"The Harland House," she clears that up.
"We had a meeting with King Soren," I grimace and toss a look over my shoulder at Atlas. "We came up with a plan to get the other leaders to Tronovia in the next few weeks."
Finn squints. "And what plan would that be?"
The front door whips open with a tremendous thud. Nyx and a fuming Ronan march inside.
"Thanks a lot for the help back there," Ronan growls in Atlas' direction.
Atlas rolls his eyes and leans against the wall. "You're welcome."
"No, seriously," Ronan persists, storming toward us. "You couldn't have put up a little bit of a fight for me? Maybe pretend you cared about what happens to me."
"That's not fair, Rone," Nyx flips his keys around his palm, coming to Atlas' defense. "There's nothing Atlas or Shaye could have said to change your father's mind."
"Well, at least Shaye tried." Ronan's vicious tone is hard to miss.
"What's going on?" Eris asks, eyes darting from person to person. "What happened?"
"Apparently," Ronan prowls around the room like a caged animal, "The only way for kings and queens of our realm to be tempted to travel to Tronovia is by inviting them to attend a royal wedding."
"A royal wedding?" Finn's eyes widen. "But that would mean – "
Ronan points a finger at him and lets loose a maniacal laugh. "That's right, Finn, a royal wedding.Mywedding. Do I have a bride? No, but why let that impede my father's plans. OrThrane's for that matter. He was valiantly leading the charge for my nuptials."
"So, is this just a rouse?" Eris asks, quietly as to not further anger the irate prince. "Since there's no bride, certainly there's not going to be a real wedding."
"One would think, Eris, but alas, this has just fueled my father's quest to marry me off to produce heirs." Ronan plops down in one of the dining room chairs and covers his face. "This is not how it was supposed to go. I was promised a year."
I tentatively kneel in front of him. I slide my hands over his and pull them down so he can meet my gaze.
"I was promised a year," he whispers, broken. "This isn't fair."
"It's not," I agree. "It's not fair. I'm sorry your father is forcing his hand and there's nothing we can do to delay him further. But maybe we can help you find someone. Someone you can grow to love."
"It's not the end of the world," Nyx slaps a hand down on Ronan's shoulder. "It's just marriage." His attempt to encourage his cousin falls dreadfully short.
Ronan rolls his eyes. "Perhaps you should leave the comforting speeches to Shaye."
Nyx throws his hands up and glances around. "What'd I say? I was being nice for fucks sake."
"Marriage was going to come sooner or later, "Atlas interjects, refusing to coddle Ronan or humor Nyx. "You're the heir to the Tronovian throne. Your father wasn't going to permit you to live into your thirties as a bachelor."
"I'm not close to thirty, Atlas," the prince barks. "Why do I even care? It's not like I have to spend more time with the woman than necessary. We will marry and have a child. Then I can go about living life as I please. "
"You can't keep going toPrue'sonce you're married if that's what you're thinking," Finn shakes his head. "Uncle Soren will expect more of you."
"Or your wife will put up quite the fight," Nyx adds, which shoves Ronan over the edge.
"Fuck! This just keeps getting worse." Ronan shoots up and heads for the door.
"Where are you going?" I shout after him.
"ToPrue's," he hisses. "Before I'm not allowed to anymore."
Ronan throws the door open and stomps out into the cold. Nyx lifts a hand when I open my mouth to call after him. "I'll watch over him. Talk some sense into him."
Without another word, Nyx grabs his coat and chases after Ronan, slamming the door behind him.
