Algernon Black

(Chapter 54) Fragile Peace

Jared was once again researching King Leviathan in Etilia's library when a servant came to retrieve him. He didn't know where he was being summoned to but the long walk to the other end of the castle made him antsy. And when the petrified bleach wood door at the top of a tower revealed a diligently working Devane his anxiety skyrocketed as the midnight kiss flashed in his mind, especially with servant's closing of the door and leaving the two in complete privacy.

"You can sit," Devane said, not bothering to look up from his papers. A small pair of glasses rested on the edge of his nose, and he barely glanced over them to see his fretting guest. "Instead of just standing there like a child just caught stealing sweets before dinner."

"Oh, sure," Jared said nervously crossing over to a pair of velvet chairs placed in front of a brick fireplace. The advisor's deep commanding voice could cut through a room, and definitely through a man. Not a person you would want to displease and not one Jared understood how to please either. He wondered if that kiss was something he had done to pleasure himself. Nothing about his presence now made him believe it had any effect on him. In comparison, the kiss seemed a trivial thing to the loads of work on Devane's shoulders and, less metaphorically, on his desk. Jared supposed, and partially hoped, the event had fallen to the last thing on his mind.

Devane felt the watchful gaze and nerves coming from his guest. "Are you on edge because of the kiss?" He implored as routinely as if he was asking about tax income reports.

"No," Jared sputtered out.

Devane glossed over the lie. "For someone who made it across the world and breached the castle of Etilia, I didn't think one kiss would be so unnerving." The advisor took the seat opposite his guest, crossing his long legs as he sat. Jared thought even the grace and control he had while seating was admirable.

"It's not," Jared said but worried his rushed denial made him seem all the more guilty. "It wasn't."

Devane quietly observed the boy. A small table, only big enough to fit the ostentatiously crafted chessboard it hosted, rested between the two and he gestured to it. "Do you play?"

It had been Solace's favorite game and Jared spent many hours indulging his friend over their years in school. "Yes."

Devane offered him the advantage by facing him the white pieces. As soon as Jared made his first move, Devane wasted no time in making his. "How long ago did you graduate from Attwood?"

"Ten years ago," Jared answered as quickly as he pushed up another pawn.

"So you're thirty-two."

"Yes." Jared's eyes wandered to Devane wondering about his age. His demeanor made him come off a lot older, but his wrinkle-free appearance, due to his constantly maintained neutral expression gave no indication of age.

"Only 11 years younger than me," Devane answered for him.

Jared thought he didn't look much older than him. His skin was a deep golden brown which made his features all the more flawless. And his striking attractiveness also pulled away from father time's natural decay. It wasn't a common beauty either, it was the type that when Devane stood still, as he did now with his chin resting in between his interlocked hands as he debated his next move, made him look like a crafted masterpiece, like the ornate chess pieces he pondered over.

Jared forced his concentration back to the game and away from such thoughts.

"And do you have plans of going back to Attwood?" Devane asked.

"Only to take my sister home," Jared replied as he made his next move.

"Where is home?" Devane pressed though he assumed for her safety they didn't have one permanent residence and frequently changed locations. He wondered if it led them to long for the comforts of one as it had for him when he was a child.