Mom walks beside the prince and I'm on the other side of her. He walks up to a group of gruff-looking men. I try to pull away from mom but she pulls me back and gives me a disapproving look.
"How are you men doing this evening." She looks at each of the males with a hungry look.
"Hello female chief. It's been a while." One of them speaks up.
"Chief of Black Rock. I'm glad you could make it." Her voice changed again.
"Yes, such a shame I couldn't bring my mate to meet you. She loves events like this." I love how he brought up his mate in front of mom. I smile a little. 'Serves her right.'
"Yes, the more the merrier." She squeezes my arm again and I know she's getting upset.
"Is this your little female?" Another one of the males asks. I don't like the look he's giving me.
"Yes, mine and the generals." She sounds proud but now that the attention is going to me I know she'll be upset. I keep my eyes down not wanting to look at any of them.
"Have you chosen a mate for her yet? I don't have a mate yet and am looking. We'll have a deeper connection if she becomes mine now." The second male offers.
"Not yet she's only 12 we still have another 2 years before we start looking for her first mate."
"What a shame. What if I become her protector till she has her first heat then she can become my mate after." He's still trying. It's so disgusting I want to vomit.
"What could a small village chief possibly give to a family that is more successful?" The prince speaks up for me, or at least I think he is.
"What can a punk third prince give her?" The other male tries to counter.
"I don't want her. I was just saying this so you don't get your hopes up. After all, she's a priestess now. She is beautiful, has her own power, and has a powerful family to back her up." He says it so matter of factly. My heart flutters a little and my face heats some. Why is my face heating up over a couple of words?
"This is true."
"That's true, he never said he wanted her."
We hear the whispers come one after the other.
"The prince is right we'll need to find someone who's also powerful so he won't be outshined by my daughter." Wow, I didn't think mom would ever have my back like this.
Finally, our chief walks up and I feel like I could finally breathe.
"And what are we talking about here?" He nods to everyone here in acknowledgement.
"Our little female here has male beasts who want to court her." My mother says sharply.
"Oh really. Isn't she still too young for that?" He looks at me a little worried. I point with my eyes at mom.
"She is, which is why I turned them down for now."
"That's good." Chief dad says. I try to let go of mom again but she won't let me. I would rather be by chief dad than my mom.
I look to dad hoping he would save me, but he gives me a disappointed look.
"I see the prince is among this group. How are you liking things so far."
"You have a beautiful village chief."
"Thank you. I'll get one of my kids to show you where you'll be staying. Lyria could you find Sunny for me and get him to show the prince where he'll be staying." Chief dad is a genius.
"Yes of course father," I say this way too quickly.
"Looks like someone is eager to get away from the grownups." The adults start to laugh. My face heats up again.
"Excuse me mother I'll be leaving now." I slide my arm out of hers.
"Just be back before the ceremony starts."
"May I go with you? I can just follow your brother once you find him." The prince asks me. I look to Chief father again to see what he says. He nods his head yes.
"Yes, that's fine," Chief father answers.
We walk off together to search for my oldest brother.