Chapter 364: Family Business

Chapter 364: Chapter 364: Family Business

Liam remembered he was hungry the moment the first plate reached the table.

Apparently spending half the afternoon inspecting Edrava’s collapsing infrastructure, arguing with engineers, and then walking directly into a royal family reunion had been enough to distract his stomach until warm bread appeared beside a platter of roasted vegetables and thinly sliced meat.

He reached for the bread immediately.

Arik noticed.

"You did eat earlier?"

Liam tore off a piece.

"I had coffee."

"That was not the question."

"Kamal bought me something."

"What?"

Liam paused.

Across the table, Cecil watched the exchange with increasing interest.

"A pastry."

Arik’s expression flattened.

"It had cheese."

"That does not improve it."

"It was large."

Cecil leaned toward Frederik.

"He does this to you too?"

Frederik, who had spoken perhaps twenty words since they sat down, calmly placed another portion of meat onto Cecil’s plate before answering.

"No. Cecil usually remembers food when someone puts it directly in front of him."

Cecil looked down.

"I was already going to take that."

"I know."

There was something remarkably familiar about the gesture.

Frederik had none of Arik’s obvious intensity. He was quieter, almost reserved, his blond hair neatly combed back from a composed face and his dark formal clothing still immaculate after travel. Yet every time Cecil reached too far across the table, Frederik shifted a dish closer. When Cecil ignored his water, the glass somehow appeared beside his hand. When a servant offered wine, Frederik glanced at Cecil before answering for himself.

Possessive, Liam realized.

Just much quieter about it.

He looked at Arik.

Arik had already moved the bread basket within Liam’s reach.

Liam sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That sounded judgmental."

"I am observing a family pattern."

Cecil laughed.

"You noticed too?"

Frederik looked between them.

"I dislike where this conversation is going."

"You married into it," Liam said.

"That was my first mistake."

Cecil turned slowly.

Frederik took a drink of water without changing expression.

Liam almost choked on his bread.

Arik’s hand moved immediately to the middle of his back.

"I am fine."

"You are coughing."

"Because your brother’s husband is funny."

Cecil looked offended.

"My husband is very funny."

"You sound surprised."

"I am not surprised. He simply chooses violence selectively."

Frederik’s mouth curved.

That, Liam decided, explained the marriage rather efficiently.

Cecil carried far more of Arik’s personality than Liam had expected from their calls. The same confidence was there, along with the quick temper, the tendency to push until someone pushed back, and the absolute certainty that affection entitled him to interfere in everyone else’s life.

The difference was that Cecil had been born in the middle of a large family and behaved accordingly.

He demanded attention as though someone might distribute it incorrectly if he did not supervise the process personally.

"So," Cecil said, pointing his fork toward Arik, "how long are we actually staying here?"

Arik continued cutting his food.

"You asked that outside."

"And you gave me a vague answer."

"A few days."

"That remains vague."

"We have reintegration negotiations."

"You have ministers."

"I am aware."

"You are emperor. Delegate."

Arik looked up.

Liam hid his smile behind his glass.

Cecil noticed.

"See? Liam agrees."

"I did not say anything."

"You did with your face."

Arik turned toward him.

"You are not joining this."

"I am eating."

"That has never prevented you from interfering."

"True."

Frederik quietly caught Cecil’s wrist before he could steal something from his plate.

Cecil stared at their hands.

"I wanted that."

"You have the same thing."

"Yours looked better."

"It came from the same platter."

Cecil considered this information, then reached for Frederik’s food again.

Frederik moved the plate farther away.

Liam looked at Arik.

"Middle child?"

"Extremely."

"I heard that," Cecil said.

"You were meant to."

The dining room doors opened before Cecil could respond.

Mezos stepped inside.

Then stopped.

It was almost impressive how quickly a man responsible for imperial security assessed the room, registered Cecil at the table, and attempted to reverse direction without making it obvious.

Unfortunately, Cecil had already seen him.

"Mezos."

Mezos closed his eyes briefly.

Liam lowered his fork.

This promised to be interesting.

Mezos turned around with professional calm.

"Your Highness."

Cecil smiled.

It was not a reassuring smile.

"You were leaving."

"I remembered something."

"What?"

Mezos glanced toward the corridor.

"Security."

Arik leaned back in his chair.

"That was poor."

Mezos looked betrayed.

"You could help."

"I could."

He did not.

Cecil gestured toward the empty chair near the end of the table.

"Come here."

"I am working."

"So am I. Sit."

Mezos remained where he was.

Cecil’s smile widened.

Liam leaned toward Arik.

"What is happening?"

"Apparently something I was not informed about."

That did not sound displeased.

Mezos finally approached, although he refused the chair and stopped beside it instead.

"What do you need?"

Cecil studied him.

"I have a message from your father."

Mezos’s expression changed immediately.

Not dramatically, but enough that Liam noticed the tension enter his shoulders.

Arik did too.

Cecil lost some of his amusement.

"He knows you are coming to Agaron."

Mezos glanced toward Arik.

Arik raised one eyebrow.

"I learned this plan today too."

Cecil ignored him.

"Your father wants to see you as soon as you arrive."

Mezos stared at him.

"How did he know I would be there?"

Cecil looked genuinely offended by the question.

"You work for my brother."

"That did not answer me."

"It answered enough."

Frederik reached for his glass.

"His father contacted the palace this morning."

Cecil gave him a look.

"I was getting there."

"You were enjoying yourself."

"Yes."

Mezos rubbed one hand over his face.

Liam had never seen him look quite so much like a man reconsidering every professional choice that had brought him into a dining room.

"Did he say why?"

"No," Cecil replied. "He said, and I quote, ’Tell my son that if he enters Agaron and does not come home first, I will find him myself.’"

Silence settled over the table.

Liam slowly looked at Mezos.

Arik’s mouth twitched.

Severin would have enjoyed this enormously.

Mezos looked toward the ceiling.

"I am chief of imperial security."

Cecil nodded.

"Your father appears unimpressed."

"I am an adult."

"Also irrelevant, apparently."

Liam bit the inside of his cheek.

Mezos noticed.

"Do not."

"I said nothing."

"You are all related by temperament."

"That is deeply unfair," Liam said.

Arik placed a hand on his thigh beneath the table.

Cecil leaned back, satisfied with his delivery.

"So when we go to Agaron, you are seeing your father."

Mezos looked toward Arik.

"Your Majesty."

Arik considered him with entirely too much serenity.

"I am not interfering with your father."

"Of course not."

"He sounds determined."

"You have faced Felix."

"Yes."

"Surely you can manage one parent."

Mezos stared at him for several seconds.

Then he turned and walked toward the door.

Cecil called after him.

"Should I tell him you agreed?"

"No."

"I will."

Mezos did not turn around.

The doors closed behind him.

Liam finally laughed.

Arik looked toward Cecil.

"You have been here less than two hours."

Cecil reached for his wine.

"And already I am useful."

Frederik quietly reclaimed the fork Cecil had somehow taken from his place setting.

Arik sighed.

Liam took another piece of bread.

A week in Agaron was beginning to sound significantly less peaceful than advertised.