The Ambassadors (5 page)

"No," Anike muttered, uncovering his face to give them both a dirty look. "It's your fault too."

Calo looked taken aback, and even Reni's laugh was a bit shaky.

"What do you mean, lovely?" Reni asked, his fingers never stilling as he teased at Anike's hair.

"You're both …" Anike began, trailing off because he wasn't sure he could say it out loud.

"We're what?" Calo asked, claiming one of Anike's hands. Reni tugged lightly at a strand of his hair, and Anike sighed, blushing a little under the attention.

"Too good to be true," Anike finished quietly, not looking at either of them. Calo laughed, not cruel and mocking, but happy. He let go of Anike's hand to cup Anike's face, tilting Anike's head up to meet his kiss. Anike kissed back desperately, wishing the relationship was real and would last. Still, he could pretend it was for a while, and Anike made no protest as Reni stole him from Calo, or later, when they dragged him into the well-appointed ambassadorial bedchamber.

Anike wandered down the hallway, fumbling with his papers. He knew he had a sketch of the members of Calo and Reni's entourage in there somewhere, but he was having the worst time trying to find it. Scowling irritably, Anike pushed his hair out of his face, pausing at a small display table to set his papers down. Edging the expensive looking vase filled with dead tree stalks down along the table a bit, Anike started to rearrange the papers in his portfolio.

"—think it's for the best, Reni," Calo's voice echoed down the hallway and Anike smiled, glancing up. They had to be around that side corridor though, because Anike didn't see them. Shrugging, Anike went back to sorting—they'd show up in his corridor soon enough.

"No." Reni sounded annoyed, Anike noted, still shifting through his papers, but paying much less attention to them.

"I know you've noticed it." Calo didn't sound too pleased himself, and Anike wondered what they were arguing about. "We should let him go now and save the heartache later."

Anike froze, staring blankly at a quick sketch he'd done of Reni and Calo, sleeping tangled together. Reni didn't say anything, and Anike shut the folder of sketches and picked it up.

"You knew it would come to this," Calo continued after a moment, his voice getting louder—as they got closer, and Anike glanced around quickly, slipping across the hallway to try his luck at a linen closet. It opened, and he slipped in, leaving the door open a crack.

He should confront them, not hide from them. Anike closed his eyes and listened.

"I know," Reni finally agreed, sounding irritated, like he did when Calo insisted he share the covers. "All part of the plan."

"Reni!" Calo snapped, sounding angrier than Anike could ever remember hearing him before. "Don't—"

"You're right," Reni muttered, and Anike almost missed it except they were in his corridor, walking towards his linen closet. Anike held his breath. "We'll end it tonight."

"Reni," Calo sounded soothing, and Anike turned away from the door, trying to not scream. "We couldn't keep him around forever."

"I know," Reni hissed, and then said something that Anike couldn't understand. The soft Maranan words didn't sound soothing anymore. The hallway fell absolutely quiet, but Anike didn't move. He knew too well how quiet they were. He wasn't going anywhere until he was completely sure they were gone.

Anike took a slow breath, keeping his eyes shut. It was his own fault. He'd known … he'd just ignored it and look where that had gotten him. Hiding in a linen closet, fighting not to cry over the two Maranan ambassadors who didn't really care. Anike shoved the folder of sketches in between the spare towels and wiped at his eyes.

He was an idiot, but he wasn't going to be more of one. Pushing out of the closet, Anike shut the door quietly behind him. The hallway was empty once more, and Anike started walking, heading back to his rooms. He'd make it easy for them, even if the prince would miss having his court artist around. He wasn't irreplaceable though, and the prince would find someone to take his place.

Anike woke up to a headache and his mother laughing at him. Grumbling incoherently, he pulled the blanket over his head and tried to not tumble off either side of the narrow bed he'd slept in when he was younger.

"Get up, get up," she scolded, laughing again when he threw a loose sock at her. "Come on, Anni, I want to feed you a good breakfast."

"Mom," Anike protested, tugging the blanket down far enough to see her over the top of it. "Ulgh."

That just earned him another sunny laugh, and Anike wondered why he'd thought it a good idea to go running home to get away from the palace. Surely it was worse torture than staying. Except then he thought of Calo and Reni and his chest started to ache again. No, his mother's house was better than the palace. Even if his mother was sadistic.

"If you're not down in five minutes, Anni, my boy, I will come back," she threatened, and Anike groaned, knowing she'd be back with a pail of icy water. Staying still for another minute, he reluctantly shed the blanket and stumbled from bed. His head gave a nasty throb, and Anike winced, giving his bed a longing glance.

Stumbling about the room, he managed to clothe himself without too much trouble. It took him a few minutes to make it all the way downstairs, and he gave his mother a bleary smile as he collapsed at the rickety kitchen table. She'd refused to replace it, even when he'd given her money, citing that it still had a few good decades in it. Anike had plotted to sabotage it, but he'd been given the court artist job and then he'd lost track of all his plans for the house.

"Here."

Anike glanced up at his mother, accepting the steaming mug she settled in his hands. The scent of the homemade tea she blended wafted up, and Anike smiled a little. Some things never changed at least.

"Now just sit there, and I'll get you breakfast. Won't be anything fancy like they feed you at the palace—"

"Just ten times tastier," Anike interrupted, stifling a yawn. His mother beamed, and finished fixing him a plate. Anike thanked her quietly, making a note to steal dinner-making duty from her later. And to see if he couldn't shore up the rickety table, since she did like it so much.

Wrapping his fingers around the mug, Anike hunched a bit over the table. There were plenty of things he could do around the house to keep his mind off the ambassadors. Then he could figure out what to do next, since he was out of a job and living with his mother again.

*~*~*

Anike was washing curtains.

Lots of curtains. All of the curtains in the house, actually, except for those in his mother's bedroom, because she refused to leave her windows uncovered for the time it would take them to dry.

It was tedious and boring and soggy, and worst, it wasn't distracting enough. It had been all of two days—well, one full day, two nights, and half of a morning—since Anike had left the palace abruptly.

He was an idiot. And miserable. And still an idiot, and his mother had noticed. Anike sighed into the soapy water, scrubbing a little harder. Anike hadn't answered her questions—mostly "who was it?" with the occasional "why won't you talk to me?"—but every time she asked, he couldn't help but think about them.

They were probably relieved they didn't have to tell him face to face. Anike wondered what they'd thought when he hadn't shown up for dinner with them. Dinner and more, of course, and he wondered too whether they were planning to tell him before or after the "more" part of it.

Which was uncharitable, but damn it, they could've at least acted more like they spoke. No lingering looks, no laughing, no dragging him off to the library or the gardens or feeding him strange food that was only made in Marana, just simple sex. That would've been easier, and maybe he wouldn't have felt so stupid about it after.

He wasn't anything special. He could paint and draw. He wasn't pretty, he wasn't lovely, and he wasn't special. Anike scrubbed harder, his chest tight. He was easy, that was all. Easy to bed, easy to fool, easy to discard.

Anike coughed a bit, blinking back his stupid tears. Just one more way he was pathetic. Scrubbing curtains in his mother's backyard, fighting tears over two men who didn't want him. Ducking his head, Anike did his best to focus on the curtain he was nearly rending in two scrubbing clean.

Sighing, Anike pulled the curtain out of the washbasin and wrung it as dry as he could get it. Sniffling pathetically, he walked over to the clothesline and pinned it to the rope next to the other curtain he'd washed. Turning back towards his washing, Anike yelped and stumbled back a few steps, nearly tripping and falling on his ass. Reni actually smiled and Calo looked a little smug, and Anike got angry.

Crossing his arms, he glared at them, ignoring that he was soaking wet from splashing wash water around and that he probably looked terrible from not sleeping well and from crying pathetically.

"Lovely—" Calo started and Anike glowered.

"Don't call me that," he snapped, stepping back when they glanced at each other. And it really wasn't fair that he still found the way they sometimes did things in tandem adorable. Anike took a deep breath and focused on his anger. What did they think they were doing, coming to his mother's house?

"We were worried," Reni said after a tense, silent moment that Anike refused to break.

"You didn't show up," Calo added, watching Anike with concern and … something else.

"You weren't in your room," Reni said, and he looked a little hurt and as concerned as Calo.

"We searched the palace yesterday," Calo told him slowly, frowning a little like he did when he was thinking. "And last night."

"Then, this morning," Reni scowled, looking angry briefly, "the prince informs us that you offered your resignation and left."

Anike stared at them wordlessly, stepping back again when Reni stepped forward.

"Why did you run away?" Reni asked, looking hurt. "Were we truly that awful to be around?"

"You wanted me gone!" Anike snapped, aware he was shouting but not caring. "I heard you—it was all part of your plan to get rid of me. You were just doing it sooner than you planned!"

"What?" Reni frowned, looking confused, and Calo's eyes widened, as though he knew exactly what Anike was talking about.

"Go away," Anike ordered, deflating. They weren't playing fair—why did they have to come back and torment him further?

"Anike," Calo said quietly, and Anike felt like his heart was tearing in two. Calo never used his name. Neither did Reni. "In Marana, ambassadors are only allowed to stay in another country for a maximum of six months."

"It's been two," Reni muttered, stepping closer to Calo, who wrapped a steadying arm around Reni's waist. "In four months, we have to leave."

Anike shook his head. What did that matter?

"We had no reason to believe you would give up everything to come home with us," Calo said, his voice still quiet.

"You always look so sad when you don't think anyone's looking," Reni added, frowning. "So, we were going to let you go, since it was probably us making you sad."

"You made me happy," Anike exclaimed, wiping at his face and ignoring the fact that his cheeks were wet. "I thought—I thought you just …" Anike coughed, unable to continue past the lump in his throat. Miserable, he stared at their feet.

"Anike," Calo's warm fingers touched his cheek, and Anike leaned into it without thinking about it. Then his senses caught up and he pulled away with a rough noise.

"We want you, pretty artist," Reni spoke up, stepping away from his brother and Anike couldn't find the willpower to step away. "Since the first moment we saw you."

"It doesn't make sense," Anike protested, jerking a small bit back, away from Reni's hands as he tried to wipe away Anike's tears.

"It doesn't," Reni agreed, and Calo managed to snag Anike's hand while he was distracted. Reni snagged the other, and then they were both kneeling in front of Anike, pressing his knuckles to their foreheads.

"What—" Anike started to ask as he half-heartedly tried to pull his hands free. They both looked up at the same time, and Anike's breath caught because they both had the same expression on their face and it made his knees go weak.

Anike sat down heavily before he could fall down, almost smiling at the surprised look that crossed first Calo's and then Reni's face. Calo glanced at Reni and nodded. Reni smirked, letting go of Anike's hand to pull out a small box. Calo began to say something in Maranan, and Anike could only stare as Reni flipped open the box to reveal a small gold band, embedded with tiny flecks of emerald.

"What are you—" Anike tried to ask, but Reni reached out and tapped his lips with his fingers. Calo shifted his grip, still speaking in Maranan and Anike watched, his fingers trembling, as Reni slid the ring onto his finger.

Calo finished speaking and lifted his hand to press a kiss to Anike's knuckles. Reni followed suit, and Anike stared at them, sure he'd missed something. They weren't supposed to even be talking to him, let alone giving him beautiful and expensive jewelry.

"Our father gave that ring to our mother the day he married her," Calo told him solemnly. Anike's eyes widened and he yanked his hand back.