Harry watched with some trepidation as Bleyver bowed to his father before finally turning to him. “Your Highness,” he said with a smile, bowing slightly. “It’s so nice to see you in good health. I see the Terran air was good for you.” His gaze shifted to Adam for the first time, sweeping over him from head to toe. “I see you have found a fine native specimen while you were there.”
Harry hesitated, unsure how he was supposed to respond to that. Bleyver wasn’t exactly insulting Adam or himself, but there was a condescending edge to his tone that Harry didn’t care for.
“The native specimen can speak for himself,” Adam said, very dryly. “Yes, I’m an Earth native, and I’m here with Prince Harht’ngh’chaali. Is that all you wanted to know?”
Harry suppressed a smitten smile. Pronouncing Calluvian full names wasn’t easy even with the translating chip, but Harry’s name had rolled out of Adam’s mouth as if he’d been saying it his whole life. Adam must have practiced a lot to achieve such a good pronunciation.
Lord Bleyver stared at Adam for a moment before smiling. “Why, yes. Thank you.”
Before Harry could breathe out in relief, Bleyver turned back to him. “Forgive me for being so blunt, Your Highness, but does this mean you do not mind that your brother is marrying your former bondmate?”
Harry smiled uncertainly. He wasn’t a very good liar, and he still wasn’t sure he approved of Ksar’s marrying Leylen in his stead. “I wish my brother nothing but happiness,” he said. It wasn’t a straight answer, but it was an honest one.
“And I suppose your Terran is the reason for your easy acceptance?” Bleyver said.
Harry hesitated. Strictly speaking, it was none of this man’s business, but they had come to the ball to stop all the speculation and try to salvage what was left of his reputation. Harry had no intention to lie about Adam’s importance to him. He didn’t want anyone to think he wasn’t serious about Adam.
“Yes, he is,” Harry said. “We’re courting.” He held his head high as whispers ran through the crowd.
Lord Bleyver smiled. “To be honest, Your Highness,” he murmured in a low voice that wasn’t low enough not to be heard by everyone listening in. “I didn’t think you had it in you, but it seems you really did, in more ways than one.”
Harry flushed, absolutely speechless. He had heard of Lord Bleyver’s outrageous comments, but he’d never been on the receiving end of them. A glance at Adam confirmed that Adam hadn’t quite understood Lord Bleyver’s double entendre; the translating chip wasn’t perfect and certain nuances of language didn’t translate. Harry knew the feeling: there had been so many times humans’ turns of speech utterly confused him and made him feel like he’d missed something.
At this moment Harry felt very grateful that the translating chip wasn’t perfect. Adam tended to be overprotective of him, and the last thing they needed was for Adam to get offended on his behalf and hit Lord Bleyver.
But Harry forgot that Adam wasn’t the only person in the vicinity who could be overprotective of him.
“I find it baffling that you dare speak to your prince in that way,” Ksar cut in, his voice like ice, sharp and cold.
Harry blinked and looked at his brother in surprise. Although Lord Bleyver hadn’t exactly been as respectful as he should have been toward a prince of his own grand clan, Harry hadn’t thought his comment would merit Ksar’s attention. Lord Bleyver was known for his outrageous remarks and scandalous behavior. Ksar usually ignored the man completely, not considering him worthy of his attention. It was weird that Ksar was getting worked up over a simple risqué comment.
But then again, Harry thought, remembering the strange tension Ksar had been carrying. Maybe it wasn’t that weird, after all. Ksar had been on edge lately, and this was likely just the last straw. Lord Bleyver was probably just a convenient outlet for his frustration.
“You misunderstood, Your Highness,” Lord Bleyver said smoothly, his sharp eyes fixed warily on Ksar. “I meant no offense.”
Ksar’s face remained stony. “You did,” he said. “Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending otherwise. Apologize.”
Harry winced. At this point, everyone in the ballroom was staring at them, listening avidly to the conversation. So much for not causing a scandal. What was Ksar thinking?
It seemed his mother shared his concerns and said, “Ksar.”
But Ksar ignored the Queen, still staring Lord Bleyver down. “Apologize to your prince.”
Harry could feel that Bleyver didn’t feel as calm as his lazy, unbothered stance suggested. He could also feel that while Bleyver was very uneasy about openly defying Ksar, he also didn’t want to lose face in public in such a manner. That would be a blow to his social standing.
Bleyver smiled. “With all due respect, Your Highness, I don’t know what I’m supposed to apologize for.”