The next day, the humans were surprisingly more afraid of the Beasts than ever before. Every one of them dared not whisper within earshot, for fear the Beasts would hear them. It was ironic considering Kiera could still hear their voices with perfect clarity as she passed through the main palace's glittering hallways.
"Have they no shame?" She heard the most courageous servants whisper. "Making such noises and dancing nude in the forest?"
"Savages." The nobles all said behind their decorative fans and white pocket squares. "They truly live up to their name."
Kiera held her head up high. Their comments did nothing to her as she pretended she could not hear them talk badly about her people. It never occurred to them that they had all been tricked by the same supposed savages.
She arrived at the grand discussion room. Helios was already seated in one of the chairs that had been reserved for the Beasts. The scene in front of her looked odd, as the human kings made sure to position their people in between so that they were seated the furthest seat away from the ninth Beast General. All heads in the room swiveled to look in her direction as yet another Beast entered the room.
"Greetings." She bowed her head, forgetting once more that women curtsy in this kingdom.
Nevertheless, the humans all accepted her greetings. They watched her with nervous eyes as she went to take the empty seat next to Helios.
As soon as she took her seat another person strode into the room. Kiera could recognize the golden hair and vibrant eyes anywhere. Her eyes latched onto him in a manner that suggested she had not seen him in forever.
"What is with all the long faces?" Prince Sam joked with them. His eyes went from one to the next as a foolishly big smile graced his lips. To the others, it might have seemed as if he was hopelessly out of tune with the latest happenings, but Kiera was sure he had heard all about last night. Now he was only expressing his pure joy.
"Shut up and sit down." King Gerrod scolded his foolish son. He motioned for him to take his seat next to him and the prince followed his instructions, the smile never lessening on his lips.
When he sat down his eyes caught her stare. There was a very brief moment in which Kiera saw one of his green eyes move. It was a wink that he had timed perfectly so that no one except her would notice.
"I believe all the important people are here, so let us commence the next round of peace talks."
The Solomon King interrupted the foreign nobleman, a neutral party in the room. He stood up from his seat.
"Wait a moment, there is something that I need to announce first before the meeting begins." Several confused looks were sent in his direction, but that did not bar him from speaking. As a King in his kingdom, there was no need to explain himself further, even in the presence of other kings.
"Many of you have come to me to ask about the status of the investigation my knights have been conducting ever since the attack at the ball." Kiera tensed in her chair, waiting for the next words that would come out from the reigning regent.
She was not at all expecting the smile that blossomed on the Solomon King's face.
"I am happy to announce we have found the animal that attacked the poor servant that day." Kiera and Helios exchanged a quick look as this most certainly was news to them. There was a moment of panic when she thought the animal could be one of the Beasts, but she had no memory of missing a warrior from their ranks. If so, what animal did they capture?
After exchanging looks with Helios, her eyes naturally went to the Third Prince who seemed to have been predicting her gaze would land on him. He gave her a short nod, and Kiera took it to mean he would explain everything to her later.
"We are displaying the head of the animal on the east side of the main palace, for all to come and see the disgusting animal that dared attack."
"Excuse me King Gerrod," one of the other kings' aides stood up to ask a question, "was the animal you killed indeed the infamous Blackcrested Wolf? The one from the rumors?"
"The very same!" His cheeks rounded, proud of the accomplishment of having felled an animal that had garnered so much attention. There was a round of applause that went through the room. The two Beast Generals had no choice but to join in the applause even though the Blackcrested Wolf was very much still alive.
"We captured the animal the day before yesterday. It had gone crazy, a rabid disease took over its brain. The damn thing was terrorizing one of the nearby villages next to the capital."
"Has this news reached the ears of the people yet?"
King Gerrod shook his head.
"I will be announcing to the Solomon people today. I first wanted to share the news with you all so that it is known that my knights have taken care of the problem. Just as I had promised."
"Your Head Knight is truly a capable man!" Westhold's King expressed a rather impressed look, toying with the end of his beard.
"Exatra will send many gifts to Sir Pavel for all his good work." Exatra's regent chimed in. One look at the Westhold King and anyone could see he was not happy about being upstaged.
"I am sure Sir Pavel would greatly appreciate any gifts that are sent his way. But do know that he is first and foremost, a knight that does his job even if there's nothing to gain."
Kiera stifled her need to roll her eyes. The Sir Pavel she had sparred with did not seem the modest type. If Cody was here, he would have placed a wager that the Head Knight was boasting to whoever was around to hear about how he bravely put down a sick animal.
"With that, shall we commence the discussion?" The foreign nobleman asked around the room, and with everyone in agreeance, he began the discussion in which Kiera already knew the ending result would be fruitless. She was right, in the end.
The human kings were no more diligent than before to arrive at a compromise, and with the Beast King not in attendance, their inclination to discuss such matters was near nonexistent. Kiera was bored and she suspected Helios was sleeping in the seat next to her with his eyes open. The long meeting was made bearable every time the Third Prince gave an offhand comment, accomplishing not only angering his father but also stoking the resentment between the kings.
She tried not to let her eyes linger too much on the prince as throughout the meeting she only spoke when needed, laughed when the situation called for it, and stayed silent as tensions rose whenever the kings bickered.
"Bollocks!" The Exatran King yelled as he stood up, his chair falling to the floor behind him. "I will speak no more to this bloody fool!" Red-faced, the King stormed out of the room. He was quickly followed by his people.
"If I am a fool then you are no better than an inadequate simpleton!" The King of Westhold screamed after him.
Kiera blinked. She did not know how to react to the fits of temper she had witnessed from both of the kings. She would have anticipated such behavior from children but not from the most respected figures in their kingdoms.
Sam also blinked his green eyes, but she found it peculiar how his smile did not match the rest of his face. As she thought about it, she realized the fiery conflict stemmed from one offhand comment from the prince himself. She didn't remember what it was that he had said that made the Westhold King think about a certain issue, and the next thing she knew, the human kings were at each other's throats. If Kiera hadn't already known of the prince's clever side, she would have missed it completely.
She brought her hand up to cover up the beginning stages of a smile.
'Indeed how very cunning.' She mused as the people started filing out of the room. Kiera saw the Third Prince be among the first to leave and she felt disappointment nick at her. She shook herself out of it as she walked out of the room and through the hallways.
Kiera smiled when a scent she knew reached her nose. Her eyes followed in the direction the scent was coming from. Her feet led her forward, and as if she was a child following the scent of sweets, she rounded the corner.
"What are you doing?" She looked at him, amused as he hid behind a tall potted plant. The green leaves of the plant were as big as his head.