Karl had nearly an hour to mingle and consider his fate before the doors to the room opened once more, and King Lukas ca in with Princess Rue at his side. Mildred followed a few seconds later, as was proper for a Consort, but she went straight to Cara, who was teaching her daughter how to pick up juice glasses in her jaws, since her coordination was not well suited to holding cups in her claws.
"What are you teaching my daughter? She does not need to learn how to do shots in dragon form." Mildred complained.
"They're juice." Cara replied calmly, while the nearby dragons laughed.
The little one nodded, then tipped her head back and poured the glass of juice down her throat, burped, and passed out.
"See, all good. Though, the fact that she doesn't get a sugar rush is a bit disappointing. I was looking forward to a hyper hatchling." She added.
Mildred sighed as she carefully took the child back from Cara, and extricated the cup from the sleeping dragon's jaws.
"You really do live and breathe chaos, don't you? Why would you want a hyper hatchling in a room full of Dragon Clan Nobles?"
"Why would I not want a hyper hatchling in a room full of stuffy Nobles?" The old dragon who Cara had stolen the toffee from laughed at her response. "The badger understands. These functions are entirely too boring. A hatchling can be excused for bad behaviour. After all, they're still hatchlings and curious about the world. It keeps things interesting."
As he finished speaking, King Lukas reached the throne which had been set up at one end of the room, and took his seat with Rue standing beside him.
"My people, I thank you for the warm welco." He began, silencing the chatter in the room.
"There are a few important items that will need to be clarified today, with the change in leadership. It wouldn't do to leave Royal Status in limbo.
First off, the majority of my Royal Siblings will retain their status as Prince and Princess until such ti as a second heir is born to my lineage. After that, the branches of the family will be separated, and the contest for the Crown may begin."
He paused as the Royals and Nobles cheered. The power plays of the Princes and Princesses struggling to beco most powerful and take the throne was one of their greatest sources of entertainnt, and they had all known that it was inevitable that they would be relegated to Nobles with Royal blood.
Lukas continued. "Next, I would like to announce that I will be taking Princess Rue as my Queen. Her ceremony will be held on the next new moon, as is tradition.
But that brings to a point that many more of you are much more invested in than the matters of my harem.
As the forr King is leaving for the Immortal Realm soon, and intends to remain there for the foreseeable future, much of the Royal Court will be reassigned ranks.
He has chosen not to take his Queen or Harem with him, only his closest advisor. As such, the forr harem mbers will be given the titles of Royal Lady, and a permanent ho in the Palace."
A shocked silence fell over the room, and Cara poked the old man next to her for answers.
"He didn't na a Queen Dowager. The Queen wasn't his mother, but many expected her to get the title and influence to go with it now that her husband is leaving for the Immortal Realm. A Royal Lady without a husband on this planet is sothing akin to a Lady in Waiting, or a Widow." The old man whispered.
So, the Queen had been demoted to one step above a servant, and no longer held any official power.
But that made sense to Cara. For one, she was insufferable. But she also wasn't the mother of Lukas, Rue or Mildred. However, that left all her supporters in a hard spot. The King had advanced unexpectedly, and they had tied their political future to soone who no longer had any influence to pressure the King to assist them.
At best, she might be able to make her way into the Royal Council, which would salvage her political power. But not to the extent that being Queen Dowager would have.
"Isn't his mother alive?" Cara asked quietly.
The old man nodded. "She is, but she doesn't like the political ga. She was in the throne room with him earlier, but didn't co to stand with him. She's over by the wall there."
Her eyes were red, but she didn't look sad. Cara thought that they might have been those weird almost happy tears, when you knew that you should be happy for soone, but also that you would be separated from them.
The King wasn't taking her, his first love, to the Immortal Realm with him. She would remain here, which was likely for the best, as she had little to no chance of reaching Immortality. But they had been lovers for centuries. That had to be
hard.
It would be like losing her Karl. She would survive, but life would not be the
sa.
Karl winked at her as he heard her thoughts, and Cara stuck out her tongue. If anything, he would struggle to reach Immortality as fast as she did. He wouldn't be leaving her behind when it was ti to graduate from this world and find new things to taste test.
With the Soul Bond, they also wouldn't lose the Dana Mage, and most of the others would be able to keep up easily enough.
Thor would need another use of [Evolution], but that wasn't a big deal. The problem would be getting him to leave Tessa behind if they were going to let her grow naturally. You couldn't force understanding of the Fundantal Rules, and Thor might opt to stay with her instead of going with them.
A Cerro pack leader wouldn't leave his pack behind.
Karl tried not to laugh as Cara ntally calculated the odds that Thor had children by the ti that they returned. There was no way to know what date it would be when Misty brought them back.
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