Chapter 441: Before Departure

Chapter 441: Chapter 441: Before Departure

By lunch, the palace had settled into the quieter rhythm that followed a royal wedding.

Most of the foreign delegations had either begun leaving Alexandria or withdrawn to their assigned residences, and the private royal wing had finally stopped feeling like the center of several countries at once. Flowers from the ceremony still filled the corridors, white arrangements softening the old Wrohanian stone, while palace staff moved with considerably less urgency now that nobody was preparing to marry a king.

Liam’s family had remained in the palace.

Hosting them inside the palace during the wedding had spared everyone the spectacular traffic created whenever half the country attempted to approach the royal district at once.

Henry had declared after the first day that he intended to remain exactly where he was until the last diplomatic convoy left the city.

Enia had agreed.

Mirelle had needed no convincing whatsoever.

Liam entered the private dining room beside Arik and immediately found most of them already there.

Rex sat beside Mara at one end of the table, stripped of almost every visible sign of kingship except the small ring on his hand. Mara wore a soft blue dress and had her hair loosely pinned back, looking considerably more comfortable than she had during the formal receptions.

Enia and Henry sat together near the windows.

Mirelle occupied the place opposite them with the confidence of someone who had visited the palace often enough over the years to have opinions about which chairs were comfortable.

Ayla and Samuel were already arguing quietly about something on Samuel’s communicator.

Cecil and Frederik had arrived as well.

Cecil looked well, dressed in deep crimson and cream rather than formal Agaronian court clothing, while Frederik remained beside him with his usual reserved calm.

Frederik rarely spoke merely to fill silence.

He also missed very little.

Liam had discovered years ago that anyone foolish enough to direct something toward Cecil generally learned very quickly that Frederik’s quiet nature was not softness.

Ayla was asking Cecil questions.

"Do you know when you’ll stop traveling?"

"Not yet." Cecil reached for his water. "The physician said I can continue normally unless something changes."

"Are you going back to Agaron today?"

"Later this afternoon."

Frederik glanced toward him.

"We shortened the schedule."

Cecil gave him a look that was mostly affection.

"You shortened the schedule."

"You agreed after arguing for twenty minutes."

"I was making sure your reasoning was sound."

Frederik’s mouth moved faintly.

Liam smiled as he sat down.

Arik took the chair beside him and immediately looked toward Cecil’s abdomen.

Cecil noticed.

"You can ask."

Arik leaned back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Hungry."

"That seems manageable."

"It is."

There was none of the competitiveness from the first announcement anymore.

Arik had been startled, certainly, and deeply offended that Cecil had managed to announce a pregnancy almost immediately after Liam said he wanted a child, but the shock had passed quickly. What remained was genuine interest buried beneath Arik’s usual inability to behave like a normal older brother.

Enia looked across the table toward Cecil.

"Three months already."

Cecil nodded.

"We waited before saying anything publicly."

"Sensible," Henry said.

Frederik’s attention moved briefly toward Cecil before returning to his plate.

Liam caught it.

Protective without hovering.

Very Frederik.

Lunch unfolded slowly after that, with no political schedule forcing anyone to finish.

Henry complained about the road closures around the palace, even though he had avoided all of them by staying inside the royal wing.

"You know what the southern avenue looked like yesterday?" he asked.

Rex looked guilty.

"Necessary security."

"It took one of my staff forty minutes to cross three streets."

"You own another house on this side of the river."

"That is not the point."

Mirelle lifted her glass.

"I told him to walk."

Henry looked at her.

"You tell everyone to walk."

"It is good for circulation."

"You arrived here by car."

"I was wearing heels."

Enia laughed.

Liam leaned back in his chair and watched them.

This was home in a way the palace itself had never been.

Alexandria had changed considerably while he built a life in Nuria, but the people sitting around the table belonged to the oldest parts of his memory—the Ravenwoods, the Armstrongs, old Wrohanian families who had survived generations of politics, marriages, terrible kings, and social expectations simply by refusing to disappear.

Arik’s hand found his beneath the table.

Liam looked toward him.

Arik was watching his face rather than the conversation.

"What?"

"You look comfortable."

"I am."

Arik’s thumb moved once across his knuckles.

Across the table, Mara noticed.

She smiled and returned to her conversation with Enia without saying anything.

After lunch, everyone migrated toward one of the palace salons overlooking the southern gardens.

The room had been used by Rex’s family for generations and looked considerably more lived-in than the formal reception spaces: shelves filled with books, mismatched chairs accumulated over decades, old portraits, and broad windows facing the city.

Alexandria spread beyond them beneath a pale afternoon sky.

Mara abandoned her shoes near the sofa within ten minutes.

Rex removed his jacket shortly afterward.

Mirelle found coffee.

Ayla sat on the carpet beside one of the low tables while Samuel stretched across an armchair and complained about having to return to the academy soon.

"You chose to study in Nuria," Liam reminded him.

"I did not choose morning lectures."

Ayla looked toward Arik.

"Can emperors abolish those?"

Arik considered.

"No."

"You answered too quickly."

"I have enough problems without becoming personally responsible for university scheduling."

Rex laughed.

"That may be the most sensible thing you have said all week."

Arik looked offended.

Liam hid his smile behind his cup.

Cecil and Frederik had taken the smaller sofa near the fire. Frederik sat slightly angled toward Cecil, one arm resting along the back cushions while Cecil discussed whether they should remain in Agaron for the next few months or spend part of the pregnancy in Nuria.

"There is no reason you cannot visit," Liam said.

Cecil looked toward him.

"I know."

"Stay as long as you want when you do."

Arik nodded.

"Our physicians already know your records."

Frederik gave a quiet, appreciative incline of his head.

"Thank you."

The afternoon remained uncomplicated.

That was what Liam enjoyed most.

No one needed anything from them.

Nobody was negotiating borders.

No one was asking Arik for an imperial decision or Liam for a public statement.

Even the wedding had finally become something they could talk about afterward instead of an event requiring constant preparation.

Rex complained that Mara had stepped on his foot during their first dance.

Mara reminded everyone that Rex had forgotten which direction he was supposed to turn.

Rex denied it.

Three people confirmed it.

By the time the light outside began turning gold, Cecil and Frederik were preparing to leave for Agaron, while Henry and Enia had begun discussing whether they should return to the Ravenwood residence that evening or remain in the palace another night until the traffic around central Alexandria settled.

Mirelle had already announced that she was staying.

Nobody questioned it.

Arik’s communicator vibrated.

His attention changed immediately.

Liam noticed before anyone else.

Arik glanced at the display and stood, moving several steps away from the others before answering.

Lucien appeared.

He was still in Nuria, but whatever relaxed ease he usually maintained had disappeared.

"Gerard has been declared dead."

Arik said nothing.

Lucien continued.

"The confirmation came from Lirya a few minutes ago. Security found him after his return, they returned to Lirya before informing anyone that the king was dead."

Arik glanced once toward Mezos, who stood near the salon entrance speaking quietly with Rubis.

Mezos read the answer from his face.

"Marius?" Arik asked.

"He has already been called to the royal residence," Lucien said. "Security contacted him first. Most of Gerard’s senior staff are looking to him because nobody knows who has authority until succession is formally addressed."

That was exactly what Arik had expected.

Marius had spent years holding Gerard’s government together while pretending the king was capable of doing it himself.

Now everyone naturally turned toward him when the structure finally broke.

Lucien inhaled slowly.

"I’m leaving for Lirya tonight."

Arik studied him.

For two years Cassian had trained him to stop merely surviving Gerard and begin thinking like the ruler who would replace him.

The fear was still there.

Good.

Only idiots felt nothing before taking a throne.

"What time?"

"Three hours."

"Speak to Marius before departure."

"I already requested a secure call."

Arik’s mouth curved faintly.

"And the palace?"

"I want confirmation of who controls internal security, military communications, and the capital entrances before I land."

Arik nodded.

"Good."

Lucien was silent for a moment.

Then he said, "It happened earlier than we planned."

"It did."

"I can still do it."

Arik’s expression softened by a fraction.

"I know."

Lucien ended the call shortly afterward.

Arik remained near the windows.

Behind him, the family continued talking more quietly now, several people having realized from his expression that something had changed.

Liam approached first.

"Gerard?"

"Dead officially."