Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter Thirty-five: An Outery Firebrand

Chapter Thirty-five: An Outery Firebrand

Anne (Six Years Ago)

Saphir and the Dawn Hold's councilmen were seated at a table. They stared miserably at the second-floor balcony where Izeal would be seated for the rest of the evening. They'd failed to speak with him – as she'd expected. Now, Izeal could only be reached by those with his personal invitation.

And Izeal complained that she couldn't read a room? At least she didn't sequester herself away from those who needed her help.

Anne continued dancing, but she was frightfully distracted, digging through her mind for a proper solution to Saphir's problem. She was his only hope now. If Sir Boreal Auri couldn't be trusted as a steward or as a skylord, then Anne would need to find Saphir a lady, and it couldn't be just any young woman. What would be the best choice out of a confluence of all wrong choices?

There was one option worth considering: a proxy lady. It was highly unusual, but in the past, proxy ladies had been used to protect young skylords by decree of the Life Aria. If a priestess was selected for this daunting task, she would have to be formidable, wise, and willing to protect a child who might end up embroiled in a battle for inheritance with a Knight General who'd been described as a monster who was very good at war.

The priestess also couldn't be an influential nobleman's daughter – even an illegitimate one –, it would give another Hold too much power over the Dawn Hold. The priestess would also have to be highly accomplished, with enough skill to assist in running one of Atrezino's most important Holds.

An Outery nobleman's daughter might work best. Unfortunately, Anne wasn't too familiar with any of the ladies or priestesses from the Outerys. They didn't often come all the way to the Interior just for afternoon tea with her. She needed someone else's informed opinion.

Her feet began carrying her in Edmon Caisel's direction before her thoughts had fully formulated.

"Ah, Edmon," Anne said, stepping up beside him as he was picking hors d'oeuvres off a platter. He startled and nearly dropped the cheese-topped cracker.

"Princessa Cezanne?" he said as she reached forward and took a cracker from the platter.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Anne said quietly, "but Andres Ulief keeps asking me to dance and my feet are killing me. Would you mind keeping me company for a couple minutes while I try to catch my breath?"

"Of course, it would be my pleasure," he said with a shaky smile.

Anne took a bite of her cracker and sighed as Edmon joined her at the table. "As I was dancing, I couldn't help but wonder how you had difficulty finding a wife. Surely there are many competent daughters of Outery noblemen who would line up to marry you?"

"Hah," he grunted dryly through a mouthful of cracker, then swallowed and shook his head. "There are many lovely young women in the Outerys but none were lining up to marry me. It would take a woman of unnaturally strong resolve to marry into the Outery Final. Delvist is still in ruins."

Anne nodded. "Does the Church still send aid to help in rebuilding?"

"Occasionally," Edmon said, leaning back. "But the Outery Final has recovered enough that the citizens have come together to put our capital city back together again."

"That must have been hard. You were around my age when Delvist was attacked. I don't know how you managed it. I couldn't have done it."

"Don't discount yourself. We often don't know our own strengths until we're truly tested. I certainly hadn't been prepared to take on my father's duties after he had been burnt by the Blue Flames. Not only did I have to cover for him, but I also had to pull our Hold out of the ashes. If it hadn't been for Embria, I would be dead and our Hold would've crumbled out of the Sky." He brushed cracker crumbs from his hands.