Page 49 of Royal Lies

"Good afternoon your highnesses," Eli fell into a polite bow, but not too deep. It was just enough that the king wouldn't mistake it for being disrespectful but also not enough to show that Eli thought much of the king. Noting the stares aimed at us I sighed inwardly, I just wanted to eat. Then again the king inviting us to breakfast must have meant negotiations yesterday went well.

Doing my best to curtsy, at least one Eli approved of because let's face it as long as Eli approves it everyone would approve of it. His manners are more elegant than any fairy, fae, or elf. And from the king's nod and the Prince's smile of relief, I assume I did it correctly. The servants scattered to seat us.

After pulling out my seat for me the servant rushed back to his post, standing by the door to no doubt the kitchen perhaps or at least a hall to the kitchen.

"Greetings Your Royal Highnesses." A voice so formal and prissy greeted, her Spring Court accent so pronounced I could pick her out of a whole mass of people. Can't say I don't love how her court rolls their R's. The raven-haired violet girl, Luna, entered lowering her stance to just the height above her waist,a bit too low if Eli's frown was anything to go for. Her bowing so low means she respected the king more than what we showed which I guess Eli doesn't approve of. The king nodded, seeming a bit pleased at the gesture. The prince smiled and we ate. Hmm, she never used to bow that low when Eli was king, the memory flew past my mind before I fought back the small headache it elicited. I smiled trying to hide the wince from scarring my face, to avoid the cold feel that would touch my skin. To avoid Eli's magic on me. Looking over at the Snow Princess seated across from me to the right of her brother. I watched as she elegantly and meticulously cut into her steak. She was so flawless it was like she was chewing down on a salad. No sauces covered the corners of her plump full lips as she bit down bite after bite. Not once did she need the small dabs she would occasionally do with her napkin. She was flawlessly perfect. I blinked hard at my own steak before me. I was so not as neat as she was. Looking back over at her- wait was her plate clean too? Literally, no sauce remained from where those sliced-off pieces of the beef were. It was like a quarter of the plate was just washed as she ate. Was she using glamour magic? A small nudge from Eli told me I was perhaps not as stealthy as I thought I was staring at the princess.

Silence.

So fucking quiet.

Nothing but the clang of gold utensils clacking away at the plates filled the air as we ate. I swear I think you could hear a pin drop.

The food must have been brought in before we arrived to avoid the squeaking of wheels on carts.

"I heard that you were scholars from the fifth land. Quite intriguing since they seemed to have exiled themselves from civilization for some time now. So, you must excuse my abrupt question, but why are you choosing to reach out to us now, aftersuch a long war?" The king looked toward Eli, his firm smile like a vicious wolf ready for the kill.

Chewing off the last bite of his steak, Eli spoke, "I am not quite sure, your highness. I'm not their ruler, nor am I the king of the fifth land, Dracool. Nor as you can see, am I from the fifth land. I am sure your son might have told you so. I have no clue where you heard such outrageous rumors but I can assure you they are just that, rumors. We are simply messengers of the fifth land. We've received a message from their kingdom stating how they wished to gather together with the rulers of each court. For what, I do not know. I apologize for my lack of knowledge, again. All I know is that if I do not convey this message to all the courts my own life would be at risk along with my comrades’ lives as well." Eli didn't seem the slightest bit fazed at the king's question and what Flynn had said before as our cover story.

"Ah yes, but, why must there be three of you?" The king asked, taking a bite of his freshly cut bigger slice of steak. Maybe it was because he was king that he got a bigger piece. When I am Queen of the Summer Court I'll have to make sure my slices are just as big as the king's.

Eli smiled, placing down his fork and knife before dabbing the corners of his mouth for any nonexistent stains. Not that the man's ever had any sauce on his mouth. I mean even when he ate something covered in sauce the man just has a way of not getting it anywhere, on his clothes, on his cheeks, on the corner of his lips.Kind of creepy if you ask me.

"Well, although Dracool has not been very active with the other courts they have been aware of the changing circumstances. Of course, being a king as well, you must have been aware of the increasing shadows of the Spring Court. If I came alone I would have surely died by now, hence I couldn’t be more grateful for my companions." Eli had masked our energy levels to help us fit in more and look like actual ambassadors.Unless the king somehow knew we were bluffing? Speaking of which, how was Eli able to tell his lie?

Ah! A singing pain lanced the back of my mind as I shook it off, plastering a smile on my face.

The king frowned, seeming in thought, before nodding. He didn't know. I looked over at Eli from the corner of my eyes, did he know? "And why is it that two females accompany you and not two other males?"The kings cut into another section of his nicely medium-rare steak. I could see the juicy red juice squeezing out the beef with each slice of the steak knife. So if anything it was the delicious food's fault that I might have been nearly finished with my plate now. I may or may not be chomping down chunks of my own meat into my mouth.

Eli smiled, his chin never quavering as he stared confidently toward the king as if this were all true, “Your Highness, as I have said, I do not come from the ruler of the fifth kingdom as you have seen through my speech. I do not carry the light of the Dragons, nor do any of my companions. I am but a mere messenger and so are my companions. We were all gathered by the ruler of the fifth kingdom as I have mentioned." Eli’s perfectly straight white teeth glimmered in the light of the chandeliers above us. His grin was like a wolf on the hunt.

Silence.

Then booming laughter from the king was like the mighty war cries of a giant as he shook his head in jest, “Haha, well of course. You remind me much of the son I wished I had."

From the corner of my eyes, I could see the small stiffening of Flynn's shoulders. Well, talk about awkward.

Eli smiled, "You humble me far too much, your highness." I rolled my eyes secretly. Through the glint in Eli's eyes, I could see his pride boasting. He was so eating this up. Maybe it was because the king was Eli's actual biological father.What I would give for my own father to have praised me even once in mylife. The thought skidded to a halt in my mind as I frowned, something soured the back of my tongue as I tossed that comment into the trash.

Blinking back to the present I ignored the throbbing at the back of my head.

If the king didn't know the true depths of Eli's words he sure was going to have a wide awakening later this month. Eli bit into his steak, swallowed, and smiled all perfect pearly white teeth. A baring of what might soon come, as the king just smiled back as if they were sharing a small secret of their own. Were they? Did they have a secret meeting I didn't know about? Was it yesterday's meeting? No, Luna was there so it couldn't have been a complete secret between the king and Eli. Hey, maybe I could squeeze the info of yesterday's meeting out of Luna. And did he just eat a whole steak without getting anything in between his teeth? I mean come on I normally have several little scraps of meat stuck in between my teeth and sauce covering my lips. Shit! Do I have it now? I looked down at my sauce-stained plate hoping to catch a reflection on the golden china.

After that whole repeat of questioning, the meal passed with little to no discussions. The king and Eli did discuss little things such as mindless bantering about lands and who should get what. Honestly, I didn't care much to listen in.

"That was interesting. How'd you know he wanted to ask you those questions?" I asked, turning toward Eli in the comforts of my new fluffy room. By that I mean I was lying on my nice bed and flipping over to lie back down to face the unblemished ceiling. Eli and I had returned to my room after the meal to get changed.

"Please, every politician is like that. Integrate the new guy, or guests in this case. Truthfully I'm surprised he didn't ask more. I would have grilled the man or woman alive. The first round is always the best, giving the suspect less time to formulate excuses. It's always the same questions just rephrased, they want to see if your answers have changed. If they could poke holes into your story." Eli flipped his hand back and forth in the air as his clothing changed from a formal black suit with black buttons to a more comfortable, or as comfortable as Eli would get, a light blue blouse and a pair of preaches. His chest semi exposed. I could just see the tops of his abs before the blouse covered the remaining bit of his upper regions.

I rolled my eyes at the cooling sensation over my skin and hair alerted me to his magic running over my own body, turning my hair into a crumbling wave of messy curls around my shoulders just as the wind danced across my skin. Now I adorned a silk soft fabric in a cool ice winterberry blue shade. The top half hugged my body outlining my thin waist as the bottom half flowed down my legs with a semi-transparent glittering material. I scowled at the V neckline running almost to my mid-waist.

Too much skin.

"It looks fine. Besides, it's not like you have anything there to expose." Eli rolled his eyes as if reading my thoughts.

I frowned, glaring up at the man. "Fuck you. I do have something there, somewhere." I scowled, not really at the fact that I did have nothing but even so he didn't have to point it out.

Rude!

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