Kace Holland

My poor attempt at a party left my room covered in bottles of the finest champagne. Fixing the collar of my cream colored button up, I eyed the bottle of half-filled champagne resting on my table. One more drink couldn't hurt. Besides, I had a feeling I'd need it after today.

Right as I tugged my sleeve and went to grab a glass, a sharp knock sounded at the door. Nearly knocking the glass over, I cleared my throat and said, "Announce yourself before you knock." Idiot.

"Apologizes, Kace. Now open the door for your favorite princess."

Only she could lack so much etiquette and still dare to knock on a royal's door like that. I shoved as many of the champagne bottles in the garbage bin. Right as I got to the door, I wiped away any residual alcohol from my palms with a handkerchief.

"You sure are slow, Kace."

"It's 'Prince Kace', Princess Senna," I corrected yet again, opening the door. "Impatient, are we?"

I immediately caught sight of her arms that were laced with the finest golds. Hefty yellow-gold bracelets lined her wrists. Golden cuffs were around her upper arm, each cuff having a chain of gold that connected them to a bracelet by her wrists.

Her gown, however, brightly contrasted her deep bronze skin tone. The white, silk gown draped effortlessly around her slim figure. Each edge was lined with golden-colored stitching.

Beautiful. 

"Your hair. You cut it." Her statement brought me back to reality.

"Do you like it?" I asked, though it came out much softer than anticipated. Must have been the drinking last night.

She smiled as she curled a face-framing piece of her hair around her finger. "You hardly have hair left," she finally said, amusement lacing her words.

"Well, that tends to be the case with buzzcuts, Princess Senna."

At that, she took a step inside my room, her honey eyes darting to every corner.

I nearly spoke again just so I could have her focus her attention on me, yet she beat me to it. "Today is a big day." Her back flexed with muscle and she twisted her neck back. "How much did you drink last night?"

Not enough, apparently. "Just a couple—"

"A couple bottles, you mean."

Oh, God, the pins in her hair looked strains, threatening to break free and let her hair cascade down her backless gown held together by golden chains.

"Kace—"

"Senna."

"Kace—"

"Oh, stop reprimanding me about alcohol."

"You drank bottles of alcohol, Kace!"

"You look beautiful."

"Thank God it's only champagne and nothing stronger. Kace, your heath is already weak as it is—"

I grabbed the alcohol bottle from her hands and went out into the hall. "Guards, clear my room of alcohol. In fact, clear the whole palace of it."

"Kace, what the hell—"

"Listen to me," I told her, guiding her to the far side of my room beyond my room divider. "You're worried about my dependency on alcohol? Done. You'll never see a bottle again."

"But—"

"If you cannot even hear me when I call you beautiful, then my drinking has gone too far. I won't do it again."

"Kace, I—" Her words fell flat as she realized what I said. "You think I look beautiful?"

My returned smile answered that ridiculous question. When her eyes met mine, my heart and mind trembled, unable to understand what the hell was happening. Was this real? As the seconds went by and my hand inched closer to her fingers, I was acutely aware of one contradiction:

I was most definitely more reckless than her.

Her facial features relaxed, though her gaze remained steady and focused on mine. Now my heartbeat most definitely could be heard outside my room, because now... God, my lungs could collapse any second. Our fingers touched, then immediately ceased.

I watched our hands. She balled her hand, then let her fingers dance. One second it was a ballet, the next I enveloped her hand with mine.

"Kace, what are you doing?" she asked, though it sounded less like a question and more like a breathless statement.

With my free hand, I cupped her face and tilted her further up closer to me. "What do you want?"

She shook her head, her gaze scattered everywhere. Finally, she stopped them at our entwined hand. If she let go I would understand. This was insane. This was reckless.

She squeezed my hand and broke the silence. "We can't, Kace. After everything—"

"I did everything to protect you. I'd do it again. Please, don't use the decisions I made to protect you as the reasons why you won't..."

She won't what? Even I didn't know where I was going with that.

"You were protecting yourself."

"I ran into a building full of people who had killed thousands just to get you out. If I was protecting myself, I would've left you for dead."

"You wanted to."

No, Senna, I did not. My hold on her face was firmer now as I backed us into a corner. Gently, I lowered myself toward her, not letting go of her hand. "I don't know what I'm doing," I said, loud enough for only us to hear.

Her breaths came out sharper. I could feel the warmth of her skin radiating against mine now. Right as I went to touch my lips to hers, I was met with an adjacent barrier at my forehead. Opening my eyes, I realized she had lowered her head, avoiding me.

What the hell was I doing?

My hand slipped from her grasp. "I'm... very sorry. This was reckless."

She nodded, her gaze far from mine as she retreated. The first step away caused a great exhale from me, but the second nearly had me reach out to stop her. Before I could process how far she'd gotten, she turned to the other side of the room divider.

I yanked my cape, fastening it to my shoulders as I started to the conference room. Ahead of me, Princess Senna's sharp footsteps on the marble floors echoed, and I caught myself analyzing how she walked; how her arms peacefully swayed and the gold chains rattled in sync.

"All media personnel are barred from this conference, Prince Kace," Mallor said next to me. "Do you need anything else?"

"The gala tonight will have media, yes?" I asked, not breaking my line of sight.

He passed me a folder. Without pausing my walk, I opened it and read through the headlines.

Ship Remnants Found On Roe-Zeland Beach

Gold Found On Roe-Zeland Beach: Have the Royals Been Hiding Riches From the Public?

A Ship of Wealth Found in Northern Entorre—the
Great Entorrean Mystery

From Rags to Riches: Charra Blonsword First to Spot the 'Ship of Gold'

People Now Calling It the 'Ship of Gold'—Would the Royals Agree After King Lius's Imprisonment?

"Why should I care about this ship?" I kept my voice low, only audible between Mallor and I.

"Millions of drascus worth of gold was found on this shipwreck, your highness. You will probably get asked about this at the gala tonight. Perhaps"—his gaze shifted forward... to Princess Senna—"you should inform her of this. You should both have something prepared."

I reverted my gaze ahead, watching the guards that flanked her side. "I do not want to involve her in this."

I heard Mallor sigh. If my mind wasn't so stuck on the movement of Princess Senna's back jewelry, I would've shot him a glare. "You're aware her brother is in prison, right?"

At that sudden revelation I stopped walking. "What?"

The guards behind us jolted to a stop. The guards in front, however, continued forward with Princess Senna, who also attempted to stop with us but was pressed to keep walking.

"What do you mean he's in prison, Mallor?" I muttered, doing my best to appear nonchalant. I could practically feel Senna's fiery gaze on the left side of my face.

"You will probably find out tonight then. The media will not just ask about the shipwreck—they'll ask about her brother. Avert the topic as much as possible."

"Why is he in prison?" I repeated, keeping my emotions off my face. "Speak. Now."

Mallor stared back at me with no response. If this were anyone else, I would've had him thrown in those very same prisons, but this was Mallor. There must be a good reason why he isn't telling me. And I was unfortunately lacking time to interrogate him.

I turned and walked forward, Princess Senna out of sight. What could've possibly prompted Prince Thresan to get thrown into prison, and why the hell didn't Senna tell me? My hand instinctively went to my wrist as we continued walking.

My mind had to be focused on today. This meeting would tell us my father's fate. Thresan could wait—King Lius could not.

That thought only solidified as I heard the familiar clacks of metal next to me. My father was hooded, shackled, being escorted to the same hall Princess Senna and I would be seated at. And, unfortunately, I could not simply wish for him to be permanently locked up; Nicholyn's orders to lock up civilians from southern Entorre caused a massive uprising leading to us changing flow of order.

First, there would be an initial emprisonnent, followed by a hearing from the major lords which members of the monarch and allying countries are encouraged, though not required, to attend. During this meeting, if the lords find reasonable evidence to hear the prisoner, they will allow the prisoner to be heard by a jury consisting of only monarchs and advisors of the monarch. However, if the lords do not find sufficient evidence to appeal the case, they may throw the prisoner back and hold them indefinitely.

Or, if they find sufficient evidence of guilt, they may wish to accelerate the execution process and bypass the monarch, though that only happens when the lords unanimously vote for it. In the short history of this new system, that has never happened, though today could very well be the day.

I pried my sight away from my father and pressed forward, Mallor next to me. "Has Ashe written yet?" I asked.

"No. I've been checking for the past month, your highness."

Something was wrong. Nicholyn never went too long without writing.

As I entered the conference room, the room's chatter quickly fell. They all seemed caught up in conversation with Princess Senna. With a quick bow of their heads, they resumed their conversation with her—and by conversation, I meant their excessive laughing. She was the only one who hadn't looked back at me.

I started toward my seat, which was the only chair elevated in the room. Right as I passed her, I felt a grip on my forearm, holding me back.

Glancing down, I noticed her peer up at me and smile—a smile so gentle and soft that it warmed my insides just seeing it. "You're nervous. Stop," she whispered, letting go of my forearm. The lords hardly noticed this quick moment as they were too busy joking around the table.

Princess Senna resumed conversation with the lords as I took my next. From across the room, Mallor pointedly looked at me, yet I only glared back. He straightened his vision.

The door opened, and in walked King Lius flanked by guards.

*~⚜️~*
Senna Aldorban

This wasn't the first time I'd heard of a royal being in chains this year. Ironically enough, this was the first one I was witnessing. Even as I glanced over at Kace, I couldn't help but feel a pit of betrayal—that my brother killed his brother, and he had no idea.

That smile on the King's face matched his son's, though my urge to storm across the room and slap it off his face was much greater than the urge to slap Kace. Even though my body burned just remembering what nearly happened a mere half hour ago.

I could never allow him to. Firstly, I despised him. And secondly, and perhaps more importantly, my brother... I shifted in my seat, not taking my sight off of the King.

As much as I hated to admit it, Prince Kace could put on a performance. One would've had no idea that Prince Kace felt anything toward me. If they saw the way he avoided looking at me entirely right now, they would've thought I was just another inconvenience to his day—not entirely untrue, but again, the flashes of him lowering his head to kiss me contradict the initial impression.

The lords began listing off the precedent for the case. The Entorrean system was not entirely foreign. After all, they did have some inspiration from our system, especially after mass execution that happened under the late Prince Nicholyn. The speech went on and on for long minutes at a time while an armor guard was scribbling down everything said on sheets of paper.

Kace stared emotionless at his father, who only stared back at him and no one else. There was no question that they were related, but the fact that Prince Nicholyn wasn't truly his son... How much of an influence did King Lius have over the late Prince to turn him exactly like him?

Adjusting my gold cuffs, I caught Prince Kace touching his bracelet under the table. He was still nervous. I inched my hand closer to his, wanting to offer some kind of comfort. I knew what it was like to have family in chains. To be betrayed so deeply.

I thought his hand was further, because I touched his sooner than I thought. His hand had moved closer. I stared forward at Lius as the lords kept talking.

His hand tightened around mine. For a split second I met eyes with him, his emerald eyes softening ever so slightly. The moment was fleeting—only a mere second.

When I looked at Lius, he was staring straight at me. I nearly jumped, but I kept my composure and listened on to the lords' speeches.

The room eventually went silent as they stood up King Lius.

"All who wish to pardon King Lius for the crimes listed, please raise your hands."

Out of the eighteen lords, one prince, and one princess present, only two raised their hands. Of course, it was Rafe and his father.

"Since it is not a unanimous vote, there cannot be an execution. Therefore we shall move forward to the second vote. All who wish to bring this case to the Superior Trial, please raise your hands."

I raised mine, followed by majority of the lords. Only five people didn't raise their hands: four lords, two of which being Rafe and his father, and Prince Kace.

"And all who wish to hold King Lius for three months, then bring him to another trial, please raise your hands."

Prince Kace and the two other lords raised their hands.

"So it seems like King Lius will be appealing to the Superior—"

A knock reverberated. Everyone in the room shared a collective look of confusion as Mallor opened the door. He and whoever stood on the other side shared an exchange of low whispers. Then he closed the door and turned toward us.

"There's a letter from the morgue," Mallor said, opening it.

"Is it a private letter?" Kace asked from across the room.

"Prince Kace, perhaps he should read this letter," Rafe interjected.

If it wasn't for Mallor cutting me off, I would've swung a chair at him. "It's Prince Nicholyn's will, your highness."

"His will was already met after he died."

"Prince Nicholyn already knew about this Ring. In the will he states to pardon King Lius."

Kace's typically level face warped. Had I not gotten familiarized with his small facial twitches, I would've missed the immense shock on his face. "Pardon King Lius?" Kace said. "Are you out of your mind, Mallor?"

"That's what his will states, your highness."

"Do not let that morgue messenger out of this palace. Bring him here. Now." Kace and I both got up from our chairs and went out the door, guards following after.

The morgue messenger hadn't gotten far. Kace ran forward, stopping him dead in his tracks. It didn't take long for him to confirm that the will was indeed legitimate, and assistants in the morgue confirmed it, too. And when Avaloryn ran up to us and confirmed it, that was the final straw needed.