Page 5 of The Princess In A 'Prince' Disguise

Something was wrong.

The court was always noisy from the outside. Mutterings, murmurs, arguments were always expected. His worry deepened when the door opened, and all eyes didn't turn to gaze at him condescendingly. Instead, everyone's eyes were fixed at the center of the king's court.

Emeriel's eyes followed theirs.

Two men dressed in all-white robes, with long, straight, waist-length black hair stood, appearing harmless.

But a longer glance had Emeriel noticing muscles barely concealed under their robes, their slightly tipped ears, and their incredibly unnaturally handsome faces that were completely unreadable.

He froze.

Urekai.

These ones looked expensive and aristocratic.

Emeriel's throat went dry. No one prays to meet a Urekai face-to-face.

"What do you say, King Orestus?" the Urekai with the long scar running from his cheek spoke. He looked the most intimidating.

"No, this cannot happen," King Orestus protested, looking terrified, and doing a poor job of hiding it.

The frown on Scarred Urekai's face deepened. Clearly, this was a being that did not take no for an answer.

"You are mistaken if you think we are giving you a choice, human king," he said, taking a threatening step forward.

The ministers of the court gasped, shrinking back into their seats.

"Easy, Lord Vladya," the other Urekai spoke, his voice gentler. Imploring rather than commanding.

The scarred Urekai, Lord Vladya, gave the king a hard look that would make any man tremble. "It is the least you can do, human king. Give us the princess, and we will leave quietly."

"We are ready to pay for her," the other Urekai added, reaching into his robe and withdrawing a large bag of coins.

Fear receded. The king's ears perked up with interest. "Money?"

"Not just money, there are gold coins too," the non-scarred Urekai said.

Everyone gasped, including Emeriel. Gold coins were rare and highly valuable.

The Urekai continued, "All you have to do is hand the princess over, and this bag is yours."

Wait…

Princess?

They couldn't possibly mean...

The grand entrance opened again as two guards led Aekeira into the court.

No, no, no, not my sister.

Emeriel moved forward, but the guards who had escorted him stopped his movement. He bit his lip hard, trying not to draw attention to himself, but it was incredibly difficult.

Surely, this couldn't be what he thought it was. It had to be a dream.

There was no way the Urekai were here to buy his sister as a slave...!

The two guards leading Aekeira to the center of the court, stopped a few feet from the Urekai.

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