The King & the Stable Boy

XXVIII: Crowns and Rings

Noah

My idea of fun was not reading over documents in our private gardens with my mate, but it did beat reading over them in the stiff castle.

Michael, our messenger, walks towards us, letter in hand.

He bows his head to us both, handing William the letter, getting dismissed afterward.

"Your crown has been finished," William announces. "As have your rings."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go see how they fit." I say, excitedly.

Not particularly because of the accessories but because it could get me out of the work I must do.

"No. We need to sign these first. It's common courtesy to send a letter to the packs you're visiting, even if you own the land they are built upon." he reminds me, giving me a look.

I pout at him in response. I was acting childish, but I didn't care much. We had been swamped with work since I've been announced and I craved a break.

Our ever budding arguments since after our mating ritual don't help my distaste of work either.

"Stop acting like a pup." he scolds. "If you don't put your lip back where it belongs someone just might bite it."

I turn my pout into a glare, and he shakes his head, ignoring my antics returning to his paperwork.

"You know glaring at me won't get your stack done any sooner." he tells me after a few moments of me occasionally glaring daggers up at him.

"We finished two stacks while we were inside," I argue.

"Yes, two of six. Only a third of them."

"But we still made progress. It's not like they absolutely must be finished this second."

"Many of them do if we want to hope to go on this tour." he counters.

"What's going to happen? They say no? You're the king."

"There are politics behind these tours, and coming in without proper notice is against protocol."

"Our tour is not until a small while after my coronation." I remind him.

"Still we need to plan ahead."

"A month and a half ahead?" I question. "That's a lot of time."

"Running a kingdom isn't as easy as your studies may have made you think, and we can't just take breaks every five seconds because you begin to feel restless like some hyperactive puppy!" he snaps.

A growl rips through me at his second referral to me as a pup.

I could feel Chandler below my surface wanting to pounce on him.

"Let me teach Princey the price of disrespect in a wolf pack." my wolf growls. "Mate or no mate, no one calls us a puppy and gets away with it."

I feel his fight for control and rise to my feet, trying to calm him.

"You're an asshole," I state, grabbing my papers and putting them into my bag, along with the ink and quill.

I make a move for the garden's gates and feel him grab my forearm.

"Noah-"

"Let go," I growl.

"No. You're angry at me. It's never good to let someone leave angry." William says concern dashed across his features.