Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter 22: The Long Table

Chapter Twenty-two: The Long Table

Calden

Calden tapped his fingers against the smooth granite top of the Long Table. Since he was the youngest, he sat at the edge, giving him a lot more elbow room than all his other brothers. Kiren leaned closer to Calden in an attempt to avoid getting elbowed by Nocturn who was sawing at a piece of meat he was unlikely to eat. In fact, none of his brothers were eating anything – just moving the food around atop their plates. Well, all his brothers aside from Larken, who'd cleaned his plate and was now swiping bread from Prusen's untouched lunch.

Kiren shot Calden a nervous glance. "It's going to be alright," his brother whispered. "You're going to do great."

"Don't say things you don't believe," Calden grumbled, shoving a piece of lettuce off his plate.

"Alright, great was a stretch. You'll give a decent speech," Kiren amended. "Perhaps even a mediocre one. But all you've got to do is address the room. Father has already agreed to send the letters Overland. You could literally just stand up and scream that we're trying for peace and that'd be good enough. So just...do your best."

"It's the waiting that's killing me," Calden said, leaning back with a sigh. "It's worse than giving the actual speech."

Kiren patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, we're all unsettled. But we're in this together, alright?"

Calden nodded. The King's Hall was so crammed with people, some didn't have chairs or space to sit at the tables. They held plates of food in their hands at the far back of the hall. Word must have spread from the lords to the general populace. And many had come to hear the Azure's plan...

Calden's plan.

They were all here because of him.

Even the Aneri Huntresses from the Cantori Abyss had come. Alanora the Ancient was amongst them. Calden had never seen her before. She was over a thousand years old, which was impressive for a halfblooded Larmalee. Most halfbloods only lived for two to six hundred years – if they hadn't been killed by Atrezins or tarmanze, that is. She was the only one still alive from the first generation. She had lived through King Adamort's reign. She was as old as Remeria itself! Alanora had been given a seat of honor near the north end of the hall.

Her snow-white hair was braided with amber beads in a similar shade to her sharp orange eyes, which were locked on Calden and hadn't moved or blinked once. She hadn't touched her plate of food either. Her chestnut brown skin was so wrinkled he couldn't tell if her expression was twisted with fury, or if that was just how she always looked. Her eyes narrowed even further. The orange pulsed, growing brighter. Definitely not happy.

"What if someone stands and challenges me for this?" Calden muttered to Kiren out of the side of his mouth.

Kiren snorted. "This is the Azure's decision as a group and we'll answer any challenges against you. They'd have to go through all of us first, and no one is going to beat Larken in combat."

Larken must have overheard them talking, because he winked, then stretched, extending his claws fully as he did so. Show off. The king gave his eldest son an aggrieved look. Their father had never been fond of the Right to Challenge, but it was a Right under Remerian Law, and Remerian Law was the one thing a king couldn't change. Amend, yes, but outright deny? No.

Remerian Laws were carried over from Larmalee Laws, and they'd always favored the strong over the weak. And currently, Larken was the strongest. No one really understood how it had happened, but Immortal Blood was weird like that. Sometimes, it skipped over generations, but it was usually a woman's firstborn that got the most of it.