170 The Kings Speech (1/2)

Aurana told me to go back to my post while she escorted the Lord of Stars away from the battlements and onto the path that led to the Palanquin Palace's main doors.

I could hear him muttering under his breath the whole time she dragged him away, but he did turn around once to remind me not to get tricked by the glutton.

His exact words were, \”Don't let that wily fox sink her fangs into you or she'll rip off your manhood!\”

After the strange pair of the dignified princess and brutish lord finally left me alone on the palace walls, I spent a bit more time just standing there and taking in the view before me.

The sight of the cityscape below had a calming effect on me, allowing me to absorb all the information Chris Pint had given me.

\”I could get used to this,\” I whispered. \”A moment of peace in a chaotic world, how far and few between these moments were for a soldier like me. Heh.\”

As the night breeze swept my hair back, I wondered just how many sixteen-year-olds could say something like that where I came from. Then I thought about the fact that there were a lot of human teenagers who'd been swept off into the Fayne like me, Ashley, and Luca was—like that blonde girl Chris Pint had rescued at the slave auction—that I started feeling sheepish for my earlier thoughts.

The sound of bells chiming reached my ears like a stark reminder that I was about to be late.

I rushed down the steps as quickly as I could and made my way through the walkway that led to a side door into the Palanquin Palace.

My last view before reaching the door and stepping inside it was that of the palace's domed roof and the spiral towers on its four corners that reached up to the sky with their canopy of leaves.

By the time I reached the Patriarch's Hall, the Lord of Stars and the chief members of his entourage were already inside it. So I had to stealthily squeeze my way through the crowd of officers, officials, and noble fairies to reach my spot next to Al Sheridan which was exactly behind Darah and Thors. And while Thors and Al offered me a sympathetic smile, their boss, who was unfortunately also my boss, had given me the cold-eyed stare that told me I was going to get it later for coming in late.

Behind me, a familiar voice whispered in my ear.

\”Why don't you ever just do things the right way, Dean,\” Luca whispered.

\”I didn't ask to get dragged away,\” I whispered back.

I heard my brother sigh, and once more wondered why the big brother was getting the reprimand.

The smell of rich pines filled my nostrils as I breathed in a sigh of my own, and turned my attention onto the wooden platform right below the one that held the empty patriarch's seat. The Lord of Stars was there and animatedly talking with Aura while his advisors, which included Thea, waited patiently behind them.

Moments later, the bells chimed a second time and the court steward announced the arrival of our Patriarch.

\”Auranos Trickhaven, third of his name, thirty-seventh Patriarch of the Trickster Pavilion,\” the steward boomed.

Auranos appeared through the side door, and for the first time since I met him, there were no aids to help him walk. Coming up behind him were Chancellors Orryn and Kairon, both of whom looked slightly worried that there was no one to support their master.

No, Auranos was walking on his own, and although he used a cane to do so, there was a significantly dignified aura about him that contrasted with the inherent wildness that Chris Pint exuded.

The patriarch did not immediately sit on his throne but instead walked over to the edge of his dais and extended a welcome hand wrapped in bandages toward the patriarch of the Starfall clan.

\”I believe this is how humans greet each other,\” he said in his soft but commanding voice.

Despite the heavily bandaged hand, Chris Pint didn't even hesitate to take it.

They shook to the applause of most in the wooden hall, but I think mine was the loudest of all.

A second seat was brought in so that the two patriarchs' who were equal in rank could sit side by side on the top dais. This wasn't normally done as we were in Trickster territory which meant Auranos should hold higher status, but our patriarch didn't care about things like that. He preferred they entered into the negotiations as equals.

Once more I was given the impression that Aura's big brother was something else—definitely someone worth elevating to the empty throne.

Princess Aurana joined the chancellors in their places on the lower platforms which were close enough to run to Auranos' side should he need assistance.

Edo was there too. He was standing behind Aurana now but he'd been the one to bring Chris Pint's chair in.