Katie had been asleep when we knocked on her bedroom door the night before, so we had to table our idea and wait. I had been disappointed at the time, but hopeful for the beginnings of a bright new day.

“What are you doing up so early, handsome?” I heard the sexy and seductive feminine voice tickle my ears like a feather.

Georgia sighed softly and rolled over beside me in the bed and grinned at me with delight.

“Nothing, darling,” I patted her bare thigh. “Just thinking.”

“About what?” She stared up at me with a dreamy expression etched across her gorgeous and sultry face.

I shrugged. “About how to approach the Dolarians.”

“Did you not like my ideas?” Her brows furrowed into a frown and she pouted.

“No, of course I did.” I leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips, gently tugging at her bottom lip, which made her chuckle with delight. She giggled playfully. I might have to fuck her again right here in the sheets.

“Then what is the problem?” She eyed me with mock suspicion.

“It’s . . .” I trailed off and sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “It’s just . . . I am not really sure how to explain it. More complicated than it seems.” I felt like I had a lot of murky situations and dilemmas weighing on my mind.

“Do you not trust Prince Jerren?” She asked with apprehension.

“That’s the problem,” I confessed. “I can never tell whether he is joking or not.”

I hated to let Georgia down. We were so close to victory, we could smell it. There was just the question of whether the prince was sincere in his efforts to aid us.

Georgia leaned back against the pillows and blew out a puff of frustrated air. “Unfortunately, I know that all too well.”

“Chad?” I stared at her as she met my gaze.

“Yep.” She nodded matter-of-factly. I knew she’d seen her fair share of pranks. It made us both cynical as we shifted our belief systems.

“Which brings me to my next point.” I chuckled and stared at the sheets in my lap.

“Oh?” Her eyes lit up with wonder.

“I think we need to hold a meeting.”

“With whom?” She asked with confusion. She frowned and waited for me to explain further.

With Prince Jerren, you, and me.” I paused a second to prepare her for the next admission. “I think we need to submit our proposal to Katie as well,” I told her.

“That makes sense.” Georgia nodded with approval that made me feel relief. “When will you gather everyone together?”

“I’m going downstairs now while you dress,” I explained. “I will talk to Jerren and we can arrange something for later today.”

“That’s a good plan,” Georgia agreed. “I think the sooner we address this, the better. There’s no sense in waiting around, twiddling our thumbs.”

“Right.” I nodded as I zipped my pants. “Besides, we didn’t almost die for nothing. We are here for a purpose, after all.”

“To bring Chad to justice.” Georgia finished my sentence for me because we were both thinking the same thing.

I approached her and planted an affectionate kiss laced with tenderness upon her lips. “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” I promised.

“See you then,” she called out as I closed the door behind me.

* * *

A few hours later, Georgia, me, Katie, and Prince Jerren were sitting in his palace board room, staring at each other. They had agreed to a meeting and I knew we only had one shot to convince them to help our cause.

Prince Jerren had two advisors on either side of him. One of them cleared his throat and the other one patted his little webbed hand on the table.

The room was otherwise silent as everyone waited with bated breath to determine who would break it by speaking first. It was game on from here on out.

I decided to cut right down to business. I needed this to be over, and the only way to accomplish that was to nip this problem in the bud. I began with an air of professionalism and tried to appear as confident as I could.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us today.” I addressed Prince Jerren directly, who nodded in approval.

I wasn’t necessarily reaching the goal of appeasing him, but in taking the advice from my lover, Georgia, you did catch more flies with honey than anything else. He was a reasonable man. I knew that.

“It is my pleasure.” Prince Jerren nodded with a curt little bow.

His luxurious jewelry adorned nearly every surface of his body, and he flashed with materialistic flair. I thought he looked absolutely ridiculous, but I would never admit that to his face.

“As you know,” I began, “we have some issues to resolve when it comes to Chad Wallace, the man you currently harbor behind your palace walls.”

“Right.” Jerren sneered with a little smirk that stretched across his face. He was amused and entertained. I had his attention.

Katie coughed, sniffed, and shifted awkwardly in her seat. I gave her a look that warned her to remain quiet, at least for now.

I knew this was going to be uncomfortable for her, but unless she wanted to go back to the dungeons, it was vital that she continue to cooperate.

“We have an idea,” I continued. “A way in which to sort of . . . how do I put this . . . get back at him for what he did to me and Georgia.”

“Is that so?” Prince Jerren raised one of his weasel looking eyebrows. He looked interested. We had captured his attention and it hadn’t even been that difficult.

‘Yes,” I stated firmly with a nod. I met his gaze and didn’t falter.

“I would love to hear it.” Jerren giggled with delight as he glanced between the three of us.

“He made a disgrace of me and tainted my honor as Crown Prince of Mixis,” I reminded Jerren.

This was no laughing matter, as far as I was concerned. The man had to pay for the hurtful pranks. Even if the result was favorable for Georgia and me, there had to be consequences.

“Yes, of course, absolutely.” Jerren nodded with understanding and consolation that I wasn’t sure reflected sincerity, but he was notoriously ambiguous with his emotions as it was. He stopped snickering and that’s all that mattered.

I didn’t have time to dissect his nature at the moment, and we had the explanation still left to unwind regarding our plan.

“He is just as obnoxious to us as he is to you,” Georgia admitted.

I glanced at Katie to gauge her reaction, and she stared straight ahead with a distant expression on her face. It was like she wasn’t hearing anything any of us were saying.

She was seemingly having a distressing time recovering from the trauma of yesterday’s events out at sea, but Georgia and I would still need her help. She needed to snap out of it.

We had asked her privately outside the meeting room if she would agree to tape the little prank we planned to propose to Jerren and his counterparts.

At first, she had reluctantly hesitated and wouldn’t give us an affirmative answer. Then, after a few minutes of coaxing, she finally came around and agreed to assist us in our endeavors against Chad. She knew she owed us and was backed into a corner.

“You know he doesn’t love you, Katie,” Georgia had said to her in the hallway. Her red hair spilled over her face as she made Katie listen to the truth. “Come on, climb up here and join us in reality.”

Katie had stared bitterly at the ground as tears pooled in her eyes. I knew it must have been a difficult situation to be inside her head with all the hurt and betrayal. I watched silently as Georgia continued to work her magic on Katie. She was better at proposing ideas than I was.

“Hey,” she had said softly and placed a tender hand gently on Katie’s shoulder. “Everything is going to be all right. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. Forget about Chad. He’s a loser.”

It was the first time I had seen Georgia use a more empathetic approach when it came to dealing with someone as difficult as Katie. I admired her strength and her patience.

Katie lifted her head and exposed us to her pitiful, meek, giant blue eyes. “If the fish are anything like the ones in the sea we just came from, then no thanks. I’d rather be single.”

It was unclear if Katie had meant her little statement as a joke, but either way, it made Georgia and me erupt into fanatical laughter. We weren’t exactly helping the moment, but we couldn’t help it.

As goes along with the expression, our fits of giggles had rubbed off on Katie, and eventually, she became infected with the laughing bug too, snorting right along with us. To an outside observer, I’m sure we looked as if we had lost our minds.

“Yeah, Chad belongs with those sea monsters,” Georgia quipped and made us laugh brutally louder than before. It was true, no matter how hard we laughed.

Now, here we sat, in the Dolarian Crown Prince’s palace board room. Katie’s faint, cloudy expression cloaked her face once again, and I wasn’t sure if she would blow our shot at turning things around for the better. She had tucked herself right back inside her protective shell where she wouldn’t allow anyone access.

No, Katie was certainly not well-equipped to endure the potential of even the most remote possibility of stress. That much had been observed over the past several days. I still wasn’t entirely sure that we could trust that she wouldn’t scamper back to Chad’s side once she laid eyes on him.

I didn’t want her to blow it, because Prince Jerren was notorious for not only being impatient, but he had a slight attention span that mirrored a small child’s as well. It would be like pulling teeth to get him to focus on the task at hand.

It was now or never, and we needed to encourage him to join our side of the situation. He was going to give me a hard time. I already anticipated that. He would be charming on the surface, but he would want to keep the upper hand.

“Like I was saying,” I began again after Georgia gave me a gentle nudge in the side. I cleared my throat and leaned over the table. “I think both parties have the potential here to reach new heights of negotiation terms and partnership.”

Prince Jerren patted his little webbed hands together. His eyes were glistening with curiosity and mischief. “I’m listening,” he stated with a little nod.

“Okay, great.” I gave him a polite smile and looked at Georgia for inspiration and encouragement. She was the rock solid foundation that I counted on to get through this meeting.

As if on cue, she nodded at me with a sexy smile and a privately subtle wink that only I could see. She was great at coaxing me along when I had my doubts about something.

“Georgia had some great ideas,” I told Jerren as I recounted them with her advisement.

Every now and then, Georgia would interject with her own thoughts or opinions to add, and all the while, Prince Jerren thankfully stayed on task, paying attention with ample pride.

She was driven, focused, and professional as she engaged in conversation with the Crown Prince. She was my entire world and was the perfect soul mate that I was dreaming of.

“I like these ideas, very inspirational.” He nodded as his eyes sparkled with charisma and intrigue.

Maybe it was easier for him to get along with a woman than another egotistical male like myself. Either way, it proved to work to our advantage.

“So, you are interested?” Georgia’s voice squeaked with hope.

“Very much so.” Prince Jerren nodded.

Georgia and I exchanged an excited grin. Things would finally start falling into place with the Crown Prince of Dolaria’s blessing. As long as he didn’t have any tricks up his sleeves, I began to feel better about requesting the much-needed assistance.

“Thank you, oh, gracious host.” Georgia stood up, apparently compelled to express her vast gratitude.

She wanted to get back at Chad, and everyone in this room did too. Even Katie had a smirk on her face, even though for most of the meeting, she’d reluctantly sat in the corner. She had been still and quiet as a mouse, which was what we wanted her to do in the first place. She played her part, and we played ours.

She didn’t offer up any opinions but to Georgia and myself, that was just fine. It was best if she stayed silent and left the maneuvering to Georgia and me. The more she kept her mouth shut, the better. She knew she was skating on thin ice as it was.

“Okay, great. So, what are the steps?” Georgia proposed.

“Now the gears are turning, and we will put all of your ideas to the test,” Prince Jerren said in response.

“I can’t wait.” Georgia clapped her hands with approval and delight.

She was vivacious and full of energy she was just itching to expel in regard to her brother and his hijinks.

“We are finally going to get him back,” she crooned. Her eyes were wild and wicked. She was alive and bursting with joy.

“It’s going to be hilarious,” I agreed as we walked out of the board room hand and hand. We were becoming more and more comfortable with each other by the day.

Georgia, ever the kind spirit, glanced back at Katie. “How are you feeling about all of this?” She said tenderly. She was such a humanitarian and I admired her for it.

“Okay, I guess.” Katie shrugged and mumbled under her breath, walking away from us in the opposite direction. She seemed sullen and sour.

“Just let her go,” I instructed as I held Georgia’s arm so that she wouldn’t follow Katie. “She needs some time to process everything.”

“In that case, let’s get the party started.” Georgia winked at me mischievously.

“I’m right behind you every step of the way,” I told her, proud to have her walking by my side in all of this. It was a metaphorical and physical statement. I had her back, forever and always.

“Can you believe they are cooperating?” Georgia asked when we got back to our room. She sighed with relief as she sat down on the bed and bounced with a happy smile.

“They are always going to be up for a good prank.” I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I was just as elated as she was with the way things were working out.

Georgia eyed me as if she found me to be magnificent. “You are incredible.”

“Darling,” I said and kissed her cheek. “So are you.”