Of Cages and Crowns (previously The Culled Crown, Book 1)

Original Edition: Chapter 4

Britta nodded. "My other sister, Larkin, is still away on royal business. So..." she turned and took in the line of seats. "We'll need only six chairs, not seven."

Without being asked, Dellacov began arranging chairs. Britta stood long enough for him to move her seat and gestured that I should do the same. "Is there anything else I should do?" He asked once he'd finished.

Britta shook her head. "I haven't asked the queen, but I would suggest that she and father sit on either side of Cohen and Monroe. I can be to the outside left and Uri can sit on the far right-hand side. That should put the queen, king, prince and the goddess-touched girl all in the center of the stage with a princess on either side. Does that sound right?"

Dellacov nodded. "Sounds good enough to me."

She sighed. "How are we doing on time?"

He reached into his vest pocket and checked his timepiece. "The queen should be arriving within the next five minutes. If they're on schedule, the king and Cohen should be getting here any moment." He snapped the cover shut on his watch and tucked it away again.

Britta smiled. "Uri probably forgot."

He shook his head. "No, she was dressed for it." Dellacov shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head. "Plus, she likes being a spectacle too much to not show up for this."

"You must have been very distracted to have let her out of your sight. Tell me, how much trouble did she cause at the border?"

He made a face. "She behaved well enough."

"I'm sure she was thrilled to be around so many handsome soldiers. I'm glad she got to go instead of me. She always shows just the right amount of thigh to keep the men feeling...inspired."

Dellacov's face heated. "She didn't do that. She was friendly, but there wasn't anything inappropr—"

Britta shook her head. "I'm kidding, Hugo. Calm yourself."

Dellacov began backing towards the entrance. "I'm just glad we're done with it. As soon as we got the news of the shooting, we got on the first train home. We only ended up on the train with Miss Benson by chance."

Britta frowned. "We're all fine. It was scary, but the guards handled things quickly. You'd have been proud. They killed the gunman and cleared the ballroom in record time. We were back to dancing within the hour."

"I'm glad to hear it, but I'd have rather been here to help all the same. I know Uri was ready to get home too, even if she won't admit it."

Britta examined a ring on her right hand and smiled to herself as she said, "Perhaps. But I'm sure neither of you was upset to be stuck together, in a cramped tent, for days at a time. Blessedly unsupervised."

Dellacov tugged at his tie and glanced towards the door. "Nothing happened."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I never said anything did."

"Actually, she threw a shoe at him." I'm not sure what possessed me to join the conversation, but before I could rethink it, the words were out.

Britta laughed, a loud, full sound that matched her smile perfectly. She clapped her hands together with glee. "Did she really?"

I nodded. "Both of them. And she's got decent aim too. See that cut on his jaw? It isn't from shaving."

Britta leaned forward as if she could see the small gash from her seat. "That's wonderful! Cohen is going to just love that. Who should tell him? Will you, Dellacov, or should I?"

He didn't get a chance to answer because it was at that moment that the queen decided to arrive. She came with a large group of guards, all of them forming a semicircle around her. Even with so much happening and moving, the room seemed to grow deathly silent as she headed towards the dais.