Prince Alastaire of Rashak was the second prince of the kingdom of Jade. After successfully poisoning the Crown Prince and then chasing him across the country with such unsavory beings as bogwargs and chiros, Prince Alastaire was also persona non grata.
This was well-known through the circle of servant gossips, but it sounded strange coming from an unusually chatty King Leo.
King Leo drew in a swift breath. "Didn't Ole Roy say that he had rooted out Alastaire's entire household because of this?"
His wife's face was ice cold. A muscle twitched in her cheek. "They are all children from his loins. He wants neither of them to be harmed."
"What does that mean?" King Leo pulled on his stubble. "He either killed the boy or he didn't."
"Precisely," Queen Kalara snapped. "And stop pulling on your beard. I had you shave it so you wouldn't continue with that habit. It is so unkingly."
King Leo dropped his fingers from his beard with a small pout. "So that means Ole Roy Rashak didn't kill Alastaire, he just sent him off somewhere." He sniffed. "I wonder where…"
Queen Kalara compressed her thin lips together. The King could be so dense sometimes.
"There is a high chance he was an exchangeling," Zander picked up his water glass and took a sip. "If he left through the same portal that Princess Celeste Zaravan stepped through, there is a high likelihood that he is currently in Topaz."
"In which case, the Emperor killed two birds with one stone." King Leo laughed. "What an oaf. He got rid of the third Prince without having to spill any blood, and he got Princess Celeste Zaravan as an exchangeling to ensure peace between Topaz and Jade."
"Is Alastaire Rashak a Storm Aeromancer?" Mira asked.
For a moment, no one responded. It was the first time Mira had spoken that morning, and she had asked the question that everyone had been skirting around.
If Alastaire was, indeed, the Storm Aeromancer who had caused the blizzard to hit Jade City, it would mean treason of the highest degree.
Attempted murder of the Crown Prince AND a direct attack on the capital city of Jade were serious matters. Each of these were capital offenses that would cause a complete annihilation of everyone in the immediate family, including the dogs and cats of the household.
"Alastaire was one of our students at Crystal Palace University." Queen Kalara dabbed her lips with her napkin. "As a prince of Jade Kingdom, his studies were mostly of the governance sort, although he was also trained in the magik arts, but where Erick excelled in the magik arts of warfare, Alastaire was a silent sullen child who liked to dabble more in the Dark Arts."
"The Dark Arts?" Mira glanced at Zander.
"Yes, things like Necromancy, Conjuring, Divination, Animalia. I would have guessed that he could control the bogwargs through Animalia because he really did excel at that, but I don't remember Alastaire being particularly good at Aeromancy."
"He wasn't." Queen Kalara threw her napkin onto her barely touched plate and stood up. "Now, if you all will excuse me, I have a bit of a headache and need to retire to my room."
"Let me assist you," King Leo rose from his seat and took her hand. He looked back at Zander and Mira. "You two should make a round of appearances. The people have missed you, and now that you have a new wife, she should be introduced to the general populace."
He glanced at his wife's receding back. "We will throw a small gala to celebrate your wedding and to introduce your new wife to the nobles of the region."
"Yes, Royal Father." They both rose and bowed as he hastily followed his wife to the door.
Once they had exited the dining area, Mira raised her hands to her cheeks. It was nerve-wracking, having breakfast with his parents, and no amount of pep talk ahead of time could quell the nerves in her stomach.
"What did he mean when he said we should be introduced?"
"They are social butterflies and love any opportunity to show off to the lower ranking nobility." He smiled. "But this is good. You can be introduced to your new subjects, and they to you."
Zander reached out and gathered her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. "It will be a bit on the dull side, I'm afraid, but I will speed us through it as quickly as possible so we can return to Jade."
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The party was scheduled for 5 p.m. Mira had been hoping that she would have a quiet morning to relax, but as soon as she and Zander returned to their quarters, a team of seamstresses were already waiting for them.
They were both measured and fitted for a new outfit to wear to the party that night--and they were the dress dummies!
It was the first time Mira had ever had a dress pieced together directly on her body by ten seamstresses who worked while standing around her. They were literally sewing the outfit onto her body, using a combination of traditional methods such as pins and needles, as well as seamstress magik that allowed them to add seed pearls and tiny melee diamonds directly onto the fabric.
By the time the seamstresses had finished with their magik, Mira literally looked like a queen from some decadent past. She had no idea it took that much effort by that many people to look like a queen.
Under the gown was a series of flouncy skirts to hold up the shape of the voluminous skirts, and her upper body was bound together by something that resembled a leather corset, pushing her breasts high into place. The bodice over the corset was so tight, she could barely breathe.
Mira took a deep breath and smiled. As long as she stood in one spot--or moved slowly, she would have enough oxygen to stay conscious.
The gown's fabric was made of thick shiny brocade with a gold background over which a large, exquisitely detailed floral pattern had been woven. Everything was sewn together with some type of gold metallic thread that was damn near indestructible.
Due to the overabundance of reddish purple kiss marks all over her body, not to mention her very visible bite mark, the collar was high and covered most of her neck area.
Over this opulence, they had built her thick long hair up into what could only be described as a beehive style. Into this beehive, the jewelers pinned gems of all colors. There were even matching earrings of the same colors of stones for her ears.
The only thing that Mira refused was a large extravagant necklace of the same type of colorful gemstones that matched the colors of her dress. She had her portal necklet that was proudly sitting at the base of her throat, and that was more than enough.
As the afternoon melded into evening, Zander wandered into the dressing room where the servants continued their bustling movements around the exquisitely dressed living doll.
The golden evening sunlight slanted into the room, splashing onto the jewels in her hair and dripping lambent pools down to the gleaming hardwood floors at her feet.
She stood there, serene and silent, in the midst of all the motion.
His silver blue eyes widened.
His heart skipped a beat.