"We never should have allowed her to take up with that deer, you knew as well as I that there was no future for them, but you insisted that it was a new era. You insisted that we need to be open-minded and be trusting of this sexual-liberation, but a member of the deer clan? I would have preferred someone from the rabbit clan, that would have at least kept her busy," Miguel complained, shaking his head, as they looked for their daughter.

"Do you remember the last time we told her not to do something?" Maribel reminded her mate, she wasn't going to let him blame her for this disaster. They had tried to teach their daughter the word no, but Santana seemed to have a mind of their own.

"Which time, the time we told her to stay away from the skunk clan and she didn't? She smelt awful for weeks. Or perhaps you're talking about the time we told her that it would be best if she stayed away from the porcupine clan? And you remember how we nearly went to war with the wolf clan after her falling out with Mazikeen?"

Maribel sighed, her daughter had always been wilful and uncontrollable, this was nothing new, but this time the stakes were much higher then her getting a faceful of spikes to the face, because she was curious. Her daughter would not be denied if she saw something that was interesting, and as exhausting as trying to keep her daughter from getting herself killed. They had managed to keep it from happening for the past 25 years, "She needs to be worried about finding her mate, she wouldn't be nearly this impulsive if she had a family to think about."

"Perhaps if she stopped attempting to break the natural order of things by attempting to be with a prey beastkin, then she would have found her mate by now," Miguel muttered under his breath ignoring the sharp look his mate gives him. He wasn't wrong, predators and prey beastkins were incompatible, there would be no children from a union, and as a Prime that was unacceptable.

Maribel suddenly stops her ears flicking back as she turns and sharply heads towards the tallest tree in the area and stops directly in front of it and looks up, she's not surprised to see her daughter pretending to sleep on one of the more stable branches in her panther form. "Santana." She's rewarded with one eye opening and Maribel immediately points to the ground. She hears a sigh as her daughter slowly gets to her feet and hops down, her form shifting becoming smaller and Maribel extends her arms to catch her daughter. "This stopped being cute when you were nothing more than a kitten," Maribel said as she grabbed her daughter by the scruff of her neck. She's met with an outraged yowl from her daughter but she ignores it and places her down on the ground, even though she was tempted to simply carry her daughter back to their home like this, for the entire world to see.

Santana immediately shifts back and rubs the back of her neck glaring at her mother, "You and I both know that what Dani was saying was bullshit."

"No, you and I don't know that, I've told you a million times mija, if you do not know the answer to something, then you risk making yourself look like a fool, which I can assure you was the general consensus in the room." Maribel informed her wayward daughter. "Dani, has found her mate, and being hurt that she chose to be with her mate, doesn't negate what the two of you felt for each other. You always knew that being with a prey animal had its risks, and I assumed you accepted them. You took her bait and it will be very difficult to remove you from the delegation."

"Every word that comes out of her mouth—"

"Santana." Miguel snaps at her letting out a low growl.

"She's a liar," Santana insisted. "A politician, you know as well as I do that the deer clan and all the related clans only think of two things, their stupid honor and money—"

"A prime is dead, Santana and war is on the horizon. Despite your over-sized ego, this meeting wasn't about you and Dani. And your outburst did nothing but show your lack of maturity." Miguel's tone was firm but even, as he cut his daughter off. They had been rather indulgent with their daughter, as she was their only child, but they couldn't keep coddling her. "It will take some discussion but perhaps we can convince a member of the lion clan to send a representative."

"I do plan on taking my responsibilities seriously, I am perhaps one of the few who doesn't want a war. The bear clan is sending Drago, which signals their intent. And everyone's so focused on the fact that a prime died and yet we ignore the beastkin who have gone missing. That still needs to be investigated and I know how to find trouble."

"Santana—mija—" Maribel begins, struggling to find the right words that wouldn't offend her daughter.

"Either I go officially and you know that I have supervision, or I go unofficially and have zero supervision."

"Or we lock you in your room and keep you locked up until after this whole business is taken care of," Miguel muttered, "That's an option."

"Miguel."

"I'm not a child, and you haven't been able to keep me locked in my room since I was a kitten. I am of age, we both know that I'm simply telling you what I'm going to do, I no longer need your permission."

"As your parents perhaps, but as your clan head?" Maribel shoots back causing Santana to frown, she hadn't given that any thought at all. She sighs, they had never been able to separate the two when it came to her daughter and she sighs, "You will go with the delegation but remember that this is a diplomatic mission, and you are to conduct yourself appropriately."

"Maribel—"

"She's old enough, and at some point we need to hope that with each passing year she gains a bit of wisdom as well. And perhaps by going to the Agron Kingdom, she will meet her mate. I have heard that there is a large community of beastkin in the capital. Some responsibility might curb her more indulgent behavior."

~ O ~

"Your shirt has no sleeves dear," Judy stated, taking a sip from her tea after a gracious nod towards the lady in waiting who moved to make her youngest child a cup as well.

Charlie paused and looked at her bare arms for a moment before flashing a smile at her mother, "It's a mystery but whenever I buy a shirt it ends up without sleeves. I'll have the royal guard look into it."

Judy raised a brow as Charlie practically collapsed into a chair, her posture was all wrong, her shoulders were slouched, her legs opened wide and she was picking at the dirt that was trapped underneath a fingernail. "I believed that inviting Countess Georgiou, from the Holy Empire to teach you etiquette would at least fix your bad posture—"

"Countess Georgiou has attempted to poison me on more than one occasion, she belongs in our dungeons."

"Don't be dramatic dear, it's hardly a lethal poison, and she was only trying to teach you which fork to use first, if you had learned etiquette when you were a child like your other sisters, there would have been no need for me to resort to rather drastic methods," Judy replied, shaking her head. She waits until her lady in waiting finishes pouring her daughter a cup of tea before she dismisses her so she could have a private conversation with her daughter.

"You gave her permission to poison me! How am I being dramatic?"

"It's non-lethal dear," Judy reminded her once again, before sighing, as she watched her daughter empty the sugar into her tea and drown the tea leaves with milk. This was why she couldn't invite her daughter to her social events to help find her a match. "Your etiquette matters Charlie, it's one of the reasons that you have had no proposals in years. They believe that you're off gallivanting with whores, and truthfully I can't keep defending you when you're found sleeping in the stables behind a whorehouse." Judy took a sip of her tea and looked at her daughter. "Your sister's sparrows are quite informative."

"That snitch," Charlie muttered under her breath.

"If you think that by acting like a spoiled brat is going to convince your father that the kingdom is better suited to one of your other siblings, then I'm sorry to say that you've misjudged the situation. Francesca cares not for the squabbling of the nobles or the common man, her greed for precious jewels and coins is unmatched. Brittany cares not for governing, she's too focused on creating and with a mind geared towards all our magic stone technology, she has advanced this kingdom several centuries. Lucille—"

"Quinn would make a fine heir to the throne, I am the least respectable of your children mother, and I don't have the head for politics like she does—"

"Quinn went to your father and asked to be removed from contention, she enjoys playing with her dolls and sparrows. It's already a full time job, plus her marriage isn't as sound as it should be." Judy interrupts.

Charlie squinted at her mother, "Mother, I know that father is getting old and fat and I'm sure you find him to be a bore, I certainly do, but another heir might be—"

"I love your father and he has kept his promise that he would have only my children compete for the throne, and you're the last of my children. I will not be having another child with your father Charlotte. And your last attempt at running away from your responsibility caused a riot in the dwarven kingdom, our kingdom is still paying reparations."

"That troll Kara started it!"

Judy glanced upward to the sky, she was grateful that there hadn't been a war. "If you're going to get into a fight with a member of the noble caste in the dwarven kingdom and the heir to the kingdom, I expect you to win so we wouldn't have to pay reparations dear. Also, using slurs is beneath you."

"I was drunk, and she cheated by hitting me in the face with her hammer! I chipped a tooth!"

"You're lucky that we have excellent relations with the dwarven kingdom and all they asked for was monetary compensation, and ejecting you from their lands," Judy corrects, before sighing. "Charlotte, you're getting older and it's time that you think about settling down like the rest of your sisters."

Charlie sighed, "Fine, after we deal with the beastkin delegation, I'll allow you to find me a partner, mother."

"Do you have any—no I actually don't want to know what your preferences are," Judy said. Her daughter would simply have to love whomever she placed in front of her.

"She's gotta have—" Charlie makes an obscene gesture with her hands.

"Charlotte."

Charlie flashes a wolfish grin at her mother, "Since I am here, I was thinking that perhaps it's time for me to get my budget—"

"Did you give your allowance to the orphans again?"

"No! Those little monsters stole it from me!"

Judy rolled her eyes, hiding an amused smile behind the cup of tea. If that had been the case then Charlie would have called the royal guard to come and deal with them, but she never did. "And how much money did you lose from gambling? My answer is no, and once you start being responsible with your allowance and stop gambling, I will allot you a budget."

She had expected this response, it was the response she received every single time she asked her mother for the ability to manage her budget. She wasn't a child anymore, "Fine then can I have—"

"Of course not," Judy interrupts, putting an end to that thought immediately, as she stands up. "Enjoy the tea and the refreshments, I must talk with your father about the delegation."

Charlie grumbled and reached for some of the refreshments her mother had laid out, stuffing it in her mouth, well that had been her best chance of being able to avoid whatever dangerous thing that Brittany wanted her to do.