“Yes. Not that they aren't good people. But they can be almost barbaric, severely lacking in manners. They've beenhibernating, you see. Sleeping so long that their culture didn't progress. They're uncivilized.”
“So, what you're saying is, this king doesn't know any better. He didn't send word of his visit because he didn't know he needed to.”
Shale grimaced. “Well, he won't learn if I don't show him the error of his ways.”
“He won't learn if you're just rude back either. Maybe you should, I don't know,saysomething?”
“Certainly. I'll just welcome him to court and tell him that he was rude to show up unannounced.”
“Don't act as if you don't know how to be diplomatic.”
He rolled his eyes.
“You're behaving like a child.”
“Excuse me?” Shale scowled at me. “I am three hundred sixteen years old.”
“Holy fuck!”
“What?”
“You're really fucking old!”
The driver snorted, then coughed to cover it.
“I'm aDragon, Sebastian.”
“I know, but I didn't know you were that old.”
Then I realized that Shale had spent more than half of his life unhappy and cut off from love. How sad was that?
“I see pity in your eyes, and I don't like it,” Shale said.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “But if you're that old, you should know better.”
“What?”
“You have no excuse for acting childish. I, however, feel justified in my childish behavior. I think it's become imperative now.”
“Imperative?”
“For me to act like a child.”
“Act like a child, and I will punish you like one.”
“Are we talking about a spanking?” I asked eagerly. “Because then I'm definitely acting like a child.”
Shale snorted.
A few minutes later, we reached the city. The driver called back to us, “Are we headed to the castle, Your Majesty?”
I lifted a brow at Shale.
He sighed deeply, then grudgingly said, “Yes.”
I kissed his cheek. “I'm so proud of you. After all, one of us should be an adult.”
“I don't see why it has to be me,” he muttered.
