Page 56 of A Veil of Gods and Kings

“It’s not the subject; it’s the person you speak of. My father ruins everything. Can we change topics?” Hyacinth’s lips had parted during this conversation, his forehead furrowed. I elbowed him. “Relax, you’re going to give yourself wrinkles early.”

His eyelashes fluttered, battering his cheeks, and my mind jumped to imagining him doing the same in the bedroom, his head dropping back, him sucking in a breath. Fuck. What was I thinking? This wasn’t a friend, and he certainly wasn’t a lover. I nodded at his food. “Eat up. We have more of your kingdom to see tonight.”

He rubbed his fingers together above the plate, like he wasn’t certain how to approach it, before tearing a small corner and taking a bite. He chewed, his eyes brightening, and swallowed. “Well, that’s far better than the wine.”

I laughed. “People can cope with poor wine far better than poor food.”

Hyacinth worried his lip between his teeth before ripping a larger chunk of the pie and popping it into his mouth.

After we left the dining house, we rambled through back streets taking in the nightlife, the shadier vendors tucked into shadows, the music people played on balconies, the prostitutes with their bubbly smiles and handsy manners, the spicy and sweet smells of street food tangling together in the air.

Hyacinth watched it all like a child seeing the ocean for the first time, his eyes wide, his lips parted. As stars peppered across the sky, we turned onto a grimy road, the sides of the buildings dirty, the tangy, rank scents so overpowering Hyacinth swept his arm up over his nose.

Around the corner of a building, we came to the part of the city that made my stomach jump into my throat. Children with sharp cheekbones and shining eyes lined the walkway, their hands lifting towards people who passed by.

Hyacinth’s eyebrows drew together, a v-shaped dimple forming between them as he leaned in to me. “What are these children doing?”

“They’re begging.”

He sucked in a breath and crossed his arms. “Why?”

Temi’s gaze dashed between the two of us, and she cleared her throat. “They have no food, Your Highness.”

He traced a finger over his chin. “Where are their parents?”

Temi tucked her braids behind her shoulder. “Their mothers are nearby. But, they receive more generous offerings alone.”

Hyacinth’s feet shuffled over the dusty road, his toes powdered in dirt. “Why don’t they beg on the main route where there are more people?”

“The guards would remove them and have them arrested.” I frowned at the children again. A girl who couldn’t be over five snagged a handful of cherries offered to her by someone and popped one in her mouth before turning and passing the fruit out to others around her.

Hyacinth’s lip trembled. “Why are their mothers not able to feed them?”

“The laws,” Temi said darkly. “They have lost their husbands or fathers and have no way to provide for themselves.”

I tightened my arms as a whistle sounded out in the distance and stray dogs snapped at each other in a corner, their teeth bared as they growled, fur raising on their necks. “Is this part of your city new to you, Your Highness?”

Temi elbowed me sharply in the ribs, and I winced. She nodded towards Hyacinth.

Tears wobbled over the dull brown of his eyes, his nose flaring. He cleared his throat hard. “I’d like to return home now.”

Something ached in my chest, and I parted my lips to speak. But Hyacinth didn’t wait. He turned and marched back down the road.

Temi and I jogged to catch up. Hyacinth said nothing the entire walk, and when we made it to the palace, he bowed and retreated down the halls. Temi sighed. “I’m going back out. I’ve offered to help someone tonight. Will you join me?”

I watched Hyacinth’s retreating form for a beat before turning towards her. “Yeah.”

A few hours later, as we arrived back in the palace’s foyer again, the sparkling grandiosity of the place seemed even more extreme after spending the evening in the roughest parts of the city. I sighed.

Temi gripped my elbow. “You could apologize.”

The sour pit of a feeling swelled in my stomach. Hyacinth clearly hadn’t known about the children in his city. And I’d paraded him around to rub it in his face. I just hadn’t expected the shock and hurt that had coursed over him. It echoed my own feelings, and I imagined someone escorting me through my own shortcomings and failures to highlight them. Gods, that would be a long list full of plenty of people I’d harmed myself. I swallowed. “I should.”

“Oh, look at you having a conscience.”

I side-eyed her, but then another breath fluttered past my lips. “I just wanted to bring him down a notch, let him see the reality of his city.”

“Well I would say—”