17.7

"No big wedding?" Anthony pouted.

Portia shrugged. "They don't do that here."

"Not even a little big wedding?"

"No. There's a brief ceremony, then a formal signing of the marriage contract in front of the aristocracy and that's it. There isn't even an exchange of rings. It's purely a social arrangement. I heard it's different in the South."

"That's so boring! If 'Dicia's getting married, the whole fucking world should be invited. I should have been working on a gown for months. It should be like Charles and Diana. Except this time the prince isn't ugly." Anthony frowned, "This is soooo unfair."

"This is just a business deal between them. Get over it."

"My ass it's just a business deal. So why are they so pissed at each other?"

"Pissed?"

"Obviously. She's pissed that he wasn't there for her when Baal first arrived on the island. He's pissed about Magnus. If it were a business deal, they wouldn't give a shit."

17.7.1

Cai knocked on the door to the prince's inner chamber. No response came. He knocked again, certain the prince was there. The matter simply could not wait.

He heard laughing inside. A moment later Dirk opened the door. He was clad only in a pair of hastily retrieved black, silk pajama bottoms, despite the late hour. He visibly forced the mirth from his expression as he opened the door, affecting an appropriately stern expression. Cai had not seen such levity on his lord's countenance since before Zyrdicia's departure. He was relieved. "A thousand pardons for the interruption, sire, but I need the final contract revision so that the formal signing copy will be ready."

"I'm almost done with it, Cai," Zyrdicia called out gaily from inside the chamber.

"Discrete, as always," Dirk commented wryly.

"Happily, that will no longer matter in a few hours," Cai grinned.

"Like it ever did!" Zyrdicia interjected from inside the room. Cai glanced inside the room and saw she sat on the carpet in front of the fire. She wore only the black silk shirt the prince had worn for the engagement announcement the night before. It hung on her slim frame like a nightshirt. Her fingers barely poked out from the sleeves as she held the document. In addition to the marriage contract, several maps were spread out on the floor in front of her. The section where Camarand should have been had been burned off the page. Cai almost laughed as he realized what they had been doing. Most couples experienced post-coital intimacy in cuddling or soulful chatter - these two made battle plans, envisioning the slaughter those who stood in their way.

Dirk let Cai wait in the doorway and returned to her. He stood behind her, his hands on top of her head, as she finished reading.

Cai advised, "Dinner was just served in the dining room, my lord. Shall I have food sent up?"

"Yes. I'm famished. Have we been missed?"

"The guests assume you are both far too busy to join them."

"Which is true," Zyrdicia interjected. "We've been very busy."

"Read!" Dirk prompted. "Or you shall lose the opportunity."

She looked up, her concentration shattered. "Those people are all so annoying. Can't we get rid of them all?"

"After I'm king, I fully intend to. As Regent, I lack the power to dissolve the baronial council or anything else unilaterally. That will be changing in a few hours."

"Hm. Dissolving is good. Preferably into a viscous fluid. Or into a gaseous substance on a windy day. But you don't have to be king to do that. I can show you how to do it with the monocle as you are," she said matter-of-factly, craning her head up to look at him.

"That wasn't the quite dissolution I had in mind. But I think I prefer your method," he smiled, entwining his fingers through her hair.

Cai cleared his throat nervously, delicately reminding them that the clock was ticking.

"Oops. Sorry. If your boss would let me read, I could get this done much faster," Zyrdicia explained. Without turning to look at him, she nudged the man standing behind her with her elbow and complained, "Damn it! Stop trying to distract me!"

"Trying to distract you? Were that my intent, it's not as though I ever even have to try. You are distraction personified!"

Cai eventually managed to retrieve the document. Under any other circumstances, he would have been mildly annoyed at the difficulty of the task. He did not mind waiting for Zyrdicia, however, particularly when he had seen them interact. It was the same teasing humor that had filled Castle Blackpool during her previous stay, and it lifted the seneschal's heart to know that it had returned.