Ch. 43: Diplomacy (part one )

The king had been pouring over everything that had happened since Hayward had arrived in his study, the room to the side of his bedroom. No one entered it, not even his wife, unless it was an emergency. It was where he went to think and he alone. He’d asked for lunch to be brought up and placed outside so he could continue to think things over. It was necessary for him to have his thoughts in order before he spoke with the prince that afternoon. He knew he’d have awhile as Elissa had offered to take him to the mines, but he wondered if that had been such a good idea. She hadn’t looked like herself that morning. He thought perhaps that had something to do with the events of the day before.

He knew she was grown and strong and could easily hold her own against anyone, but the fact that in the time since the prince had arrived she’d developed a liking to him (one of the first men she had ever done so), overslept for a hunt (which she had never done before), been in the line of fire for