The Commander led the men out to deploy the soldiers, while Prince Alex poured a round of drinks.
"We’re going to need this, and then you should get a good night’s sleep. I will be up all night dealing with military deployment orders, so you two can take care of the polite politics tomorrow morning." The Prince instructed.
"Are you not calling your Advisor up?" Dominic asked.
Prince Alex shook his head. "He is watching over the second regiment for me, and he’s got a communication device to send me messages about what happens outside the city.
It’s critical that he remains where he is."
Alexis and Dominic finished their drinks, then the Princess dragged him to his feet as Prince Alex cleared his throat.
"There are servants here, Sister. They can help you prepare for bed."
Alexis sighed, then motioned for one of the blushing and quietly giggling maids to join her.
"You two are going to give my father a heart attack when he reads the reports, you know that, don’t you?" Prince Alex sighed.
His hair was tousled from running his fingers through it, and dark bags were already beginning to form under his eyes. The events of the day hadn’t been easy on him, but he was planning to stay up all night to sort out the military deployments anyhow.
"It’s not our intention. We just got into the habit as we were travelling, and it’s become routine." Dominic replied.
"Sit and drink. The maids will gossip enough already. Since we have a bit of time, we should discuss a few important matters about your courtship." Alex insisted.
"Miss, we will need the good stuff for this. Perhaps a nice Cognac." Dominic instructed the maid as he sat across from the Prince.
"There are a few things that are unclear about your childhood. You were raised by an Arcanist and a Technomage, right? One of them being the younger sibling of the Earl Wistover?" Prince Alex asked.
Dominic nodded. "They preferred peace and quiet, so we didn’t live in the Manor, but a few kilometres out in the woods."
The Prince pursed his lips and frowned. "How sure are you that they’re your real parents?"
Dominic shrugged. "As sure as any child would be? I lived in that house for as long as I can remember. We went to visit the Manor once or twice a week, but there weren’t any other children my exact age there. The closest was a season off. Most children in the village were born in the autumn, you see.
The result of long nights spent indoors during the heavy rains of winter."
Prince Alex nodded. "The reason I ask is right there on your head. I managed to dig up pictures of the Earl’s family from just after he moved to Wistover Manor. He was good friends with the Baron Wistover from the Cygnia side of the border, you see.
And none of the rest of the family had such prominent draconic lineage. Not even the Earl’s sister, the Dragon King’s exiled former Concubine.
She would have arrived in the Manor six months before you were born."
The Prince paused there, and Dominic silently considered the implications. The Earl’s sister was exiled in disgrace for reasons that were never openly stated around children.
But Prince Alex was right.
Though most of the family and the villagers were dragonkin, horns were rare. At most, it usually manifested in the pupil shape, sometimes the fingernails growing as claws.
And the magical affinity, of course.
But Dominic had all those traits and more.
But his parents were his parents, no matter what the truth was. However, if his lineage pointed more directly toward the Dragon King, there could be ramifications far beyond his magical abilities.
Dagos and their allies had gone to great extents to eliminate the Dragon King’s entire direct lineage.
Letting a surviving member marry into the Cygnia Royal Family would surely upset those who had a particular grudge against the deceased King.
Dominic nodded slowly as he considered his answer. "Yes, she arrived half a year before I was born. However, I am told that exiled concubines are given a potion to ensure that they are not pregnant when they are exiled.
Even if her child were fostered out to someone in the village, or another family member, it would be incredibly difficult to convince others of that fact."
Prince Alex shook his head. "And I wouldn’t want to. My concern is that if your lineage led a bit more directly to the dragons than others thought, we might end up with a new young Dragon King looking to claim his throne in the next generation.
What do you know about your father? Where was he born? What was his father like? I have no records on his side of the family, unlike your mother’s."
Dominic shrugged. "He was a Technomage, and I am told that he was travelling when he met my mother at the market selling her magical wares.
If you left them alone, they would discuss nothing but magical devices in the sort of intensely flirtatious way that makes young children leave the room in disgust."
Prince Alex laughed so hard that tears formed in his eyes.
Did this man honestly not see that he did the same thing with Princess Alexis?
Going by the innocent look on his face, he really might not have noticed how intimate their conversations had gotten. Just the fact that she was physically touching him as she read was enough to scandalize half the court.
If they knew she napped in his lap alone, the King himself would hold the shotgun for the next morning’s forced wedding.
That was why he hadn’t said anything. Prince Claudius surely suspected at least a little of what was going on, though.
What Prince Alex actually said did not give away any of his thoughts on the matter.
"Alright, then it is possible that your father had the greater Draconic lineage. There are more than a few wild Sorcerers and Demihumans who are more beast or monster than human.
Your father was well respected for his work. I have the records from the border Barons on the matter to confirm it. Some of his devices remain in the treasuries of Cygnia Nobles to this day.
Now, back to my original point.
I think that we should hold a foreign wedding in the next few days so that we can assign titles and estates to you both as part of whatever settlement we come to.
If we do it after, it will be problematic." Alex insisted.
Dominic winked at him. "I’m not going to be the one to tell the Princess. That’s all on you."