Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter 26: Our Future

Chapter Twenty-six: Our Future

Anne

Anne paced the tile floor in circles. Blue fabric swayed around her legs like clouds on a sunny day. Anxious pacing turned into a dreary trudge as more time passed. Perhaps they wouldn't come to see her? Had Aiden's sorrow morphed into anger once the shock of her actions had worn off?

"Princessa Cezanne?" Cantonia called from the other side of the room. "I've prepared your bed with freshly cleaned sheets. You should take a rest. You've had a long day. I can summon you if guests arrive seeking your audience."

"I'll rest here," Anne said, sitting on the couch. Her legs shook as she stared at her jittery fingers that had nothing to fidget with.

"Princessa? I brought you the books from your desk, I thought you might enjoy reading while you wait." Anne glanced up sharply from under her eyelashes and Wevoni looked away. Heaving a sigh, Anne took the books gently from Wevoni's hands and opened one in her lap.

Her retainers were just concerned for her wellbeing, if she looked less despairing, they'd leave her be. She pretended to read to put everyone at ease. But soon found herself distracted from her worries as she fell back into the stew of simmering anger that had been brewing inside her these past couple of weeks.

Anne was going to Remeria. She'd barely ever left her own quarters and she was going to be one of the first Atrezins to behold the Azure Caves – the seat of all Remerian power. And all she had to guide her were these ridiculously offensive pieces of literature put forth by the scholars.

She knew not to take what she read about Remeria as pure fact, but she desperately needed more information on Remerian etiquette. She didn't want to accidently insult Prince Calden again. If she was going to make a peace treaty with these foreign nobles, she needed to put her best foot forward and gain their respect. She could not have them think she was a bumbling moron, some naïve Princessa, who'd somehow tripped her way down the stairs into the darkness.

Anne had been comparing lists of traditional Remerian greetings in hopes of finding some useful nuggets of knowledge hidden within these pages. But alas, it was beginning to look like her search had been in vain. Two of the books stated every guest must present a cup of lamb's blood before the Remerian King. While another book claimed it was a cup of the person's own blood.

Ridiculous. A cup of blood? For what logical reason would a king want that? "Bah," she chucked the book across the room. It struck the wall with a solid thud and Cantonia squeaked in surprise. The useless crops and handwoven blankets the Outery Skylords gave the emperor at the yearly Summit of Holds at least made sense. The gifts were a show of respect and their Hold's prosperity – a promise of their Hold's continued loyalty – but giving the Remerian king a goblet of blood made no sense. Maybe she should play it safe and gift the king a golden goblet filled to the brim with raw garnets as a substitute? Bet he'd like that a lot more than a cup of stinky, congealed blood.

Every book also included incorrect information about The Hunt and its Laws. This stupid bunch of scholars who'd never left their Sky Towers were the ones educating all of Atrezino! By the Aria, she'd probably spoken with a Remerian for longer than all three of these supposed experts. She should write a book after she returned. Well, maybe not, the scholars would never permit a woman's work to be published – especially when it would discredit all the misconceptions they'd sold as fact.

Some of the information in these books directly contradicted what she'd personally observed while spending time with Calden. "Remerians can only eat raw meat and blood. Their Larmalee ancestry has mutated their digestive systems to be that of an obligate carnivore," she quoted directly from one of the offending books. Next time she ran into a scholar, she would beat them over the head with their own birdshit!