Age of War: Book One - Alliance of Wolves

Chapter Twenty Seven - A Bit of Joy

 The next three days were almost identical; sneaking in through the balcony, court, training, dinner, sneaking out through the balcony, and not sleeping in the cold. Negotiations were going well; Andromeda proved to be a very level headed, reasonable person. But everything would be put to a halt that night- because that was the night before Full Moon and when Blaze and Cimmorene were planning on getting married.

The excitement and expectation hung heavy in the air. Since Drew and Amber's wedding hadn't been much at all, Blaze and Cimmorene's wedding was going to make up for it. Calmar explained it as a way to form connections with more as nobles, but Drew just wanted to give them the celebration they deserved.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Drew and Blaze were hiding in a side hall during a break from court. Hiding, because they knew Calmar was trying to find them so he could suggest another political scheme.

"More than ready." Blaze bit into an apple and froze.

"What?"

"We so have to have aeblitters for the feast."

"Aeblitters?"

"A Draufenian pasty. It's got apples in it." He took another bite. "But yeah, I'm ready. Hell, I was ready a month ago." Drew chuckled. I bet he was. It was a goo thing that Drew had moved out of their shared room when he had. "Speaking of marriage," Oh, no. Here we go. "Are things any better between you and Amber?"

"If by that you mean, 'have I stopped sleeping in the hayloft', the answer is no."

"Have you two even spoken since the wedding?"

"Nope. And I'd like to keep it that way."

A look crossed Blaze's face, before being hidden behind his usual nonchalant expression. "You know, a month ago, you would've said the exact opposite."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh please," Blaze rolled his eyes. "You think I don't know about all the times you visited her? And before you start, I figured it out before Cimmer told me."

"How?" Drew was more irritated that nothing he did seemed to be secret than the actual topic at hand.

"I knew you were sneaking off to see someone, and judging the dreamy expression you wore when you returned, I was sure it was a girl." He took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. "And then of course, there was the way you reacted to seeing her in court. Clearly you'd seen her before, but you didn't know she was the princess."

"Well congratulations, you;re quite the detective." Drew folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "What about it?"

"What about it?" Blaze did that marginally disturbing thing where he opened his already large eyes even wider. "What happened? You were happy! Your wolf even more so."

Drew looked up slowly. "How do you know Wolf likes her?"

"So... it is likes and not liked then?"

"Well, yeah. I guess."

"Interesting..."

"Blaze."

"Have you considered the possibility that-"

"There you two are!" Calmar came limping along the hallway at a furious pace, irritation sharp in his eyes. "We need to start, but we can't exactly do that without the king present."

"We're coming! We're coming." Drew started after him. "We're finishing this conversation soon," he muttered to Blaze as they walked.

"As long as it's before the wedding. After that, I will have time for one person only."