Kiera's eyes landed on one of the blond haired princes. His laughing face radiated with boyish charm even though he looked to be older than she. When he opened back his eyes, she saw his glowing emerald orbs.
The laughing prince is handsome. All of the Solomon Princes are, but the man was truly something else. His blond hair appeared like a golden ring around his head as his twinkling laughter filled the banquet. Even though he was being loud, it sounded nice, not at all aggravating to her sensitive ears.
She remembered his name. Samvel. So, this was the Solomon Kingdom's Third Prince, rumored to be the most useless of them all.
"Forgive me," the prince tried his best to contain the rest of his laughter as he spoke, "I do not mean to offend the Beast General in the slightest. I was merely thinking how appalling we must seem to you. We're doing a huge disservice to our women that want to serve within our army, something I believe we should strive to fix within our Kingdom. Wouldn't you agree Father?" The prince turns to the Solomon King who is taken aback by such a question.
"Erm, yes? Yes! That's something we will indeed be working on."
Kiera didn't understand the Third Prince. Was he mocking her or was he mocking his father? Did he truly believe the words he was saying or was he only trying to play into her good graces? Most importantly, were all humans like this? Saying one thing but meaning something completely different?
She bowed her head one more time before she excused herself and went to stand next to Helios and Gaspar. The two Generals gave her each a nod, perhaps giving her their respect for speaking on behalf of their mothers and sisters, and even for their daughters should they come to have any.
"Then with that being said, we shall excuse ourselves. For the night is still young and we still haven't taken our fill of the scrumptious feast you've laid out before us." King William cuts in, raising his arms out wide. "Thank you again King Gerrod, for your hospitality this evening and for allowing us to stay within your castle as the peace talks commence."
"Think nothing of it, King William. Your people are welcomed in our country and within these walls."
With that, they head back into the banquet. Kiera could tell all pairs of the Solomon royal family's eyes were on her as they retreated.
"Well done Kiera." She looks up at her King. Instead of another one of his lectures she was sure he was going to give her, he looked down at her, almost as if his heart swelled with pride. "You spoke like a true Beast General and held your ground. I couldn't have said it better myself."
Helios and Gaspar both gave her back a quick pat, voicing their opinions as well.
"You did alright." Gaspar gave her a smirk, but she knew the General was also beaming his approval down at her.
"This calls for drinking," the King all handed them a glass of alcohol, and they each took a glass of purple liquid that smelled like soured grapes, "like I said, the night is still young."
Before she tipped her head back to drink, she met the eyes of all her Captains. They smiled at her and raised their glasses in her honor before they each took a drink.
After a while, she didn't know if she felt warm inside because of the drinks she had or of the jovial atmosphere around them. She happily chatted away with the King and her three Captains, even Helios and Gaspar exchanged a few words with her. Although they were mostly speaking to each other throughout the banquet.
She sighed, wishing she could fan her warm cheeks.
"Do you need to step outside?" Jade whispered to her. "I find that the cool air always helps."
She nodded to her Captain, "I'll be right back then. Watch for Cody and make sure he doesn't drink too much."
Then she rises from her seat and walks out of the grand banquet room. She was able to retrace her previous steps from when they first entered the banquet room, and quickly found the hallway that led out into the courtyard.
Kiera took a deep breath, filling her lungs with as much of the cool night air as possible.
"I hope we aren't boring you." Kiera heard footsteps approaching behind her before she heard the man's voice.
She turns around and comes face to face with the still smiling Third Prince. As he walked closer to her she couldn't help but notice the prince's formal attire was straightened out, as opposed to the untidiness he first presented himself with when he initially entered the banquet.
"Not at all your Highness." She bowed her head down in greeting, but the prince's hand went up to stop her.
"Please you don't have to be so formal with me. After all, our positions are comparable if you think about it. You're a Beast General and I'm just a prince." She hesitated, unsure if the Prince was testing her or not, but decided she would do as the Prince requested.
"Very well. Then instead of referring to me as Beast General, please call me by my given name, Kiera."
The prince eagerly nodded, his green eyes sparkling even when they were underneath the limited lighting of the outside courtyard.
"Then let me introduce myself. I'm the Third Prince- "
"Samvel." She interrupted him, his name popping into her head when she remembered the announcer's voice as he entered the banquet earlier. The only reason the name had stuck with her was because Cody had ruthlessly joked about how long his name was. Samvel Hywel Hanoever Blois.
He looked down at her, his smile widening on his handsome face. He looked positively delighted that she had remembered his name.
"You can just call me Sam."
She nods her head at him in confirmation, "Prince Sam." This earns her a chuckle from the Prince.
"No, you can skip the Prince part. Just call me Sam." Kiera avoids huffing out in exasperation at the Prince, but she ultimately succumbs to his wishes.
"Sam."
The prince lowered his eyelashes, peering at her in a way she could instantly understand. Kiera chose to feign innocence, believing if she appeared oblivious to the Prince's emotions then he would quickly lose interest in her.
"You have quite the brilliant mind." To her surprise, the Prince didn't try anything. She looked into his face but she couldn't find any trace suggesting that he was being sarcastic with her. He continued.
"You raised all good points at the banquet." Kiera more closely studied his face, still unsure whether he was being truthful. She decided she couldn't keep guessing any longer.
"I don't have much experience speaking with Humans, so please forgive me for being blunt. Do you really mean what you say?"
His green eyes crinkled at the corners, the ever-present smile gracing his lips.
"What makes you think I'm not being honest?"
"You keep smiling, even at the banquet, you laughed at what I had said to your father."
He blinked a couple of times, erasing the smile from his face.
"I apologize if it seemed like I was laughing at you. That wasn't at all my intention. I was just so happy that someone finally made my father look like such a fool on the subject. He believes he knows so much when in reality he has no practical experience."
It was her turn to look at him in confusion.
"Does King Gerrod not participate in any battles?"
The Prince lets out a comical sound as if the very thought amused him.
"Now that's a thought. No, my most esteemed father does not participate in any battles. Instead of risking his own life, he has his many sons and all of his loyal subjects to risk their lives in the battles he personally instigates."
The way he spoke about his father and King, Kiera could be sure that he felt no respect for him. His green eyes hardened for a moment before he looked back at her and they immediately softened.
"Apologies. Can you tell I don't have much of a loving relationship with my father?"
She nodded her head, but from what she understood from the rumors, the Prince didn't make it easy for his father to love him. It didn't seem like he did much at all.
"What about your parents?" He asked her, suddenly filled with curiosity.
"Both of my parents are dead." She was blunt, but only because she wanted to put an end to this conversation and return to the banquet and to her Captains as quickly as possible.
The Prince's face froze, perhaps thinking he might have asked her about a sore topic. He abashedly ran a hand through his golden hair.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," he tried to find the right word, his green eyes rolling to one side as he thought.
"You don't need to apologize. They died a long time ago and I hardly remember them." The lie slipped easily off her tongue. She saw no reason to be truthful to him. They wouldn't need to converse with each other much after tonight.
"My mother also died a long time ago so I know the pain all too well," he hurriedly looked around the courtyard, seemingly trying to find something, "so let me apologize properly. After all, losing someone is no light matter even if it was some time ago." He brightens up when his eyes land on the thing he was looking for.
"One moment." The Prince hurries to one side of the courtyard and Kiera watches with surprise as he enters the bushes, completely disregarding how the branches scratched at his clothing. She hears the snapping of a branch and looks at him peculiarly as he made his way back to her with a flower she had never seen before.
"This is for you. As an apology if I made you feel uncomfortable." He presented her with the flower and Kiera took it after a moment of deliberation. "Careful with it, it has many thorns." He quickly cautioned her and Kiera's eyes went to the many freshly scratches on his hands.
She looks back down at the richly pink-orange flower, studying its many overlapping petals before lowering her nose into its center. The sweet smell entered her nostrils while the soft petals tickled her nose.
She drew her face back, and having sufficiently sated her curiosity, looked at the Prince who was watching her as if studying her the same way she had studied the flower she held in her hands.
"Thank you," she started, "I'm not sure if Humans have a different meaning behind giving a woman a flower," she reached towards the Prince and placed the flower inside the front pocket of his suit. "In our country, giving a flower to anyone means they think lesser of you. In short, they think you are far weaker than them."
His eyes widened and he quickly shook his head numerous times.
"No, that's not at all what I wanted to do." He genuinely looked horrified that she couldn't help but to smile at his reaction.
"I know you didn't. I can hardly blame you for not knowing a Beast custom." She turned her body, moving away from the Prince. "Well, I do need to get going now. It was a pleasure speaking to you Sam." She waved her goodbye to the Prince and a flash of disappointment flew through his face at her retreating figure.
"Until we meet again Kiera." She nodded, but in her head she thought they wouldn't be meeting so often. Unless he was planning on joining his father in the upcoming peace talks, she couldn't imagine running into him at all.
In the coming days, she would find how wrong she had been.