Through the Door by Ana Reese

Author:Ana Reese [Reese, Ana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: M/M romance, fantasy, Serving Royalty
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Published: 2013-03-27T00:00:00+00:00

Three

"You'll need another set of trousers. And for Lord and Lady's sake, shine all those metal bracings and buttons! You've been scuffing and sweating about all day! Tollious is nothing if not meticulous about his parties. He's probably expecting you to show up all ruffled and improper just so he can have a go at you in front of—"

"Have a go?" Jonas frowned, watching as Grant carefully threaded a small needle. "How do you do that?"

"Same way you're going to once I teach you how. No proper time at the moment." Grant bit the thread off. "But yes, Tollious can and will humiliate you if given the chance. He can be cruel when he wants to be."

"He was …" Jonas couldn't say polite because he really wasn't, but Tollious certainly didn't molest him in the dining hall like several others had. Sure he made Jonas uncomfortable, but he hadn't pushed things very far.

He shivered as he remembered the feel of Tollious' fingers caressing his lips.

Grant scoffed, looking up from the pants he'd begun to hem. They were his pants, but he insisted that Jonas wear them, even if they were a few inches too long. "I haven't personally see his temper, being with Lord Ju—" He bit his lip suddenly, cutting himself off. He held a breath for a moment before continuing. "He likes to put on a bit of a show for the prince. He's singled you out. If you keep your head down and stay on the fringes of the crowd, Tollious may forget about you. For now."

Frown deepening, Jonas picked nervously at the freshly pressed vest and satin shirt. Grant had insisted he wear it along with his trousers, claiming the white cotton weave one was too simple for that evening's purposes.

"All right." Grant stood and held the pants out to him. "Put these on and I'll fix the bottoms. Don't forget to leave your shoes off."

Making sure to keep off the stone floor and on the thick rug that ran between their beds, Jonas slipped out of the thick soled boots and his wrinkled pants. As he was putting Grant's altered pair on, he paused when he realized that the bottom of the leg wasn't just tapered down, as the others were so they wrinkled less with the boots. These were stitched so that the hem around the ankle stretched, and was decorated with a thick green ribbon.

"Hurry up! We have to get the greaves on."

"Greaves?" Jonas asked. Was he heading into battle? Then again, with the way Grant was speaking it almost seemed that way. "What will I be needing—"

"They aren't metal." Grant knelt before Jonas, hands deftly picking at the material, folding it and tugging until he was able to buckle a leather greave over it. The leather had been embossed with the raven seal and recently polished. "You'll need to scrub your feet before you head out."

He stood and swiped Jonas' shoes away.

"But I'll be barefoot!" Jonas thought about all the cold flagstones that lay between the carpets that were scattered about the floors of the palace.

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