And then there was King Vesstan. Wearing a deep green tunic, with gold thread embroidered on each hem, he was a striking contrast to Taeral’s soft pink. Not a single hair stood out of place, his jaw clean and his brown hair slicked back from his face as he frowned at the table, appearing to be reading something.

The three of them crossed the few feet into the room, stopping just a foot away from the empty chairs of the table. Remembering to curtsy this time, she lowered to the ground, wondering if it would ever not be weird for her father to appear so young.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Your Majesty, I…”

She raised up to see him holding a hand out in front of him, palm out toward her to wait. She rolled her lips in, not knowing what to do as he kept his head bowed, ignoring her completely as he continued reading whatever parchment lay before him.

When he finally finished, he made a disgusted sound in his throat, dropping his hand to roll it back up. She caught a glimpse of a familiar navy-blue emblem before he handed it to Onas, whispering something in his ear.

She squinted, studying the parchment now clasped in Onas’s shaking hand, trying to catch another look. She hadn’t seen enough to be certain, but she could’ve sworn she’d seen the letter ‘M’ in the center of it. But too quickly, Onas tucked it into his cloak and out of sight, bowing and scurrying out.

Vesstan cleared his throat and stood, running his hands down his sides. “My apologies. There seems to always be something in need of my attention. Even uninterrupted dinners are hard to come by these days.”

Not even bothering to stand, Taeral smirked, the expression oddly arrogant given the circumstance. What could she possibly feel vindicated about already?

Vesstan looked her up and down and nodded, clearly pleased with what he saw, and gestured to the empty chairs across from him. “Please, take a seat.”

Dedryn bowed again, murmuring a greeting, and took the seat on the far right. Vera stepped forward to take the seat next to him, not wishing to be directly in front of the king, but Jaren’s hand landed on her lower back, directing her to the next chair over so he could slide in between his father and her.

Overprotective ass.

King Vesstan watched them with an amused look on his face before he popped his lips awkwardly. “Forgive me for not introducing my companions last time. I was quite distracted, as I’m sure you can understand. Though, from what I hear, you’ve conveniently run into both since our last meeting.”

Yeah, Veralie thought. That’s what happens when you tell your newly discovered daughter to fuck off for a week. But on the outside, she nodded, confirming his statement.

He twisted his head, his eyes hungrily running down the frame of the female next to him. “This is Taeral Virnorin,” he said, stretching his arm out beneath the table to rest somewhere on her lap.