Set during Conspiracy of Kings.
"I've heard it's possible to grow up—I've just never met anyone who's actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don't go our way, we whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark, we look for comfort where we can find it."
-Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy
"You're always watching."
The Captain of the Queen's Guard turned to look at Sounis's Magus and inclined his head a fraction of an inch. "It's my duty."
The Magus nodded, stepping closer to Teleus and leaning on the wall so he too could watch the four monarchs sitting around a stone table in the inner garden. "It's more than that, though," he said, after a few minutes of watching Sophos chew his lip, realize what he was doing, stop, and then start again a few seconds later.
Teleus stiffened and his mouth thinned. It was true his queen was a beautiful woman—he wasn't blind—but he never allowed even the slightest hint of impropriety to enter his conduct. The Magus's comment was as ridiculous as it was insulting.
The Magus either didn't realize or chose to ignore Teleus's obvious discomfort, and smoothed the sleeve of his robe as he continued mildly, "One always needs to keep a close watch over children."
There was a clink of mail as Teleus spun to look at the Magus, but he quickly returned to his forward-facing position when he realized the Magus was watching the monarchs, apparently unaware of the inflammatory nature of his comment.
"Young though they might be, the rulers of Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis are hardly children." Teleus said, forcing his tone to remain dry. "I think my Queen's barons would object rather strongly if they were."
The Magus coughed, and Teleus turned in time to see the corners of his eyes crinkled with amusement. He raised an eyebrow, and the Magus allowed himself a smile. "Gen was right," he said. "You are a very literal thinker."
Teleus's training prevented him from scowling at the Magus, but it was a near thing.
"No, they're not young enough to be actual children." The Magus said. "Although Gen and Sophos are only a few years out of childhood, and the queens not far behind them. But regardless, they are children, and you know it as well as I do. It's why you still put yourself on the duty roster even though, as the Captain of the Guard, you don't have to. It's why you give the best guards double the pay of the rest of the squad, to ensure their loyalty to you and the queen. It's why you almost caused a mutiny among your men in an attempt to protect a boy you once swore you'd never follow. And it's why," the Magus finished with a sigh, "I have not gotten a good night's sleep since Sophos's father set him on my doorstep four years ago."
This time, Teleus could not stop himself from staring openly, and it was only when the Magus smiled at him and walked away that he snapped out of it and turned his attention firmly back to the garden. He was wrong, Teleus thought. He might know—or think he knew—the two kings and Eddis very well, but he didn't know Attolia. No one in their right mind would call his Queen a child—she hadn't been a child since she was half the age her husband was now, when her father had given her as a gift to his most powerful baron.
Pulling his head out of history, Teleus refocused his eyes on the four monarchs, and let out a quiet sigh on his queen's behalf. Sounis and Eddis had all but abandoned the conversation and instead had their heads bent over some ancient text that Teleus was sure was not meant to be removed from the library. They were trying to read the pages together but they kept bumping heads, and between their blushes and their laughter there was very little reading taking place.
The King of Attolia, meanwhile, was attempting to distract his queen from the paperwork she was reviewing by repeatedly pulling objects from behind her ear—jewelry, flowers, hairpins, and small stones that were added to an ever-increasing pile on the table as the King's attempts grew bolder and bolder. Teleus's lips thinned, and he acknowledged with a frown that the Magus had been three fourths right.
There was a small cry, and Teleus looked up in alarm to see the King laughing as he somehow pulled the feather quill the Queen had been writing with seconds before out from behind her braid. Teleus's eyes narrowed, righteously indignant on his queen's behalf, but then to his shock she too started laughing, and reached out to grab her husband's hand—the real one—twisting his fingers until he released her quill.
Teleus stepped back, eyes widening as he reviewed the Magus's words. Finally he shook his head and smiled ruefully before resuming his post. As the Magus had said, one always needed to keep a close watch over children.
