Caesura - 6. Chapter 6

“It says they’re closed on Monday.” Noël pointed at the door of the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant they were to meet Diarmad and Cieran O’Conner.

“Yeah, I know.” Simon knocked sharply. “But Landyn knows the owner, and Mario agreed to let us use one of the backrooms.”

“Okaaay...?”

Simon peered through the dark window. “The thought was to meet them on neutral ground rather than the penthouse again.”

“Neutral ground, huh?” Noël snorted derisively. “This is not the War of the Roses, Si.”

“So you did want to have Laird around for this?”

Noël’s blue-green eyes instantly turned dark and thunderous. “That slimy sleazeball! I can’t believe—” He inhaled deeply before he looked up and down the street. “Aren’t we going to wait for Landyn?”

“He’s here— guarding us.”

Noël’s eyes widened. “Oh...”

“Yes.” Simon threw a gaze over his shoulder, as if he expected someone to eavesdrop on them, before he whispered, “Landyn talked with Ronan. They agreed something feels off, but they can’t put their finger on it. Yet.”

“With ‘off’ you mean what exactly?”

“We’re just keeping our eyes open; see if we can spot anything unusual.”

“Diarmad is radiating aggravation and annoyance if that counts as ‘off’.” When Simon lifted an eyebrow, Noël held his hands up. “What? I can sense it without actively reading him.”

“No one can sense the King, Noël. He has closed himself off to everyone months ago.”

“Oh.” Staring off into the distance, he finally muttered, “Maybe it’s the mate bond then. They said it can’t be severed.”

“No, it can’t.” Simon pushed at Noël’s bangs, revealing the small, blue triangle tattoo between his eyebrows. “Your powers have increased immensely, haven’t they?”

“Yeah.”

“Did Kris ask you about the tattoo? It’s quite unusual.”

Noël took a step back so his hair fell over the tattoo again. “He said that I should tattoo a dragon over the damned vine next.” He grabbed Simon’s forearm. “And before you ask, no, I won’t read Diarmad. I swore an oath, and even if I hadn’t, as long as Diarmad doesn’t do anything harmful and—slash—or I get a court order, I will not violate his privacy or Seraei law.”

“How can you call what he did to you not harmful?” Simon asked louder than he probably intended.

“It doesn’t affect his reign.”

“Yet.” Simon snarled.

Ignoring him, Noël turned to the door when they finally heard a key being turned in the lock. It opened to a portly man smiling broadly. “Signore Simon! Come in, come in!”

“Mario!” Simon wrapped his arms around the man and air-kissed his cheeks. “Thank you for having us!”

“Of course, of course. I’m here on Mondays anyway, doing the books, paying bills, getting away from the wife...”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the last one.” Simon looked around the empty room. “Anyone here yet?”

“Si, si. Signore O’Connor and four other men are waiting for you in the back.”

“Four?” Mario nodded eagerly while he led them through the main guest room into a small hallway. Two of Ronan’s men were guarding one of the doors on the right.

When Noël saw them, he immediately went over, holding out his hand. “Darius. Carl. How have you been?” Both men grinned back. “Lord Noël. We’re fine.” For a moment it looked as if they wanted to say more, but then they just stepped aside and Carl knocked on the door, which immediately opened to Ronan’s scowling face.

“My Lord. Simon. Please come in.”

“Lord Noël, Simon.” Cieran got up from his chair as soon as he saw them enter. “Didn’t Landyn want to come too?”

“He asked me to apologize; something came up.” Simon turned to Diarmad and bowed. “My King.” Not waiting for an answer, he pulled out a chair for Noël.

“Simon.” Diarmad barely looked at him; his gaze was fixed on his soon-to-be ex-mate. “Noël. How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“How is school?”

“Fine.”

“Great.” Simon’s voice was a little too loud when he took the seat beside Noël. “Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible, shall we?”

The smile on Cieran’s face vanished and his expression hardened at Simon’s curt words. “Certainly.” After some fumbling with the manila folder lying in front of him, he finally managed to open it, took out a multi-page document, and passed it over to Noël and Simon. “This is the final agreement. Please read it thoroughly and make sure it contains everything we talked about in the pre-negotiations.”

“Thank you, Cieran.” Simon took the papers in hand. “Noël will shield us now, so don’t be alarmed if you can’t hear us. We just need to go over this in private.”

Cieran looked questioningly at Diarmad, who signaled his consent with a wave of his hand. “Of course.”

Frowning, Noël established the shield. “Do you really think this is necessary? We already know what’s in the document.” He narrowed his eyes. “Or are you doing this for show?”

“I can still hear them, are you sure the shield is up?”

“It’s a one-way shield; we can hear them but they can’t hear us.”

“Oh...advanced shielding. You’re that good?”

“Yep. Now answer my question.”

“Okay. You’re right. I did this as much for political reasons as for being thorough. One doesn’t simply nod at an important document. Showing off your new abilities is a bonus.”

“If you think so.”

“I do.” Simon read the first page. “Just your names, status, and the nature of the document.” He turned over to the next page. “It says here ‘Lord Noël will participate in council meetings, if his time allows it and his input is necessary. In case the King cannot attend an important meeting, Lord Noël’s attendance is mandatory.’ Is that okay for you?”

“If they are prepared to adjust their schedule in case I’m busy with things I have to do, like exams, or if I’m out of town.”

“Okay, we will clear this later.” Simon scribbled something beside the relevant section, then continued reading. “Blah. Blah, blah, blah...” Simon went over section after section, before he stopped again. “Here you’re agreeing to help the King balance his powers if the need occurs.” He turned to Noël. “Cieran told me repeatedly that the King doesn’t believe this part of the contract is necessary. Cieran had to insist on adding it.”

“So he still thinks his severe illness was a scheme of the McGills?”

“Yes. He explained he did get better because he threw Moira out, not because you were living with him.”

“But he was getting better while she was still there!”

“I know.”

“How can he be so blind? Didn’t he read the old scripts? Does he think the McGills manipulated them too?”

“According to him, it’s nothing but hearsay and mumbo jumbo.”

“What!?”

“Cieran said he tried everything, but the King won’t be deterred. I think in the end, he agreed to take this part into the contract just to appease Cieran.” Simon sighed. “Look, we know Diarmad will need you to balance his power. When this happens, we are to schedule regular meetings and talk about the proceedings.”

“The proceedings?”

“Location, dates, duration, who will attend beside you and him.”

“Oh.” Noël closed his eyes briefly. “The need...” He made quotations marks with his hands. “…will definitely occur. You know this as well as I do. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking. Let’s give him six months, at the most, and he’ll start showing signs of exhaustion again.”

“That’s what Landyn says too. I guess we have to wait until it actually happens before we talk about the modus operandi.” Simon pointed at another part of the document. “You’re still adamant in declining financial support?”

“I am.”

“Noël...”

“No, Simon.”

“Okay, okay. I’m just making sure. The council will pay for expenses due to official matters, representative duties, and such. No money from Diarmad.” Simon read the last parts of the document, while Noël was tapping his fingers against his thigh.

“Okay, the rest is just more legal blabbering. No loopholes, no hidden agenda, I guess we’re done here.”

“Let’s head out then.” Noël lifted the shield, and Simon pushed the document over the table. “We’d like to make a tiny adjustment at the marked paragraph. Noël can’t be dragged out of exams or mandatory classes on a whim. If he has to attend a council meeting because the King is tied up elsewhere, you have to tell us in advance or you might have to reschedule anyway.”

After talking briefly with Diarmad, Cieran agreed. “That won’t be a problem.”

“Also, when you start scheduling these meetings, you have to know that Landyn and I plan to take Noël and Kristof to the lake house for spring break. And in the summer, we’ll take the boat to Florida, maybe the Bahamas, we’re not sure yet, which means he won’t be available then either.”

“That will be fine. I am sure Cieran can provide you with the protocols of the meetings you missed when you come back,” Diarmad said, waving his hand impatiently. He seemed wanting to end the conversation just as much as Simon and Noël.

“Of course.” Cieran scribbled something on the backside of the page. “Just run the dates by me later tonight, and I will include them in the contract. You and Lord Noël can go over it one last time, and then, if you both agree, he and the King will sign it with us as the witnesses. We’ll exchange the documents and provide copies and then all will be done.”

“Perfect. Will that be all?” Simon looked from Cieran to Diarmad.

“Actually, no.” Cieran turned to Noël. “Council member Annie McLeod begged me to ask you if you still wanted to be part of her art center work group.” Then he turned to Simon. “They want to establish a music and arts center in one of the side buildings of the council hall. Due to their financial situation, most human schools no longer have a good program. We think we can support them here. It would help young Seraei meet with humans of their age.”

“I’d love to. She should call me when they decide on a regular date. Maybe I can also give free piano lessons at the center later.” Noël turned to Simon. “This could be the chance for children like Neil. You remember Mike’s son? He’s so talented, but his parents can’t afford piano lessons.”

“I’m sure Annie will be very happy to hear this. She also told me we already acquired some instruments, if you maybe, uh... want to try the piano out.”

“Thanks, but that’s not necessary. I can use the piano at school.”

“Good, that’s settled then. If you’ll excuse me, I, um, have to go to the bathroom.” Already at the door, Cieran said, “You need not to wait for me, my Lord. I can take an uber.”

Diarmad shrugged. “It’s no problem. I’ll wait for you. We came in the same car; Ronan can drive you home easily.”

A discreet ding sounded and after glancing at his phone, Noël quickly got up from his chair. “I have to call Kris; he just sent me a text.” He walked out, leaving Simon and Diarmad alone in the room.

The King folded his hands on the table in front of him, his eyes fixed on a smudge on the white tablecloth. “So, I gather you and Landyn won’t come with us to the summer house this year.”

“As the head of security isn’t required to be with you during your summer vacation, no, we won’t. Landyn thinks his people are good without him, and Ronan can handle them just as well. He likes being the boss once in a while.”

“Of course Landyn deserves his vacation and being away from the job for a while, just like everyone else.” Diarmad agreed.

“A few weeks with family and friends can do wonders for a man.”

“Friends.”

“Yeah, friends. It’s funny how you think you lived long enough to finally know people, and then something happens, and you learn you didn’t know them at all and that they weren’t worth being called friends in the first place. Same goes for family.”

“I see.”

“My Lord, if that’ll be all, we have to leave. Noël has to be back at school at four.”

“Dismissed.”