Choosing Love

Chapter Six

There honestly was no delaying the inevitable, unless one happened to be a king who still attended school and tried to make time for his girlfriend that didn't involve official business. Then there was a reasonable expectation for delay.

It also didn't help matters that Mal seemed just as busy as Ben was. Okay, maybe not as busy but pretty close. Every time Ben turned around, Mal seemed to be attending a meeting about Cotillion or rushing off with Kitty, Jordan and Ally, or checking on Evie or sparring with Uma.

It was for that reason why Ben was currently making his way to the gym two weeks after his talk with Chip, to try to see if he could get a moment with his girlfriend and talk to her about what was going on with the Isle. He trusted her more than he trusted the reports he received...if he received them at all.

"Hey Ben," Akiho smiled and waved as Ben walked into the gym.

"Hey," Ben chuckled as he walked over to him. "What're you doing here?"

"Heard Mal and Uma were going to be doing some sparring," the blond said with a grin. "Jay texted us."

"Us?"

"Emir came too," Akiho said, pointing to the raven haired boy talking to a younger girl who was off to the side. "Ashaki seemed interested in the whole thing, she heard us talking about it in the hall and followed us in."

"What's so bad about her watching?"

"Nothing," Emir chuckled as he walked over, Ashaki trailing behind him. "The talk was just because mom and dad think she needs to call home more and asked me to tell her that."

"I call home once a week!" Ashaki exclaimed. "Ben, don't you think that's more than enough?"

"I see my dad every time there's a council meeting and I still call home at least twice a week," Ben chuckled.

"...we're sure he's human?" Ashaki asked, turning to her older brother.

"Jury's still out on him."

"Hush you two," Ben said, shaking his head in amusement. "I'm missing the sparring."

"Oh yes, that's why you came to the gym," Akiho teased as Ben sat down, the sound of clanging steel in the background as Mal and Uma seemed to really get into their sparring match. "It wasn't to see your girlfriend but to watch the sparring."

"Can't it be both?"

"I'm so proud!" Emir and Akiho exclaimed, draping themselves over Ben as the king turned bright red.

"Do I want to know?" Jay asked as he walked over with Harry.

"Not really, no," Ashaki told him, smiling at the two of them. "You guys gonna spar too?"

"Nah," Jay chuckled. "Carlos and I just got out of practice so I'm beat. Actually, I was looking for those two over there."

"Oh you mean my brother and his best friend who are currently embarrassing themselves and Ben?"

"The very same."

"And why did you need to look for them? Wouldn't they have been in practice with you?"

"They skipped." Carlos said with a chuckle as he joined the group, Dude trotting behind him. "Presumably because they were getting into mischief with Harry and Uma or they finally remembered they have girlfriends."

"Either way they didn't let me know and I had to spend all of practice dealing with Chad muttering about how a captain knows where his team mates are," Jay sighed. "Therefore, I need to talk to them about letting me know if they're going to bail on practice just so I can be prepared for another Chad diatribe."