A few days later, Cecil went to Gabriel.
Not Damian.
That distinction mattered.
Damian would have looked at him once, understood the entire problem, and asked the only question Cecil did not currently want to hear.
'Why are you waiting?'
It would not have been mockery. That was the irritating part. Damian at his most direct was rarely mocking of his children. Merciless, yes. Occasionally insufferably calm, yes. But not mocking. If Cecil went to him and said, 'I want to mark Frederik,' Damian would not waste time dressing the matter in softer cloth. He would ask whether Frederik wanted it. Whether Cecil intended to marry him. Whether he understood the political cost. And if the answer to all three were yes, Damian would likely look at him as if the rest were administrative weather and say, with infuriating simplicity, Then do it.
Which would return Cecil to the actual problem.
Because the problem had never been desire.
Desire had been settled years ago.
