𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅

chapter seventy-four

Emriana

"And then, you have the Traveling Council. They're in charge of everything that requires communication outside of the kingdom. They're trained diplomatic who are very experienced negotiators. Every time a citizen of Ekudal is involved in some kind of issue outside the kingdom, they will be the one in charge of representing him," Drakkar explained, and I nodded.

"Each council meets on a monthly basis at the castle. They check in on what they're working on and share important information regarding different matters that could be helpful to the council," I looked away from the book he held, tilting my head back to look at him. He continued to talk, but his eyes shifted to me, and I smiled, kissing his chest before turning around to face the book as he turned the page.

"Do you have to attend as King?"

"Usually, yes, but because we are swamped, we send our advisers. They know where we stand and know what we want," he replied, and I nodded, taking in all the information he had just told me.

We'd been sitting for a few hours in his library as he showed me different books on the protocol of Ekudal. I was sitting between his legs, my back flushed against his chest as he taught me different things about the castle's history and the different roles of every council.

"That's interesting."

"You think? I don't." I chuckled.

"Show me something you're interested in," I said, turning to face him. He raised a brow.

"Something I'm interested in?" I nodded. He thought about it for a few seconds before standing from the floor and walking deeper into the library. I heard his boots shuffle against the wooden floor before he came back with a thicker book and lowered himself to the floor next to me.

My eyes traveled to the book. The Royal Astronomy Archive.

He flipped through the book, stopping on a drawn map of the sky.

"So this is how the sky looked fifty years ago in Ekudal. What is so fascinating about it is that it changed over time for a reason we have yet to understand. As you can see here, if you look at the position of this specific star, it's supposed to be visible from May to June, but now it's visible in winter. I have studied for long the different..." he continued to talk, but my eyes were set on his face. He wore an almost boyish smile as he talked about the stars. He looked so beautiful, so happy. His eyes were shimmering with passion as he gestured to the different stars, naming them by heart.

I smiled, losing myself as I stared at him. I wish he could look this happy all the time. His eyes left the book to find I was staring at him. He stopped talking.

"What?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"Nothing," I said, pecking his cheek as I leaned toward his book and started asking him random questions about the little I knew about astronomy. He answered them with a passionate smile.

"If you want, I could show you the new star that appeared recently with my telescope," he offered, pulling me up, and tucking the book under his arm as he pulled me into a different room. I bit the inside of my cheek to contain my smile as I watched him be so giddy at the idea of showing something he cared about. It wasn't something that he shared with his brothers, it was his.

He pushed a door open, and there was a telescope facing a giant window.

"Drakkar. This is amazing." I approached it, taking in the complexity of the invention.

"I've never seen one in real life," I said, my fingers running over it slowly, afraid to break it.

"It's one of the very few in the world, I think," he said, his eyes flicking between me and the telescope.