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"You're awfully quiet."
Agatha didn't bother to look behind her. She knew his voice like the back of her hand. A voice she had fought with and loved and reasoned with. A voice that cut through each and every one of her silences with ease. "So?"
"So what are you doing out here?" He asked, coming up beside her and leaning on the railing with Agatha. He was sure not to watch her, and she was thankful for that. She wasn't the type of person who invited attention, at least not the positive kind. Instead, she preferred the quiet attentions of her sour cat and her small group of friends.
Agatha knew why she had come to the balcony, but was somewhat hesitant to reveal the source to Tedros. Her letter to Hester had been long overdue, but now that she'd sent it, she almost regretted the decision. There was more she could have told her, that was certain. Then, there was a matter of Sophie mailing Tedros every other week. In some ways, she envied the friendship her boy king had with Sophie, but similarly, there was a level of happiness she felt; Tedros was branching out and making alliances that would serve his kingdom.
"I just felt like some space, that's all," she murmured. Agatha pressed the heel of her palm to her left cheek and continued to stare at the inlet that was Camelot. The small candle lights spread themselves out across land. The last of them dwindled where Camelot turned into thick forest. The summer night brought with it a wind that cradled her face with a cool hand and it soothed her beating heart and fevered face. She hadn't had very much wine, but that was fine. Agatha had never been partial to the wines or ales of any country but understood that it was polite to try at least a little.
"I missed you inside," he said finally.
She snorted, something in the dark drawing the derisive sound from her. "You and your mother maybe."
"The longer you stay here, the longer they notice we're missing," he pointed out.
"Maybe you should go back then."
"Without you? Not a chance." He placed a hand on her back. His warmth sifted right through her dress and trickled across her skin like steam. The other hand took to thumbing her cheek and turning it in towards him. "Hi."
"Hello." If Agatha thought she was the only one embarrassed, then she was wrong. The suspicious warmth of her face was echoed in the dark flush of her king.
"I feel like you haven't talked to me all night."
She shrugged, the smooth fabric of her dress falling lightly on her shoulders. "You were busy."
"So were you."
He smiled but it lacked its usual warmth. "Seeing other guys talking to you makes me a little jealous. Is that wrong?"
"You were never jealous at the School. Just a butt," she said and watched his quiet confidence morph into something that could only be interpreted as shyness. "Unless you were jealous."
"Maybe. Kind of. That's not the point," he fumbled. "The point is that I would much rather be with you than stuffy old guys."
"Oh." Agatha smiled softly. "Well, I'd much rather be with you than young princes that keep asking me to dance in these damnable heels."
"They're asking you to dance?" he choked out, and Agatha stifled a laugh at his mild outrage.
"Yeah, but I turned them down. Said I wasn't feeling too well."
He nodded, his hand still rubbing her back in slow circles. "Well, I can understand that. Those princes are all entitled brats anyway. The thought of dancing with them would make me sick to."
"That's funny considering that that's what I thought of you when we first met." He seemed gobsmacked by the admission which only made Agatha want to laugh at him more. "You knew what I thought of you just like I knew what you thought of me."
"That was-"
"A long time ago. I know that." Agatha let her mouth curve into a more genuine grin. He had grown so much since she'd first laid eyes on him. It wasn't fair that he'd gotten handsomer, if she was telling the truth. Tedros held her gaze for a bit before tearing away, coughing into his fist.
"Do you want to sneak out?" he asked suddenly.
"You'd do that?"
"Used to do it more often before I realized how important they were to my father. But mom's in there now and she's doing really well with them so we could totally sneak out."
"What happened to being responsible? And I thought you just said that they'd miss us?"
"Well they can miss us a little more." He took her hand and held it with such excited urgency that he reminded her of a young child. This late night selfishness was happening more and more frequently, and Agatha would be lying if she said that a part of her didn't enjoy it. "If it will make you feel better, we can skip out for a little bit and come back when most of them are too drunk on cheap wine to remember that we were missing in the first place. Just you and me. No guards or snooty princes. Are you up for it?"
"Tedros," she said slowly and the short puff of breath on her cheek let her know that he understood her chiding.
"Okay."
"I just needed a moment," she said, pressing a kiss onto Tedros' perfect lips. "You don't have to sound so disappointed."
"I know, but I was kind of looking forward to it."
Agatha smoothed Tedros' hair back from his face; she was too tired to be stern. "Let's go back in."
"We'll stick together this time, won't we?" he asked with breathy hopefulness and she laughed as he drew her into a tight hug.
"Of course," she said knowing that the warmth in her face was more to do with him than any cheap wine she might have had.
Agatha hid her smile in his shoulder and left her pocket of silence behind.