Kiera wanted to outright refuse his invitation, but the more she stared into his glittering emerald eyes, the more she found she couldn't find it within herself to say no.
"Your Captains are also welcomed to come." He quickly added. "We haven't had the time to properly speak with each other and I'd like to remedy that."
"To speak? You mean to speak about the Golden Rose treaty?" Prince Sam blinks his green eyes at her before slowly opening his mouth.
"Yes, to talk about the peace treaty, but also to get to know more about each other."
The words that left his lips were very innocent at the surface, but she knew she was walking a very fine line. Her Captains also knew this, as all their eyes congregated on her, waiting for her response with bated breath.
They were anticipating a rejection, but when one did not leave her lips, all her Captains widened their eyes.
"We accept your invitation Prince Sam."
Glee was evident on the Third Prince's handsome face and before she could fully register what she had said, the Prince bowed his blond head towards her.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation. I will be sending one of my carriages over to the main palace in the evening." When he raises his head, his eyes seem to be only focused on Kiera. "I'll be waiting patiently until then." She couldn't be too sure, but it seemed to her the prince was trying to tell her something, as if his words held a different meaning that she was somehow supposed to decipher.
Prince Sam and his aid bid their farewells to Kiera's Captains, leaving the training grounds and leaving Kiera to deal with the aftermath.
Her Captains jumped on her as soon as the Third Prince and his aid were out of earshot.
"General, what the heck was all that?" Cody interrogated her first, followed by Jade.
"Who was that? That was the Third Prince right? He's not at all how I imagined he would conduct himself." Her second Captain shook her head, and Kiera knew her opinion on the Third Prince was changing as she talked.
"I'm surprised. I never knew the humans could be so bold." Jade lets out a deep sigh, her eyes seemingly looking dreamily off in the direction where the prince and his aid disappeared off to.
"You aren't seriously considering him for a Mate?" Cody scoffed as he turned to her. "I expected Jade to lose her head over a human but I never thought you would do the same."
"You forget yourself Cody. I don't need a Captain who questions their General." The tone in her voice makes Cody take a step back. His head lowers slightly. "I cannot easily refuse royalty from another Kingdom. Especially when we are in the midst of redrawing the treaty."
"General, if I may interrupt." Bryan stepped in between Kiera and Cody, his clear eyes holding no hint of judgement towards the General. "Our soldiers are still in the middle of their training. We should get back to overseeing their progress."
Always the mediator, her first Captain appealed to them three to stop their squabble. Kiera nodded her head once, agreeing with Bryan. Whenever he took it upon himself to end their bickering, it was a clear sign for her that she had lost her composure.
She took a deep breath.
"You don't need to worry about me Cody," at the mention of his name, Cody's head whipped up, looking at her with bewildered eyes. "I am not considering the Third Prince for my Mate."
Kiera shook her head, as if driving her words into her own skull.
"Now that that is out of the way, we need to get back to training. After that I expect you three to be on your best behavior at the Third Prince's palace during dinner. Am I being understood?"
Her eyes stared hard at her biggest instigator, who only nodded his head begrudgingly. He walked away with his arms crossed over the back of his sandy blond head.
"Don't worry about him General. I'll make sure he doesn't embarrass you." Jade smiled at her reassuringly. "But what do I wear to dinner tonight?"
Kiera took a moment to think before responding to her.
"I think any type of formal wear should be fine." She nodded at her suggestion before leaving her and Bryan to go back to oversee her own squadron.
"Thank you Bryan." She looked over to the Bear, giving him one of her appreciative smiles.
"I hope you don't mind me prying General." Her interest is instantly piqued, as Bryan was never the one to pry into others' lives. "Among us I have the most experience dealing with humans." He began, timidly looking down at the ground.
"I fell in love with a human," he cleared his throat but still continued on, "and I wanted you to know that I'm always available if you ever need someone to talk to." She had never seen her first Captain in such a shade of red before. The sight was enough to make her appreciative smile turn even sweeter.
"I understand. Thank you for your kind words, but like I said, I don't intend on making the Third Prince my Mate."
He nodded, still looking down at the ground before he left her side to go back to his own squadron. Kiera watched his retreating back, thinking how such a man was able to hold on to his human lover for so long.
She remembered Bryan's lover, a small and lovely woman whose smile was enough to make any Beast feel her kind nature. Bryan was brighter then. He would smile more often and his laughter would always ring out the loudest whenever they joked. Then, from one day to the next, he changed. Kiera didn't need to ask, for it seemed like the entirety of the Beast Army knew what had occurred.
Bryan's love had left him, taking his heart with her and leaving him with nothing but a hole in his chest and the ghost of her bittersweet memory.
It reminded her that if she wasn't careful enough, she could easily end up the same.