ANNALISE

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"The royal family! We are dining with THE royal Deltorian family tonight!" I scolded Hazalen and Henry. They failed to mention that our little 'dinner' tonight would be with the royal family.

Hazalen uncomfortably scratched behind her ear,"We thought you knew how dinners went in the palace!"

"All high-ranking nobles whom live in the palace eat dinner with the King every Wednesday. It's not a big deal, Annalise." Henry rebutted. I was a Descuvi dining with the Deltorian King. If my mother had found this out, plus being on the Targle team, we might have to move kingdoms again.

"A big deal! This is King Eggar we are talking about!" I threw Henry's Gabachi hat at him in fury,"Will Damien be there?"

"Yes," he squeaked out,"He always sits to the right of the King, then my father on the left." Being the Head Knight, it made sense for him to dine next to the King. As well as having Damien as his right hand man.

"Will Jack be there?" I asked incredulously. They both nodded in unison, knowing it would anger me more.

I couldn't have Jack talking about how we made the Targle team, let alone talk about me in itself. The King couldn't find out of my existence, if he hasn't already. If any questions were to come my way, I wouldn't know how to answer them on the fly.

I was a Descuvi, the highest crime in all of Deltora.

And I was about to dine with the most powerful entity in the whole land.

I couldn't help but think back to Demotis' diary, it felt invasive knowing King Eggar more than he perceived. I held all the cards, knowing so much about others in the kingdom and their flaws, yet nobody knew mine.

"Well, it's time to start getting ready Annalise!" Henry dragged me to the bathroom," You smell like beef," then called a maid for a bath.

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We walked in union throughout the grand palace hallways, and the emptiness of food in my stomach did not help the butterflies. My dress was elegant and simple for tonight, I wanted to blend in with the other nobles.

"Honey, I know you're trying to 'lay low' but it's just not going to happen. You're too pretty for your own good, and the other bachelors will be watching," Henry stated.

Damien is going to love that.

"Some might try to talk to you, so you need to answer politely." Hazalen reminded me. I rolled my eyes, not believing I was going through with this. We arrived at the double doors to the dining room and my adrenaline started pumping. Henry opened the door, holding it for both Hazalen and I.

There was a long, extravagant table with many nobles chatting away. King Eggar's chair was absent, it sat at the very center-end engraved with gold crown designs.

I spotted Damien right away, obviously he hadn't noticed me yet. He was talking to Landon Apa, a friend he must've brought for the dinner. Landon was telling an engaging story and Damien's lips curled into a small smile, almost as if he didn't want it to be seen.

He's getting better at showing his emotions.

We walked to the table and somebody already pulled my chair back. I looked back to find Jack with an innocent grin.

"How is my new teammate doing tonight?" He whispered in my ear.

I giggled profoundly, looking around to make sure nobody had heard to cover up his words. I abruptly pulled his ear down to my lips," We will not be discussing any Targles at the table tonight." He gave me an affirmative nod, holding his hands up in shame, and sat down next to me.

A smirk appeared on Jack's face as he stared off in the distance. I narrowed in on his sight, only to find Darius of Deltora glaring daggers at Jack. I realized how bad the situation looked: Jack held my chair for me, I was sitting by him; it looked as if Jack had invited me to the dinner.

As Damien perused his stare, I noticed Landon was gazing at Hazalen. He had a far away look in his eyes as he took her in, slowly taking sips of his wine. Hazalen hadn't seemed to notice Landon yet, for she was talking with Henry about jambfo queens.

I have a plan.

I pinched both Hazalen and Jack's leg, causing them to squeal out in pain,"Jack, stop having a stare off with Damien,"I scolded him, I didn't want him getting into a war I knew he wouldn't win.

"What was that for?" Hazalen laughed at me, tearing my gaze from Jack. I nodded in the direction toward Landon, and immediately she looked away.

She angrily whispered,"Why is he here? I want him out of my sight." Hazalen's face started to fluster, her face as red as the tomatoes in her salad.

"Well, we can't just order him to leave the dining room, Hazalen. I pointed him out because he was staring at you,"I laughed.

Hazalen wasn't fazed, she crossed her arms and looked down in her lap in anger. I asked,"Is this the past you were talking about? Remember our first lunch together, you said-"

"I'll have to tell you later, Annalise. I think the King is coming." She uncrossed her arms and sat up, King Eggar's presence in the room caused the nobles to straighten up.

He sat down in his chair, examining the nobles in the room. I peeked a look at Damien next to him, whose blue-gray eyes were pointed at me. I didn't break the contact and he arched a brow, basically saying 'we will talk about this later'.

I gave him a pointed look back, saying 'you are being ridiculous', until the King spoke and the room went silent.

"May we bless the Gods for our meal tonight, Deltora to prosper, and for our people to remain in good health." King Eggar spoke delagantly, joining hands with Damien and Henry's dad.

The noble's heads were down and their eyes closed as the King continued the prayer. I took another look at Damien. He was glaring at my hand that was joined with Jack's, obviously not praying at all.

"Stop it!" I whispered, looking at him.

"Has somebody interrupted our prayer to speak?" The King's head rose, looking around the room to find the culprit. I quickly whipped my head down, for I potentially offended the King when my whole goal was to not interact with him at all.

"If nobody is going to speak up, then I'm ready for some duck!" The King brushed it off, easily breaking the ice in the room as laughter filled the air. I let out a long breath, and opened my eyes to find the King staring right at me.

His head was tilted to the side, as if he was trying to figure me out. My heart beating faster then ever, with adrenaline pumping into my veins and thoughts of Descuvi running through my head, I somehow managed to nod my head and give a small smile.

He tore his eyes away from me, for the butlers were serving us the appetizers, and he took the first bite. After the King takes the first bite, then everybody can start the meal.

Thanks the gods for the butlers.

The first course was a hearts of Romain salad with chicken, which I devoured instantly. Chatter filled the table as nobles bragged about their empires.

The family to the right of us owned bar-type resorts for foreigners to visit. The Boyles family a few seats down owned a store with a collection of all books in the entirety of the lands, in which they had supplied the palace. Many bachelors of these families would glance at me, I even received a wink.

The main course arrived: a fillet with a loaded baked potato, corn, and beans. Damien and I would play a game during this course, where we would try to stare at eachother without meeting eyes.

I would whip my head up to see his falling down, a smirk on his face as his playful side shone through. As I would look down, I could feel his eyes on my head, watching me eat the delicious meal.

During this, a bachelor dared to speak up,"You are Miss Woods, I procure?" Though he was a few seats away, he leaned over Hazalen and his comment was heard.

"That is me." I nodded my head with politeness. Growing up in my mothers shop, I learned how to speak to nobles with manners plus a slight, sweet charm.

"Your beauty proceeds you, Annalise. After dinner, I was wondering if you wanted to come in my bedroom for some fun." He spoke as if he was asking me to grab the salt, a careless reply. He was keeping his voice level so others wouldn't be suspicious.

I scrunched up my face in disgust. The bachelor and I had a ten second conversation, then he was already trying to invite me into his quarters for the night. He could have an infection, drug me, kill me, the list goes on.

"She is already staying with me per her mother's orders, but thank you for the kind... invitation." Hazalen had obviously heard. The meathead thought by leaning behind her to talk, she wouldn't hear.

Henry whispered from across the table, obviously wanting the bachelor to hear,"I swear, girls can screw whoever they want. Guys only screw if they can." Hazalen and I's giggles filled the air as the boy's face morphed into an angry glare.

"You little fág." The bachlor said, causing a look of horror to wash over all of our faces.

Oh my gods.

Jack stood up, his face full of anger,"Your a little piece of shi-"

"Nobody is allowed to call me that besides my brother." Henry also stood up from his chair, defending himself. Yet it wasn't much of a defense in my opinion.

The other nobles stopped eating to watch the scene, not knowing exactly what was going on. Henry and Jack were up from their chair, angry glares held tword the young noble.

"She does not belong to any of you!" Damien suddenly stood up, calling the King's attention.

Oh gods.

I face planted with my hand, Damien obviously misinterpreted the situation. The whole table went completely silent after the Prince spoke.

"And stop staring at me!" Hazalen suddenly also stood up, pointing at Landon.

What in the name of gods is going on.

Everybody at the table looked toward me, obviously waiting for me to say something. Everybody else around me had proclaimed a statement, and I was the only one whom hadn't. What could I have said?

"And you are dining with a Descuvi."

Yeah, right. So I awkwardly picked up my fork and continued eating, acting as if nothing had happened. I was aware I looked ridiculous, being the only one at the table eating and pretending nothing was happening.

"Does anybody else have something to say?" The King stood up, placing his napkin on the table in anger. He glared at Damien, and he looked back at the King with an emotionless face, then took his seat. Everybody else followed, sitting back down; they realized they had officially offended the King.

"Dinner is dismissed, dessert will not be served. Please return to your rooms for tonight." The King spit out. Everybody stood back up and bowed, but I was mostly upset about the rejected dessert.

As I followed the nobles out of the extravagant dining room, I took one last look at Damien. He met my gaze, giving me a reassuring wink before the doors shut in my face.

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