Under the Roses

119 - Brighter Shone the Golden Shadows

ROME

"Hey," said Austin, peeking into the living room. Rome looked up from where he was sitting in front of the fireplace, feeding paper scraps to the fire. Ambrose had left a box of them outside the front door, a note taped to it explaining that he had business in South Auvyn. Rome really couldn't think what business Ambrose would have there, but it had reminded him of how Ermengarde had told him to visit Amabel. He'd planned on never doing it, but perhaps he should...at some point.

"For the final ball tomorrow," Austin said, one hand curled hesitantly around the edge of the wall, "I mean at the banquet. Like, when we eat dinner." He paused, and Rome stared at him. He looked like a child, peering into the room. "Will you sit with me?"

The fire crackled, and Rome looked back at it. "What a whiny baby," he said, throwing another handful of shredded paper into the fireplace.

"What?" said Austin.

"You can't just change seating arrangements the night before the event," Rome said, looking back at him. "I'm not going to sit next to you. You're going to look ridiculous, sitting next to a demon while giving a speech about how horrible an event was—an event that a demon was a part of, and not on the good side."

"Well." Austin hesitated. He drummed his fingers on the wall.

Rome narrowed his eyes. "Well?"

"It's already been arranged," Austin said. "I sent a letter to Amoret asking for an extra seat to be saved on my left." He paused again. "If you don't take it, I'll ask Nix."

"Just ask him then," said Rome. "Why do you want me?"

"I don't know Nix as well as I do you."

"You don't know me."

Austin dragged his nails down the wall. He was going to leave marks in it. "You know me."

"It doesn't matter; you'll probably have a stranger sitting on your right anyway."

"I need moral support for my speech."

"Your sister's going to be there."

"She doesn't get a seat at the main table."

"Then give the seat to her—Ow!" Rome glared at the fire, which had reached out of the place to snap at his hand. "So impatient." He threw more paper into the fire and said, "That's it for tonight. You're so spoiled."

He looked back at Austin as he folded the box closed. "You really want me to sit next to you?"

"Yes," said Austin.

Rome looked at him. He set the box aside. And he said, "No."

Which was how he found himself the next evening, sitting beside Austin at the large banquet table, bundled up in a black coat that hid his wings and glaring at the poor people who sat across from him.

Rome didn't really get how the logistics of this banquet/ball worked, considering there were so many people all throughout the kingdoms. Though he guessed only the wealthy cared enough to want to sit for an hour while Austin rambled on about whatever. They were in Auvyn, but the main event was hosted in Eilyste, so he supposed only those stupid enough to go to Auvyn would get to hear the speech.

Austin had managed to actually practice his speech properly, and Rome had listened to it. Well, some of it. He'd been spaced out half the time. It wasn't that Austin was particularly bad at speaking or writing. Rome just couldn't bring himself to be interested.

"...And I'm sure we can all remember what it was like, only ten years ago, to hear the news of the final fall of Ailthe," Austin was saying to a crowd of old, rich people, who were nodding along as if their necks were made of putty. "...The devastation tore us apart, but we come back tonight in memory of the kingdom that kept us together..."

Rome was hardly listening. Again. He stared up at Austin, who was wearing a white suit. White for remembrance. The bright lights in the ballroom reflected off him, making him glow. His hair shone like the gold hanging from the walls and ceiling. Over the course of the night, his cheeks had gotten more and more flushed. Rome wasn't entirely sure if it was from the heat, the excitement, the nerves, or the glasses of liquor the staff seemed extremely eager to continue pouring out into the room.

"Tonight will be a night of light," Austin went on. It felt like he was saying the same things over and over, but Rome didn't really mind. He wasn't there for the words, anyway. He was only there for Austin. "...All those who died, the Ailthean royals, who went down with their kingdom—"

"Excuse me!" Someone burst into the room through one of the portals—the portal to Eilyste. They were frazzled, face flushed and hair a mess. "There's—There's something going on in Eilyste! Someone's claiming to be the heir to Ailthe!"