza and tried not to behave like a wilting violet.

“Don’t fret, Delauney,” Adrien said, adjusting his gloves as he strode up to a line of anxious servants.“Sabre and Ferrin have the situation well in hand.Ah, Lilian!Did your daughter pass that exam she was so worried about?”

“Yes, your majesty,” a servant said, smiling wryly as Adrien breezed by.

“Great!”Adrien said, hopping up the steps to the palace.“I’ll send her flowers.What color does she like?”

“Yellow!”the servant cried.

As Adrien hurried up the steps, pausing only briefly to speak to a servant here and there, Delauney glumly noted the difference between his behavior with his servants and with the gentry at the ball.Wes would be curious to know that the king of Staria seemed far more animated when speaking to his staff, who treated him less like a king and more like a distant relation.One of the footmen even chided him for arriving too early.It would have probably been an unforgivable offense with another monarch, but Adrien just shrugged and said he’d try and cause less of a fuss next time.

“You always say that,” a maid said.Adrien winked at her and swept past, leaving her shaking her head with a smile.

Delauney wondered what Wes would say.He’d probably point out that an agreeable king was only agreeable when it benefited him.Delauney had never heard of Adrien’s father being remotely pleasant, but perhaps he, too, had started out as a bright-eyed young king.His reign had been marred by rumors of paranoia, death, and upheaval, and despite some reforms he’d passed before he’d abdicated, he would not be remembered as a particularlykindmonarch.It only struck Delauney now how dangerous it was to base the fate of a kingdom on the whims of one person.

Adrien smiled back at Delauney.“Hurry up, now.You don’t want to leave your man waiting, do you?”

Delauney looked up, unnerved by these new, almost seditious thoughts.“What?”

“You didn’t hear my steward?”Adrien asked.“Wes is waiting for you in the Green Study.Your parents should be along shortly, and a representative from Captain—”

“Where?”Delauney asked, unable to contain the twisting, knotted mess of nerves in his stomach.“The Green Study?”

“Upstairs,” Adrien said.“Second floor, fifth door on your—I’m comingwithyou, you know!”

Delauney didn’t bother to wait.He raced up the stairs, breathing hard.Years of sedately walking the decks of theManateehadn’t prepared him for running up narrow palace stairs meant to deter invading armies.He was red-faced and panting by the time he made it to the second floor, and he burst through the door with the desperate frenzy of a small dog trying to keep up with a wolf pack.

Wes turned from where he was holding a book open, disheveled and tired but whole.He dropped the book as Delauney clasped him in his arms, knocking several other books off the shelf in his enthusiasm.

“We’re leaving Stariaimmediately,” Delauney said, kissing Wes frantically.

Wes held him back, struggling to speak through his kisses.“Might be difficult.Still contracted with the navy, Delauney.”

Delauney kissed him again.“I don’t give a damn.I want you as far from my parents as possible.”

“Well, that’ll be awkward,” King Adrien said from the door.He smiled as Delauney and Wes broke apart, half stumbling over the fallen books.“Your parents should be here soon enough.They won’t have the luxury of a relaxing tea, though.Do you like honey in yours?”

Delauney watched Wes turn his bewildered stare on the king as Adrien set a tea tray on the desk.Being served by the king was probably unnerving to a commoner, but Wes silently took the offered cup of tea.

“Sit,” Adrien said, “before chaos descends.I’ve come to appreciate what quiet moments I can find these days.You’ll be amazed how often cups of tea go cold in this palace.”He sighed and gazed into his tea.“What’s this about a contract in the navy?”

Delauney caught Wes’ anxious look.“Wes has a while yet before his time is up, but he’s been accepted into next season’s studies at the Aviary in Gerakia.”

“Thatisa conundrum,” Adrien said.“As you know, I’ve been trying to establish schools of my own in Staria.If you think you might return to teach one day—”

“Papa!”

Adrien froze, teacup raised to his lips, as a young boy of around two or three raced into the room.He had bright red hair and strikingly blue eyes, and he was undeniably a de Guillory by the mischievous look on his face.Adrien managed to put his cup on the desk before the boy slammed into his legs.

“Excuse me,” Adrien said.He picked up the boy, flipping him upside down in his arms.The boy shrieked with laughter.“Who is this?”Adrien asked, carrying the boy out the door.“An escaped convict?A ghost?A spirit?”

“It’s Blaise!”the boy cried, still giggling.

“But Blaise is agoodboy who doesn’t run through the palace at the ass-crack of morning,” Adrien said.The boy laughed again.Delauney peered around the corner of the office just in time to see Adrien slinging Blaise over his shoulder.Blaise kicked his feet, grinning, as Adrien approached a tall, exhausted figure at the end of the hall.

“Hello, darling,” Adrien said.“Did they sleep at all?”