**3rd Person POV**
When the message came to the palace of Dome, the King was furious. He at once called for the Royal werewolves he had invited to his palace. He wanted to know the reason a vampire had been so slaughtered on werewolf soil while he had been so gracious in hosting them.
Charlotte was the one to respond. She had a question for the King, himself. He had invited them to his palace on the grounds that his daughter was to be wed to someone whose in-laws were from a bloodline of werewolves. That had been a flagrant lie because she knew for a fact that Ashton was a pure-blooded vampire; it was one of the things he was proud of.
“Your Majesty, it is indeed sad that this tragedy has happened but it is a known fact that vampires are not welcome on werewolf soil. Although, I assure you that this current position is amenable,” Charlotte spoke eloquently. Reginald had a proud smile on his face. If Aunt Em were present she would see that she worried about nothing when it came to Charlotte. He had always known that his sister would make a fine queen.
“Amenable? I could not even look at the body that was returned to me! Tell me, why should I not kill you all? Eh?” the king was furious. The three heirs exchanged a look; they had to keep their cool if they wanted to get out of this alive.
“I can assure His Majesty that the death of this vampire was not intentional,” said Prince Harlin.
“He was arrested before he was killed.”
“If I may, Your Majesty, the vampire was arrested under suspicion that he was a part of the raid. Furthermore, vampires who enter werewolf settlements are required to document their entrance at the palace. He broke our laws,” said Reginald.
“Law? A man is dead and you speak of laws?” shouted the vampire king.
“It is why we must discuss and define our relationship going forward. The vampire raids have killed hundreds of werewolves and rendered many others injured. You are rightfully angered by the killing of one. Imagine how we must feel to wake up every morning to see even more werewolves killed and injured,” Charlotte quickly added.
The vampire king sighed. He knew they had a point. Major Drieden who had been called to sit in on the meeting did not like how the direction of this meeting was turning. He wanted one werewolf for the life of the vampire that had been killed. He hated that he had little control over this king. He wanted to return home where he was referenced but he was patiently waiting for Ashton's father to die.
“Your Majesty, if I may, we must not project weakness during this time. It is easy for our grief to be manipulated,” said Major Drieden. He had not said it explicitly but he had implied that he wanted blood to be shed.
“What do you suggest, Major?” asked the king to Drieden.
“We send a werewolf to them in the same manner,” the man's eyes were on Charlotte as he spoke. Reginald and Harlin instinctively drew closer to Charlotte. They would have to kill them before they got to her. However, it was Kristoff who had been quiet all through that intervened.
“We must do no such thing. We will be pronouncing war upon them if we provoke them thus. Besides, they have been suffering from incessant attacks from our kind for close to fifteen years now. It is us that are at fault.”
“Boy! You dare admit blame in the presence of our enemies?” Major Drieden was pissed. Such a thing should never be done. It was like telling the enemy that they had the upper hand.
“Admitting blame is not the same as showing weakness. And I must warn you, Major, you must address me by the title worthy of my birth,” Kristoff's voice was firm and clear. Major Drieden recoiled. Again, such a thing would never happen where he came from.
“I agree with my son. Of course, I am grateful for your counsel, Major,” the king said hastily, fearing that the two would continue to exchange words.
“It is a pleasure,” Major Drieden responded through gritted teeth.
“You should thank my son. I was ready to have heads rolling,” the king said looking at the three young Royals before him.
“I am grateful for your kindness, Prince Kristoff but there is one matter to which I seek clarity,” said Charlotte.
“You may go on,” the king allowed her to continue talking.
“In the invitations you sent, you mentioned that the groom was one who was deeply connected to the werewolves. Pray to tell, how is Prince Ashton related to any werewolves?” asked Charlotte. The hall was quiet for the next few minutes until the king broke the silence by responding with a deep-throated laugh. He laughed for a good while until he could laugh no further. Kristoff took his father's silence as his cue to explain his father's laugh.
“My father laughs because it is absolutely ridiculous that Prince Ashton would try to join himself with someone with werewolf blood.”
“My thoughts exactly. But…”
“Can you show us those invitations? We did not add such a detail to it,” said Prince Kristoff.
“I believe when we were here, the king mentioned it too,” argued Charlotte.
“Perhaps, maybe not. But it was certainly not in the invites we sent out,” replied Kristoff taking a look at the invitation Charlotte had given him. He examined it closely before reaching a conclusion, “this has been tampered with.”
His voice was tight with anger when he said those words. It was a very grave matter to tamper with letters or documents written or sent to the vampire king. It was a crime equitable to high treason.
“It must be someone who wants to drive further division between us. We will definitely investigate the matter,” assured Kristoff.