The Changeling

Chapter 12

"Prince, may I have a moment of your time, please?" Spencer asks as I enter the castle at the end of my three hour training.

"Of course you may," I reply with a tired grin. "What can I help you with?"

Wiping my sweaty forehead off with the sleeve of my loose long sleeve white shirt as I follow Spencer into the conference room that has a medium size wooden table that is big enough to seat ten people. I will admit I watched Spencer's ass the entire time he walks in front of me. On top of the table there are multiple papers laid out with two other men in the room leaning over the table while looking at the table.

"We would like your input on a small problem that we are having," Spencer explains with a hand gesture toward the men, and the papers laid on the table.

"What is the problem?" I curiously ask as I glance briefly at the papers closet to me.

The two men straighten to look at Spencer and I with furrowed brows. Spencer introduces them to me as Hunter Olson, the assistant Royal Advisor, and Maxwell Hall who is the War Advisor.

"The small problem is we have several Kingdoms who want an alliance with us, and we want your opinion on these applications," Spencer explains with a sigh. "We will give you all the information we have on each application, and then you will give us your thoughts."

"Do the King and Queen know you are asking for my thoughts on this?" I nervously ask, not wanting them or me to have any trouble with them on this subject.

Chewing on my lower lip as I wait for an answer from any of them, and Spencer does; "They do know. King Sol actually is the one who suggested we have you help us."

"O-okay," I say, wondering why he would request this, but I can worry about why Sol would want me to do this.

"These Kingdoms we feel would make great allies, and these Kingdoms we feel would be bad allies, and we will explain why in a moment," Hunter says in a deep voice as his arm muscles bulge and flex as he gestures toward each pile.

Mmmhhh, muscles are my weakness. Bad Alaska, focus on the subject at hand.

"Okay, can we start with the applicants who you don't feel are good applicants?" I ask nervously as I chew on my lower lip again.

"Absolutely," Maxwell says as he gestures for us to sit down, and I figure this is going to take a while.

Sitting down next to Spencer with Hunter and Maxwell sitting across from us, and we spend the next hour going over the Kingdoms they feel wouldn't be good allies, and why. By the end of the hour, we have agreed on ten of the thirteen in that pile are not good allies. The three that are left, Spencer and Maxwell will present these to King Sol later. We spend another hour going over the applications of the Kingdoms they believe to be excellent allies, and we agree on eight of the nine. Rolling my shoulders as the four of us stand from the tables, my shoulders and neck have a bunch of knots. I need a long, hot shower to try and get rid of the annoying knots.

"I am off for a shower, if you no longer need me?" I tell the three men with a tired sigh.

"Go take your shower, but before you go, may I ask you a question?" Spencer asks with a worried expression.

"Sure, what is up?" I answer with a tired smile.

Spencer fidgets between his feet as he clears his throat once before saying; "I, ah, I am wondering if I can, ah, take you to dinner tonight?"

Oh, my goodness, he is so damn cute!

Smiling brightly at him as I nod; "I would be homered, too! What time, where do I meet you, and how should I dress?"

His shoulders sag in relief as he brightly smiles back at me; "I am picking you up at your bedroom at 5 p.m., and dress causally but comfortably."

Nodding, I can't help the giddiness that I am feeling; "I will be ready by then, and I am excited!"

His smile broadens into a grin; "I am, too, and I am really glad you said yes! We need this time to get to know each other better since we will be working together closely in the future."

My smile instantly drops off my lips as I realize this isn't a causal date like I thought it was. My mistake since I should have realized it was just a 'get to know you better' dinner for my future position, and his current position.

"I am going to shower now, and let Eilonwy know I am leaving the castle later," I say, trying to keep the disappointment from my tone.

Spencer nods with an odd look at me that I don't understand. Giving him a small wave, I head toward Eilonwy's room to let him know of the plan, and then lock myself in my room to shower in the en-suit bathroom.

Stepping out of the en-suit bathroom after my hot, steamy shower thirty minutes later when there is a knock on the door, so I holler out; "Just a moment, please!"

Quickly pulling off the burgundy towel from my hips to quickly pull on a pair of black boxer brief underwear, and then a pair of dark gray leggings.

Walking over to the door, I open it, and internally groat at the sight of Bronx who is standing in the hallway with a dorky grin on his lips; "Can I help you, Bronx?"

"Why are you having dinner with Spencer McCoy outside of the castle?" he demands angrily, skipping any type of greeting as he has a scowl on his face with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

I don't bother giving him a verbal answer, instead I just shut the door in his face, locking the door again before I pull on a form fitting black long sleeve shirt. Brushing my teeth and hair, I pull my hair up into a tight bun, and spray myself with body spray.