The royal advisors rose with a rustle of garments and bowed to the sovereign. Alex followed their example and, for a brief moment, met his father's gaze.
"Be seated," the king said as he took his seat on his high-backed chair. "I see there have been some changes."
"By order of Your Highness," Ballard replied through clenched teeth. "But if I may say so, I fear the prince does not quite understand how this works."
"And how does it work, advisor?"
"The mage should not be sitting so close to the royal family."
The king rested his chin on his fist. "And why is that?"
"Because he is not noble, obviously. Tradition dictates that the seats closest to your person be occupied by men and women of the highest lineage. The mage has been assigned a chair at the end of the table, in observance of tradition." Ballard shot William a sharp look. "And he should be grateful we even allowed him inside."
Alex clenched his fists and swallowed his anger. "He is a royal advisor like you. And his place is at my side."
"With all due respect, Your Highness, I also find this change of yours suspicious. You have never taken an interest in these meetings, and the very first day you decide to attend, you insist that the mage sit beside you."
"Are you implying something?"
"Only that you are too kind, and the mage may have taken advantage of that."
William sprang to his feet, the chair scraping against the marble floor. His eyes burned with anger, indignation, and guilt.
"The advisor is right," he said. "I believe it would be best if I returned to my seat."
Alex grabbed his wrist, but the mage shot him such a cutting look that it left him speechless. William didn't want him to insist—but why? Alex only wanted to defend him.
William returned to his place at the end of the table. Ballard curled his lips into a satisfied smirk and sat down beside the prince.
The king cleared his throat. "Since you are all present, I hereby open the plenary session of the Council. Before we move on to the agenda, I must inform you that the governor of Narea, Lord Luka von Preis, will be relieved of his duties. The charges are treason and misappropriation of taxes."
A murmur spread through the hall, and a woman rose to her feet. "Do we have evidence to support these accusations?"
"A letter. And my son's testimony."
Alex felt the tension press down on his shoulders and probing eyes scrutinizing him. He cleared his throat; it was obvious they wanted to hear it from him.
"He embezzled money—the letter is clear—but it does not say what the money was used for. And I found it in his chamber, so it clearly belongs to him."
The woman looked at him. "And what were you doing in his rooms?"
The prince frowned. "Investigating, obviously."
The murmur rippled through the advisors again. Did they not believe him?
Ballard rose from his chair.
"Your Majesty, I do not doubt Your Highness's testimony, but I fear it is not solid enough to justify such accusations. Von Preis has always been an excellent administrator, and Narea is a port of fundamental importance to the kingdom's economy."
The king raised an eyebrow. "And why do you believe my son's testimony is not solid?"
"Because his tastes are well known at court. And, unfortunately, far beyond it."
Alex stood up. "Are you implying something, advisor?"
"Only what everyone present knows, Your Highness. You like men—you have never made a secret of it. And you also like to be the one who is taken."
"And even if that were true? Would that make me less reliable?"
"You said you found the letter in the governor's private chambers. One might wonder under what circumstances."
"We weren't fucking, Ballard, if that's what you want to know."
"But no one can prove it, can they?"
Alex clenched his fists. "Even if we were, what does that have to do with it? Does finding the letters after sleeping with von Preis make them any less real?"
"Of course not, Your Highness. But someone might have put them there to frame him." Ballard gave him a strange look, tinged with disgust. "A servant, a guard, or some other noble. And perhaps they wanted you to find them. Von Preis is a handsome man; I am quite certain he fits your tastes."
"Bullshit. He's guilty—I know it."
"Then do you have any other evidence?"
Alex pressed his lips together. He didn't, damn it. And he couldn't tell them what had happened to William.
"I thought as much," Ballard remarked, then turned to the king. "Your Majesty, I propose we send officials to investigate. If they find further evidence, we will proceed with relieving von Preis of his post."
"But that's not fair!" the prince burst out. "The officials won't find anything—by now he will have destroyed every trace."
"That is precisely why I would have sent the officials from the very beginning. But I understand that Your Majesty wishes to prepare you as thoroughly as possible for your future role. A noble choice, but… a hasty one."
Was that a jab at his incompetence? Alex clenched his jaw. What did they think—that he was stupid?
"It's my fault." William rose from his chair and cast an icy look at Ballard. "Your Highness found himself in a difficult situation, and I failed to support him as I should have."
The advisor let out a half-laugh. "As expected, you aren't even capable of making yourself useful. Your Majesty, forgive my insistence, but I continue to believe that Master Traver should not be in this hall. Court is clearly not his place."
The king sighed and rubbed his forehead. "William, you are dismissed for today."
Alex whirled toward his father. "No!"
"Yes."
"But Father—"
"It is an order," the sovereign cut him off, his voice weary. "William, leave."
The mage hesitated for a moment, then nodded and left the room.
Ballard smiled in satisfaction. "An excellent choice, Your Majesty. Now we can proceed with the discussion."
"I certainly hope so, advisor. These squabbles are exceedingly tedious."
Alex hunched his shoulders, sat back down, and wrapped his fingers around his knees, swallowing the anger burning through his veins.
It wasn't fair—William didn't deserve such treatment, and his father was a bastard for making him leave.
They had humiliated him—and for what? A stupid seat? Was it his fault for insisting on having the mage by his side?
The meeting went on, but the prince didn't hear a single word of what was said. The only thing he could think about was how badly his father had handled things.
And how right Franziska had been. He was a weak prince, and his weakness was harming the one person he wanted to protect.
As soon as the meeting ended, Alex left the room without sparing anyone a glance. He was angry and disappointed, and he didn't feel like talking to anyone.
Maybe not even William.
The argument with Ballard had highlighted just how weak he was and how, in the eyes of others, he was still a shallow and inept prince. Franziska was right: changing other people's opinions wasn't that easy.
But he needed a plan.
"Alex! Wait!"
Alex took a breath and turned to face Nikolas. "I'm not in the right mood."
His friend stopped in front of him and bent forward, hands on his knees, chest rising and falling rapidly.
"I can imagine, but… I think it's better if you talk to me before you take it out on Sven or some poor unfortunate soul." He gave him a good-natured smile. "We're best friends, right?"
Alex sighed. "He didn't deserve to be treated that way."
"That's true. Ballard was petty, as usual." Nikolas slipped an arm around his shoulders. "And that's exactly why the two of us are taking a walk in the garden and having a little chat."
He guided him toward the atrium and the huge main doors.
Once outside, they followed a path lined with colorful flowerbeds that led to the rose garden and the belvedere, where weeks earlier Alex had given William the book of poems.
His chest tightened. Thinking about it now, it felt like a memory from another life.
Nikolas gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"So, how angry are you?"
"Angry enough to punch that bastard."
"Then I'm afraid we'll have to walk for quite a while."
Alex managed a faint smile, then turned serious again. "He deserved to be in that room. By my side."
And he didn't deserve to be humiliated like that in front of everyone.
"I know," Nikolas said. "William has a difficult personality, but he's an intelligent man and a hard worker. Even back at the Academy, he was the one who put in the most effort."
"You sound like you know him well."
His friend shrugged. "There aren't many mages. William is a year younger than us, but he was in my course. He's always been precocious."
"Was he intelligent?"
"Oh, very. And he studied a lot. In our course there were about thirty students, almost all men. Girls have always been in the minority."
"Doesn't magic choose them too?"
"It does, actually, but it's rare for them to attend the Academy. Parents prefer to hire private tutors to… protect their purity."
Alex frowned. "Don't you have separate dormitories?"
Nikolas chuckled. "Has a door ever stopped two young people in love?"
"I suppose not."
Now that he thought about it, William had mentioned a former lover on their way back from Narea.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Did William have a relationship while he was a student?"
Nikolas furrowed his brow and lowered his gaze. "I don't know. Did he tell you?"
"Yes. I'm curious—he doesn't seem like the type to have relationships."
"He's good-looking enough to have admirers."
"But he has a difficult personality."
Nikolas gave a small smile. "Some people appreciate severe types like him. And then there are those who don't care about personality at all."
Alex looked away, suddenly uncomfortable, and cleared his throat.
"Is there a way to make the advisors accept him?"
"I wouldn't know. William has already shown he's not stupid. He's given useful suggestions, but they've never given him credit. In fact, they were often annoyed by them."
"And if I—"
"No," Nikolas interrupted. He placed both hands on his shoulders. "Alex, by the spirits, you saw what happened today, didn't you? I hate being this blunt, but it was your decision to have him moved that caused that mess."
"I didn't want to."
"I know. But if you had left things as they were, Ballard would have behaved himself."
Alex lowered his gaze, guilt twisting in his chest. He really was a foolish and inept prince.
"I just want to help him. He's my friend. My mage."
"I know, but maybe you shouldn't do anything. You need the nobles' support, and favoring William will alienate you from them."
"But it's not right, Nik." He lifted his head and met Nikolas's eyes. "He deserves so much more."
"You can't force them. You can only play it smart and push them to change their minds."
He knew it, but Alex had never been as skilled a politician as his father. He was too kind, too fair for that kind of game.
Nikolas wrapped an arm around his shoulders and nudged him toward the rose garden.
"Do you feel better?"
"More or less. I'm still pretty angry."
"It'll pass. The first meetings among those vultures are always like that."
"I don't know how you manage to endure it."
"Habit. Besides, my father and my brothers left the position to me, and unfortunately I'm the last in the family, so there's no one I can pass it on."
They laughed, and the mood lightened a little. But when they reached the benches near the rose garden, Alex stopped short: William was sitting with his legs drawn up to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees.
As if he were crying.