Determined to take control of their fates, Arjen and Arien escape Derolina Castle at the age of sixteen after their cruel mother dies. They adopt new names and find a home in the city of Aramore, while the Emperor of Yuriana searches for his missing...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Lloyd hadn't had so much as five minutes to himself during the waking hours since his father and brothers left for Aramore. It seemed everything was an emergency. An endless line of ministers led into his office, and he had back-to-back meetings almost every day. A stack of papers on his desk grew daily, never seeming to diminish no matter how many documents he signed and placed into the finished pile. As a royal he had greater stamina and attention span than the average person, but this was becoming a little too much, and even the emperor himself didn't handle this much work all at once. With three princes in the empire, it was easy to distribute duties to spread out the work. Now, despite Alec and Eiji's aides, most of the work still fell on Lloyd's shoulders.
He had just signed yet another document for the millionth time that day when he dropped his pen to the side. He massaged his aching wrist and flexed his fingers. Did his father ever have a sore hand from writing all day? Well, Adren was ambidextrous, so he could switch hands when he needed to.
"Your Highness," said a servant from the open doorway of the office. She bowed and held a platter of envelopes. "I have brought the mail. There is one letter from His Majesty."
Another daily ritual he had grown weary of, but at least he could rest his hand for a bit. "Bring it here."
The emperor's letter was on top of the pile, so Lloyd took that one first. But he set it aside and sorted through the rest to determine which ones he should read afterwards. A small light pink envelope caught his attention, and he quickly snatched it up. He read the name of the sender and a smile bloomed over his face. He glanced around the room to check that the servant had left. For the first time in hours, his office lay silent.
Bringing the envelope to his nose, he smelled the floral scent of rose perfume, but then his gaze went to the emperor's letter. He sighed, tucked the pink letter into the breast pocket of his jacket, and took up Adren's letter.
Adren was requesting his presence at Adylia Palace to meet Queen Keoneli and Princess Zemerri along with some of their entourage, including their chosen diplomat. Lloyd's heart sank. Now was not a good time to leave the palace, but he could think of a few competent individuals to take on his workload temporarily. Still, leaving at all made him a bit nervous. He could imagine the pile of work that would await him when he got back.
The emperor was also asking for Professor Lest. Lloyd's heart sank lower. Lest had abruptly resigned from his position and departed the imperial palace a few weeks ago. Lloyd could not convince him to stay.
He sensed someone standing in the doorway, and his spirits lifted when he saw his guardian. "Kazeya!"
Kazeya stepped into the office and bowed respectfully. "Your Highness, I have returned."
"Welcome back." Lloyd stood from his seat, his heart warming. "Is all well at Adylia Palace?"
Kazeya shook his head somberly. "There was a commotion during the ball. The anti-emperor faction made its move."
