Chapter 344: Distinction

Chapter 344: Chapter 344: Distinction

By the time night settled over Deira, Liam had officially given up trying to steal technical knowledge from his previous life.

For the moment.

Arik considered that qualification important.

Liam lay across their bed with his head resting in Arik’s lap, one arm folded over his stomach and the other hanging loosely beside him while he stared toward the ceiling with the exhausted resignation of a man who had spent an entire afternoon losing an argument against himself.

Their bedroom was dim except for the low lamps built into the wall beside the bed and the gold-white glow of Deira beyond the windows, where suspended transit lines crossed between the distant towers in thin streams of light. The balcony doors had been left slightly open, allowing cool evening air to move through the room and disturb the sheer inner curtains.

Liam had changed into soft black trousers and one of Arik’s shirts, which was predictably too large through the shoulders and sleeves, while Arik remained in the dark trousers he had worn through the afternoon and a black shirt with the collar open after finally abandoning the imperial coat across a chair.

Liam shifted his cheek against Arik’s thigh.

"I am done with the trial room."

Arik looked down from the diplomatic tablet resting against one knee.

"For tonight?"

"For an appropriately indefinite period."

"That sounds healthier."

"It is irritating."

"I know."

"No, I mean philosophically irritating."

Arik’s fingers moved absently through Liam’s brown hair, untangling the strands that had escaped the tie Liam removed before climbing onto the bed.

"My previous self clearly thought about everything."

"That appears increasingly likely."

"He knew I might return as myself rather than simply become him again."

"Yes."

"So he built a mechanism that gives me access when necessary but prevents me from bringing anything back unless I cross whatever line he considered relevant."

Arik’s hand slowed.

Liam looked up at him.

"That is deeply obnoxious."

Arik smiled faintly. "You are criticizing yourself."

"I am criticizing Enki."

"There is a distinction?"

Liam opened his mouth.

Then stopped.

His crimson eyes narrowed.

Arik’s smile widened.

Liam stared at him for another second before letting his head fall back into Arik’s lap.

"Oh."

Arik’s fingers resumed moving through his hair.

Liam remained quiet for long enough that Arik glanced down again.

"I understand now."

"That concerns me."

"Why you hate being called Goliath."

Arik’s hand stilled.

Liam turned his face slightly so he could see him better.

"It is not because you deny being him."

"No."

"You never have."

"No."

"It is because people hear Goliath and decide Arik is secondary."

Arik looked toward the windows.

There were still officials in Nuria who spoke to him with the reverence reserved for a dead emperor rather than the familiarity owed to the living man occupying the throne. Foreign delegations were worse, particularly those who had discovered old records of Goliath and now behaved as though reincarnation had returned a historical figure perfectly preserved.

Liam understood the problem differently now.

"I went into that room as Liam," he said quietly. "Enki knew exactly how everything worked, and I still came back knowing nothing because I chose to remain myself."

Arik looked down at him again.

Liam’s expression had lost its earlier irritation.

"If someone called me Enki every time they looked at me now, I would probably become violent."

"That is why I married you."

"That is not reassuring."

"It was affectionate."

Liam considered that.

"Acceptable."

Arik’s tablet vibrated.

His expression changed immediately.

Liam noticed.

"What now?"

Arik unlocked the message. Read it. Then stared at the screen.

Liam watched his face for several seconds before the corners of his mouth began to curve.

"What?"

Arik looked offended, not angry, but really offended.

Liam knew the distinction because Arik’s mouth went very still whenever someone had violated what he considered basic logic.

"One of the eastern governments has formally appealed Agaron’s alliance with Nuria."

Liam blinked.

"Appealed to whom?"

"That is precisely my question."

The smile escaped.

Arik looked down at him.

"Do not."

"You are cute when diplomacy personally insults you."

Arik stared.

Liam settled more comfortably into his lap.

"Continue."

"I am not cute."

"No, of course not."

"You are being patronizing."

"I am listening."

Arik looked back at the tablet.

Liam closed his eyes so Arik would not see how amused he was.

"They are claiming Agaron possesses an unfair strategic advantage because of my former status as Crown Prince."

"That is true."

Arik looked down again.

Liam opened one eye.

"It is true."

"That does not make the alliance invalid."

"I did not say it did."

"They also argue that my familial relationship with Agaron’s sovereign creates a conflict of interest."

Liam’s mouth twitched.

"You are Damian’s son."

"I am aware."

"And Gabriel’s."

"I am extremely aware."

"And Cecil’s brother."

"Liam."

"And three other siblings." Liam’s eyes were shining with mischief. "I am establishing the severity of the conflict."

Arik’s gold eyes narrowed.

Liam smiled.

Arik returned to the message with visible restraint.

"The alliance was negotiated after Nuria’s sovereignty was formally restored, reviewed by both governments, approved through Nurian council procedure, and published with every relevant security provision attached."

"Very responsible."

"And yet they want it reconsidered because Agaron is receiving preferred transit access."

"It is."

"Because they earned it."

Liam opened both eyes now.

Arik was genuinely aggrieved.

His hand had stopped moving through Liam’s hair because he was using it to gesture toward the tablet as though the foreign government responsible might somehow see him.

"Agaron financed research nobody else believed mattered, kept historical records, protected related sites, and continued looking for Nuria while everyone else effectively forgot we existed."

Liam nodded solemnly.

"Yes."

"They are not receiving preferential treatment because Damian is my father."

"No."

"Or because Gabriel is my mother."

"Certainly not."

"They are receiving preferential treatment because Agaron acted like a competent state."

Liam bit the inside of his cheek.

Arik caught it immediately.

"You are laughing."

"I am not."

"You are."

"I am admiring your commitment to fairness."

"Liar."

Liam gave up and laughed.

Arik looked down at him with the expression of a sovereign suffering profound betrayal in his own bedroom.

That made it worse.

Liam covered his mouth.

"You are adorable."

"I am Emperor of Nuria."

"Those conditions are not mutually exclusive."

"I could have you removed from this room."

Liam shifted, turning onto his side and wrapping one arm around Arik’s waist without lifting his head from his lap.

"You would follow me."

Arik went silent.

Liam smiled against his thigh.

"That is what I thought."

Arik placed the tablet on the bedside table with considerably more force than necessary.

Then his hand returned to Liam’s hair.

"The appeal is ridiculous."

"It is."

"I am going to reject it."

"Obviously."

"And Agaron remains the favorite."

Liam opened his eyes.

"That part you should probably stop saying publicly."

Arik looked down at him.

"No."

Liam laughed again.

The irritation from the trial chamber had finally disappeared, replaced by warmth, soft sheets, Arik’s fingers moving through his hair, and the comforting certainty that his husband could be sovereign of an ancient empire, a reincarnation of Goliath, diplomatic nightmare, and still somehow become deeply offended because another government had questioned whether his parents deserved better treaty terms.

Liam relaxed completely.

Arik was cute.

He would never tell anyone else.

Arik already looked offended enough.