He paced nervously in his room. The attendants there to help him dress were frantically trying to keep up with him.
"Sire! Please, you must stay still lest you won't be dressed properly for dinner with their majesties!"
"How can I stand still! Verily, tell me. I feel as though mine own heart will explode out of mine chest!" More out of desperation than to comply with the pleas of his servants, Nicholas found himself settling on the bank by the window.
He knew exactly why he felt this way. He had fallen hard for Aura. Her smile filled that empty sense of despair in his heart. She gave him courage he never thought he had.
As the servants around him hustled to get him "proper" enough for his parents, he couldn't help but feel a sense of anger towards them. Who were they to judge others based on their genetic coding? His own sister was shunned merely because she mated with a wolf of a lower breeding. His niece, such a female that bore no hatred and knew only forgiveness. . . was constantly tormented by those around her for the wrongs of her mate.
He shook his head and stood once more, earning a huff of frustration from his staff.
"Enough. Leave me now." They looked at each other for a bit before bowing and retiring from his room.
He could do this easily enough. He'd been through worse. . . of course, that was comparing combat to a simple dinner with his mother and father.
He shifted impatiently before heading over to the mirror in his bathroom. It didn't have to be so difficult. So frightening to face his parents. No, he wouldn't do that to Aura. She was taking as much a risk as he, and if he wanted to give her courage he had to reflect it in his own demeanor.
He did what royals did best. He shoved all of those doubts, those emotions, those impurities to his facade and he put on a face of confidence. If he was going to introduce Aura to his parents properly, he would have to do so with pride and no weakness. Any type would only cause the experience to be more painful than it had to be.
With that, Nicholas moved away from the bathroom and out his door. It was time to go pick up Aura, hopefully, just seeing her would give him enough strength to get him through tonight.
