A FEW HOURS EARLIER THAN KALMIN P.O.V
"I find it hard to believe that the kingdom still doesn't have a source of offsprings yet," said council member, "he will be back from the war soon and he has reached the age to marry."
"May I remind you that the prince is 19?" Boris replied covering his eagerness to decline the offer by casually shuffling the papers in front of him, "he is too young."
"Too young?" Grayson replied. The room fell into silence once more, "the previous king was engaged at 17, our prince is 2 years behind."
Boris placed the paper down and glared at Grayson, "and who are you to decide that for his highness?"
"No offense, but I think I have as much power as a stand-in," Grayson grinned, poking more holes into Boris. There was something strangely satisfying about poking around Boris, seeing how far he can push until he snaps.
Boris grinned, "Last time I checked, I am in the prince's seat and have everyone in this kingdom's information. So I'm sure I have enough power to refute whatever you say."
Grayson leaned back into his chair and looked away from the others around the table.
"Enough of fleeting arguments, the way is coming to an end and since we have not gotten any letters of the death of our prince, the celebrations need to be prepared for his return," a female council member, Helen Ivy, said locking eyes with Grayson, "I'm sure we won't be having any interruptions this time right?"
Another moment of silence passed before the female council member cleared her throat again.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Everyone's attention was momentarily drawn to the door.
"Come in," Boris called out.
"Yes sir," The voice replied immediately pushing the door open. A young knight walked in and bowed in front of the council members before turning to Boris, "Sir, we have a word of an invasion. Our army has moved into Hydra and is currently trying to overthrow it."
The ends of Boris' lips once again itched to smile, "is that so?" he asked.
"Yes, they requested some more help from our kingdom," the knight announced handing a letter to Boris.
"This is?" Boris asked, looking at the letter.
"A personal letter to you from his majesty," The knight explained keeping his head to the ground while talking to Boris.
"Ah," Boris muttered, pushing down the impulse to smile. He laced down the letter on the table gingerly before looking up to the knight, "anything else?"
The knight looked up momentarily locking eyes with Boris, he looked down immediately and shuddered a bit. Those golden eyes were just as rumored in the palace, they were bone-chilling. "Y-yes, the royal army has faced a decrease in numbers though it is not a lot, several hundred, maybe a thousand more men are needed."
"Several hundred?" Helen repeated her voice rising. The councils immediately burst into fits of murmurs, "where are we going to find a thousand men?"
"Yes, most of the royal army was sent out to battle, we only have about 500 men left," a council member declared, his comment adding fuel to the tension in the room.
"Right," another member agreed, "what if we get attacked while assisting the army? The kingdom will be left defenseless in the face of an unforeseen attack."
"All training services are also closed down because the knights that were training them such as General Litian were also sent into battle," said another council member.
"So we have no way of finding men that were already trained to fight," muttered Feline, "what are we go-"
"SILENCE!" Boris declared his voice rising over all in the room and silencing them, his eyes gleaming with annoyance, "this is not the time for useless bickering that only adds more anxiety to the issue at hand."
Everyone leaned back into their seats and the knight shuddered at the harshness in his voice.