All princes and their first wives were invited to have dinner with the king. When we arrived, the king welcomed us and we greeted him in turn; then we greeted one another amongst ourselves. While the princes chatted and laughed (except Lucian), the princesses just glared at each other. There was some kind of hostility between them.
Lucian didn't go up to his brothers, he just stood beside me. None of them seemed to care about him, either. He had told me earlier that they didn't like him because he was the son of the devil. I wondered if they really believed that kind of blasphemy. Why did he say that he didn't know if he actually was the son of the devil?
Before my head imploded with questions, dinner was served and we sat down in our assigned places. Each prince sat beside his wife. The Crown Prince was sitting next to the king, and they were talking about something animatedly, waving their hands around wildly. His wife Elsa looked at me now and then. I wondered what her problem was? She was really beautiful, actually. Possibly the most beautiful of all the princesses, with her curly blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. Lucian and I ate our dinner in silence; he seemed uncomfortable, and I wondered why.
A guard came in and whispered something into the king's ear. The king stood up. "I have things to take care of, but enjoy your dinner," he said guardedly, and with that he left.
The crown prince stood up from his seat holding his wine glass delicately in one hand. "First, we shall welcome our little brother's bride," he said. "And then," he trailed off, clearly not fit to form complete sentences in his intoxicated state.
"And then," the prince next to him picked up where his brother had left off, "we shall tell embarrassing stories about our little brother to his bride." The brothers laughed. They may have been speaking of this as a joke, but something was off. Their laughs weren't genuine, they sounded stilted and vile to me. I could feel Lucian shifting uncomfortably beside me. The crown prince walked along the table and stood behind the prince and his wife that were sitting in front of Lucian and me.
"You must have heard the rumor about our brother, about him being the son of the devil. What do you think about that?" he asked, cruel mirth clear in his tone. I could see Lucian clenching his fists under the table.
why I defended Lucian, but I felt a strange protectiveness over him. The crown prince sent me a scrutinising glare, but he wasn't willing to give up. He
I, Your Highness?" I said in a challenging tone, mock sweetness
my ears. How could he say something so cruel to his own brother? Beside me, Lucian's entire body tensed up, ready to spring at the brother sending cruel taunts to the both of us. Under the table,
I gave him a reassuring smile, and by intuition I could tell he had calmed down significantly. Turning to his brothers, I was furious.
must have guessed what I was thinking. "Well, I
treats me," I said stiffly, and his brothers sent me a look. Disappointed? Lucian intertwined his fingers with mine under the table, as though
entire life, not one person had stood up for him like this beautiful woman had. His wife. A woman who barely knew him and took
words and smile. She hadn't believed the rumours about him,
their private chamber and went inside. She seemed to
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