"You look dreadful," Haliver commented, following Sage from the dining room. His sharp eyes dug annoyingly into the side of his face. "Are you sick?"
"No," Sage lied, "I'm just tired."
"You should really start sleeping better. Don't look tired out there, the cameras will eat it up. You know how they like to theorise why you don't look your best."
"I know, I know, I'll sleep better tonight," Sage mumbled, resisting the urge to press a hand to his thumping head. "Oh, wait!" he gasped before his father stormed off. Haliver turned with his cold blue eyes. "Can I talk to you at some point about-" Sage looked left and right. His mother lingered to listen, and the only guard around was Taro. "About why Patrick was a traitor."
Haliver visibly squirmed with discomfort. His shoulders tensed, his fingers fidgeted, and his eyes travelled the length of the grand hallway. "Maybe later."
"Why not now?"
"Because I'm busy now, and you should be too. Don't you need to help your gardener or something?" He spun in his shiny black shoes and rushed away.
Sage sighed and tried to corner his mother. "I'm sorry Sage, but a Queen is always busy. You'll know that one day when the crown is on your head." She gently tugged at one of his curls before hurrying away too, her yellow skirt whisking by her ankles as she walked. Sage watched until he and Taro were the only ones left.
"You'll have to be sterner if you want them to talk to you," Taro whispered.
Sage shivered from the breath stroking the back of his neck. They were alone in the long corridor, yet Sage felt so exposed. "I struggle with that," he replied, resisting the urge to lean into Taro. He was getting used to being around him so closely, but he was in no way ready to be caught. "Let's go to the gardens, my dad's right, I should help Mrs Beecham, I haven't helped in a while."
He pressed on down the corridor with Taro walking by his side. "You were staring at me a lot through your lunch. What were you thinking about?" Taro asked as they passed yet another empty corridor.
"Just about . . . " Sage glanced around, "about what we've been doing lately. I realised that I'm starting to care less." He glanced at Taro who smiled warmly. "I know, I'm shocked too."
"You've come so far," Taro whispered, but there were still no guards around them. He slowed down until they stopped. Taro looked behind them, and in front of them. His brow furrowed into concern. "It's unusually quiet."
Sage then realised he hadn't seen a single member of staff since leaving the dining room. "Where are all the guards?" They usually stood in symmetry in their golden uniforms. The long imposing corridors felt lonely without them.
"Why would there be no guards?" Taro asked, standing closer. "Has something happened?"
"We need to find out." Sage didn't waste a moment and hurried back the way they had walked, passing the dining room and almost jogging towards his father's office. Two guards stood outside his grand doors, both with straight backs and stone features.
"What's happening?" Sage asked one man. He wore gloves, so Sage couldn't see if his nails were green like Taro's, but when the man glanced to Taro, he saw a glint of respect in his eyes.
"Your Royal Highness, another break in happened. Guards are posted around the Palace walls," the guard replied bluntly, not forgetting to bow to the Prince.
"Why wasn't I informed about this?" Sage muttered angrily and ordered for the guards to move aside. Without knocking, he stormed into his father's office, who was leaning over his desk, discussing some important documents with his secretary.
"Sage-"
"Lewis!" Sage barked at the bald man with a crooked nose, "leave us. I need to talk to my father."
The secretary looked to Haliver for help, but he dismissed him with a hand. "This won't take long, come back in ten minutes."
"What do you mean this won't take long? You don't even-" Sage stopped himself until the door shut behind them, and they were alone.
"You're here to talk about the break in, or so I assume?" Haliver sat at his desk and linked his fingers. Sage wished Taro was in the room too, but that would've been strange from his father's point of view, and his father would've looked for any opportunity to change the subject. "There was no point in telling you. We know how anxious you get at this sort of stuff."
Sage made himself sit down too; pacing only frustrated him. "I deserve to know."
"We're just thinking about what's best for you. You've not been yourself at all lately. The press is getting to you, the breaks ins are too, the death of Patrick as well, and now Lady Liniana. I know you didn't want to marry her, and I've already apologised for pushing that on you both, but she was a friend. You must be grieving that." Haliver's low monotone voice had some emotion in it, for once.
Sage sighed and tried not to cave. "Talk to me about Patrick. I want to know why he's a traitor," he demanded.
"No. I'm sorry Sage, but one day you will understand that we're all trying to protect you." Haliver crossed his arms and stared harder, but Sage didn't crumble.
"I deserve to know the truth. Why do you all think I'm so weak?"
Haliver ground his jaw. "I didn't say you were weak. Son, you've had it rough for a while. Why is it so wrong for you to just let us get on with it without you? Why do you want to know the things that'll keep you up at night?"
"Because one day I'll be King and neither you nor mother can shelter me from it. It's humiliating to be kept in the dark. I'm not a child. When I want to know, I'm not pretending. It's bad enough that Oxley won't tell me what he's hiding in that-" Sage stopped himself. Oh no. Quick, think of something! He cleared his throat. "Who broke in this time? Were they coming for me?"
Haliver sat forwards. His icy eyes narrowed. "What is Oxley hiding?"
"You didn't answer my question."
"You didn't answer mine."
"I asked you first." Sage's heart thumped. He hadn't meant to drop his younger brother in at the deep end. "Maybe you should ask Oxley."
"Don't I deserve to know?" Haliver asked, raising a brow.
Don't you dare flip this on me. "Dad, I'm always the last one to find out about everything. It's bad enough that you kept this break in from me, but you didn't even tell Mister Vinea, my personal guard. How is he supposed to do his job if you don't tell him stuff?"
"That's a fair point, I don't know why he wasn't told," Haliver admitted. His gaze circled Sage's face slowly as if he meant to study the depth of his expression. "Look, I'm not going to tell you about Patrick. He was a traitor, and you won't know more until his murderer is found. After that, your mother and I will tell you everything, but until then, don't worry yourself with it, it's out of your control."
Sage felt defeated, but at least he had tried. "What about-"
"The intruder?" Haliver stood by his window and allowed the dull sunlight to shine on his pale skin. "It was some nutter who was obsessed with Lady Liniana. He wanted to have a stern word with you about breaking her heart. I don't know how stern he would've been considering he had a knife in his pocket, but he didn't make it more than ten yards before he was thrown to the ground."
They had doubled the security since the last intruder, and Sage was glad. "How are they even getting over the gate?" he asked. What if it had been different? What if he had followed Oxley home and climbed over the wall? Nobody would've seen him, other than the guard outside of Sage's bedroom door. The thought made him feel sick.
He left his father's office, regretfully telling him about Oxley's escape route and the gap in the wall, but it was the right thing to do. If not for his own safety, then for Taro's, who would undoubtfully fight off any intruder even if it killed him. That's his job after all. Though Sage couldn't shake the feeling that Taro would do that for him anyway, because of how much they cared for each other. That thought was a comforting one after a quarrel with his strict father.
"Is there anything worth repeating?" Taro asked as they made their way to the garden.
"Not really. There was a break in, but it's being dealt with. I'll talk to the head of security and make sure you're not left out of the loop. You should've been among the first to know."
"I agree. This guard job isn't exactly easy on the nerves. I mean, it's cool following you around all day, but there is that added pressure."
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I don't mind you just being my Valet. At least we'd still see each other every day," Sage said, regretting it instantly.
"No way," Taro scoffed, looking around. He stepped closer, so they brushed shoulders as they walked. "The danger is worth it to be with you like this," he whispered. "And who else would you snuggle with at night?"
Sage felt himself blush from the heat gushing to his face. He smoothed down his jumper and continued marching, masking his sickness with a pretence that he felt strong enough to walk fast. With every step, his head drummed painfully in beat, and his face hurt with congested sinuses.
"See," Taro teased, "you do pretend like you haven't heard me."