The King & the Stable Boy

XXIV: Lords and Kings

Noah

"You look lovely," William says, kissing my knuckles.

"I would hope so. Don't you think the headpiece is too much? Too bold? I haven't been crowned yet, and I saw the looks I got with the reef-"

"You're rambling." Will interrupt, pulling me into his arms to calm me.

"I know. I'm just nervous. The nobility of the other islands is much different than those here at the castle. The four lords are descended from kings, their power is just so raw. I want to make a good impression. Not to mention the royalty from Atlantis and Natus." I let out a sigh, looking in the eye as he bends to place a chaste kiss on my temple.

"They will all love you, just as I do, love." 

I take a deep breath and smile up at him. We both leave the room, walking to the main sitting room where loud chatter is heard. 

Sitting before us in deep conversation are four lords and their ladies, and four kings and a queen.

"The men of the hour." a man says, standing to greet us.

The man had seaweed woven into his long braided locks, a shell crown placed atop his head, the empty crustacean home's shimmering in the sunlight in magnificent breathtaking hues. By his side was his queen, a woman with locks not much longer than his, flowing down her back regally with a matching shell crown jutting out of the mane.

"I'm King Ramsey of Atlantis and this is my mate, Queen Kyrenia." the man or King Ramsey introduced.

"I'm Prince Noah. Pleased to meet you," I say, bowing in front of the man and woman, kissing the female's knuckles.

"William, you've truly outdone yourself with this one," he says jokingly to my mate. 

William simply shakes his head in response to this, before the three other men rise and approach.

The man standing at the center of their formation walked slightly behind the other two, clearly the most protective of the trio.

The man to my left spoke up first.

"I'm King Robin. To my far left is my mate Winston and the brood in between us is Asher."

"Pleased to meet the three of you," I say, bowing.

Robin had dark red locks adorning his head, lying wild and untamed. His eyes gave away that he was the caster of the trio, shining an electric blue that seemed to change shades. Winston was clearly the shifter, his build lean and broad, hair as dark as the wing's of a raven, his eyes holding a fierce depth behind them the occasional flash of yellow showed that his wolf was towards the surface. 

Asher was quite different compared to his two mates. He had dark blond locks with golden highlights within it scattered about, his frame not as broad as the wolf's but he looked as if he could easily take his shifter mate down without much difficulty if he had to. His eyes were hazel and his aura was what gave away his caster heritage. He absolutely radiated power.

"Asher you get more intimidating each time I see you," William says, clapping the blond on the shoulder.

"We were just discussing this. I remember when Robin and Winston walked in for the mate introductions. It was expected your parents had been raving about how perfect you would be for one another, so convinced they even arranged you both a marriage, but the scrawny little thing was unexpected." Ramsey states.

His words worried me as I thought the hybrid would lash out at the harsh sound of them but instead he simply began to burst out in a fit of laughter.

"I told you we shouldn't have fed him so much. Now he's become buffer than the both of us and thinks he owns us." Winston says, sighing dramatically.

"In my defense, I had thought he'd be a loyal wolf, not act like an overgrown house cat." Robin teases, turning to Asher only for the blond to jokingly hiss at him.

I couldn't help but laugh at the exchange as did those around me.

It was refreshing to see another royal set so joking and carefree, it's often a side one doesn't see during public appearances. 

"The lords await in the other room, Your Majesty," Sarah says, curtsying towards the other royals before ducking back out of the room.

"Time to put back on the stone masks gentlemen," Kyrenia says, linking her arm with her mate.

"Stone masks?" I question.

"The nobility from the other islands insist that the first official meeting be a formal affair." William fills me in, guiding the group of us to the bigger strategy room next door.

I simply nod at this, and we all walk through the doorway, eight sets of eyes immediately on us. 

The company of nobles stands and bows at us, their judging eyes downcast just for a moment before the first question is fired.

"When did we start putting crowns on the help?" a woman with an icy glare says, looking me up and down disapprovingly.

"Since they had better table manners and social etiquette than you," I remark, causing a small gasp to come from her before she huffs turning away with a slightly pinked embarrassed face.

"You must excuse my mate, Your Highness. She has quite the tongue and isn't one for change." a man speaks up.

"It's quite okay, I expected a nasty remark or two," I say dismissively.

"How do you plan on making these reforms to the public? You're to be announced tomorrow morning, many people on Gaia are conservative, what will you say to them?" another lord questions.

"I'll tell them of the countless mortalities, senseless killings of mates and those involved. I'll remind them of how much trust they put in their Gods and Goddesses in all aspects of life and question their beliefs if they dare question such a sacred bond created for them by their makers." I answer.

We continue like this for another two hours with questions and discussions about the future of the kingdom, with the other royalty chiming in to give guidance or question what some changes that are being made means for our alliances.

I had learned the eight nobilities names in this course of time.

The woman who was rude at first was Rosemary, her mate Jameson, the Lord and Lady of Gaia. Rosemary came from one of the more conservative smaller noble families in Gaia which explained her ignorance.

Terra and Randolph are the nobles in charge of Hephaïstos. Lillian and Orion ran Oceanos and even held an estate on the outskirts of the capital of Atlantis, Amphitrite. The last pair of nobles was Harriet and his mate Ariel who ran Ouranos.

The rest of or time spent together was quite uneventful and I found myself whisked away towards the end of the night by an insistent Clarissa who was convinced that I absolutely must try on my attire for the next morning that night.

By the time William and I retired to bed both of us were tired and slightly tipsy from the drinks we had consumed earlier on.

"Tomorrow you're announced." he says sleepily.

"Tomorrow you turn twenty-six." I counter.

"In that case, theirs much cause for celebration."

"Indeed," I say, yawning.

We both fell asleep after a few more minutes of senseless talk about nothing, both of us anticipating the day to come.

A/N:

So what'd you all think of this chapter?

Did you find the three kings of Natus relationship interesting?

If so, would you be psyched to read a story about them?

Would you be interested in a chapter with info. on Anicia and a small Q&A?

Until next update...

~Jessie