Under the Roses

61 - The King of the Cats

ROME

Rome heard Fritz approaching before he entered the room. The floors out in the halls weren't carpeted, just smooth marble, and every footstep clicked loudly. He wasn't entirely sure how heeled boots had caught on with Midworld royalty and nobility when they hardly ever used horses anymore. Everyone just portaled everywhere.

Rome was sitting in Fritz's chair, slumped down with his feet crossed on the king's wooden desk. He watched Fritz enter the room, wrinkling his nose at Rome.

"Please get your feet off my desk," Fritz said. He closed the door and hovered in the middle of the room for a moment as if debating whether or not he should tell Rome to get out of his chair. He just gave in and sat in the seat across.

"Your desk is such a lovely footrest, though," said Rome, not taking his feet off. "And what a comfortable chair you have. I should invest in my own."

"Yes," Fritz said. "You should. Now get your feet off. I'm a king; I outrank you."

Rome rolled his eyes. "You don't outrank me. I may only be a prince, but we both know that any Otherworldly title outranks even the highest Midworldly one."

"Oh, I see," said Fritz. "You only denounce your Otherworldly side when you see fit, do you?"

Rome resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. He took his feet off the table and sat up, leaning forward and putting his elbows on it instead. "I denounce anyone and anything whenever I see fit. Including you."

Fritz's expression gave nothing away. He leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms. "What are you here for? And what business have you got with Austin, anyway? It certainly was a shock to receive a message from him through your fire."

"It's not my fire," Rome corrected. "And my business with Austin is none of your business. I'm here for two reasons. First, the Duels."

Fritz frowned, then, the slightest dip in his eyebrows. "The Duels?"

"Don't act stupid; they're your Duels," said Rome, though it wasn't entirely correct to say Fritz could own the Korevan Duels. "I'm participating in them."

Fritz blinked. "What?"

"I know you heard me. My sister should have signed me up. She wants me to teach Vine a lesson. You remember Vine, don't you?"

"They've been rather tame these days."

"My sister may have been wronged a century ago; it doesn't matter what they're doing now," said Rome. Even if he didn't particularly believe Fritz that Vine was being "tame." Though he hadn't heard of any recent executions.

Fritz sighed. "So, what? Do you want me to give Vine a handicap or give you an advantage?"

"I didn't even suggest foul play yet," Rome said pleasantly. "How thoughtful of you to bring it up."

Fritz rolled his eyes. "Tell me what you want."

"Just keep Alastor out of the arena when Vine is in it."

"Alastor is banned from the Duels," said Fritz, uncrossing his arms. "So it wouldn't happen anyway. Any other requests?"

"I can handle Vine myself," said Rome. Vine was hardly an issue, but Alastor, on the other hand, was absolutely insane, and Rome would never face him even on a good day.

"All right, then," Fritz said, starting to get up. "Then you should head out with the others. I have business to do—"

"Wait." Fritz paused, half-standing. He sat back down, frowning. "Don't give me that look; this is business," said Rome. He dragged a finger along the edge of the table. It was dusty. "I heard that Lilis received a...gift from Korev." He glanced up at Fritz, raising his eyebrows.

Fritz smoothed out his expression. "What gift?"

Rome flicked a speck of dust at him. "Food."

"Ah," Fritz said as if it had only just come to him. "The House of Nathe is a sponsor of this year's Duels. I sent a thank-you gift to Lilis, who arranged it."

Rome narrowed his eyes. "Did you? Why are the Duels even happening this year? Out of all years?"

"Because it was time," Fritz said, though Rome knew it was a lie, and he was also pretty sure he knew what the real reason was. But of course, Fritz would never admit it, as he would never admit to anything.

Fritz stood again. "Anything else?"

There was a pen at the corner of the table, and Rome took it, inspecting the sharp metal tip. "Yes, actually. Don't contact me anymore. Once I leave after the Duels, I'm done with Korev."

There was the slightest dip in Fritz's brows. "What?"

Rome didn't actually think he needed to say this—he'd had contact with the Korevan royal family for a long time (through Amabel, of course) and they hardly ever called on his services—but he'd known this was going to happen at some point, and better to make himself as clear as possible. "I'm not killing anyone else or getting anything else for Korev anymore. If you try to contact me again, I won't respond, so don't even bother."

Fritz put his hands on the table and leaned forward, eyes so dark they looked as black as Euryn's. "Oh? Are you growing a conscience now?"

Rome rolled his eyes. "I'm growing some sense, is what. I should have done this ages ago. First of all, you don't pay me enough—"

"Oh, come on. You're a prince."

"And you said you're a king," Rome said, putting down Fritz's pen.

"So you can address me as sir," said Fritz.

Rome rolled his eyes again. "Yes, sir," he said mockingly. "You're a king. So you can afford to pay me more. Secondly, you never let me do anything fun. Thirdly, you hardly ever ask me to do anything, so I'm not losing much by cutting you off. And fourthly, I'm done with her. You can keep at it, but I won't. You may be older than me, but that doesn't mean you're wiser. I'd advise you to do the same." Then he stood. Fritz wasn't the only one who could do dramatic exits. "I think I'll go catch up with the others now."