"There you are!" Arnwald cried with a relieved smile. Jacoby frowned momentarily, but renewed his stoic expression almost immediately. Sullivan simply waited for instruction.
"Father?" Emerick looked less than pleased. He didn't even attempt to muster a smile through his bewildered frustration. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to the neighboring kingdom by now?"
"You are as bad as Jacoby!" Arnwald huffed. "Does a man need an excuse to come visit his son?"
"If I said yes, would you leave?" Emerick questioned. He was no longer even looking at his father, too occupied glancing down the hall in the direction Trixie had went.
"I'll leave when I want, and not a moment sooner!" Arnwald growled. "I am king, and I will do as I please, when I please."
"Yeah, sure dad. Could you do that somewhere else? I'm in the middle of something."
Sullivan fought back a smile at the monarch's indignant expression. Emerick must've been blue-balling it pretty bad to treat his father so indifferently. Usually the prince would at least feign some sort of curtesy. Silently, Sullivan wondered what was so great about women. In his experience, they tended to be nothing but trouble.
"Aren't you impudent today!"Arnwald exclaimed. "Disrespectful attitude aside, I do need to talk with you for a minute."
"What is the crisis?" Emerick's eyes narrowed as he looked at him directly. "Surely, this must be a crisis situation if you are coming to me when you should be on your way to a meeting and I have urgent matters to see to myself."
"I miss your mothers," Arnwald blurted. "I haven't seen them in ages, and I don't have any one to talk to!"
As Emerick gawked at his father, Sullivan thought inwardly of the many staff within the castle, as well as all of the princesses. True, a good number of them had left with their mothers, but according to Jacoby a handful had stayed to oversee their duties. Then there was the fact that his wives were all actually on the plot, but apparently they were keeping that a secret from him.
"Baldric Arnwald Xanathanos!" A sharp and commandeering voice sounded from the banister.
Everyone's eyes turned upward to locate the source. Sullivan was expecting to see Esmyria, but to his surprise it was Liliana who met their startled looks with a furious gaze. Of the four queens, Liliana was the most soft spoken and mild mannered. Of them all, she was the least likely to raise her voice for any reason, so Sullivan was certain she must've been quite livid with Arnwald.
"Is that my sweet water Lily?" Arnwald's eyes were sparkling. Needless to say, his good mood didn't last long. "I've missed you so much my lovely little flower!"
Sullivan let loose a rather undignified laugh as Arnwald rushed the stairs, arms wide open like some lovesick fool from a romantic cliché, only to be meet with a vicious blast of lightning. He knew he probably should be worried, the blast was so intense it was blinding, but the scene struck Sullivan as so comedic he couldn't help himself.
"While I'm sure he deserved that, was it wise to cast such a powerful spell here with so many people around?" Emerick wondered, glancing to Sullivan and little Owen who had just returned. "Someone else might've got caught in the blast as well."
"She accounted for that, or hadn't you noticed how direct and contained the effects were?" Jacoby quirked a brow. "Are you so 'stressed' that you doubt your mother, a master sorcerous, now?"
"What are you doing here?" Liliana barked, silencing both Jacoby and Emerick as she started gliding down the stairs. Her gentle and elegant footsteps were in stark contrast to the intense and hostile aura radiating from her.
"My darling Ana-banana-"
"Don't you 'Ana-Banana' me Arnwald!" There was another intense bolt, comic sound effects included. "I don't want to hear it! My home smells so awful I can't even approach it, my beloved Esmyria is so stressed by current state of affairs she hardly even cuddles with me anymore, thanks to you reckless abandon and wanton butchery even though I'm coming up on my first fertile period in over a decade I haven't had sex in months, and to top it all of you are risking the creation of a diplomatic incident because you're lonely?"
Sullivan winced as she emphasized each accusation with lightning bolt after lightning bolt. Part of him worried about Arnwald's well-being—it couldn't be healthy to take that much electricity in such a short span of time—but he mostly worried that the magnificent rug beneath their feet might get singed. Scorch marks were no joke to clean, and even with the aid of Titus's miracle cleaners it was doubtful one could ever be truly removed. Based on the despair in Jacoby's expression, Sullivan could tell his master was having similar worries.
"All I wanted was a little affection…" Arnwald stuck out his lip in a pout. If he didn't look like a charcoal statue with a pretty wigged out fro, it might have been cute.
"Affection?" Something about the statement really set Liliana off. "YOU want affection?! If that were true, then why in great Gaea's name did you persist in utilizing OUR THRONE ROOM for such a barbaric display?! Why did you then insist on leaving the carnage stren about like a toddler's toy room for over a month?! ARE YOU A CHILD? USE YOUR HEAD, AND YOUR WORDS IF YOU WANT 'AFFECTION' SO DAMN BAD!"
With each word her voice grew louder and louder. Soon, numerous bodies attached to curious little eyes were peaking in on the seen from windows and doorways. Arnwald, oblivious to his audience, quailed under his 'Water Lily's' intense lecture.
From Sullivan's standpoint, it almost seemed she was engulfed in a furious flame, and he swore her long golden hair was floating around her head almost as if she were under water. It created a bizarre visual effect that was actually quite terrifying to behold. He made a note to always treat this queen in particular with respect.
"Well, good luck dad," Emerick gave him a cheeky grin, then shot off.
Sullivan glanced at him only briefly before returning his attention to Liliana. Terrifying as she was, the queen was proving to be just as assertive and regal as Esmyria. No wonder they got along so famously, even though the shared the same husband.
"We best leave them some privacy," Jacoby appeared behind Sullivan, causing him to jump. He hadn't even realized his mentor had left his former post. Even more confusing, Owen was right by him too. Had Sullivan truly been so engrossed with the drama that he'd been that oblivious? He made another mental note to work on improving that.
"Do you really think they'll do something… inappropriate right here?" Sullivan cocked his head, but was careful to keep his voice low. Thankfully, it seemed Liliana hadn't heard him over her own ongoing lecture to Arnwald. "I mean, I guess his majesty would without a thought, but Queen Liliana is so self-conscious and discreet…"
"No… Arnwald wishes." Jacoby shook his head and gestured up the staircase once more. "I fear something far worse is about to take place, and our great and illustrious king is not likely to enjoy it any more than we would as observers. In fact, he's likely to envy us very shortly."
It took Sullivan a moment to realize what Jacoby was implying. It clicked when he glanced up only to see Lyra and Alicia had also emerged. Neither of them looked any more pleasant than Liliana. Sullivan could only be grateful he wasn't the object of their vexation.
"Yeah, let's go. No point in involving ourselves in domestic affairs," Sullivan agreed hastily. Distressed as he felt, he was also thrilled further by their prospects. Living with the nobility certainly came with it's fair share of heartache and drama, but it certainly wasn't boring. He couldn't wait to see what might happen next.