There was still a faint flush on the young king's cheeks, and it made him look even younger than he was, the soft, embarrassed blush of a schoolboy, awkward and nervous in front of someone attractive and flirtatious. He shifted faintly, looking down at the rose in his hands, then up at Dacian again.
Dacian was not able to resist beaming as he watched the king. Was is possible to think of a king as alluring and cute? "Pardon me, Your Majesty, but the blush on your face is giving you a youthful-like aura," He said. "It is like the angels have kissed your cheeks." A soft trail of chuckles left him before he kicked his lips. The fact he is elicting such a reaction from a high person like the king is unbelievable to him. No he must be, the only person King Evander is staring at is him. How though? In any matter, he should be the one that should be awkward and anxious.
Evander really had to resist the urge to cover his face this time. With each comment Dacian made about his blush, he could feel more dignity fleeing him, reducing him to just a young man in a crown in a garden, a rose in his hands and a blush on his cheeks. He took a deep breath, clearing his throat and trying to gather himself a bit. "I…suppose I must thank you for the compliment." he said slowly, uncertainly.
Lowering his chin, he took a swift moment to clear his throat. When making eye contact with King Evander again, Dacian sharply inhaled. He rolled his shoulders back. "Perhaps it is time that I should go. I do not wish to keep you here, giving you a copious amount of compliments," He said. "We probably would be here all day and all night then. The last thing I want is for you to be tired. You already are looking to be sun-kissed right now."
Evander nodded a little. "Right. Uhm. Farewell, then, ambassador, until we meet again." he replied, finally able to gather a bit more dignity, though his cheeks were still faintly flushed, a light kiss of pink along his cheekbones.
"Until we meet again, Your Majesty. Farewell." Dacian bowed before he began to stroll back. After passing the king and his guard, he took a few steps before looking back. A long sigh escaped his lips as he placed his hand over his heart. The blush on his face stinging as he kept glancing over his shoulder.
Evander watched him go for a moment, before forcing himself to turn away. He walked on a little, before sitting down on a bench and taking a deep breath. What, exactly, had just happened? He had no idea, and it was…a little terrifying. He took off his crown to run a hand through his hair, biting his lip for a moment.
By the time Dacian was at the entrance of the gardens, he stopped. Before he went to take out his handkerchief, his hand was still placed over his heart. It beated furiously, even though it gradually began to slow down. "What did I do?" He asked himself, dabbing his forehead with the cloth. "Did I really think of the king as attractive? And I flirted with him too? Oh heavens!" With a shake of his head, he made a sign of the cross before entering the castle.
Evander closed his eyes, putting his crown back on his head and taking a deep breath, counting to three to give himself a moment. He could not allow this to happen again. Not when it was too dangerous for him to actually have a romantic relationship. Not with the beast inside of him, caged by fragile bars.
The conversation replayed in his head over and over again. Images of the King Evander's smile and his fingers wrapping around the rose flashed. His heart thumped. Dacian frowned, shaking his head. He needs to watch his tongue; he should not be saying such things to the king. Not just for the sake of his position, but for the king too. The king…. For a second he buried his face between his hands before letting his fingers run through his hair.
(time skip?)
(sure! To when?)
(Sweet! How about they have a meeting the next day?)
(sure!)
(Okay! Should I write the next response then?)
(yes please)
(Okie dokie! :D)
Finally Dacian was able to schedule a meeting ahead of time with the king. Despite being happy to finally have a meeting with him, he was still unsure about seeing His Majesty. Even as he sat in the room waiting, his mind thought back to what happened in the gardens. His cheeks flared then he shook his head. He shouldn't think of it all during the meeting; he will simply try to not let his eyes linger again.
Evander made it to the meeting, dressed, as always, in a relatively simple suit, his crown sitting atop his combed hair. "Ambassador." he greeted, inclining his head. As a king, Evander bowed to no one, but inclining his head was a small bow, a show of respect granted to those deemed worthy of it. The only person Evander had ever bowed to was his father, and now he would bow to no one.
Once he heard the door open, Dacian instantly shot up. Swiftly, he adjusted his black coat and made sure his hair was neat. At first, he looked at King Evander and then bowed. Rolling back his shoulders, a smile swept across his face. "A pleasure it is you see you again, Your Majesty." His eyes lowered to the floor as he cleared his throat. He fixed his hair again. "Thank you for meeting with me. I know it might be too soon, but from what I heard this perfectly aligns with your schedule."
"A pleasure to see you as well." He replied with a soft smile. "And yes, it does align with my schedule quite well. I'm glad we got all of this figured out to finally have our meeting together. I have notes and memos from my advisors and their meetings with you, so I believe I am up to speed on everything that has already been discussed." He took a seat, setting down some papers on the table in front of him.
Standing still, he held his hands together in front of him. As the king spoke, he nodded along, but kept his eyes lowered at the floor. When the king sat down, he waited a couple of seconds before doing the same. "Splendid. If you have any questions, Your Majesty, please do not hesitate," Dacian said. His eyes flickered over to the papers on the table. "Is there any points of discussion you would like to talk about first?"
Evander shuffled through the papers, considering the question. "I don't believe so." he replied. "My advisors have told me they took care of the main points of the treaty already, so as long as that is indeed true than I see no reason to pick over those specific details." part of this meeting, part of Dacian's duty, was to adjust the treaty between his country and Evander's; during the war it had technically lapsed, since each treaty was created with an ending year, and in the past year Evander had been more concerned with the country itself to be able to turn his attention to the numerous lapsed treaties that had collected during the eight years since the beginning of the war.
"Very well then." Dacian nodded, glancing down at his own papers. Thanks to the conflict with Sceivania's enemies and the war, there was no Sceivanian ambassador in Aven for seven years. It left him with a lot of work, but the updated treaty, along with other things, managed to get them smoothed out. "King Nicolae does not have many demands, so most clauses are the same. Though with the Farrantils and their allies, the Brastilis, he had asked for two extra clauses to be added. Your men and mine have worked them in so there should be no problem. He wants most actions and support to Aven taken to be as discreet as possible. I hope you can understand."
Evander drummed his fingers for a moment. "Yes. We have hopefully finished our conflict with Farrantil by now. I did end that war quite by myself, if you remember?" his voice took on a faint edge for just a moment. "So any assistance they rendered now would only be used in our rebuilding stages, as quite a lot of my country is still recovering from a long war. I don't see how assisting a country rebuild after a war would need to be done discreetly. Taran has been quite openly letting us harvest timber from their forests, as many of ours were razed to the ground and are only now beginning to recover and regrow. Taran, of course, to our west, has quite a lot of forest rather close to the border, and they have let us harvest timber for a much smaller fee than they normally would. They also offered pikesman and cavalry during the war." he studied Dacian quietly, tapping his fingertip against the papers for a moment, then looked down at them, shifting through them. "So I must ask why your king feels that it must be discreet and kept quiet, when our other allies have made no secret of attempting to show support." he knew Aven was vulnerable, and knew too that this rebuilding stage left them open to manipulation when they could not even grow much timber of their own, but he had no choice. He simply kept a close eye on all of his allies, and did not accept offers of help without thought and some critical study of what, exactly, was being offered.
Dacian rubbed his forehead, drawing out a soft sigh. He bit his bottom lip, trying to find a way to explain it all without wasting his breath. The letter explaining was in his quarters for he couldn't bring it due to private reasons. "Your war is over, but King Nicolae is worried about us and our enemy, the Brastilis. You have topped the Farrantils, but their brothers that lay across our eastern border are still standing very strong waiting to pounce on us like a beast with a mouse." He shook his head then glimpsed down at the floor. "Sceivania is doing their best to lower the tensions with our enemy so that we can be of service to everyone regardless of enemies and what not. Last week a spy ring was discover in Brastilux's capital so King Nicolae is trying to take care of that matter as we speak. There are other things, but I really cannot tell you at this moment. Of course if you do have questions, I will do my best to answer." Sitting back in the chair, he cover his mouth as he coughed. After taking a moment to clear his throat, he began to speak again. "Believe me, His Majesty wants to support you anyway he can. Aven means a lot to us. It's just that we have to be cautious for our own sake and for our families. He wants to plan everything out smoothly and effectively so nothing happens. He also assures that everything should be fine on our end soon. On another note, there are only certain ways we can show our support without being discreet. We cannot really send any weaponry or tools because our mines are near the eastern border and weather conditions are strange, but we can try, you would just be facing a bit of a delay. On the other hand, we do have supplies on the way such as blankets, clothes, medicines, and food. They should be here by the end of this week or beginning of the next. The plan is to send a new shipment every three weeks or to wait on your order and I shall send a letter. Your advisors said it'd be best to just send them in but I suggested to wait on you, Your Majesty. I apologize if anything of this sounds foolish or does not make sense. I also apologize for the inconvenience as well."
Evander listened, digesting the words, and inclined his head faintly to show he understood. "Ah, of course. My apologies, then, as that does make sense. Of course, if your country does get into a war with the Brastilis, Aven will do what it can to lend support to you in return. Again, I understand that you have no wish to anger the Brastilis. I also believe, though, that peace because you are afraid of them is no peace at all, merely fear. Sometimes war is better than being afraid like that." He studied Dacian quietly for a moment. "Bit that is for your king to decide. And of course we are quite grateful for the supplies being sent, I meant no ungratefulness for what help is already being given."