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She looked at it, then at me.
“Do you not like gems? I thought for sure it was one of the only things we had correct about you, Your Highness.”
She huffed, her breath hitting me in the face.I do. I just do not particularly like being bribed.
“Well, you can take it yet still be offended by it,” I offered. “Isn’t it lovely?”
She did the eye roll thing and then snatched it into her claws.Insufferable prince.
I grinned as I gave her a slight bow and went to my seat.
“What brings you to Dra Skor?” a man asked. Threat was infused into every syllable of the question. He, like all but the two regular humans at the table, had dark circles beneath his eyes. He had his arms crossed as he casually sat and was one of those who had refused to acknowledge my presence.
Though he seemed beyond hostile, I also didn’t want to outright lie to him. Hopefully soon all the advisors would know the real reason why we came. Though if they knew all the details, they’d likely plot to kill me. I still wasn’t sure how the queen hadn’t. So I looked him in the eyes and replied. “I am simply here to help.”
He gave a derisive snort. “Likely.”
“Truly,” I added as I finally took my seat.
“Are you sure you are not here for a throne?” the man countered.
I flashed him a smile. “If I had been after a throne, I could have merely taken my own.”
“Zaire,” Amory warned.
I decided to let the miserable man named Zaire be for now. “Forgive me as I am new to your customs, are there titles for you as advisors that I should know about or call you? In Wylan we greet only parliament members and the royal family differently.”
Amory smiled politely. “Those of us in the room are all warriors, four of us being generals. Zaire, who you have just met, Malachi, Otis, and Morana.” As Amory nodded to each, I noted that Otis was one of the two non-Enchanted. And Morana was a woman general. The oddest thing about her appearance was that there were no clear expressions on her face at all. She was a blank slate.
“And then there is the queen’s brother, Prince Jagen,” Amory added. “Who is the only one of us with an official title, aside from the generals.” She gestured to the man directly across the table from me.
He gave me a nod, and I noted that he had been one of the people standing when I walked in. His dark hair and dark eyes had me wondering what the queen looked like in her human form. Yet because of the queen’s green eyes, I bet hers were green. Prince Jagen’s skin color was one darker than mine. I thought Amory had said the royal family was all dragon shifters, so I wondered in his shifted form if he would be larger or smaller than that of his sister.
A server came into the room, setting tea and biscuits around the table for each of us, interrupting the introductions. I still didn’t know who the wolf or other human was, the last two advisors in the room, however, knowing seven of the nine before me was a lot better than a few moments ago.
“So, what are your motivations for being here?” Prince Jagen asked.
He at least sounded like he was trying to remove the animosity from his tone.
I inhaled deeply. “It has been my mission for quite some time now to rid the realm of evil. This disease is exactly that.”
I felt the queen’s eyes flick to mine.
Jagen seemed to accept that answer. Zaire, however, did not. “So you already dethroned one king, yet we are just supposed to allow you to walk our halls freely?”
“I dethroned my father because he was the epitome of evil,” I countered. “And again, I implore you to understand that if a throne was what I wanted, as the true heir to Wylan, I simply would have taken it for myself. I do not need a crown; I already own one.”
“A brother on the Wylan throne and one here would give you access to two countries and greater control of the realm.”
John hopped in to say, “Prince Keiran abdicated to give Wylan its best chance to heal after his father’s reign of terror. Which is far more selfless than I can say of most royals I have known or studied, of course meaning no offense to those of you in the room.”
“I still don’t trust you,” Zaire snapped. “And likely never will.”
I looked him in the eyes. “I haven’t asked for your trust today, now have I? I take no issue with having to earn it. But it will take time because of the tensions in our pasts.”
Ignore him.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Malachi stood. The telepathic communication was bizarre. There were four shifters in the room, yet I knew exactly who was talking to me.
