AN: I go away for a few months, and I just learned I needed to opt-in to email alerts, what nonsense. So if you've subscribed to my stories in the past, I suggest you opt-in to email alerts for the latest updates. How am I supposed to know when a fic that I'm subscribed to updates, now I need to go back and check to see if anything I was interested in has updated.

"I knew I'd find you here, if mother knew that you pestered the staff for more food after banquets she might ship you off to the Holy Empire. You were pushing your luck today with your antics," Quinn stated as she took a seat on a bench beside her twin who was currently eating some of the leftover steak with her hands.

Charlie chews and swallows, and looks at her twin with annoyance. "You stabbed me."

"It was a royal banquet, Charlie. You know better," Quinn lectured simply, and grinned as the head cook placed a slice of blackberry cornmeal cake in front of her. "Thank you Millie," Quinn says, taking a spoon, and taking a bite of the delicious dessert. "It was nowhere vital. We have work to do tonight."

"There is no we, you send your sparrows out to gather information and if they can't peck the problem to death I come in and batter the problem to death. That's how it's always been Quinn. You point, I eliminate."

"You have access to an information network as well, I'm merely asking that you make use of it," Quinn pointed out. "There's a traitor amongst my ranks, and we need to make sure that this bear prime is an isolated incident. Your little display today with Kara has caused them to be wary of us."

Charlie tore off another chunk of meat, finishing the steak and placing the bone on the plate and grabbing the mug of cold beer, taking a long sip of it, and wiping the foam from the top of her lip. "Mercenaries cost money Lucy. I don't have access to my budget, and all the coin I earned on my trip to the badlands is going into repairing the capital. Kara doesn't follow the protocol and somehow I'm on the line for all of the damage? Bullshit." There was protocol that needed to be followed if Kara was to visit, just like there was supposed to be protocol for when she visited the dwarven kingdom.

"You're a member of the royal family—" Quinn takes a deep breath and looks at her twin. "We need to show that we are taking this seriously as a family and are looking into it. If the beastkin can see that we take the treaty seriously and will continue to take it seriously then we can avoid a war."

"I know sellswords and thieves Quinn, they are hardly the most trustworthy people around. You're far better at sorting through the information and rumors than I am. Get the Sparrows you trust, Natasha, Yelana, Nyssa and a few others and have them look into the most promising rumors. I have to help rebuild the city and attend meetings and get hounded by my aide."

Quinn made a face that was true, Charlie lacked fundamental knowledge to be truly useful. Deciding to change the topic. "What did you think of our guests?"

"I think the bear wants to fight me."

"The cat one was staring at me all night."

"Of course she was," Charlie shook her head. It made sense after all, she shrugs her shoulders. "If you stab me again I'll tell Rachel about who's been sharing your bed when she's been busy."

Quinn paused for a moment and stared at her twin, "I have so much information on you that I can spread to mother that will have her marrying you off to the first old lady she finds. Not to mention all the information about you that I can share with Kara."

Charlie grunted at that and stood up and stretched. "I'm going to bed, go sleep with your wife Quin."

"At least I have someone to sleep with," Quinn retorted.

~ O ~

Santana took her seat, and looked around yet another ornate room. The palace was filled with rooms like this and she could count several places where she could take a cat nap. Everything was so new to her, the beastkin didn't have kings or emperor's like the elves, dwarves and humans did. They certainly didn't have palaces that she was sure was bigger than the entire shopping district in their territories. And their magic was far different than anything she had ever seen. There were so many places to have a cat nap let alone places to explore, and while it would be fun to explore the grounds on her own, she was going to make her mate show her around, it would be the perfect time to seduce her mate and find an empty room and take her. Or perhaps she would be taken, those arms of hers—

"A prime is dead, we shouldn't be impressed by all their trinkets or their drakes or their power. Our numbers are dwindling and we can't afford to lose primes," Sansa reminded the delegation. Some—the prey animals had begun to waver, personally it was obvious that an attack would be foolhardy, but they couldn't go back home with nothing. "What were you thinking?" When Satnana doesn't answer Sansa clears her throat, causing her to look at her. "What were you thinking last night when you asked about the youngest princess?"

"Exactly what it sounded like."

"She's human," Sansa stresses, "A marriage would be a human thing, you would doom one of our own to a mateless existence? And to their royalty? How would such an alliance work?"

"They don't smell human. She smells like a dragon," Drogo growls.

"She rides a drake, that is to be expected they all do," Matt adds, looking away when Drogo looks over at him, his ears flicking to the side. "They're coming."

It's only seconds later that the doors swing open and a procession of people start to fill the room, finding seats on the opposite side of the beastkin delegation. The vast majority of entrants didn't look like people of great importance, and it seemed that only those who would have a voice could sit down. It quickly clicks that many of these nobles had brought their aids along to pass information, and work in the background.

Sansa narrows her eyes slightly and stands to her feet, none of these people were members of the royal family and she couldn't take the simple word of a noble over the Imperial family. Before she can speak, the door to the room opens once more and one of the twins, Quinn, enters the room with Nyssa trailing behind her, followed by Kara who was yawning. "Will his highness be joining us?" Sansa asks, directing her question at Quinn.

"Our father will be joining the talks in the afternoon, he still has a kingdom to run after all," Frannie answers as she strolls through the door and pauses for a moment taking a look at the , "Where's the dumb one?"

"You know she's always on the training field at this time, she probably lost track again or is showering right now, she'll be here shortly," Quinn said with a dismissive wave.

Santana's ears perked up as she stored away that piece of information, if her mate was in the training grounds then it would probably be safe for her to visit as long as she was there. Plus she would be better able to gauge her strength and if she was alone approach her carefully. Mercedes' words still echoed her in her head and she needed to get a better sense of who her mate was before she made a move. If she was as violent as Mercedes believed, and the brawl in the streets showed, then she would need to rethink her whole approach, and find a way in.

Frannie raised a brow at this as she took her seat, "Very well then she can miss the proceedings, this shouldn't take long," Frannie turned to look over at the beastkin studying them for a moment, "There is no casus belli here as outraged as you are, our kingdom hasn't encroached on your territory. Beastkins who are citizens are given full protection under the law. As far as we know, this bear prime that is at the center of all of this was not a citizen. We do not know the manner in which he was killed, he could have been caught by someone, perhaps poachers, but what we do know is that his remains ended up in our kingdom. We will return them to you, as well as whatever is left of the noble family that dared use him as a trophy. Do with them as you wish."

There was a stunned silence that befell the room as Quinn slowly turned over to look at her eldest sister, words could not even begin to describe what was running through her mind at this moment.

Nyssa eyed the eldest Fabray, well her prediction that Charlie would be the one to cause the first diplomatic incident had been incorrect. With that said, Frannie had a valid point, and it was a point that the vast majority of the nobles in the kingdom took.

There's a loud bang and before Drogo could vault over the table at the insulting tone and condescension, Sansa stands to her feet. "Is that your official position? That visitors to your kingdom aren't safe? That is not your duty to protect those in your borders?"

"Of course not, I'm saying that we can take steps to reduce crime but we will never eliminate it. A criminal act took place, we're not sure where, but we dealt with the criminals on our end. The one that bought the leftover parts—"

"Frannie," Quinn said, slamming her fist against the table.

"Is this something that the dwarven kingdom needs to be wary of? Merchants are the lifeblood for the dwarven kingdom," Kara asked with a bored yawn. She hadn't planned to intervene, but Frannie's attitude pissed her off. She was beginning to see why Russell had decided that Frannie couldn't be the heir to the throne, someone would probably assassinate her.

Frannie frowned, she hadn't even noticed that Kara had decided to watch the proceedings. "Shouldn't you be playing with your rocks?" When Kara just smirks at her she turns to Sansa, "If the beastkin's wish to have further remedies then they can apply for citizenship as well."

Sansa narrowed her eyes, "Are you suggesting that we agree to come under the banner of your father and give up our territory and our freedoms by submitting to your rule."

Frannie blinked in genuine surprise, "You caught on far quicker than I believed you would. The simplest solution to give your people peace would be—"

Before Frannie can permanently tank any talks for peace the doors are opened and Charlie walks in chewing on a piece of toast that had jam all over it. Charlie tears a piece of bread off and looks around the room, before spotting an empty seat beside Quinn and making her way over, and taking a seat. "I was hungry," Charlie whispers to her sister.

Quinn pinched the bridge of her nose, Charlie's antics really did need to be addressed, but right now her major issue was Frannie, "Perhaps we should take a short recess—"

"There's no need for that," Frannie interrupts. "The simplest solution to give the beastkin's peace and protection is to—"

"I thought that the reason for these talks was to make sure that our two countries don't go to war, which would give the beastkin the peace and protection that they need," Charlie whispers loudly to Quinn who looks ready to stab her in the leg again.

Frannie inhales deeply as she stares at her younger sister, "You would agree that they don't have cause to declare war."

Charlie tilted her head, "If one of our nobles died then nearly every one of us would be demanding answers and willing to defend our people, they have a reason for war. I don't agree that it's a good reason, but they have cause, the treaty is very clear a prime was murdered and found in our territory, his body desecrated as a trophy," Charlie scratched her cheek as she takes another bite of her toast, and wipes her mouth. "The solution is simple: we pay reparations, increase security and open up diplomatic relations with your clan leaders. We are investigating the disappearance of your prime and as I'm sure that Frannie has discussed, one prime while tragic isn't enough to cause a war, so as the aggrieved party tell us what we can do to make this right in your eyes, to keep the treaty in place."

Frannie's jaw dropped and she glared at Quinn who immediately smiled and shrugged. "You don't—"

"Beastkin have been disappearing from our territory," Santana interrupts, staring at her mate. "That is why we are here, if it was just the prime then we could perhaps chalk this up to an accident, it's not like the prime in question was known for his intelligence. But beastkin have been disappearing, and we are not convinced that you're not behind it."

"Slavery is illegal in the Agron Kingdom, slave traders are punished harshly. The slave trade is legal in the Holy Empire, and it's a rather lucrative business, why are you knocking on our door instead of on theirs?" Charlie shoots back.

"Slave traders from the empire, raid villages and towns, and burn everything to the ground. They do not steal one or two in the dead of night," Santana responds easily, trying not to be pleased at her mate's intelligence. She had been worried after the hit to the face, but it seemed her mate.

At this Charlie quiets down and glances at Quinn who is now leaning forward, "We were only aware of the prime, and the Holy Empire is rather forceful in their actions towards non-human species," Quinn murmured to her twin before looking over at Nyssa.

Charlie frowned, "If beastkin have been disappearing this might be an endemic problem, the lack of diplomatic dialogue between our two nations has created an opening for the criminals to act undetected. We should share what information we have so we can quickly put an end to the criminal activity, and I give you my word that I will deal with it."

The sound of clapping rings out and Charlie with everyone else turns to see Kara clapping slowly smirking at her, "How very noble of you," Kara teases watching as Charlie's expression sours.

"Who the fuck invited you?" Charlie snaps at her. "Guards! Throw her in the dungeons for trespassing!"

"How's your balance? Still got those little black spots in your vision?" Kara laughs.

Quinn pinched the bridge of her nose and grabbed onto Charlie's arm before she vaulted over the table to try and strangle Kara. "Mother will make you pay for any damages Charlie and I will not lend you the coin," Quinn whispers to her twin.

"Fuck you Kara," Charlie snaps at Kara sliding down in her seat and glaring at her nemesis.

"If that's the best that you can—"

"Kara enough!" Quinn snapped at her and shook her head. "If you two want to beat the crap out of each other, do it outsidein the training grounds."