The shifter faced her, looking almost amused instead of scared, as most shifters should be around courts.
“I apologize for your misunderstanding, Princess, but Princess Inez’s in-laws have helped coordinate and advise our princess on the weekend. They are sampling options to add to the menus since invited guests didn’t RSVP with accurate numbers, or people thought being invited died with modern society and rudely showed up as if they own the place.”
I wasn’t the only one whose mouth fell open. Holy crap, this kid had balls!
“How dare you speak to me that way, you animal,” she seethed. “I want to speak to this chef immediately to not only complain about your behavior and make sure you lose your job and place in this coven, but if there is input needed on menus, I will be giving it as well.”
The kid’s lips actually twitched as he cleared his throat to cover a cough. “I will pass along the message, Princess.” He dipped his head to our table and walked off.
“I got twenty Inez smacks the princess for calling one of us an animal,” a shifter said to his friend a few tables away. “She was clear she wanted to know if anyone looked down at us.”
The woman snorted. “I’m not taking that bet, though having him shift and bite the princess is more her style.”
“Yeah it is, and only letting her eat after all of us have eaten. Funny how she brushes off any crap people give her like people just showing up and disrespecting her, but if anyone is remotely mean to us, she will kick their ass.”
They walked off with their trays of dirty dishes, clearly not knowing we had heard them. Or so I thought, as the woman glanced at the princess as she walked by and actually smirked. Damn, they’d been warning the guests. Unreal.
“Alright, which of you has the gall to demand anything of me and lay into my people?” a wolf shifter, Nick, said as he entered the ballroom in a chef’s jacket. He dipped his head to our table and glanced around.
“You will watch your tone and attitude with me, wolf,” the princess seethed. “And you will—”
“Princess, finish that sentence and the next thing I do will be to knock on our princess’s door and tell her you called one of her coven an animal. She was very clear that wouldn’t be allowed, as the guests knew, so I don’t know if you were one of the plus dozens that came, but please handle yourself in a respectable manner going forward. Did that clear up whatever misunderstanding was had here?”
She pushed to her feet and before she could even finish, Tian was there moving Nick out of the way.
“Princess, the rules of our coven are clear, and Princess Inez does not allow any ill treatment of any member of her coven or those with us. I would hate for one of us of her security that gave her loyalty oaths, or her knights that have vast military weapons, to have to retaliate if you were to hurt one of her people.”
“Are you kidding?” Nick hissed. “She would have hurt me for that?”
“Nick, I’ve seen princesses rip out hearts or take heads for less,” Tian drawled. “It’s why we were very clear to let us handle any issues as people are not behaving as normal court guests because Inez is so young and establishing her own coven. They’re stupidly thinking they can walk all over her without realizing how powerful she is.”
“How powerful can one child princess be?” the princess snapped.
Tian gave her a withering look. “Powerful enough to take out Princess Safie of house Darbandi easily, and I would be dead if she had not revived me.”
She couldn’t hide her shock. “You are a legendary warrior of house Liu. There is no way that little girl hurt you.”
I seconded that but kept quiet.
“There were over a dozen witnesses to it and I underestimated her in my arrogance. I would advise people to not make the same mistake I did as she only revived me because Kristof asked her to as we are friends.” He sighed when she didn’t answer. “I’m sorry you weren’t already told that as those invited were the witnesses and others from their court already knew that.”
She smirked at Tian, her eyes full of rage at being called out like that. “One castle building does not make a coven or respectable house to worry over the normal niceties. When I heard princesses from all over the world were gathering again, I would of course join them as they received a lot from the last meeting.”
“Twist it however you want, Alicia, but our covens recognize her and her coven and have alliances with her. There are another eleven as well who would be very upset if you would do something foolish,” Hanna cut in.
“Not to mention the fourteen clans she has treaties with, the heads of the clans her knights,” Tian added. “Now, do we have a problem here, or were you going to agree to the rules of our coven, Princess?”
Hope, the sexy lynx shifter that was one of Inez’s knights, came over, reading off of a tablet. “Princess Nora, I apologize for interrupting, but Princess Inez asked if you would be her second and take charge of the crazy while she’s indisposed.”
Alicia snorted. “She accepts the oath and has fun while she bleeds. Can she not even handle that?”
Hope shot her a feral look which surprised me given the shifter was cool as a cucumber. “Princess, I would ask you not speak on what you do not know, and do not insult our princess again while a guest
