Ever After

☾Chapter Seventeen ☽

"I want to thank all of you for coming." The king announced. "With the new peace treaty between Siral and Rosenfelle," the King nodded towards where they were standing, "I feel we have taken one step closer to where we were before the great war. Over the course of the week I hope that we can ease any tight tensions and find tranquility between all kingdoms." The king finished, and everyone in the room applauded.

"So, Wylliam." The king of Cithaca turned towards Ever and him, "You haven't introduced me to your lovely friend here." The king then took Ever's hand and kissed the back of it with a bow.

"Ever Lockewood." Ever smiled with a curtsy.

"What a beautiful name." The king grinned. "I am King Ciro, the great king of Cithaca."

"A pleasure." Wyll took a step closer to Ever and wrapped his arm around her waist. Ever glanced over at him with a raised brow as Wyll pretended not to notice. "And of course, Prince June. How lovely it is to see you again." Ever smiled.

"Always a joy, Ever. Wyll, why don't you introduce Ever to some of the other royalty, instead of staying around for whatever stuffy conversation comes out of this guy." June laughed nudging Ciro with his elbow.

Ciro cast a glare at June before sighing.

"June, why don't we go help ourselves to the buffet table?" Ciro offered grabbing June's arm before he could say another word.

"June seems to be the same as ever." Ever whispered to Wyll.

"I suppose. Here, let me introduce you to King Ignado." Wyll motioned to a man with large leathery black wings. With the mention of his name the man turned with a smile.

"Wylliam. I was surprised when I heard that your old man was sending you in his place, I was quite looking forward to some old banter." King Ignado laughed.

"I was surprised too. Ignado, this is the charming Ever Lockewood."

"How many adjectives would Wyll go through the entire night just to describe her?" Ever wondered.

"It's nice to meet you your majesty." Ever curtsied.

"The future queen of Siral? And here I thought your father would have to arrange something." Ignado laughed.

Wyll chuckled awkwardly in reply, and a sinking feeling started in the pit of Ever's stomach.

"Uh, King Ignado is the ruler of Charrokar, also known as the land of dragons." Wyll completed the introduction.

Ever noticed out of the corner of her eye a man standing by himself near the back corner. He had scales that covered parts of his face and most of his left arm. He also had two tusk-like horns protruding from his jaw.

"Ever?" Wyll asked. Ever noticed that Ignado had left to converse with Ciro and June by the buffet table.

"Who is that?" Ever nodded in the direction of the man.

"Fenris, King of Critine." Wyll replied.

"The land of monsters." Ever mumbled.

"Everyone keeps in good relations with him, but... we keep our distance." Wyll added.

"Hmm..." Was all Ever replied before marching over to the corner where he stood.

"Good Evening." Ever smiled. "I'm Ever." She held her hand out in front of her.

Fenris looked like a deer caught in headlights for a second, before his face softened and he shook Ever's hand.

"Fenris. Sorry, I don't usually expect to be talked to at these sort of things." He mumbled.

"And why is that?" Ever asked with a warm smile.

"I'm a hybrid." Fenris's eyes darted towards the ground.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ever questioned, she then glanced behind to notice that Wyll was watching her from a distance, and so were some of the other royals. Ever rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Is it because all the other royals are 'purebreds'." Ever quoted the word with her hands, she then laughed. King Fenris calmed down and let out a chuckle.

He looked to be a little bit older than June, but not by much.

"Yes, they don't like the idea that I can be many creatures at once."

Ever laughed and rolled her eyes once again. "I don't understand the whole 'hybrids are different' situation. My godmother was half centaur, half dragon, and she told me all about how unfair it was." Her godmother was also a witch on top of that, which made life even more difficult.

"It's hard, that's why I love my island though. Critine is a place of welcoming, for anyone."

"I'm glad that there's somewhere that is." Ever smiled.

"Thank you for talking to me." Fenris beamed for a second, "but I think we're causing a stir."

Ever glanced over her shoulder to see all the other royals with eyes now fully trained on them.

"Eh, they're sticks in the mud." Ever laughed. "Why don't you join everyone?" Ever offered.

"I don't think they'd appreciate that."

"They invited you, didn't they?" Ever challenged before turning away to join Wyll.

"Ever." Wyll shook his head as he pulled Ever next to him.

"So? Is this your lovely lady?" The king of Thouria questioned.

"Yes, King Irving, this is Lady Ever." Ever smiled, just now realizing how many names she now had to remember.

"Well, Lady Ever. There's no use talking to King Fenris, he's not the sort for gatherings. It's best to just leave him be." King Irving grinned.

"I understand that your highness, but-" Ever noticed Wyll glare at her not to finish her sentence, "he was quite grateful for the conversation, and I made it a goal to get to know all the royalty as per Wylliam's request." If Ever was going to get chastised for anything, she was going to take Wyll down with her.

"How sweet." The King grinned again. "And very diplomatic of you."

Ever beamed and held her head with pride, a low-key version of "I told you so" to Wyll.

The king then glanced around the room. "If you all would like to join me in the dining hall, dinner is ready."

After dinner, a maid was assigned to each royal to show them to their rooms.

"Prince Wylliam, Lady Ever, this is your room." The maid curtsied, stopping in front of a room on the same hall as all the other royals.

"Room?" Wyll hesitated, and Ever took quick note of the situation.

"Thank you very much." She smiled, before pushing the door to the room open, and pulling Wyll inside.

"I'm sorry, Ever. I didn't really think- "

Ever cut him off, "Wyll calm down, it's fine. I mean, technically we're together. Besides, the bed is probably the size of the continent of Edor." Ever laughed.

***Hello Lovelies! Thank you for reading! I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!🎄 I'm still trying to get back on track for writing, thank you for bearing with me. I hope you all had a great year, and hopefully 2018 has lots in store!!***