The Rising Pheonix

Chapter 38

King Caster POV

I stood outside awaiting the meeting room awaiting my cue, double thinking my wardrobe. Deciding to give my full respect to Prince Jacobe, I went with our royal colors, green, blue, and gold. Unfortunately, my stand-in was wearing my cape, but I had another one made that suited me better.

My cape was still in the traditional colors, however, I now had a hidden hood, hidden pockets, and less fur. I felt that with these changes it would be easier to sneak around the town because the people would be expecting something else.

The original cloak is my father's cloak, and it has been passed down for generations. It belonged to the first king of Tarnithia. Of course it's not used everyday, to preserve it and it receives inspections to see if anything needed to be mended. There has never been any alterations made other than to fix a little hole.

Under my cloak, I am wearing a forest green suit and vest with gold embellishments. My shirt and necktie are an azure blue with gold embellishments. On the back of my cloak is my family's crest: The Griffin. The Griffin is said to have been the pet of the first King. It is said that she bestowed upon him blessings that will appear in True King of Tarnithia. Since none of the Kings before me have received any special powers or blessings, I believe it is a myth to make sure each king does right by the people and kingdom. 

"Stanley!" I hear my name being called for the room and I walk in. My eyes go straight to my stand in who was against us telling the truth. Then I look around the room and find the last person I expected, Everett.

My eyes widen slightly and I clear my throat awkwardly. I pretend that I don't know them because I don't want my counselor's to know I left the castle again to be with the Caravan. I open my mouth to welcome Prince Jacobe and his group when he beats me to it.

"I knew you were hiding something, STANLEY!" He shouts accusingly.

"The same could be said of you, Everett," I say calmly.

By now the whole room is in a state of confusion and everyone is speaking loudly, trying to figure out what's going on. I sigh and continue walking to my seat, at the head of the table. My stand in rises silently and positions himself behind me. The whole time, Everett and his group is quiet and all have their eyes trained on me and my counselors are beside themselves trying to understand how and when I met with a foreign prince. Tired of their rambunctious yelling, I take my seat and immediately they settle down. The entire atmosphere has shifted letting everyone know we are back to our meeting. 

"Now then, I'm sure you all have questions, and I promise I'll get to them at a later time. However, we must deal with the matter at hand, Prince Jacobe and the Princess." I say using my authoritative tone and gesturing to our guest.

Feeling embarrassed at being admonished in front of our guest, my council members grunt a few times before being completely quiet. Honestly, the only reason why they are here is to have witnesses on an official capacity. I could forgo all formalities and dismiss them, which they know. 

"Prince Jacobe, please accept my apologies. It was never my intention to deceive you. However, as I'm sure you're aware, when you are away from the palace it isn't safe to use your real name. People could come up to you for the wrong reasons so a disguise and a fake name is necessary." I tell him and I could tell that he understood. 

"Now that we know each others real identity, I hope we can foster a real friendship like the one our parents had." Jacobe said with a smile.

"That sounds great. But first things first. We need to discuss living arrangements, guard detail, money, status, etc." As I was talking I noticed some of the councilmen begin to take notes as these things pertained to what they do in the castle or what they oversee.

"There is something I want to discuss regarding living arrangements, if I may?" He asks politely. I nod and he continues to talk. 

"Well it is something I had ample time to think about, however, there are somethings I m still mulling over. First, I think it is important we live in the capital, but not the castle. If King Desmond sends people after us, which I'm sure he will he may send envoys on 'official' business. We will have a greater chance of being discovered that way. I think the best place would be somewhere secluded but close to the Nobles. On second thought, I don't want strange rumors floating around about us for being secluded." Jacobe paused, seemingly in thought.

"I can see this is something you are putting a lot of thought into, and I understand the gravity of the situation, I'll make sure you both are very safe. Rumors are indeed a scary thought, so I can place you close to some trusted families. They even have young children, so the Princess will not grow up lonely. If I may, I never learned her name." I said.

"Right, it slipped my mind. Her name is Elnora. She is named after our grandmother."