𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐥.𝐫.𝐡

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈

I stood there, blankly staring down at the floor as one image was constantly replaying in my head; the one thing which I knew would take me more than ten minutes to forget.

Luke's kiss.

Although it was just a distraction for the guards, there was more to it. It felt like a sudden spark had broke free within me even for those few seconds. A spark which I'd never experienced before.

"Queen Sophia?" I was snapped out of my thoughts when I recognised the familiar voice. "His Majesty, King Edmunds requests an audience with you." Sebastian said, my vision now becoming clear. "It's important." he added, seeing the hesitant expression on my face.

I desperately looked over at Luke who had been held up by a few nobles and I sighed to myself, seeing no way out of this.

I gave Sebastian a nod and he gestured me to follow him through the rows of people until we were faced with the steps leading up to the throne. Edmund was sitting there, with another drink in his hand as he laughed listening to whatever the councillors around him were saying.

As said before, Edmund was only a young king sporting short brown hair and a sleek beard. His personality matched his appearance; dark and cold ,yet he did have a slight hint of enthusiasm in him.

"M'lord." Sebastian cleared his throat loudly, causing the King to draw his attention towards us. "Queen Sophia, of Ocerallia." he announced, walking away from me now and I brought my hands together seriously. The men immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me, either with a look of amusement or curiosity.

"I see you're still trying to avoid me, your Grace." Edmund said with a smirk and I tried my best to not already lose my temper with him.

"And I see that you are still your cowardly self, considering you also chose to ignore me tonight, m'lord." I replied smoothly, managing to cover up the annoyance in my voice.

"You're just as witty as your mother. Would you mind explaining perhaps why she could not join you here tonight?" he asked suspiciously as he rolled his eyes and I stopped.

"You've known my mother for years so you must realise by now that she isn't keen on leaving the throne unguarded. I'm here on her behalf."

"Yes, but you are here with the royals of Cadeiric, which means you are still going through with this alliance."

"What gave you the impression I wouldn't be?"

"It seems as if your letters and threats weren't enough, m'lord." Sebastian spoke up and Edmund nodded slowly in response. "Apart from being at this party to celebrate our Kings birthday, have you not wondered the real reason as to why you were invited here tonight?" he continued, making me cock an eyebrow.

"We wanted to find out if you abandoned the alliance after you received our threats, so inviting you here today was the perfect opportunity to see who you would show up with." Edmund chuckled as he brought his goblet to his lips. "And unfortunately for you, you've chosen to ignore our warnings."

I stared between them both, remembering back to the night where Luke had said that Keit wouldn't know about my decision with the alliance, but it didn't register to us then that they would use this party now as an ideal way to find it out. It was a clever move.

"You were trying to scare me away and it didn't work. You can try all you want, but my alliance with Cadeiric will remain as it is." I snapped as Edmund rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Very well...I am going to offer you a deal." he got up after a few seconds and strolled over."If you accept ,then you will benefit greatly
but if not, there will be consequences." he said and I slowly nodded. "Follow me."