To Make a Kinder Children's Tale

19: The Walk Home

Leaving the suite, Esme set a gait that forced Althalos to jog for a moment before he paced her side. "What did you learn?"

"Things both inconsequential and important. When are we meeting with this Rileus?"

"The customary time is in the mid-afternoon, several hours before the king holds court for anything outside of business-basically tea with personal guests, dinner with the king. It means we have some time to wait. You could use it to talk to me about what you spoke of with the Elder, or perhaps for...other things."

That caused the newly minted Princess to blush. "I'm sleeping in your bed tonight. No need to angle for that right now."

Because they were side by side, it felt like his laughter was dancing over her head. "Any man who desires you would want to angle for it at any given moment of the day, Esme. As we have obligation to each other, I'm very much in mind of desire. There isn't a moment I wouldn't bed you, if you would have me-beyond the bond."

"No wonder you took to a 'Skirthouse." She meant it lightly but his laughter stopped, the mood around them shifting to something far more sad than otherwise upset.

But Althalos' mind wasn't off of bedding her in spite of the jab. "Why did you want to sleep alone?"

It was hard to shift around uncomfortably while walking through the twisting halls of stone. It messed up her stride, causing her to be grateful for his arm supporting hers. She waited until she felt steady before responding. "You take up a lot of space. I've not been able to place it, but I get a sense of fullness that I don't understand-even beyond your stature. It makes me think you hold back a whole lot of who you are to interact with the Aelfine. The idea of drowning in you bothers me-and yet you politely wait for me to make a move after heaping more on me than I can think through."

He shrugged-not that she could easily tell while not looking at him. "You keep asking for more."

Esme slowed them down to stop and face this mountain of a Prince."Maybe if this stopped at you and me it wouldn't be so overwhelming. But your mother is the same. I suppose that most the Aelfine will be like this-horribly decisive yet maddeningly patient, waiting for me to become more like you, and I don't have this experience with life."

They were only a few steps from their door so she resumed her walk with the man in tow, not catching his amusement at the thought of all of them being that much alike. Althalos still placed his hand on the knob, first. "What is your experience, then?"

"I wasn't a good thief, but if I had been a rash thief, I'd be dead. Those not blessed with luck or talent have to plod along, eliminating as many risks as they can. My life-until you-has been carefully planned, and I don't see how to align anything I worked on in this new one. You're not my choice. This suite is not my choice. These meetings are not my choice-and given everything, my dinners look to be out of my control as well. The only thing that is my own is that I chose to learn more about this world I've been forced into-and I'm struggling to figure out what is truly important."

He looked into her eyes for a long moment, thinking, before he turned back to opening the door and resuming his general laughter. "That was a lot of words to say that you need time to process the changes in your life, that I'm both impatient and long-suffering, and that you fear what others will demand of you."

Esme relaxed a little as he lead her to the couch. He understood the heart of the matter at least. That would have to do.

As for their time waiting on Rileus, Althalos told her stories of his childhood, focusing on the antics of other children, not his-leaving the impression that he was not the instigator. And while this could be wholly truthful, it didn't suit him. She had no clue as to how these stories fit into the bigger picture of the man he'd grown tobe.