Christmas is over and the trimmings are coming down. All the glitz and glamour is over and it's time to get back to normality, whatever that is. Silver's first Christmas is over - and he had a great time - so we're back with our Demon to continue his adventure with his sweet little prince.
Today, I used two prompts You just take it one day at a time. and One day after another
Time stretches
too slowly. Voices from the next room indicate the Council has arrived and I
doubt the king would be happy should we simply appear, especially not together.
There is little choice but to remain secreted until we are summoned. My prince
and I have said all there is to say and we cannot risk intimacy. Therefore we
sit, our fingers entwined, and wait.
After an age,
the door opened and the princess strides in, closing the door behind her. To
her credit, she approaches my prince and takes his hands, an expression of
concern upon her face.
“Have you made
your peace?”
Castien nods,
his face pale but resolute.
“Then we must
do this thing quickly. The Council are nervous but more open than we would have
dared hope. Come, let us face them together.”
When my prince
rises to his feet, Jandra lays a hand on his shoulder. “It would be best if you
remain here.”
“What? But
why?”
“There would
be questions why you were here with your sister’s intended. I would also be
naïve to believe you would not reveal yourself. At the least the impression
would be given you are interested in your sister’s betrothed, and that would
raise questions about you. For now, it would be unsafe to do so.”
“But….”
My prince is
distressed and it is almost unbearable. From a diplomatic perspective I support
the princess, but from a purely personal one I abhor the need to abandon him.
“It would,
indeed, be for the best, my prince. I would feel more comfortable with the
pretence if you were not there to witness my false affection. It would be hard
to keep from betraying my true feelings for you.”
Although he
remains distressed, my prince is strong. His demeanour becomes resolute.
“Whatever you think
best. I will suffer now, to facilitate the future.”
“Your future
will come,” Jandra says, her voice hoarse. “You just take it one day at a time.
One day after another.”
Castien gazes
up into her face and nods, then stalks to the far side of the room, where large
windows give an excellent view of the garden. I would have liked to share this
with my prince, but Jandra is waiting and nothing would be served by hesitation.
I cannot say I
am comfortable with the eyes that regard me as I step into the room. Some are
curious, and some are guarded, but some are downright hostile. I quickly mark
those I deem to be my greatest threats.
Am thankful they are, for the main part, the furthest from the door,
leaving my escape route all but clear.
Jandra takes
my arm and whispers in my ear. “Don’t be afraid. They seem intimidating, but
they will not openly move against you in my father’s presence.”
“I am neither
fearful nor intimidated,” I whisper back. “Merely cautious.”
“Ah, here they
are,” the king says beaming. “May I introduce my daughter Jandra, and her
betrothed, Prince Tian Tel–Maren of Bas’el.”
“It is a demon,” one of the men hissed. “Are
you insane to bring one such as he into the heart of our lands? Who is to say
there are not more of his kind waiting for him to bring them in?”
“I am
neither a lunatic nor a fool. I have been in communication with Bas’el for some
time. Lord Maren is a strong king and a good man. He is also a family man and
would not risk his son and heir in a fooling attack, when he is well aware of
our strengths and capabilities. He has shown a great deal of trust in us to
send his son to personally request the hand of my daughter. It is my hope it
will cement relations and bring an end to a pointless war.”
“War? There
is no war. The demons have been driven out. What few numbers remained after the
rout were driven into the swamps and if any remain they are savages who eke a
pitiful existence among pestilence and decay.”
“If that is
your true belief, you are sadly mistaken.”
A squeeze
on my arm cautions me not to speak, but I will not allow these ignorant fools
to continue in their ignorance.
“My people
were, indeed, driven from their ancestral lands by your troops, but we bear you
no malice for that. War is as war is.” Another, harder squeeze. I glance at
Jandra and the warning in her eyes adequately portrays a message I had, almost
disastrously, forgotten. I have almost been betrayed by my people’s inherent
proclivity for honest and openness. It would not do to put all my cards on the
table and allow these men to know the full extent of our numbers and resources.
However, I cannot allow our honour to be tarnished.
“We have
made a new home for ourselves in the swamps and are far from savages.”
“Humph.”
Some of the
advisors now have narrowed eyes, and although I sense a lessening of animosity,
there is more suspicion.
“As you can
see,” the king says, “Prince Tian is eloquent and well educated. He is a
diplomat for a Kingdom which is now well established with resources that can be
of benefit to our own. In my negotiations with Lord Meren, I have found him to
be both honourable and an effective ruler of a well developed kingdom with
enough resources for an alliance to be very much in our interests. An alliance
cemented by the bonding of my daughter and Prince Tian would bring our kingdoms
closer and increase our mutual benefit considerably.”
“It would
seem to me, such benefits would be very much a one way street,” one of the
councillors commented. His voice is scornful.
“Then you
will soon discover you are a fool,” the king says. “A situation has arisen that
makes an alliance not only beneficial but essential.”
The king’s
words send an ice–cold shiver down my spine.
Next week we find out what the Queen thinks about all this and how Castien is holding up now he has a chance to take a breath and think.
Before that, check out the other amazing writers who have been flashing for your pleasure
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