Harem

Thirteen

Mitch was a little bit worried that his rather eventful morning hadn't fazed him more than it had. Was he becoming so used to the random ups and downs of palace life that it took more to alarm him these days? It was possible. But it seemed odd that the most complex concern he had at the moment was where to put his new lamp.

Chris had done an amazing job. The blue glass of the shade was mottled with gray and gold, and the curves of the base were bold and yet feminine. He might have to ask for a second one, because he simply couldn't decide which table to set it on.

"That's nice," a low voice said from behind him.

Mitch jumped and turned toward the door where Avi stood, leaning in the doorway like he'd been standing there for quite some time. There was such an overwhelming rush of relief and pleasure at the sight of him, that Mitch almost rushed right for him. But there was an odd look on Avi's face that held him back.

"Hi," he whispered, hoping that his face reflected his happiness and not the sliver of doubt in response to Avi's expression.

"Hi there," Avi replied, his forehead smoothing out a bit.

"You got my note, I'm assuming," Mitch said tentatively.

"I did. So...was this your errand? Picking up a new lamp?"

Oh, so that was it. He thought Mitch had delayed him for something frivolous. "Oh, no. I just happened to run into the artisan while I was in the village," he said quickly.

"Ah," Avi replied, still a bit stiffly. "And who made it?"

"Alex's new boyfriend!" Mitch said, winking in Avi's direction and baiting the hook.

Avi couldn't help but bite. "I'm sorry what?!"

"I know, right?! You wouldn't even believe the day I've had!" Mitch leaned against the bar and tried to look pathetic.

"Tell me," Avi said eagerly, taking a half dozen curious steps into the room.

Mitch grinned and took a deep breath. "Okay, so a couple of weeks ago, I decided this room needed a lamp. It was the day I met Princess Kirstin, and she said she knew of an artisan in the village we should see. So she and Alex and I went in to meet him, and it turns out the Princess was all head over heels for this guy. I can't totally blame her--the dude is hot, like fiery lava hot, if you're into big muscles and whatever. Anyway, within about three seconds of meeting him, he's hitting on me and giving Alex the eye, and we had to tell poor Kirstin that she is decidedly not his type. It was the worst. But I kinda hinted at Alex that maybe he should go see the guy again--his name is Chris by the way. And, because he's Alex and is loathe to take any advice from me, he shot me down, but apparently he did listen eventually. Because when we ran into Chris in the village today, he said something about them already having plans, and talked about them seeing each other yesterday."

"You're kidding me!" Avi said, leaning forward to catch every word.

"No! It was completely surreal. The closest I've seen him to actually relaxing."

"I can't believe after all this time... What were the two of you doing in the village anyway?"

"Oh! That brings me to the next chapter of my very weird day," Mitch said with a weak chuckle. "So that same day that we were in the village with Princess Kirstin, this southern guy approached me and gave me a card. I noticed later that it had an address and today's date on it, like an invitation. So I went to this gathering, I guess you could call it, and Alex came with me because he's actually sort of chivalrous and didn't want me to be in danger."