“Senta and I thought that might be the case.”
So Senta and Gerard, having known his stepmother for only an extremely short time, had picked up on something his father had not noticed in twenty years.
“Cousin Gerard.” A monk approached them.
“Clara.” Gerard smiled at the woman with her shaved head, beige robes, and copper chains hanging around her neck. “Have you met my betrothed, Prince Elias?”
“Not yet.” She inclined her head. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Elias.”
“You too, Monk Clara,” Elias said. “How long have you been in the monkhood?”
“Since the war,” she said. “I wished to work towardspeace after spending so many years as an agent of destruction. It is a truly wonderful path to be on.” She smiled. “Anyway, I wanted to wish you both luck on your couple’s quest.”
“Thank you, cousin,” Gerard said.
“May peace guide your steps.” She bowed and withdrew.
“I didn’t know you had a monk in the family.”
Gerard nodded. “Father rants about it all the time. He keeps saying she abandoned her bloodline and her kingdom. He doesn’t understand it at all.”
Elias watched Monk Clara walk away. “I don’t think I’d like to be a monk. There are so many rules and vows. But I give them lots of money so they can continue doing all their good works. That way I can tell myself I’m contributing to peace whilst not having to shave my head.”
Elias slid a hand down his hair. Then he smirked. “And I don’t need to take a vow of chastity.”
Gerard cleared his throat. “I, ah … appreciate that you have not taken that vow.”
Elias sipped his wine and smiled. They’d become intimate a couple of times in the days since the Tournament of Dragons. And since their marriage was part of creating the peace treaty, he could claim he was doing it for peace.
It was a lot more fun than shaving his head, wearing ugly robes with a silly dove on the front, and being celibate for life in the name of peace.
Konrad stood alone by a table. He held a glass of wine and glared at Shadow Prince Wraith, the tall, lean, and deathly pale necromancer.
“Does Konrad hate Shadow Prince Wraith?” Elias whispered.
Gerard glanced at his brother and the shadow prince. “He hates all necromancers. And he will be required to marry one of them.”
“Yes. I am aware that Necros required that as part of the peace treaty,” Elias said.
Gerard hesitated. “Konrad also thinks the necromancers were colluding with Warden Flint.”
“Does he? Why does he think that?”
Gerard exhaled. “Honestly, he just hates them. Even before any attempt to destroy the treaty came about, he ranted about how evil they all were.”
“So he has no actual proof?”
Gerard shook his head. “No. Just a general dislike of them. Father thinks he is prejudiced.”
“What do you think?” Elias asked.
“I’m not sure. All the necromancers make me uncomfortable. The stuff they did during the war …” He paused. “But I don’t know if that means they are part of this new plot.”
Elias nodded. He stared at Shadow Prince Wraith, the only necromancer present today. The man stared off and up into the distance, dark eyes unfocused. Elias glanced in the direction he stared. He saw only blue sky and clouds.
He looked back at the shadow prince. He continued to stare at the sky, face blank and gaze unseeing. Meanwhile Konrad kept glaring at him.
Grand Monk Ferdinand approached them. “Prince Elias. Prince Gerard.” He bowed. “Are you ready to begin the couple’s quest?”
