The shock stimulated a sort of hysteric reaction in Kyree. He tried his hardest to suppress the laugh bubbling up within him, covering his mouth, even acting as though it was a cough. Nothing worked, his nerves transferring the anxiety to hilarity within him.
Ambrose didn't seem to be having the same reaction. His lips, God they brought back memories, were pursed in a straight line, his jaw clenched as he stared right past Orion to Kyree.
"Your majesty, this is my wife Yennifer, my youngest son Idella and my eldest Kyree," his father trailed off when he noticed Kyree struggling to contain himself, "something funny, Kyree?" he glowered at his son for acting so immature in front of their guest.
"I apologise profoundly," Kyree forced out between laughs, trying to compose himself, "it's nothing, I promise," Idella shared in the number of people glaring at Kyree, finally deciding his brother had gone mad.
"Excuse my brother and I," he flashed Ambrose a nervous smile and gripped Kyree's arm, dragging me back to the kitchen, "what the fuck is wrong with you?" he hissed as Kyree continued to giggle like a five-year-old.
"You don't understand-"
"No, you don't understand, Ky. You're acting like an idiot in front of the next king of hell, the man you're training to protect. How do you think this makes you look? How do you think this makes father look? Why are you-"
"Idella, that's the 'politician' I was with last night!" Kyree burst out, still chuckling despite his brother's overtly surprised expression.
"You fucked the prince of hell?" Kyree shrugged, a smirk on his lips.
"Well, he fucked me actually," Idella simply gawped at him.
"What is wrong with you? Do you realise what you've done? You have sabotaged everything you've been training toward, if anyone found out the personal connection you have-"
"Woah," Kyree held up a hand, silencing his babbling baby brother, "we don't have a 'personal connection', Idella. We screwed, a few times, one night together, that's all. I'm not suddenly in love with him or anything," Kyree had to admit he did contemplate the night with Ambrose a little more frequently earlier that day than most others. Yet, he was not in love with him, he knew that for sure.
"Screwing him is a personal connection, Ky, this could really come back to bite you in the ass," using humour as a substitute for any and all other emotions, Kyree allowed the smirk to rise back up onto his face.
"He can bite me in the ass any day, you know I-" Kyree stopped abruptly as his mother entered the kitchen, fury in her eyes, "now, mother, I can explain-"
"Kyree Landon, what is wrong with you lately? First, visiting the human world, now disgracing yourself in front of His majesty. Are you insane?"
"Mother, I will go apologise to him now and be on my best behaviour. OK? Just ask father to help you in the kitchen for 5 minutes and I will make it up to you all," Kyree's smirk had faded to a soft smile, the one he knew broke down his mother's anger every time.
"5 minutes, young man," she concurred, entering back into the living room where Orion was stood speaking to Ambrose. Kyree followed, suppressing the smirk that threatened to take over his face once again. Whispering something in her husband's ear, Yennifer managed to remove him from the room, leaving Kyree alone with Ambrose and the two other men.
"Politician, huh?" Kyree was the first to speak, but Ambrose didn't seem to be finding the situation amusing at all.
"I thought you were human," Ambrose seethed, his eyes that soulless black that Kyree found oh so very attractive in demon men, "if I had known what you were, last night would not have happened."
"And you think I knew about you? How could I? Your father keeps you locked up in that castle all your life, barely anyone knows your face. I didn't intend to bed a demon last night, hence going up to the human world," Kyree retorted, only seeming to anger Ambrose more with the smirk he allowed to slip onto his face.
"Are you seriously finding this funny? Kyree, this kind of thing could ruin me, ruin your family too if it got out," Kyree had no idea why Ambrose was acting so serious about the situation, he found it utterly laughable.
"Why's that? It's not like demon couples aren't allowed, and homophobia down here is at a minimum. What are you so afraid of?" Ambrose sighed, glancing down at the silver ring on his finger.
"I'm to be married, Kyree, when I'm coronated. This marriage is very important to my father and my family. If people found out I snuck into the human world to have a one night stand months into my engagement, I could be rejected from royalty. My sister would take the throne instead. Your father could lose his status too if anyone found out it was you I was with," it was Kyree's turn to feel the burn of rage.
"You're engaged? You cheated on someone with me? God, do you have no heart? That's awful-"
"It's beside the point, Kyree," Ambrose broke in before Kyree's voice rose too high, "you cannot tell anyone about last night, I'm serious."
"Do you not want to marry him? Is that why you went to the human world? Are you being forced into this?" Ambrose sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache rolling in.
"No, Kyree, I love him dearly. I made a mistake. We argued and I wanted to spite him. That's all, OK?"
"I won't tell anyone," Kyree muttered glumly, feeling increasingly worse about the previous night than he had earlier, "why are you here anyway?" changing the subject was the optimal idea, Kyree wanted to erase that night from his mind as Ambrose seemed so intent on doing.
"Someone is trying to kill me before I'm coronated. Your father offered refuge to me until the assassin has been found. Hence, he was the only one to know my presence here was expected," everything clicked into place and it all made sense to Kyree then.
"I'm training to be a knight of hell, that's why my father offered for you to stay here. He clearly wants you to see my abilities so there's a higher chance that you'll pick me for the job. I'm surprised your father didn't see through his little plot. It's not malicious, simply politics to my father," Kyree explained, shaking his head lightly.
"If you can save my life and keep our secret, you will most definitely be my knight," Ambrose muttered, swirling the glass of red wine in his hand before taking a sip. Kyree knew his time was running out when he heard his mother and father's footsteps growing closer.
"As I was saying," he began in a much cheerier manner, plastering a smile on his face, "I must have had one too many glasses of champagne before you got here. Seeing a man as handsome as you must have triggered a nervous reaction in me, I do apologise, your majesty," Kyree beamed, knowing his mother and father had entered the room and were awaiting Ambrose's reaction.
"Please, call me Ambrose, formalities are not needed here," Ambrose followed Kyree's lead with ease, also allowing his pretty mouth to curve into a warm smile, "and as for first impressions, forget it. I prefer a lighter-hearted setting than a bunch of stiffs in suits, don't feel you can't be relaxed in my presence, here I am merely a guest, not a prince."
Over dinner, the Landon family got to learn more about who was targeting Ambrose, however, no one really knew all that much personal information and details about the assassin, other than it was a man.
"Oh, you poor thing, how long have you had to live with this?" lamented Yennifer, clasping her husband's hand, deeply affected by Ambrose's admittance, "God, if this was happening to Idella or Kyree, I wouldn't know what to do."
"The first attack was a few days after my father announced he was stepping down from the throne. There has been at least one a week since then," Ambrose didn't seem fazed by how many attempts on his life there had been, he was very relaxed talking about it.
"Well, you'll be safe here, Kyree is training to be a knight so if all else fails I'm sure he will protect you. Won't you, Ky?"
"Hm?" Kyree blinked a few times, the mention of his name dragging him back to reality from his daydream, "oh, yeah, of course," Kyree had barely been listening to the conversation around him, too busy daydreaming about the last time he had eaten a meal with his family. He was alive then, happy, in love. He shook himself mentally, not wanting to have any sort of breakdown in front of his family and Ambrose.
"Sir," one of the men in white suits that Ambrose had brought with him interrupted, "there is someone in the garden," the man had been staring out the window during the entire dinner, with the other stood in front of the living room door in case anyone wanted to enter uninvited.
"Kyree," Orion motioned to the garden, wanting Ambrose to see his son in action. Kyree stood immediately, removing his jacket and resting it over the back of his chair. Without a word, he left the room and strode out into the darkness of their garden, completely aware of Ambrose stood at the window watching him.
"This is private property," he called into the darkness, noticing the shadowy figure lingering on the edge of the forest that surrounded his father's mansion, "leave, you shouldn't be here," a melodic laugh trickled into the air, one Kyree found oddly familiar.
"What happened to 'you're always welcome here, Tyrell, don't hesitate to visit'?" Kyree cringed, instantly knowing who the figure was.
"You didn't seriously believe that, did you, Tyrell?" Kyree crossed his arms over his chest as the figure stepped closer to him, "you can't be here tonight, my father is meeting with someone important."
"Oh, come on, Ky, I came to see you. I miss us. I miss what we had," Kyree rolled his eyes at Tyrell's whining tone, a scowl on his face.
"What we had was one night together 3 years ago, we were both lonely and grieving. You were the one that agreed to forget about it, grovelling won't work after all this time," Kyree batted away the hand Tyrell extended to touch him with, "are you fucking drunk? Go home, Tyrell," Kyree's patience was running dry at a faster pace than usual.
"Don't tell me you're seriously still hung up on Alexander, it's been-" Kyree's anger exploded out of him as his fist connected with Tyrell's jaw, sending him stumbling backwards.
"Don't say his name!" Kyree roared, shocking even himself at the amount of fury encased inside his subconscious.
"Saying his name isn't gonna change anything, Kyree! It's not going to bring him back! He's dead! He's dead and it's your fault! You may have lost a fiance that night but I lost a brother, don't you dare act like you're the only one entitled to grief!" Tyrell snarled, holding his jaw.
"Get off this property, Tyrell, if I ever see you here again, I'll kill you," Kyree turned, about to head back into the house, knowing Tyrell wouldn't stick around for fear of being hit again.
"Like you did my brother?" Tyrell spat before Kyree was out of earshot. A twinge of pain spiked through the demon's heart, bringing tears to his eyes.
"Like I did your brother."