Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter Sixty: The Labyrinth's Decision

Chapter Sixty: The Labyrinth's Decision

Calden

Things could have been going worse. The court advisors were not making it easy for the Overlanders. Calden had fought the urge to immediately defend Cezanne when the insults had begun. He wanted to give her a chance to show she could hold her own ground. She'd made an attempt at it, but the advisors had not been frightened by her little display.

No one – Calden included – had expected Larken to jump in and defend the Atrezin. Knowing Larken, it had not wholly been out of a desire to protect Cezanne but to take a bite out of Dylin. The Mavell family was too vocal about their opinions and, this time, Dylin had taken it too far. Calden wasn't sure what Larken would do to him. Whatever it was, it would be when Dylin least expected it. It might be today or a decade from now, but the entire Mavell family would be made to regret Dylin's words. They would learn Larken's definition of mercy the hard way.

After Larken's display, the court had stopped vocally insulting Cezanne, but many were still not paying attention. After introductions, they set about the task of arranging how peace would be addressed in these meetings. The laws at play. The boring legality of it all. The types of enchanted treaties and contracts each side was prepared to write out. How grievances would be compensated. The necessity of a general gold weightage and how they would establish it for payment on both sides and the concessions that might be made.

Calden hated it. It went way over his head. Prusen and father were in their element though, they thrived in slick-tongued bureaucracy. What does the Church of the Wind Aria's tithe have anything to do with this current meeting? He had no idea, but it was the current topic of discussion. The Adderian priestess from the Church of the Celestial Arias disagreed with the priest of the Life Aria. Unfortunately, it was the most boring argument he had ever witnessed.

Calden expected Cezanne to be glassy-eyed with boredom, but she was observing the table with rapt attention as the Protector of the Blue Flame declared sacrifices could not be valued in accordance with the currently-established general gold weightage. Somehow, it solved the argument, not that Calden understood what it was about in the first place.

When would they break for lunch?

Gale yawned loudly on the other side of the table and was swiftly elbowed by Prusen. At least he wasn't the only Lenwar bored out of his wits. He'd thought the first peace meeting between Remeria, Atrezino and Adders would be exciting with accusations verbally thrown across the table, secrets revealed, punches thrown, and duels discussed. But no, everyone was behaving themselves now and discussing import taxes. Calden leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Something sharp jabbed Calden in the ribs, he jerked awake, ramming his knee into the table with a bang. Cezanne dug her finger into his side again. "Pay attention," she hissed.

He sighed and sat up straight, leaning closer to her. "This is a lot less exciting than I thought it'd be," he whispered in her ear.

"That means things are going well," she said out of the corner of her mouth. By the Aria, that sounded like something Prusen would say.

"If you say so," Calden muttered. She couldn't enjoy this boring nonsense, could she?

The meeting room door opened and Rosalia slipped in. It was a closed meeting, there was an enchantment upon the door to keep their words from leaving this room. The doormen should not have let her through. She hugged the wall, trying to remain in the shadows as she made her way across the room. Dithering behind a column, her attention slipped from the table to the door and back again.