Ryland couldn’t stand for him to be content, he was convinced.  It really was that simple.  The teasing, the games, the lewd words spoken for the purpose to bring his blood back to a simmer, it was all to increase his misery.  It was his own fault, too.  Keth never had to go out into the cool night air with the young, vibrant creature.  He didn’t owe it to himself or anyone else to go on lazy boat rides and roll around with the kingdom’s most ridiculous and fantastic tramp.  He could’ve maintained his distance from the start and avoided the whole mess.<br/><br/>He could’ve not had fun.<br/><br/>He sat, dressed down from the frippery he’d donned for dinner, with one leg draped over the arm of a fine sitting chair.  His posture was abhorrent and his mind far from matters of state and diplomacy.  In his hand, Keth held a wooden box that was stained almost black, the top opened on its hinge.  Within was the gift he intended to give Ryland.<br/><br/>It had taken a lot of thought.  After all, it was no trinket to be throwing around, especially at a childish prince who could never hope to realize, let alone appreciate, the meaning behind the fancy ornament.  To Ryland, it would be just another lavish accessory to add to his possessions.  An exotic bauble.  A trophy.  He’d likely keep it for a while before losing it in the back of some jewelry box, buried under newer gems and whatnots from fresh lovers and suitors and admirers.  That thought, for a short while, almost made Kethaias slip back into despair.  Then he remembered the peace of the river and the fun he’d had.  He’d<i>laughed</i>, hadn’t he?<br/><br/>How long had it even been since he’d lost his family?  How long would it be before he was satisfied?  When would he ever settle down?  Really?<br/><br/>The truth was, he’d been carrying that box around for a long time.  It had been a suggestion that he’d kept in the back of his mind, being prepared to marry for strategic purposes.  There was no need to marry for power, since he had plenty of that.  Wealth was not an issue, either.  Leverage…?  His name sparked fear enough on its own.  For someone who would likely never find another to take a place at his side, it felt silly to hang onto it any longer.<br/><br/><i>Make it something special.</i><br/><br/>Ryland might as well have it.<br/><br/>Once the halls had grown still and the lights dim, Kethaias made his way to Ryland’s chambers.  He knocked.  The prince answered the door like an overpriced whore, displaying his assets but insisting on bargaining for entry.  Keth just smiled.<br/><br/>“Are you going to force me to wait here in the cold hall and be discovered?” he teased.  “Let me in, and I’ll show you.”<br/><br/>Once inside, he backed against the door to close it and held up the box.  The moment Ryland’s hands came near it, he hoisted it up, up higher, keeping it out of reach.  A little payback for the return from the river earlier.<br/><br/>“You must promise to keep it,” he insisted, holding a finger up to hold Ryland in place as if he were a child being lectured.  “Even if you don’t like it.”<br/><br/>He took a moment then to let his eyes follow Ryland’s form in appreciation.  Less clothing meant less fiddling to get down to hot, bare skin, but what the prince had chosen to wear for their little tryst looked lovely on him.  Kethaias could imagine being lazy and fondling that body through such things in early morning light before either of them were fully awake, or spending an afternoon shirking responsibility to lay the barely clothed prince down in his bed of flowers and draw patterns over his soft skin with the petals.  Those were all fantasies he had to chase from his mind, though.<br/><br/>“Then…” he said, though the word seemed out of place.  Keth opened the box and revealed the ornate ear cuff inside.  It looked delicate, the gold curling this way and that to hold little gems.  Two tiny chains accented it in slightly offset loops before hanging down from the lowest point, weighted by a few miniature pearls.  The crest of it was more pointed, as if it would better suite an elf ear, and it was accentuated by a cluster of pale turquoise jewels.<br/><br/>“Though I would like if you wore it for me just once.”