FOURTEEN!

BRIANNA

I looked at the woman in front of me with a fake smile on my face. I didn't know how to respond to her news because just a few ago, I was lip locked with her supposed fiance.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” I said to her, still keeping up with the fake smile.

“I don't need your congratulations.” She said, proudly, “I need you to get out of my way,” I didn't wait to be told twice.

I stood aside as her cat walked past me, everyone bowed to her to show their respect and also to butter her.

When they think she is the future queen, they need to get favors as soon as possible.

“Don't let her get to you,” Trish said and I nodded.

“Why will I?” I said, “she is just a bully, begging to be put down,” I said to Trish.

“Her father has a vast number of lands and her mother is one of the most beautiful women in the kingdom,” Trish said.

“That may be true but that doesn't give her the right to act like an entitled bitch,” I said, almost out loud. Trish could tell that I was pissed.

“Well, I guess the rumors are true,” Trish said and my heart skipped a beat.

“What rumor?” I asked, pretending not to know what she meant.

“Everyone knew she was betrothed to one of the princes, just not who. Guess we do now,” she said.

“So it's official?” I asked, “are they engaged?”

“No, not. Until a formal declaration by the king and a huge ballroom party that's when it's all confirmed,” she said and I felt Dia dance for joy.

“What do you mean by a huge ballroom party?” I asked.

“Every single Royal in the whole supernatural world that we have an alliance with,” she said.

We found our seats with our names labeled on each one. Everything looks classy and elegant.

The doors of the hall opened and Liam with the two men from earlier walked in.

Most of the men in the room just stare while the women giggled amongst themselves.

I glanced at Trish and her face was flushed again as she watched Ethan take a seat behind Liam.

Then our eyes met and like his father he looked starstruck.

“I'm guessing he is wondering what we are doing here,” Dia said to me.

“Shut up, Dia,” I scolded her and she went quiet.

The other guy tapped his shoulder, he cleared his throat and sat down. My eyes fell on Margaret who was already giving me daggers.

“This is going to be fun,” I whispered as I sat down.

There was a bit of whispering between Liam and his men for about a minute then the real meeting began.

“Thank you all for taking the time to attend this meeting once again,” he started. “There are a lot of things to go through and hopefully we get them all done,” he said, stealing glances at me and I tried to look away.

“Harvest is near,” he said suddenly and there were a lot of murmurs in the crowd.

“I know it's not our favorite topic but the palace has a lot to feed,” he said.

“And so do we!” A man yelled across the room.

“That's Lord Gaf, he does this every time,” Trish said to me and I looked at her confused.

“What do you mean every time?” I asked, “isn't this your first time attending this meeting,” she scoffed and looked at me.

“What makes you think so?” She asked, “why do you think everything was in order when we arrived?” She asked.

“Because of Agatha,” I said innocently.

“No, because I make a trip down here every three months,” she said and I gasped silently.

“So there is never a big makeup client?” I asked because back in the human world that was her excuse.

“Of course there is. I mainly just use her as my cover,” she said.

“We understand you have people in your parks to feed but the king's guard and soldiers come first,” Liam said firmly.

“They protect you from the rogues,” he said and some people acknowledged him.

“What about the second highest priest, he was killed by the rogues in the palace. A place which is the most guarded in the whole of the supernatural world,” Lord Gaf, said.

Liam's face turned cold and his hands turned into a fist, “that was an unfortunate situation, Lord Gaf and it's been handled,” he said.

Gaf sat down and folded his arms in anger, “each park is to deliver twenty bags of meat and pork to the palace kitchen by the weekend,” he said dropped his folder.

He was handed another one by Ethan and he sighed, “we need more Soldiers,” he said and the whole hall went into chaos.

“That's not possible!”

“We can't keep giving our young men to you,”

“Make peace with the rogue!” Someone yelled and everywhere became silent.

Everyone's eyes turned to me and I stood up, “what are you doing?” Trish asked me.

“Introducing myself,” I winked at her and faced the Lord's and Ladies in the hall.

“I'm Duchess Brianna, I just returned from a very long journey and I am glad I returned. May I ask you, your highness, how are your hospital facilities for your soldiers?” I asked Liam who was surprised at my boldness.

“I don't understand your question,” he said and I smirked.

“Let me make it a bit simpler. What's the fatality rate per year?” I asked her.

He cleared his throat and loosen his tux, everyone turned their attention to him.

“Over a hundred thousand,” he said and everyone gasped, including me.

That's incredibly high, “what seems to be the problem?” I asked.

“Not enough Physicians,” he said and the rest of the people on the high table nodded.

“Well if you solve your Physician problem, you solve the problem of always needing more men or not just make peace with the rogues,” I said and Trish made me sit back on my seat.

“That's enough,” she said to me, while smiling at the people looking at us. I just rolled my eyes.

“She's right!” Someone yelled and the rest of the people agreed.

“We need to tread carefully,” Trish said and I looked at her.

“I couldn't agree more,” I said, angrily.

“Okay, what's going on?” She asked, noticing my contenance.

“He is betrothed to someone and he kissed me,” I whispered to her.

“I'm sorry about that but that's the way of the land,” she said.

“What?” I scoffed.

After much deliberation on the high table Liam finally spoke.

“Duchess Brianna, you speak wise words and your contribution will be taken into consideration,” he said and I nodded.

As Liam finished speaking, I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment wash over me. Who knew that my bold words would actually make a difference?

But as I turned to look away, I caught Liam's gaze locked on mine. For a moment, it seemed like time stood still. I felt a flutter in my chest, and my heart skipped a beat.

What was going on? Did he still have feelings for me, despite being betrothed to someone else?

I quickly looked away, trying to shake off the feeling. But it was too late. Both Trish and Margaret had already noticed the exchange. I could feel Margaret stares on my skin.

"Brianna, what's going on?" she whispered, her eyes wide with concern.

I shook my head, trying to brush it off. "Nothing, Trish. Just my imagination playing tricks on me."

But Trish wasn't buying it. "I've seen the way he looks at you, Brianna. You need to be careful,”

I felt a shiver run down my spine. What did Trish know that I didn't?

Just then, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the hall. The doors burst open, and a tall, dark-haired man strode in.

"Liam, you made a grave mistake today," he growled, his eyes blazing with anger.

Liam's face darkened, and he stepped forward. "What do you want, Adrian?"

“Who is he?” I asked Trish.

“He is Adrian, the King youngest and ambitious son,”

“You need to step out of here, Adrian. Right now!” Liam roared with authority.

“No, I am going to finish what I started this morning,” he said and Liam laughed, along with Ethan and the other guy.

“Do you mean when I kicked your ass to the curb?” Liam mocked him and everyone laughed.

“This is not good,” I said, looking at the angry face of Adrian.

“I'm not going to fight you. With this I have already won,” he was holding a white paper in his hands.

He scanned the hall and his eyes landed on mine. He walked towards me and dropped one of the papers on my hands then did the same to his brother.

I opened up the paper to see a picture. It was of me and Liam in the waterfall.

“Damn,”