Contrary to the first time I had been summoned, my second contract with my King placed me squarely in peace times. The order of his kingdom had been long established, threats conquered, his enemies made tranquil, and the nobles remained civil as peasants toiled on their lands. The excitement and the actions of his youth were no longer obligated.

More commonplace was now his court responsibilities: economies, the day-to-day life of his kingdom, overseeing laws and governance. In other words, I was free to play as I wished with minimal consequences, for I no longer needed a minder.

"Oh," said he, when I came to mind him.

Not long after he realized what I was up to under the table, the King quickly dismissed his councillors. It was just as well, for he was undone quickly after.

By the looks of the people leaving the room when I finally popped my head up and spied the stacks they took with them, there had been much paperwork to go through. How responsible! I was glad I am not human.

“...I would’ve thought you would go to her. Have you decided I am the more interesting of the two of us?" His touch was gentle against my form’s head, though he was satisfied and conflicted in feeling.

I purred and felt the ripples of his content at that, so I swooped up. My King was so giving with acts of his affection as my Queen was so giving with words of her worries. How different they were, and how lucky was I to know them this way.

I do not love, I cannot love. A spirit does not love as humans do. But I give love in my own way: the acts I give, the willingness I provide, my fondness, and pleasing speech  for my chosen ones—it is all for them, for their vulnerabilities become mine alone to know and indulge.

I nuzzled against his cheek; he would've felt it as a brand of gentle lightning rippling under his skin. "Of the two of you, you are the more welcoming to company today," I said, slipping behind him, stroking a finger along his jaw. “Was it that good a time for you last night?”

I slid my palm along his throat to the back of his neck, by where I had held him down the previous night. He stuttered.

“Mm?” I smiled.

He looked away and shifted in his seat, blushing at both me and the sensation. “It...it was.” Flushed interest and arousal seemed to fill him, both mixing with mortification and eager yearning. “It was quite a night.”

I hummed, indulgent. “Would you like me to embrace you again tonight?” Already, I was enjoying the idea of it. Perhaps I would see if tonight he was willing to try something new.

“Tonight?” He looked conflicted, likely recalling the circumstances around why he has allow me to bed him last night. Shame. It would have been better for both of them if he had allowed me to monopolize his attentions. “Tonight, weren’t you going to go back to her?”

“She requires some time alone, but why do you not give me a direct answer?” Impatiently, I pulled my hand away. To my surprise, a sour note of insecurity echoed a my fingertips. He had leaned in, as if to follow, before regaining control of himself. It mollified me. 

My King leaned back in his chair. “It is not as if I am against your...favour.”

Favour. He said it so strangely one might’ve thought I was the King and he the contracted being. But he was growing visibly troubled while I was growing more curious. “Then what are you against?”

He gazed at his paperwork and picked up his quill. Like everything in the palace, it was fit for a King and made from the finest. Still, he plucked at its plume as if it was no better than the seeds of common dandelion.

“With me,” his voice was slow, as if trying to find the words, “you are the same as you always have been...but what about her? If you do...this, these things... with me... With her, do you-?”

“I do not give her what I give you.”

A good part of the plume was now twisted in his fingers. “But... Does it not bother you? That she’s...that way?”

“Not at all.” Here, I wondered. Did my King and my Queen not have any companions to share their worries with? No friends to consult with, no advisers of any sort? Then again, I supposed if they had, they would not have needed or permitted me to be as involved with them. “She is similar to me.”

He frowned, and then tossed the quill aside to look at me. “How so?”

I was confused. I thought it could not have been more clearer. “How is she not?”

“You...you’re...” He lay his temple against the tips of his fingers, eyebrows furrowed. “You’re different. You’re so open and friendly and you...well, you do what you do to...to me, and she—“

Ah, I understood. “She is repulsed by those things,” I said, “whereas I am very neutral. I enjoy these actions since they bring you joy but I would not myself seek them for myself.”

“‘Actions’.” The parting of his lips closed and his smile twisted up as usual—except his eyes were cold. “They’re ‘actions’ to you?”

I must have said something wrong. “I apologize if this insults you. You know I am—“

“No, why would I be insulted?” His tone was colder now. “It’s not like spirits would be capable of anything except actions. I forgot that about you.”

He was acting to me very unkindly, as if I had wronged him in my honesty.

I did not think it wise to leave him to this new tantrum of his like I had my Queen. She was the type who would understand once she thought things through. He was the type who would regret it and hold his own self-hatred inside, stubbornly refusing to explain himself long past the end.

Such was the case in the termination of our first contract.

I suspect he wished me to feel helpless as he did to her. Magnanimously, I felt only amused.

“You both ask too much about each other and become too upset for it. Why does it matter that they are neutral actions to me, if I enjoy doing them because they are with you?” I leaned in with a smile. “If you wish to be babied, you need only ask.” 

“‘Babied’-!” He turned red. “I am... am a King! How dare you!”

Ah yes, these royals and their egoistic pride.

I laughed and drew closer, and he did not stop me as I cupped his cheek and kissed him on the other. “Kingling, you are so lucky I am not as easily angered as I used to be. I would do worse to you than I did last time.”

He shrank. My tone had been sing-song but the words had been a warning.

“But I won’t. I’m not angry at all.” To be a little mischievous, I reached forward past fabrics and flesh and bone. “Fear not. Only to you will I will give love in this way. She does not have much need of it.” Then I reached his heart. “Not like how spoiled you are.”

I flicked his heart slightly with my finger.

A strangled whimper slipped from his lips, one he quickly covered with a closed fist. The servants who had entered the room to provide him refreshments glanced over. I floated contentedly around the room as he coughed awkwardly, hastily dismissing them.

The room had been decorated since a decade ago. Fanciful, needlessly sparkly, newer wallpaper, and decorative knickknacks...just the way I appreciated it. I do not know if he did it for me, but it didn’t matter. If I was to spend time with him, it was a good thing the view was nice.

“Um...” He cleared his throat more from the croak, but he was more respectful now. “But why did you really come here? Did she send you away?”

There was only one she between us, and still he came back to her every time. “The Queen deals with the Carsinian diplomats today.”

“Ah,” he said, “yes, there was that, wasn’t there...and then the trip...”

“What trip?”

He hesitated. “She doesn’t tell me much outside of her schedule. I suppose she truly doesn’t wish to see me, since it’s to make sure I stay out of her way.”

“But it  starts tonight? Where?”

“To...the neighbouring village. The is a royal forum where the chiefs of the kingdom may come together with their requests.”

And yet, where it had not bothered me before, it bothered me now. Why had she sent me away and not informed me of her plans? I would not have bothered her too much. I would’ve sat at her elbow, an easy warning to the people not to attempt to scheme against her.

"Will you go to her?" he asked me, but he leaned into my touch again as I played absentmindedly with his hair. I could not tell if it was jealousy or envy, but he felt something.

"I am embracing you tonight, am I not?" I asked him, and I felt his happiness fill the air.

I spent the overnight with him, then the next night, and then after decided I was meant to explore the castle and see what had changed since. Spirits do not always stay beside their contractors unless they are asked for; the world is big enough, and eventually the King became busy again with his country's affairs.

The days passed and in my boredom I went where the contract would allow. Like a troublesome ghost, I haunted the west wings and played clean up with some of maids. I tagged along with the stablehands as they raises the horses. The cooks hated me for squirrelling away with food--I did not need to eat, but the sensation and texture was so interesting--until they learned I could be of good use to eliminate waste and scraps, and then burp up buffs and enchant knives and peelers to help with prep. It was the same for the library: I spent a few days there, gallivanting among the shadows of the bookkeeper, a little magic here and there to keep things interesting. I almost took interest in one or two little intelligent, straggly apprentices, but their frantic seniors shooed me away. Thus I curled up in the rafters and threw old volumes at them.

Eventually, there was no one who did not I had returned to the castle. That was how she found me in the library, spicing up the sleepy lives of the kingdom's scholars.

"You are a menace to them," she said, exasperated, as the crowd waited behind her. Her arms were on her waist and she was cold, but she could not hide her cautious tone from me.

She held herself at a hesitant distance, and I could not permit that.

"You are back to stay?" I asked and kissed her on the cheek. “I forgive you."

There has never been anything to forgive, but it made her gaze subtly wet.