The healer set her shoulders as if she were steeling herself to say whatever it was that was on her mind and sighed loudly. "Humans? My lady, they don't care for their people. They OWN them. They shouldn't be our answer to our plight." She paused to guage my reaction to her claim and when I just nodded, allowing her to continue, she went on. Bolstered by the looks of everyone else around the table, except for Gil who was looking pointedly at me still. I, in turn, was still avoiding his gaze as I stared at Amnati. "By doing this, you're not only selling yourself into the ownership of the King, you're selling all of us. We'll lose our way of life, our independence, our beliefs and culture. The humans will drive everything that makes us who we are away and force us to replace it with their own ideals, thoughts and beliefs. And why should we trust these people? They've butchered us, enslaved us and tortured our kind for sheer amusement in the past. They make sports out of grotesque acts.

"Your Majesty-" "And stop calling me that." I waved a hand in his direction. "That's a made-up human title meant to bolster and feed the ego of the bearers of your also unecessary crowns. Real leaders don't need inflated egos or fancy accessories to prove their worth to their people. So for me to be called as such, is insulting," I finished coolly. Tross just stared at me, wide-eyed for a moment before he seemed to shake himself back to the present and cleared his throat. "Yes, Queen Mage. I apologize for any offense. But if I may, what do you mean, you don't want to be ruled by the King?" "I mean just that. We'll ally with him, we'll help when needed, when we can. We'll fulfill our part of the contract. But at the end of it all, mages will still be there own people, their own rulers. This alliance, between," I paused, almost saying "myself and the throne," but corrected it to hold up the ruse, "The Princess and the throne, will, as your King put in his letter, be a symbolic mar

"Malorie," I called softly once I was out of the Council Chamber doors, knowing the potioneer had stayed nearby in case she was needed. The other mage came rushing out from around the corner and gave me a quick bow. "Malorie, could you please show the esteemed Captain to the guest Chambers, where he can stay for the night, please. And if he would like to get out and stretch his legs at all throughout the day, make sure someone is there to escort him, please," I said, knowing full-well Tross was listening through the open door but I didn't turn to look at him. "It will be done, Princess," The potioneer gave another bow and I sighed, giving her a small shake of my head. "Seriously, stop with the bowing, Mal," I whispered and she nodded. I turned to walk away but paused and looked back over my shoulder at her. "If you run into my mother, and she seems in a pissy mood, tell her I'll be in the gardens, would you?" With that, I headed out the side door that led into the gardens. The co

"A little inappropriate, don't you think, now that you're engaged?" Sylvren's voice was icy and I could swear I could hear small crackles of electricity surrounding the Queen Mage. I saw Gil very slowly wiping his fingers off on his pants, his face as red as my hair. Which I was hurriedly trying to fix, as if losing the wind-blown status of it would erase what my mother had just walked in on altogether. "Technically," I breathed, or more like panted out, trying to cover myself with false bravado. "I'm not engaged yet." I said, my hand grasping for the contract. When my fingers only felt the hard stone of the bench, I looked over and saw the contract lazily making its way towards me on a soft breeze. It must have blown away from our lust tornado. I snatched it out of the air and whispered, "Thank you," to Gil out of the corner of my mouth. I held out the paperwork to my mother who ripped it from my grasp, "And why aren't you engaged yet?" The Queen asked, glancing over the documents.