He didn't take any time to recover his energy, however, and dragged Alyss up the dozens of floors until they finally reached his suite again. Aeron pushed her back into the guest suite and tried to close the door.
The girl wasn't buying it, however. She stuck her foot in the door jamb and refused to move it, even when it almost felt like her foot was breaking at the impact.
"I don't understand any of this," Alyss panted. "Why are you trying so hard to get me back? Why does it matter so much?"? Pouting, she added, "Why won`t you just let me go home?"
He stopped, turning slowly to face her. "Why?" Aeron asked, deadly. "Why would I care?" He leapt forward and pushed her on the rug deeper in the room. She suddenly realized that, just like that, she was now sitting snug as a postage stamp on his lamp. She protested the position, and he just held her more firmly. "I have been looking for you for all of these years," he whispered. "I'm not about to let you get lost again so easily."
Alyss's forehead wrinkled. "What lost?" she asked. "Why does everyone keep whispering about how forgetful I am, about how much of my memories I've supposedly lost? I don't forget things," she said sulkily. "I've got a very good memory," she added.
Aeron shook his head, quietly chuckling. She could feel his chest moving with it, felt each little sound wave. It was very unsettling. She tried to distance herself, tried to punch him away, but his grip was made of steel. "I'm setting up a guard now who, hopefully, can manage to keep you in, because I can't trust you anymore to only go out with someone to keep an eye on you. That means no more exploring the grounds with Murray." He snapped his fingers and poked a finger at the still open doorway. Aeron's finger refused to go through the open space though. "This is a barrier. I've had to take the extreme measure of basically locking you up now. If you are good we might reconsider these standards later, but for now my priority is that keeping you safe is more important than keeping you happy," he said. Aeron summoned one of his portals in midair, too high for Alyss to jump and escape through, though she did give a half-hearted attempt at it. He flew away through it to the council meeting on the other side.
CHAPTER NINE
The Council
The delegates in the meeting hall had run through two courses of appetizers. The footmen struggled to keep up with the demand for treats tasty enough to soothe their restless energy at a meeting delayed more than an hour.
Heads turned to stare as the prince strode in. "I'm sorry for the wait," he said very politely. "I had to take care of urgent matters of state." The representatives in the room mumbled their agreement, their expressions clearly stating they trusted not a word.
"So glad you could finally join us properly, brother dear," Richard smirked. Aeron gritted his teeth to resist the urge to stick his tongue out at his brother. Both brothers locked eyes across the expansive wood and promised battle in their gazes, ignoring the representatives trying to bring their attention back to the meeting.
One of the vampires leaned forward to look at the young prince. "Now Richy," Richard grimaced at that, "I love a good joke as much as the next guy," Cillean cut in affably. "I've got to say, though, that scolding a guy for a problem you created seems to be going a bit far," he said. Richard turned away, refusing to back down.
Both of the royals opened their mouths to argue more. King Vovin stood up and yelled for everyone in the room to observe silence. He stared threats at his sons in particular. "I did not gather any of you here today to discuss petty squabbling," he scolded. "We are here to discuss an even graver matter," Vovin continued. "We have heard rumors of terrible things that could destroy the whole Shadeworld. Rumors of rebellion, not only to disagree about which of my children should keep their inheritance of the monarchy, but more alarmingly we have heard rumors of rebels who disagree with the monarchy itself," Vovin said. He met the eyes of each of his delegates to impress on them the importance of that. He then went on to remind them all what the kingdom had been like before it was unified and achieved something similar to peace. "Now that you understand the importance of this situation, the kingdom needs your help. Tell us, what news have you heard?" he asked.
A cacophony of voices broke out. The representatives from distant continents had blanched at the news, asking each of their neighbors for any scrap of information. The leaders of each race on the continent were whispering to each other, trying to clarify what each of them had heard before sharing it to the public forum.
"People, people!" The troll to the left of the king clanged her gavel. "We will have order!" Her wig of formal purple feathers threatened to fly off as each strike of the gavel shook it from side to side. "Those who wish to speak must make a motion to take a stand. It is not open season here people," she snarled.
Vovin waved her down. "These are extenuating circumstances. As long as they are somewhat orderly in speaking, I do not think we need to observe all of the formalities. The random chatting, however," he turned to glare at a fairy and mermaid,
