Royally F**cked

XI: Undecim

Briefly, he gazed outside the window to the large gardens below. What was Lavinia doing now? Was she just as bored as him? He blinked rapidly, to move the thoughts from his mind. Why was he thinking about her right now?

"We know what you're doing, Delvin." King Tanix resounded out. "Forgive the impoliteness, but I feel that this familiarity is needed." That got the Princes attention, he narrowed his eyes at the ginger King.

"We are aware of your plans for usurpation. And we want to support you." Delvin's eyes widened, for a heart beat, even he was surprised. How had they known? His plans were on a strictly need to know basis. Outside of a select few, including Tobias and Lavinia, hardly anyone knew. Let alone one of the other Kingdoms.

"To be completely honest with you." The Queen continued, folding her hands under neath her head. Her gaze was completely cold. "I hate the Queen of Vespertine. Her values, the tax distribution between the rich and poor, how she treats those around her. All of it is completely despicable."

"How do you know i won't double cross you. That i won't go back and tell the Queen of this?" Delvin questioned, tilting his head with a sinister smile. He was testing them. Depending on their answer, would tell him how much he'd give away.

Now the Queen smiled. "Because I know you feel just the same way. Besides, I have some crucial information that you might need if you plan to successfully overthrow your own mother."

Delvin paused, returning his gaze back out towards the window, a large white dragon caught his eye. It would definitely be an advantage if he had such a powerful country backing his side. Their Dragon Knights were outmatched, the only competition that stood any ground was Chamirsy Kingdoms' Warriors.

"I gratefully accept your kindness," Delvin said, unable to get rid of the slight sarcasm in his voice. "I hope in the future The Kingdom of Havenvale and Vespertine will be great allies." The Queen rolled her eyes, but laughed slightly. Tanix stiffened in his sit, as if bracing himself for something.

"The Swans are working directly under the Queen's orders." Tanix blurted out. The King stared at him, as if sussing out what he'd do next. Prince Delvin was shocked, but he should've known better. He should have been able to figure it out by himself that the elite group of wizards would be under his mothers thumb.

The door to the meeting room opened, causing Delvin to defensively stand up. An armoured person, face covered with a golden helmet strode into the meeting round. They bowed in front of the Queen, before kneeling down honorarily.

With a fist to their chest, they spoke. "I apologise for the disruption, my Queen. However this is a matter regarding one of  Prince of Vespertine vessels." Delvin stiffened, only just so, glaring down at the Knight. The Queen of Havenvale spared him a glance, before looking back down to the intruder.

"Go on." She urged. The Knight nodded, standing back up.

"The Prince's maid reportedly disregarded the Queen's orders and caused a commotion in the Dragon stables." The Queen once again looked back to Delvin, there was something meddling in her eyes. But he was too caught up in his thoughts to notice.

What had Lavinia done? It was simultaneously unlike her to disregard Royal orders and also so like her to not care when the situation really called for it. It was confusing. She was a mystery of a woman.

"Well then, I suppose the Prince himself shall deal with it." Calandra grinned ear to ear. "This meeting is adjourned, we'll continue tomorrow. It was about time for a break anyways. What do you think Tanix, shall we go have some tea?". The King nodded, reaching out for her hand to grasp it firmly in his own.

But Delvin was too distracted to care. One track minded, he stormed straight to the dragon stables. He had to find his personal maid.

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It took him far too long to locate her. She stood in one of the gigantuan stables stroking an emerald green dragon, laughing alongside a crimson haired Knight. A bubble of fury settled in his stomach, as he raced over to the two.

It was almost instinct, to pull her away from the other man, to direct her attention to him and only him. "What are you doing?" Delvin hissed, leaning down slightly so he could see her properly. And definitely not to block her sight of the other man.

"Delvin?!" Lavinia gasped, holding a hand to her chest in shock. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" She said looking around the stables. The initial fury simmered down to a gradual annoyance. Seeing her so concerned, and for him not the other man soothed the aching.. The aching what? Jealousy? That wasn't right, the Prince had never been jealous of anyone.

"Do you know," Delvin began, deceptively innocuous. Lavinia's eyebrow rose in question. "What you did, disrupted our meeting. That we had to stop negotiations so that an errant Knight could tell us you caused a commotion here,"

Lavinia backed up a little, as the dragon behind her snorted with irritation. Delvin gave it a cursory glance before deciding it was hardly worth his consideration. "What?" Lavinia stuttered, seemingly genuinely confused.

"I didn't do anything! I was just defending-" She trailed off, looking back to the Knight besides her. The fury began to bubble up again. So, this time he reached for her arm, dragging her behind him as he walked away from the stables and to somewhere more private.

They stopped in front of a large willow tree, the shade providing them enough cover from any outsiders. "What did you do?" Delvin ordered, pulling her closer towards him. From this distance he could smell the scent of her perfume. A mix of roses, and amber. Beautiful.

"I didn't do anything, Delvin." The sound of his name on her lips sent shivers down his spine. "Two of the Knights were being bullies. I couldn't just sit and watch them pick on someone." It clicked in his mind then, she'd obviously stuck up for that red head. Causing the two Knights to take up issue with their commander.

Just like she'd stuck up for his sister. Any last remnants of anger faded, and he brought up a hand to wave through his hair with a sigh.

"I get it." Delvin began, "But, it would do you well to remember that this isn't the Vespertine Kingdom. My protection here can only go so far."

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Authors Note-

Hey guys i hope you liked this update! Personally, im actually finding it very fun to write this series. So I'm hoping you're enjoying it just as much. Thank you so much for reading! Id love to hear from you <3

Lots of love, 

Sam.E