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Fuck.
"Hello, Your Majesty." I keep my voice from quivering, but only barely. "My apologies, I was under the impression I would be dining alone tonight."
One corner of his mouth picks up in that half-smile I already hate. "Well, it seemed rather rude to invite you to my home and let you dine by yourself."
"As I remember," I finally begin moving again, taking a few more steps toward the table, "it wasn't you who invited me, but one of your advisors. Perhaps Shan would like to join me instead."
The smile drops from his face so deathly quick that I almost freeze in place. "He's otherwise occupied."
When I reach the only other chair, set directly across from the king, someone appears from the shadows and pulls the seat out for me. Only then do I realize there is an entire team of people waiting in the wings for orders from their king.
I thank the servants for their help and lift my eyes to see that the king is watching me. His gray gaze is so impassive that I fear if I touched him, I would feel nothing at all. Clearing my throat, I attempt to make conversation, something I usually do as easily as breathing, though even taking a single breath feels monumental in the stiff silence of this room.
"I deeply appreciate your hospitality, Your Majesty. My room is lovely." Someone places a drink in front of me, and I don't even hesitate to reach for it. I just want something to do with my hands.
He simply hums his assent, taking a sip from his own glass of sweet, mystery liquid.
He's waiting for me to say something else, but I can be stubborn and silent, too.
We stare at each other, both pretending to be polite but infinitely irritated at the situation before us.
"Shan mentioned that you are new to your position. How new?" he finally asks.
I refuse to tell him that this is my first official job. "Fairly new. However, I've been training and preparing for this for many years now."
He hmmm's again. "And what does that look like? Your training? Forgive me for saying, but you certainly don't seem old enough to be leading a country."
A small laugh escapes me as someone places a bowl of soup before me. "We are nearly the same age, Your Majesty. If your file is right, you're only a few years older than me, so we stepped into leadership at almost the same time. How long did you train to take the throne?"
He takes a small sip of his broth before answering, "Since childhood."
My brows reach for my hairline. "That's impossible."
With that infuriating half-smile, he argues, "I assure you it is not. I killed a bird and brought it back to life when I was only three. My family knew then I would become a great and powerful king. And here I am." At that statement, his first full smile appears, the perfect white teeth hiding behind those lips showing themselves. I had half-expected fangs, yet his smile is just plain gorgeous. Unnervingly so.
Gods damn him.
"A great and powerful king," I muse. "And yet you felt so threatened by simple messengers that you had them killed and sent back?" Before answering, he blinks a few times, taken aback by my brazenness. Though to be fair, so am I.
He points his soup spoon at me. "Let's be clear. I did not have them killed. I happily did it myself. Unlike Rhyma, I prefer to do my own dirty work. You and your people sent page boys to speak with a king. You respect me and my nation so little that you sent nobodies to meet me."
"I-" I hadn't thought of it that way. "That was not our intention."
"And yet it's what you did."
"Well, you have my deepest apologies," I tell him sincerely. "Truly, Your Majesty, we were only trying to... open up lines of communication for the future. It was never a slight against you or your people."
He nods, condescension dripping in his tone when he says, "And you know this because you've been a part of your government for what, three days now?"
My cheeks warm for the second time today because of this man, and I nearly slam my spoon on the table before me. Instead, I take a deep breath and let the admittedly completely accurate insult come and go, not allowing it to change my behavior. "So you have done your research. Funny, today you thought I was a whore, and yet now suddenly you know everything about me."
Alright, perhaps it did change my behavior. A little.
Unaffected by the jab, he continues, "You've only just entered the world of politics, and unfortunately for you, you've brought along this idea that everyone has as good of intentions as you do. But they don't." Before I can argue, he adds, "We don't."
I scoff, "I don't think I was ever under the impression that you had good intentions for me here."
He smiles again. "And that's why you've added a provision that any harm that befalls you whilst in Oksangui is grounds for immediate war from all of your allies?"
