Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter Forty: The King's Authority

Part 4: The Azure Caves

Chapter Forty: The King's Authority

Calden

Calden took a glass bowl of nuts from the tea table and set it on his knee as Prusen explained for the third time how they were all going to present themselves to the ambassadors. Positioning a nut in his palm, Calden clenched it till the hard outer shell cracked, then placed the deshelled nut on the armrest beside him. He cracked another and Prusen shot him a dirty look. He tried to crack them quietly but every time one of the shells popped too loudly, he would receive increasingly angry glares. Larken, noticing all of Calden's hard work, was quick to steal a handful and Calden let him get away with it. His eldest brother was one more veiled insult away from grabbing a chair and breaking it over Prusen's obnoxious head. In the coming weeks, everyone was to act as un-Larken-ly as possible and present themselves in a gentle manner.

"This first impression is absolutely critical," Prusen said, pointing his finger directly at Larken as he spoke. "It will determine the success of our future diplomacy. Everything must be perfect."

"I've decided I will go tomorrow," Gale declared, setting his feet up on the tea table and rattling it loudly. A glass wobbled, water spilling over the rim and dripping down the cut crystal sides. Kiren tsked and leaned forward, yanking a book out from under Gale's heel.

"You can't go, everyone is already set to travel tomorrow and I've hand-picked our hundred for the protective detail," Prusen said, waving his hand dismissively.

"I thought you'd say something stupid like that, so I convinced Olen to give me his spot."

"You still cannot go."

"Why not?" Gale demanded, smacking his hands down on his thighs.

"Haven't you been listening? We don't want to scare the ambassadors," Kiren explained, wiping his sleeve fretfully over the book's leather cover.

"I'm not scary." Gale crossed his arms over his chest and sunk further into the couch cushions. "I am one of the finest of the Azure's finest!"

"You're big, you're loud, and you are very, very Remerian – all things the Overlanders find scary," Prusen said. "Which is why Nocturn and I are staying here as well."

"What about Larken? He's got horns and claws."

"Both of which are easily hidden." Prusen narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand why you're making a fuss about this at the last minute. You didn't even want to go last week, why the sudden change in heart?"

"He wants to see the Adderian princess," Nocturn tattled, not looking up from the intricate design he was carving into a tarmanze tooth. "Calden says she's hot."

"Your one percent chance of changing my mind just went to zero," Prusen said, looking rather peeved.

"Thanks for that," Gale grumbled, chucking one of Kiren's velvet throw pillows across the room. Nocturn blocked it with a swift arm sweep, not even looking up from his carving.

Prusen pointedly flipped through the large stack of papers he'd brought to this 'quick' informal meeting Kiren had been forced to host in his room against his will. "The ambassadors have all been given free rein of the entire West Hall of the Azure Castle and the rooms therein – they will not be sharing the North Hall with us, as had been previously discussed. None of us will be allowed to enter their rooms, even at their invitation. This is to give them all space where they will feel safe to be themselves." Prusen ran his eyes along them all like they were a bunch of misbehaving delinquents. "Furthermore, no one may invite any of the ambassadors to their personal quarters at any time or for any reason. Am I clear, Gale?"