88. The Lying Princes

Reya was not wrong.

She could indicate it like pointing out an elephant sitting in a bath house. She watched as the Body languages of the Princes quickly changed, their shoulders recoiling and laying back, as though they were relaxing. And even though they did not seem as high guarded as usual, she could tell they were worried about her reaction from the tightness of their muscles.

“You’re surprised that I know,” she sniffed, wiping furiously at her eyes.

“If you could wipe my memory, you would,”

“No,” Armani shook his head, his eyes desperate and earnest as he took a tentative step towards her.

“I don’t enjoy lying. It was hard for me,”

“Yet you acted along all this while. Don’t try to tell me what was hard for you and what was not! I refuse to listen to that crap. You certainly seemed to be enjoying yourself when you battled with your swords in front of me. I’ve had not one, not two, *not even three* mental breakdowns because I hated that you two were enemies- all to figure out that this has all been a facade?” She spat.

“It’s not like that,” Aidan cut into the conversation, his blonde hair rippling like waves in the cool breeze as he shook his head.

“We’re not enemies, but it doesn’t mean we are the best of friends. Every fight with him is authentic. It’s how we grew up,”

Reya let out a stupefied laugh.

“You’re blaming all of this on Sibling rivalry? Are you out of your bloody mind?”

“It’s complicated. But I promise you, I never meant to hurt you-“

“Don’t come close and don’t touch me,” she warned, wagging her finger in the air hysterically.

“Reya please. It was important for us. We would never lie to you without reason. Just listen to us,”

Reya shakily made her way to her bed, her legs springy and weak.

“ I’m not quite certain there’s anything that would make me want to listen to you two. Nothing,” she blinked repeatedly to keep her tears away.

“You all seem to make plans and decisions for me as though I were a burden- or, or a toddler. I’m Eight and Twenty. I have problems That bother me. I do not deserve to be treated as though I were weak minded,”

“We don’t think you are,” Armani pressed.

“And I promise it’s a good reason. Please listen to me- us,” Aidan pleaded, his fists clenching and unclenching.

“Not today,” she refused, drawing her knees to her chest.

She hated how tears gathered in her eyes when she was upset. In fact, she had been a little too hormonal these days.

“Just not now. Maybe tomorrow, during Bethanie’s wedding- or after. Preferably after,”

“Something important needs to be told today, however,” The blonde Prince said, his mouth slanting into a grimace.

“What?” Reya perked her head up, staring at him through her eyelashes.

“The court is not satisfied with our ‘proposal’ and apparently, my mother is not ready to let go of her own engagement ring. We’ve been asked to perform a real ceremony and get down on our knees in front of the nobles, as custom,” Aidan explained.

“God,” Reya groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead.

“Our wedding date has also been... manipulated,” he grimaced before attempting for a more sympathetic smile.

“What?” Reya repeated, her face losing color.

“With you gone from court while you worked on the cure, we’ve been attacked by the Parliament. They want us to get married before the end of the mating season,”

Reya’s heart leaped into her throat in such a way she was finding it hard to swallow and breathe.

“The mating season ends in late November....” she trailed off.

But that is only in a month and some weeks!

“But I don’t have my dragon! And-and,”

“You shouldn’t have told her,” The Lord of The Sea glanced at his brother, a small frown forcing his full lips into a pout.

“No no it’s fine. Is there- is there anything else?”

The Princes went quiet.

Reya already knew it was nothing but bad news waiting to be shared.

“What’s going on?” She demanded, her voice squeaky and worried.

The Princes shared a look, their eyes conveying the words before anything fell out of their mouths.

“They- they want you to give us an heir before the mating season ends,” It was Armani that finally broke the trance and spoke up.

Reya froze, her eyes blowing wide with shock. This was worse than she had imagined. This could only mean that the wedding would take place in less than a month- or a month exactly because it took just a week for a dragon shifter to find out she had conceived.

“What did your parents say? Surely the Parliament can’t force us to do their bidding,”

“Silent. They weren’t even present, though I suppose it’s a befitting punishment for what I did. I’m sorry you have to pay the penalty for my crimes,”

Reya’s head fell against her satin pillows, her hair tucked and secured in a bonnet of similar material.

There was no way on earth she planned on having a baby in this castle, not when her life was constantly endangered. She was tired of having to persecute the nobles against her life in the parliament, weary of getting more enemies.

They had done so much to her in the past few months, showing her that they cared less she was the only one that could protect this kingdom with her cure.

If her life mattered so little to her, then what about a harmless unborn baby? (Or babies. She had heard that all the Royal mates of the past dragon kings had twins)

“I won’t,” she refused immediately.

“They have a lot of nerve indicating what I do with my womb,” she snapped heatedly, her eyes narrowing at the Princes.

“You can keep those things hanging in between your legs away from me,”

Aidan let out a soft chuckle and Armani glared at him, causing Him to press his lips together.

“I suppose this is enough for today. After the wedding, we’ll tell you all that you need to know,”

“Goodnight,” she told them, settling into her sheets.

She was too exhausted to be petty with them.

“Goodnight, Reya,”

**************

Half of Reya’s maids were gone the next morning- and for good reason. The entire castle had been thrown into turmoil, with people far and near coming to attend the first wedding of one of the Lower born Princes.

Even from her bedroom, The white dragon could hear the neighing of horses and pulling over of chariots.

The Golden Castle was more than sufficient for they possessed a High Church of Selene and Helios and multiple ballrooms that could fit even two weddings.

Tanaya, who had all her funds and materials released from the red dragon clan had spent the last few days tweaking and changing the design of one of Reya’s new dresses.

After putting in a good word for Tanaya to the Queen, She had been allowed to be one of the designers of Reya’s new wardrobe. She was getting so popular with all the noble women that she had even crafted Bethanie’s wedding dress.

From here, she would be the new and hottest Modiste in The Dragon Capital. Reya was so proud of her achievements so far.

While Reya sat down in her bath, waiting for the scented oils to give her the desired scent and shine to her beautiful light brown skin, Reese, The Second Prince’s shadow walked into her bathroom, a bouquet of flowers in her hands.

Another shadow followed with another bouquet in her hands, one she was not quite conversant with.

“Prince Armani sends his flowers to his betrothed,”

“Prince Krainen sends his flowers to his betrothed,”

They said in unison before glaring at themselves afterwards. Reya suddenly felt bad for them. If only they knew that the men that had employed their services were not enemies and they did not need to compete amongst themselves.

“Isn’t that Romantic?” Lady Jessica entered the bathroom with a bang, her eyes shining with excitement.

She rushed towards Reese and picked the bouquet from her hands before touching it to her nose.

“That is strange. Carnations? I assumed they would be roses. Never mind. Carnations are more rare and equally beautiful- oh a note! Let’s see what the dashing Lord of The Sea has to say to his precious darling,”

“Jessica!” Reya snapped, her cheeks flaming.

Her green cat like eyes shone with mischievous before she turned towards the maids, a vibrant smile on her face.

“Would you excuse us? Lady Reya is rather shy of an audience and could never read her love letters out loud,”

The maids nodded hurriedly, pleasant smiles on their faces before they turned and rushed out of the bathroom.

“You’re so annoying,” Reya huffed, snatching the bouquet from her hands.

She pressed the carnations to her lose, gave it one quick sniff and took out the note.

*Good morning Reya,* his elegant cursive narrated.

Reya was never the best cursive writer in school so she felt a little bit jealous at how neat his cursive was.

*With everything told to you last night, I’m crossing my fingers and hoping you slept well. I’m assigning Reese to you today because the castle is brimming with nobles that might have evil intentions for my betrothed. I can’t wait to see you. You’re always in my thoughts.*

*Love,Armani,*

“What did it say?” Jessica pressed, peeping curiously.

“Mind your business,” Reya wrinkled her nose at her.

Jessica wiggled her shoulders, snatched the letter with lighting speed and gulped it down with her eyes in seconds.

Reese rolled the eye that was not beneath an eye patch, her lips curling.

“What is your name?” Reya turned towards the First Prince’s shadow.

“One and a half brain cell,” Reese muttered lowly.

“We seem to be sharing it, don’t we?” The Shadow grinned sardonically before turning towards Reya.

“I am Sydney. I was assigned for your protection today. It’s an honor to serve you, my lady,” she bowed before handing Reya the bouquet of red carnations.

*I’m assigning Sydney to you today. I don’t quite trust the situation in the castle at the moment. There’s so much I want to say but there’s just so little paper. I’m sorry. I miss you. I honestly can’t stop my brain from thinking about how to make this better. I can’t wait to see you after that dreadful wedding. Take care.*

*Your cunning Prince.*

“Were were you when the infamous parliament meeting was taking place?” Reya questioned Jessica.

“Oh that,” she waved her hand nonchalantly.

“The First Prince asked me not to come. He mentioned something about changing your seats and how it wouldn’t make sense if I was there. He was also worried for my safety,” she explained sufficiently.

“Are you going to get ready for the wedding?,”

“I’m not attending the ceremony. No one will notice. Living with Bethanie for two weeks in the bridal selection was more than enough. I can’t stand to attend that bloody wedding and see her preen and blush. So I came to keep you company,” she added with a soft smile.

“No Lady in Waiting of mine will be so irresponsible. Away with you,” Reya shooed her away with a friendly splash of water.

“Bossing me around already I see,” Jessica pouted.

“We can gossip to keep ourselves entertained,” Reya wiggled her eyebrows.

“Helps me catch the names of the nobles,”

Jessica’s eyes suddenly brightened.

“That’s perfect! I’ll be ready soonest. See you later!”

And with that, she was barreling out of the door.

Reya quickly got out of the bath and dried off before setting to her vanity to get ready.

Because she was in no mood to keep brushing her hair out of her nape, her hair was sleeked back into a sleek chignon.

Apparently, her mates had both sent fruit baskets much to her delight but because she had a corset to fit into, she was forced to ignore the fruits.

Reya’s dress was a stunning blend of the darkness of the night and the vibrance of the stars in the midnight sky.

The form fitting top of her dress was adorned with precious stones that glittered like falling stars, pouring over the black tulle material like a slightly overflowing cup. The rest of the dress was so dark it looked like all the light in the room had not gone near her dress. It flowed outwards generously, the material rippling with every movement. To finish her perfect look, she wore black gloves on the sleeveless dress.

A knock on the door brought Reya out of her admiral phase in the mirror.

Beta Princess Roanna stood by the door with a vibrant smile, her face as vibrant as ever.

“I have been asked to take you to your escorts,”

“The Princes?” Reya blinked, folding her arms.

“Oh Rey... don’t you know?” She chuckled.

“All the nobles came far and near to see the betrothed of the first grade Princes in their first public appearance. Barely Half of them bothered about it being Bethanie’s wedding!”

****

*My uodates have been off recently because my family just had an unfortunate and huge loss. Please bear with me and don't send hate. Thank you!*