Page 19 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

All eyes turned to me.

My cheeks heated and I coughed into my hand, purposefully obscuring my words. “Treasure Banes.” More clearly, I added, “Please, call me Trey.”

Fitz rubbed his hands together, reminding me of my old man in serious-plotting-mode. “Now, let’s get to the meat of the meeting. Are we going to keep the marriage tradition going for another generation, or are we going on a quest?”

Chapter Seven

“Why bother considering marriage?” Angelica demanded as she reclaimed the whole couch. “We’re all related in some way or another, and I willnotmarry my cousin.” A deep shudder shook her body, and she quickly picked up her cup to drown her revulsion with tea.

“Neither of us are related to you,” Delilah piped up as she filled her plate with sweets, taking after Kit with her appetite. She plopped onto a couch and stuffed a whole miniature tart into her mouth, puffing out her cheeks like a squirrel.

Would she be insulted if I compared her to a rodent?I’d keep that in mind for the next time she got on my nerves.

Angelica frowned as she raked scathing blue eyes over first Delilah, then me, evidently dissatisfied with the available options.

“That can’t be right,” Fitz said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Is it? We should consult the family tree.” He searched through the pile of books, undoing any cleaning he’d accomplished for our visit, until he found a rolled-up piece of parchment hidden between two of them. Then he began unloading the tea cart onto the floor.

“What are you doing?” Angelica shrieked. “I’m still eating that!”

“I need somewhere to spread it out.”

“Then use one of thetables.” She pointed imperiously at a nearby side table.

Fitz frowned as he examined it. “It’s not big enough.”

“There are at leastsixother tables to choose from.”

“But the tea service is the mostconvenient—”

Maximus picked up a table near the wall and carried it to the center of the sitting room. He set it down so gently it didn’t even make a sound.

Fitz blinked owlishly for a moment, then said, “Thank you, Maximus.” He flicked the scroll open, expanding it into a long and complicated family tree. Using random books, he held down each corner so we could examine it. “Two of my great-uncles participated in the first generation of the Kingdom Defense Spell. The first married your great-aunt”—he pointed at me—“the second married your grandmother”—he pointed at Delilah. “You and I are technically related, though it is a few generations removed at this point. Then your great-aunt”—he pointed at Angelica—“married his grandfather—” he pointed at Maximus. “So, you two are related.

“Moving on to the second generation. My mother married your uncle—” he pointed again at Angelica—“so we are cousins. My aunt married your uncle”—he pointed again at Maximus—“so I don’t think either of us are related by blood. Then your fathers married each other”—he pointed at me—“which should mean you and Delilah are only related to me. In fact, since you’re Brendon’s son, you aren’t even related to each other.”

“My head hurts,” Delilah muttered, speaking for all of us.

I glanced at Maximus, whose height and muscled physique matched the picture of an ideal royal champion. He’d probably be the easiest to convince to go questing. “What do you think of all this?”

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, his expression difficult to read. “There aren’t enough of us.”

What type of weapon does Maximus wield? Some sort of hammer? Though with the length of his arms, a sword would be useful. No one could get in reach of him.Busy mentally measuring his biceps, it took me a moment to register his words. “What?”

“Our families only sent one child each. There aren’t enough of us to fulfill the obligation through marriage.”

I looked around the room, only then realizing the problem. I cleared my throat, drawing the others’ attention to me. “Does anyone have unmarried siblings?”

“My older brothers are married,” Maximus replied.

Fitz shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Both of my older sisters are engaged.”

Angelica frowned. “I didn’t know Gen and Gwenhad gotten engaged.”

“It’s recent,” he replied, deadpan.

“How recent?”

“Well, my parents asked which of us would like to attend the meeting, and within a day they both produced fiancés.”