CHAPTER IX #7
The Princess takes a deep breath before her grin turns wide. Her husband nods in approval while Keane looks at the three of us in outright confusion.
“And you, Prince Keane?” Clair turns to smile at him, “do you see our flames?”
Keane shakes his head, “I am at a complete loss as to the nature of this entire conversation, Princess.”
Clair offers a kind smile, explaining to us both.
“When a Discerni matures into their magic, their ears become shaped like yours and those of your group, but when a Pyrenese matures into their magic, we’re gifted with the flames of our ability under our skin.
Each person’s varies in shades and thickness of red, depending on how strong their summoning is.
Lady Alexis can see those flames under our skin now…
the first human in the Old World that I’ve ever known to do so. ”
My eyes widen in shock as her husband gives another nod in agreement.
I marvel at my realization that this whole time I was watching the flames of everyone in the city, not knowing that our group couldn’t see them in return.
I shake my head in disbelief and catch Keane’s eyes on mine.
He’s gifting me with another playful gaze, his eyes holding mine steadily as the tops of his lips tip up into a small smirk.
“This does not surprise me in the slightest, Princess Clair,” Keane takes his eyes off mine and looks back at the Princess, “while our Lady Alexis likes to play at enjoying the simple life, she is anything but.”
I huff quietly from my chair, coming to another realization that Keane was listening to our conversation this whole time.
Clair’s eyes sparkle in reply. “I get the same impression, Your Highness.”
I reach for my mug on the table and take a long drink of ale, letting my eyes fall back on Cal farther away.
Him and Alanna are enjoying a conversation with Barnes and Claymore, my big friend making the three Discerni laugh while his hands act out something in the air.
I wish now, more than ever, to be sitting with him.
To be lost in the actual simplicity of easy conversation and friends.
“Forgive me for being forward,” Princess Clair leans towards me, her blue eyes watching Cal from her seat as well, “but is he your lover?”
Her comment takes me by surprise. I flush in embarrassment, not from her words, but because she’s obviously noticed me looking at Cal a few times since sitting down.
I quickly glance over at Keane who is again in conversation with Prince McQuoid, but his eyes flick to mine when I do, this time letting me know he’s listening in.
I shake my head at the Princess. “Cal and I are good friends, Princess, nothing more.”
She nods, “but you do have a lover?”
I shake my head again, “my work for the King does not permit me to have time for a lover in the way that you are thinking, Your Highness. I travel too much to be desired as a suitor or a wife.”
“But you make the time,” she prompts softly, eyes darting to the shadow of the bruise on my neck.
I flush and take another drink of ale, feeling Keane’s eyes on me as he listens to our conversation. I shift under that heated gaze and drink again, a part of me knowing that he’s also waiting for my answer.
Ancients, I need my heart to stop beating so hard.
“What did you mean by your comment on the Kingdoms Council?” I try to change the subject.
Clair looks at me with a grimace and shakes her head.
“I spoke out of turn, Lady Alexis. I assumed you knew.”
“I am unfamiliar with the term or what it refers to,” I look at her with my own friendly curiosity now.
The Princess sighs and leans back in her chair, her hand darting up to touch Prince McQuoid’s arm as he stops his conversation with Keane.
“My love, I believe I spoke too soon when I mentioned the Kingdoms Council earlier, but I find no harm in telling our friends from the forest more now. Do you?”
McQuoid sighs just as his wife did and brings a hand up to his beard in thought. He looks back at Clair, then turns to Keane and his brother with a nod.
“If my wife hadn’t spoken on it earlier, I would have told you eventually during your time here.”
The brothers lean forward in their chairs with a quiet nod. Clair leans forward as well, her eyes landing on both Princes as she addresses us all.
“It was one of my first actions as Princess two years ago, a few months after we were married. Your father, King Zander, called a Kingdoms Council. Much to everyone’s surprise.”
Clair turns to me in explanation, “a Kingdoms Council can be called at any time. It requires each of the Four Kingdoms’ leaders to meet and discuss something of grave importance to the Old World.
The last council that was called was over two hundred years ago, when the Leviathans were rumored to be doing atrocious things to the humans of their lands… ”
“My father called that council,” Prince McQuoid adds, looking at Keane and Desmond, “the Leviathans sought to reject the summons at the time, but as you know, there’s a certain power that holds the Council to the request. The leaders were bound by the magic of the Old World and could not ignore the summons.
So when King Zander called a council two years ago, we went with the expectation that more terrible news had been heard from Livyatan.
We expected for him to address the previous Council’s terms.. .”
Desmond turns to Lord Daniel at his side and says something quietly in his ear. Daniel nods and grabs his ale, then angles his body to the Pyrenese woman sitting next to him as he begins a conversation and blocks off our own.
Clair sighs and continues where her husband left off, “but Zander’s call for a Kingdoms Council had nothing to do with the Leviathans.
Instead, he told us that his request was simple- That he wished to amend the Old World rule that forbade humans from entering any mystical libraries.
He explained of his need for a single book that could only be handled by human hands, fearing that it would turn to ash if touched by any other.
He did not give any reason as to why he sought the book, but he did note that he kept having visions of it, enough to want to obtain and read it for his own knowledge.
The full of the council was vaguely aware of his summoning abilities at the time and took him at his word.
He promised the leaders that he would share whatever information came from the book once it was found and that he would provide full copies of the text so we could read it as well. ”
“That does seem like an easy request,” I ask in confusion, “ I thought you said these Councils are called for matters of grave importance?”
“You are the first of your kind to be afforded an exception to a rule that has been in place for thousands of years, Lady Alexis,” Clair smiles, “you know what your punishment could be had he not called on the Council to obtain that exception.”
I dip my head in quiet acknowledgement.
“And as simple as the request may have seemed in the moment,” Prince McQuoid turns to Keane and Desmond, “the debate that ensued after was not. Naturally, the Leviathans rejected your father’s request on the spot.”
The brothers nod at the comment as if it makes sense, their faces hard and silent.
“As you know, Clair and I have always hated the separation of magic from humans. To us, the thousands year old rule is outdated and crude. So we voted in favor of the request and were happy to indulge your father…”
“That left the King of Aireal,” McQuoid continues, “he had the most difficult debate among us. Your father’s request weighed heavily on his answer and the answer he would give on behalf of his people.
On one hand, he did not want to have any association with a decision that allowed a human access to magical knowledge, and while Clair and I understood the sentiment given his Kingdom’s history, we did not agree.
Because of this hesitancy, he asked Zander to vow all responsibility for the human he would be sending out on his behalf.
He asked for him to take complete ownership of any actions that arose from those travels and after.
Zander did not hesitate and agreed wholeheartedly… ”
Prince McQuoid turns in his seat, his eyes reaching mine, “with that pressure eased, the King of Aireal then considered his other hand, redemption. The Princess and I are under the impression that the human King is ready to move forward, to push his Kingdom past it’s tired history and into a new age of different rules. We know his son certainly is.”
“So he agreed?” I ask.
McQuoid nods, “King Voland of Aireal agreed to King Zander’s request, and we have since been awaiting the day when Zander’s chosen would make their way into our lands to search our libraries.”
I gulp down the rest of my ale, my mind spinning with hundreds of questions.
King Zander held a Kingdoms Council about me? Or was it about any human in Disce and he just decided to ask me to partake in the journey? Why was this book so important to even do such a thing? And why in the Ancients did I stop inquiring with him about the true nature of my travels?
Because he offered an easy life, I remind myself, easy and fun.
I’ve been well provided for and enjoy a good home in Bardot, so why risk that by asking questions?
Regardless, the Council was still held. Two votes to one.