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I grinned. “It would be my honor. Have a lovely evening, you two.”
Malachi was talking to Amory not far off, so I made my way over to them.
Amory looked a bit frazzled, far more frazzled than I had seen her. Not in her appearance though. She was wearing a white gown in the Dra Skor style which matched her hair perfectly.
“Is everything all right? Or has my presence here tonight already caused a riot in the streets?” I asked as I approached.
Amory smirked. “No. I have to give a speech in a moment. I am a touch nervous. The queen and I went over exactly what to say,” she paused. “This just was her job, never mine. She was great at these speeches.”
You will do amazing,Malachi told her and was kind enough to send to me also to rope me into their conversation.
“Of course, I will. But that doesn’t mean I like it,” Amory snapped.
I put my hands into my pockets again. “Okay, well I have a question, and it might help calm your nerves?”
She gestured for me to ask.
I leaned in, closing the distance between us because I was sure putting up a sound barrier here was frowned upon. “What happens to your clothes when you shift? I was thinking about that tonight. We are all friends now, but if I happen to fix this and I leave half of Dra Skor naked, I am afraid my reputation may never recover.”
Malachi let out a loud whinny. So loud, many people turned in our direction.
Amory fought a smile. “Our clothes we are wearing stay on our human form. Our shifted forms do not burst through our human forms, rather they wrap around them in protection.”
I let out a dramatic sigh. “Well, that makes sense.”
Entirely less fun for you I am afraid,Malachi added.
I chuckled.
“Okay, I am ready to go get this over with,” Amory decided.
Malachi gave her a nudge for good luck as she headed over to where the queen was perched. I noted that his eyes never left her the entire walk over there. It was like he was physically unable to stop watching her.
How had I not noticed this before?
“Good evening,” Amory began, interrupting my suspicions.
My palms tingled with the want to send my magic out to amplify the sound, but I refrained from doing so.
“We are gathered tonight in celebration of the rescue of one of our own, Kian Eker. While the circumstances behind his being trapped underwater are still very much in question, the investigation ongoing, the fact is that Prince Keiran of Wylan and Savanna Van Kaar of Dra Skor worked together to free Kian. Without the Wylan prince sending him air, Kian would not be with us today.”
She paused as if to let her words settle in. “So let tonight be a new beginning. A thread of hope. After years of animosity and tension, Dra Skor and Wylan were able to put our differences aside to save an Enchanted. And Kian, may the rest of your life be full of an abundance of laughter, love, and of course, snappers.” She paused for a moment for the laughter. “You are our brother. We will protect you, and we will keep hunting down answers. What was done to you will not be forgotten but may the scars of what happened to you fade quickly. And may your every step come with the confidence that because of you, the impossible found a foothold.”
Amory raised her glass, so the rest of the room did as well. I didn’t only because I hadn’t yet grabbed a drink.
“To our brother. Our own. To Kian.”
“To Kian,” the rest of the room responded together.
As Amory finished, she took a seat next to the queen on a stool of sorts. Since I had been in the room, only two people had sat in that seat. One was Otis. The other Amory. It was safe to assume only the queen’s inner circle were allowed over there.
Still, I wanted to check in.
I turned to Malachi. “If I want to speak to the queen later, does sitting on the stool signify some sort of status with her?” I paused. “Just trying to avoid a fight tonight.”
Malachi responded,It does. It means you are trusted. She invites only who she wishes to speak with over to her.
“And if I wasn’t content to wait and wanted to approach her, pompous prince that I am?”
