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The words faded, but they were locked in his heart. None of them answered his question directly, and even if there was a hidden message there, he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was. Rick sighed.
“You guys have always been cryptic. I guess that doesn’t change even when you’re dead and truly cold.”
The next bout of silence was the strongest, the energy retreating and no longer interacting with either of them. Yu continued lounging in his spot.
“What about you, Yu? What do you think of my sister?”
“Pretty. More than you.”
Rick scoffed but couldn’t fault the honesty. When the pixie dozed off into slumber, Rick knelt very low until his mouth was whispering on the ground.
“Please keep my friend safe here. Please let him sleep in peace and without disturbance.”
His father might choose to ignore the request, but he was confident that his mother’s energy would respond to it. Yu continued sleeping as Rick trudged away, his doubts already tucked in. He scanned his mind, then asked a kitchen staff to pass on a message.
“My room feels outdated and boring. I need new furniture and I need the best. Tell whoever’s assigned to redecorating it that if he doesn’t come within an hour, I’m going to destroy every single piece and wreak havoc in every other room I come in contact with today.”
Not long after that, Bronco was hurrying to Rick’s room, gaze landing on the lush couch in line with the doorway. It was intact, with Rick lounged comfortably in the center.
“Your room is fine. The furniture is new and the best. I’m not assigned to it, but I worked directly with the designer to make sure of it…” Bronco trailed off, the puzzlement disappearing. “Which means that message was a direct call for me.”
“You catch on fairly quickly, Bronco,” Rick praised.
“I…yes, Your Majesty.”
“Bronco, I know I said to make yourself scarce, but I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Please round up Nikolai and Merrell. Take them to our third entertainment room and tell them we’re holding a party…actually, no. Take all my friends to our entertainment room, not just the two of them. But before you send them over, send Jyss first…oh, and keep an eye on Emerald, please.”
Bronco was back to being bewildered, but the man held himself with grace and was off to do his bidding. When he reached the entertainment room, Jyss was already there, visibly excited and already posing to seduce. Rick cleared his throat before the woman could rip her clothes off.
“I need you to set up the interrogation equipment in here. As fast and as discreetly as you can, Jyss. You have half an hour to do it.”
Like Bronco, Jyss was confused but realized that Rick had no intention of playing. She moved into action as efficiently as her brother, and soon all Rick had to do was wait it out. So, he sat on the plushest chair in the room, one that was facing the closed door.
And he waited.
His friends came in trickles, only one of them prompt and the rest late and looking tired. They lit up at the sight of him all dressed up…then, morphed into confusion when they finally noticed the interrogation equipment. Rick didn’t give them time to panic, his hand already on the on button and pressing it.
Magic filled the room and coated everyone hard, his parents’ brand still very much alive in it. His friends flew and were pinned against the wall, which they tried to pull away from but couldn’t. The women peppered out some pleas while the men growled.
“What is the meaning of this, Prince Rick?” Nikolai asked, green hair stiff with tension and glaring at him. “You didn’t show up last night and you call us for such nonsense this morning?”
“When we were told there would be another party, we thought it would be the fun kind,” Merrell intoned, calmer than the others. The man smirked. “Maybe thisisa party, then. Some kind of weird, twisted—”
Rick flicked a button, sending Merrell flying in his direction. The smug smirk was wiped off when Rick grabbed the man’s shirt and hauled him toward a chair.
“Rick, this isn’t funny anymore—”
“That’s Prince Rick to you. Your Majesty or Your Highness will do too,” Rick chirped back. “I won’t even oppose Your Royal Handsomeness if you’re down for that. But let’s discuss that later.”
He locked the man’s limbs in place, pressing more buttons that released more energy into the air. The pleas and protests from the wall prisoners died down while Merrell let out a strangled breath.
“Rick—Your Majesty—”
“Keep talking. Now, tell me about your time this morning with our pixie guest, Yu.”
