The Professor's Mate Clause novel Chapter 145

Chapter 8

AURORA’S POV

“You must be the ambassador everyone’s talking about”

I look up from my documents to find a man I haven’t met yet standing at the edge of the garden, dark- haired, sharply dressed, with an easy smile that doesn’t quite match the calculating look underneath it He carries himself like someone used to being watched and enjoying it

“That depends what they’re saying,” I reply.

“Mostly that you held your ground against half the court at dinner without breaking a sweat. That’s rare, for a Council delegate.” He crosses the garden and takes the seat Kade vacated less than an hour ago, uninvited but not unwelcome, exactly. “Draven Ashveill. Kade’s cousin.”

Something in my chest goes carefully alert. I remember the name from my briefing files-a noble with a claim to the throne that never materialized, close enough to Kade’s inner circle to matter, distant enough to be worth watching.

“Aurora Reed-Metcalfe.”

“I know who you are.” His smile widens slightly. “Everyone in this fortress knows who you are, Ambassador. Your parents made sure of that, twenty years ago.”

“I try not to take credit for what my parents did.”

“Wise. Very few children manage that particular grace.” He leans back, studying me with open curiosity.” How are you finding Ashveil so far? Beyond the obvious hostility, I mean.”

“Illuminating.”

“That’s a diplomatic answer.”

“I’m a diplomat.”

He laughs, and it’s a genuinely pleasant sound, easy and warm in a way that makes it hard to hold onto my instinctive wariness. “Fair enough. I’ll ask a different question, then. How are you finding my cousin?”

The question lands with more weight than it should, and I keep my expression carefully neutral. “The King has been a professional negotiating partner.”

“Has he.” Something flickers across Draven’s face, there and gone too fast to name “Interesting. Because Bram tells me Kade came storming down a corridor last night like the fortress was on fire, just to pull him off you. That doesn’t sound like professional courtesy to me. That sounds like something considerably more personal.”

I keep my face still through sheer force of will. “Your noble was threatening a guest. I’d assume that warrants intervention regardless of who the guest is.

+15 Bonus

I

Perhaps He doesn’t look convinced 1 only mention it because I care about my cousin, Ambassador More than most people in this court realize. I watched him become King far too young, after our uncle’s death broke something in hirm that never quite mended. I’d hate to see him make a decision now that costs him everything he’s built since

Tm not asking him to make any decisions that cost him anything.”

“Aren’t you? Draven’s voice stays gentle, almost kind, which somehow makes it more unsettling than if he’d been openly hostile. “You’re here to drag Ashwell into a treaty his own father died refusing. That’s not nothing, whatever diplomatic language the Council wraps it in. And if Kade’s judgment is compromised-for any reason-that puts this entire territory at risk.”

His judgment isn’t compromised.”

1 hope you’re right.” He stands, smoothing down his jacket, the picture of easy charm again. “For what it’s worth, Ambassador, I don’t blame you for any of this. You’re doing your job. I just worry about the cost of it, for people I care about.” He pauses, glancing back at me before he leaves. “Kade doesn’t let people close. Not since his father died. If something’s shifted, if you’ve somehow gotten past walls the rest of us have spent years failing to climb-I’d tread carefully, if I were you. Not everyone in this court will be as gracious about it as I am.”

He leaves before I can respond, and I sit alone in the garden for a long time afterward, his words circling in my head like something sharp I can’t quite shake loose.

Kai finds me an hour later, dropping onto the bench across from me with the particular energy of someone who’s had a genuinely good afternoon.

“You will not believe the day I’ve had,” he announces. “There’s a Lycan warrior here named Sorren who can throw a knife with more accuracy blindfolded than most Council soldiers can with their eyes open. We spent two hours in the training yard. I have never been more humiliated or more impressed in my entire life.”

“That’s nice.”

“You’re not listening.”

“I’m listening.”

“You are absolutely not listening.” He studies me, some of the enthusiasm draining out of his expression, “What happened? You’ve got the face again.”

“Kade’s cousin came by. Draven.”

Kai’s eyebrows lift. “And?”

“And he was perfectly pleasant, and also very clearly threatening me the entire time without ever technically saying anything threatening.” I rub my temples. “He knows something happened between me and Kade. Not the specifics. But enough.”

How?

Choplot B

+15 Bonus

“Kade intervened when Bram cornered me last night. Publicly. Apparently that was enough to make people start asking questions.”

Kai is quiet for a moment, weighing something. “Rory. I’ve been trying not to push, because I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready. But if there’s something going on here that could actually get you hurt not just politically, actually hurt I need to know. That’s not me being nosy. That’s me doing my actual job.”

I look at my brother, at the genuine worry underneath the teasing exterior he wears like armor, and something in me finally cracks just slightly.

“There’s history,” I say carefully. “Between me and Kade. From before I knew who he was.

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