Alpha King and I

Chapter 20: Politics are Dangerous

We were all dressed in outfits that were as comfortable as being roughly tied to a million crickets. The oval table held many men, who were all wearing formal looking suits or official military clothing. Cadeth was in the same royal clothing he always had to wear, while I was for the first time in the apparent formal attire of a queen.

Nothing like any of the clothing I had seen here before. It's main composition was of Devaleon long ceiba fiber, or wiceiba for short. A material similar in feel to silk, which came out of the pods of the Devaleon Ceiba Tree. This wiceiba was apparently what our bed linens were made of as well, and one of the most beloved materials of Devaleon.

Baba went on and on about it as she dressed me this morning in preparation of the meeting. Even telling me they had a species of Ceiba on earth, just not one which could be easily made into a fabric. She had pridefully boasted about this, punching her chest as she had told me.

Instead of my more usual comfortable dresses, I currently wore a set of long dark gray and violet wiceiba pants, which were awkwardly corseted with bone at the ankle, and lined on the outside with leather padding hooked twice loosely at the thigh, calf, and upper ankle. My top was a matching wiceiba tunic which went down to my knees and had slits down the sides all the way to my hip. Underneath the tunic was a thicker bone corset lined with what felt like a sturdy jacquard fabric, not wiceiba, but something else. Something far thicker and slightly warmer.

If it wasn't for the leather belt, with a porusae stone and silver flower emblem tied to the center, wrapped and secured tightly underneath my chest, emphasizing it, I would have thought this outfit looked similar to an ao dai dress from Vietnam on Earth. That and the very large tailored cut-out along my shoulder and partially up my neck, which allowed for the mark to be revealed.

My hair was French braided down, which was fine, but then I had a stiff thin crown pinned to my hair, a crown of what looked like pure silver, with very little design beyond a few notches. Cadeth wore his crown as well, though it was not secured. It did not matter, it seemed to hold its place regardless of how he moved. I let my gaze wander again toward the current speaker.

He was to the left of us slightly down, we were at the head of the table, Cadeth and I. The man was going on and on about that which I knew nothing of, in relation to more matters I was completely clueless on. This had pretty much been my entire time here so far. Feeling dumb and uncomfortable. Sometimes my eyes would shift toward Cadeth, wanting to ask a basic question so I could feel like I at least participated a little bit. Though I felt too ashamed, beyond that, I did not even know if I was allowed to speak. It was in this moment now, as I began to more brazenly outright stare at the man still talking, that the realization that I hadn't prepared in even the slightest hit me.

Coming into this meeting with the level of knowledge equivalent to a buffoon, how dare I even claim what I did to Prince Tei.

The slamming of the man's fist brought my thoughts back to moment at hand. He'd brought his fist down so hard he cracked the table. No one seemed to care, but it admittedly scared me a bit. My body shivered slight upon hearing the sound.

Why was this man so angry? So far, although similar in aggression, no one here had given off such a vibe in their speech nor hit the table so hard as to actually crack it. My eyes quickly darted toward Cadeth to check his reaction. See if it was okay or not. His hands were interlaced together, roughly holding up his chin as he stayed in the same position he had been for the past hour. I guess it was totally fine. Though I really wish it wasn't. An accidental sigh escaped my lips.

Suddenly, Cadeth looked at me. A flash of a glare shadowed his gaze before turning back toward the speaker before us. My fingers gripped tightly at the one of the slits of my tunic.

Could my first given impression at this meeting get any worse?

Cadeth raised his hand. The speaker went silent.

Indeed it could.

Was he going to call me out on my actions? In front of everyone? I desperately looked at him, pleading with my eyes, but he just continued to look in the direction of the speaker. After a moment, he calmly spoke.

"Lunter. Place your hand against this table in such away again, and you will find you no longer have one." The speaker's eyes widened in shock. I suppressed my own feelings.

Apparently, cracking the table indeed wasn't okay. Now I only wish I could take that sigh back even more than I had wished just some time before.

The tone in the speaker's voice dropped multiple octaves as he pandered, "I me-meant no disrespect your highne-"

"You did. Leave." Cadeth's sharp command cut him off abruptly. Just as abrupt, the at the time speaker, Lunter, practically fell out of his own seat as he pushed it away and rushed out of the room. Everyone was much more careful the rest of the meeting.

It finally came to an end, the men left in haste, then Cadeth and I followed suit. Leaving much more graciously and walking with a slower more elegant pace. At least I knew that much. Baba had warned me how maintaining decorum required royalty to rarely rush.

Cadeth was walking me to our room, before we would part ways. I would head over to the Doctor's, and he would head off to another meeting. A more private one, with some ruler of another realm. I kept my gaze to the floor. We were almost there when he stepped in front of me, blocking my way. Unsure of what was happening, I attempted to sidestep away from him only to hit his arm, which he then moved with just enough force to push me back into the wall beside us. I could feel both his hands land onto the cold stone, merely centimeters from my face. Completely blocking me. His body was close, nearly against my own.

Finally I looked up. I could see his jawline as it curved away from his neck. His broad shoulder blocking my view of anything else.

His lips brushed against my neck as he breathed out, "Next time you have a thought, whisper it in my ear."

I nodded in agreement, trying to pull my neck back and away. Resting my head on his arm slightly. A low growl rumbled from his lips. He moved closer. Now pushing me into the wall fully with his own body. His face now pressed into my neck, I could move no further.

My stomach turned and twisted. I could feel my heartbeat racing. Yet my mind stayed calm. A sensation of warmth overcame me, jolting the cold anxiety hiding in my center. He exhaled another heated breath, but this time onto my shoulder. Then he moved away, letting me go.

We began walking again, but now we walked with at least half a meter of space between us. Finally reaching our destination, I nervously waved in Cadeth's direction. He was looking opposite to where I stood, but he waved back. We parted ways.

Time to get the Doctor.

Author Note: The image included, is just an image of what an Ao Dai can look like. :) Posting another chap. early since I'm switching to posting on Friday from now on instead of Wednesday. Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think. ^^