Crow and Lucan left Elizabeth alone to go and see Julius in the old courtroom. The king was sitting on a plush chair at the front of the room and Ceaser sat next to him while the lycan brothers sat in a semi circle in front of the two royal and Crow decided to remain standing behind Ceaser.
"Everyone is here?" Julius asked looking at every member of the small assembly.
"No." Crow said sarcastically earning him glares from everyone except Ceaser,"You're asking like you were expecting to have a group of a thousand men such that you would be unable to recognize them all."
"It was just a way of starting the discussion." Julius said.
"Just start. I have better things to do." Crow retorted.
"Like planning your engagement with lady Elizabeth?" Lucan teased Crow.
"No. Like snapping your neck." Crow warned Lucan.
"Silence!" Gray ordered,"You two are fighting like women arguing about whose gossip is true. We are here for a meeting."
There was a momentary silence after Gray had spoken and Benjamin was the one to break the silence with his fake cough. He had a water bag with him and he drunk from it like he was chocked
"I called you here to tell you that Genevia and Clause will be getting married."
Benjamin spit out the water he had in his mouth as Crow started laughing while the others had shocked looks in their faces. Julius sighed knowing that it was indeed absurd that the old couple even wanted to get married but what was even worse was the venue they had chosen.
"On mount Vernon." Julius said.
"Three days away from here? Who is attending this taboo of a marriage?" Crow asked seriously after remembering he had met Elizabeth on that mountain.
"You of course." Julius stated like it was an obvious thing.
"Hold on...." Ivan said lifting his hands to emphasize just how important having their attention was,"....Will Genevia wear a white gown?"
Everyone laughed at that question and it took them a while to quiet down but Ivan was serious about his question.
"Yes. She is a virgin." Julius said shrugging.
"Is it even safe for them to do that couple activity?" Ian asked genuinely concerned.
"They are both strong." Pascal said,"If the have no strength maybe Genevia will conjure a spell to make them youthful for the night."
There was another round of laughter in the room and then a knock was heard at the door that hushed the men. There were three light taps heard on the heavy door before it opened to reveal Evirelda holding a flower crown in the small hands. Behind her was a servant boy about twelve years old holding a basket full of flower Crowns. They watched Evirelda wall towards Ceaser at a painfully slow pace and then she bowed. By now they had all realised what was happening and Ceaser bent down in his chair so she could place the crown on his head.
"A crown fit for the best man." she said when she had settled the crown on his head.
Ceaser smiled at her and she smiled back at him. She took another flower crown and looked up at Crow waiting for him to bend down.
"No bow for me?" Crow asked tilting his head in question.
"No your grace. You lost the match." Evirelda said teasing him.
The others laughed at Crow making him glare at Evirelda and prompting her to bow and she did but not as deeply as she had when she had bowed to Ceaser. Crow bent down and she placed the crown on his head. She continued this in the order of the heirachy they had set will competing and Julius was last in receiving his crown.
"I'm an thoroughly displeased by you father. You lost terribly and embarrassingly." Evirelda said with a sad expression on her face while her voice was low so only he could hear.
What she didn't know was that everyone in the room apart from her companion had heightened senses so they heard everything she said. Julius smiled at her and bent down and let her put the crown on his head.
"Who are the other crowns for?" Lucan asked eyeing the basket that was still half full.
"These are crowns for your counterparts." Evirelda said excitedly making everyone else frown,"On each of your crowns there is a different color of a rose so to know who I paired you up with look for the maiden having your rose on her crown."
At these words they all looked at the other's crown and their own like children who had just been taught a new game they were anxious about. Ceaser's and Crow's matches were obvious as Ceaser's crown had a white rose and Crow's had a black one.
"You'll play with me right?" Evirelda asked looking and sounding pitiful.
"No." Crow and Lucan quickly answered.
"Please..... It's just a little game." Evirelda continued to plead.
"You truely think I will go around with this thing on my head?" Lucan asked pointing at the crown on his head.
"It looks great on you sir Reginald." the boy who had come with Evirelda commented,"She worked hard on those and got pricked by thorns many times so she could play with everyone."
Lucan examined the boy and noticed he was also wearing a crown that had not a rose but a sunflower on it. Evirelda also had a crown with a sunflower. So she really expected him to go looking for a lady with the same rose as his and walk around with her looking like that?
"Why do you have a sunflower?" Gray asked.
The boy blushed and glanced at Evirelda but she was also waiting for his response.
"Because..... because Evirelda and I are each other's sunshine." he said shyly.
Julius started chocking in his own saliva because of what a bit had said; openly confessing he had feelings for the princess.
"Wow.....you two are so cute...." Benjamin commented making Julius start coughing.
Evirelda hugged the boy's arm and rubbed her head on it and he blushed even more.
"Enough!" Crow exclaimed shocking everyone and even Julius stopped coughing,"Are you trying to traumatize me?"
"Will you play if we stop?" Evirelda asked.
"Yes I will."
All eyes fell on Lucan as he hadn't said if he would play along. He nodded his head half heartedly and Evirelda and the boy left smiling.
"One last thing!" Evirelda screamed running back to the room and almost slipping on her dress,"You have to wear the crowns until you go to bed!"
She waved at all of them and run out again. The courtroom was quiet for a minute two where the silence would allow one to hear an insect crawling.
"I guess I will be sleeping early tonight." Pascal said getting up.
Everyone started to leave until only Julius remained. At least he didn't mind chasing after Terra as she was his wife. He left shortly after that in search of his wife. Outside Benjamin was walking around smiling at everyone Ike a mad man until he found the maiden who had his rose. She was sitting close to the palace stables where the smell of their feaces was in reach. He scrunched his nose but kept on walking towards her wondering if the smell didn't bother her at all. He understood that his scenting abilities as a wolf made the same smell ten times worse for him but he was sure even a human could smell it. There were no guards or servant around which he guessed might be because of the putrid stench.
"Why is a lovely lady such as yourself sitting all alone where it stinks?" he asked coming to stand close to her where she could see him.
She turned to look at him in time to see his eyes widen. She turned concerned wondering if she had something on her face or in her sturborn locks of hair.
"Do I have something on my face?" she asked patting her face trying to feel anything foreign on her skin but there was nothing.
Benjamin nodded his head vigorously making her worry even more and he could see the worry in her clear hazel eyes. She blinked a few times waiting for him to tell her what was there but he just continued to stare at her with a look of amusement. She knew his name but didn't want to call him as she didn't want to look like she had been stalking him. She used her handkerchief to clean her face and when she looked at it she noticed nothing was there. Was he playing with her? When she looked at him he was still staring so she shook her head in case she had anything in her hair.
Benjamin felt his wolf trying to come out because he had found his mate but at the same time he was too weak to even move an inch. Her wavy and voluptuous brown hair glistened in the light of the setting sun and to him she was shinning brighter than the sun. She looked at him, confusion apparent in her eyes and when she parted her lips to speak his heart skipped a few beats.
"What is it?" she asked worried.
"Beauty." he answered and her hands that had been roughly running through her tangled hair dropped to her lap like he had drained her energy.