Ren lowered the papers and looked around the room, almost expecting someone to jump out from behind his bed or dresser and shout “just kidding!”

A soft click made him turn around, but it wasn't the smiling face of a joker that met him. Instead, the soft and friendly features of Keelan, Hellic's personal slave met him in the doorway.

“Do you need a hand, my lord?” Keelan asked.

For a moment, some of Ren's anger dissipated. Keelan was a sweet boy, and the two of them had always gotten on well. Gifted to Hellic on his thirteenth birthday, Keelan had been everything you could desire in a slave, meek and soft-spoken, with delicate orange curls and a face destined to turn heads with age. But the crown prince had never shown much interest in boys. Ren, on the other hand, had found the young and beautiful slave pleasant and agreeable both as a server, and, when the boy grew old enough, in bed.

“What's with the guards?” Ren asked, gesturing towards the door.

“There are guards outside Hellic's chambers, too. They're everywhere. The staff say it's because of the Skarlans. His Majesty wants to be safe rather than sorry, I suppose,” Keelan explained as he closed the distance between them and began loosening the straps of Ren's hunting jacket without being asked. Ren extended his arms to make the job easier.

“I thought you'd be on a ship by now, my lord,” Keelan continued.

Ren groaned, extending one leg to let Keelan undo the lacing of his boot and tug it off. “I'm grounded, apparently. I can't leave my room before I'm done with this.” He pointed over his shoulder at the pile of papers.

When Keelan lifted his head to look, his eyes went wide and he temporarily forgot about Ren's other boot, leaving him balanced on one leg. “What, really? All of it?”

Ren answered with a shrug, expression sour.

“What made the king so angry with you?” Keelan asked, turning his attention back to tugging off Ren's other boot before placing them both aside.

“I don't know. I can't for the life of me figure out what I did wrong.” Tension entered Ren's voice again. “It's as if he's determined to keep me away from this party.”

A line formed between Keelan's finely arched eyebrows as he stood, taking Ren's jacket from him when Ren slipped it off his shoulder. “What's at the party that he doesn't want you to see?” Keelan asked, then flushed, realising what kind of dangerous, rebellious thought he had just planted in Ren's head. By then, it was too late.

“Maybe I should find out,” Ren said slowly.

Avoiding being spotted by the king would be easy. Keeping out of sight of the guards would be harder. The more he thought it over, though, the more it seemed like an interesting challenge. Perhaps he'd even be able to surprise Hellic. The thought was appealing.