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voice quiet but no less potent. “Is that why you’ve hidden her away? Why you never speak of her? She loved you! You ! Not the Prince you were or the King you would become but Jotham Kado Tibullus!”
    “How dare you!” Jotham’s face flushed dark red at her accusation. “You know nothing about Lata and me! You have no right to question my decisions.”
    “I have every right! Not only because I am a citizen of this House but because Lata was my friend, and you have erased her. Not only from this House, but from its people! There are those that don’t even know her name!” Jacinda was surprised at how angry she was about that. “She deserves better than that! Especially from the man she loved . The man she gave up all her dreams for! That you would act as your father did! With your own son! She would be ashamed of you!” Spinning on her heel, Jacinda stormed out of Jotham’s office, uncaring about etiquette or protocol.

Chapter Three
    “Thank you, Mother. I never expected this.” Danton stared at the piece she’d just placed on the corner of his desk in his new office in the Assembly Hall. He had asked her for her assistance because he knew she would know the best way to organize his office, making sure it represented who he was and what he stood for. She had done that with his father’s office and he knew that because his father had told him so.
    Cycles ago when Danton had first told his father of his aspirations to follow him as an Assemblyman, Stephan had sat him down and told him the truth. That he wouldn’t have been where he was, wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what he had, if it hadn’t been for Danton’s mother. She was his sounding board. She gave him her honest opinion even if it differed significantly from his own. And she always stood at his side.
    He had also confided in Danton that his mother hadn’t wanted a life in politics. That she had always wanted a low-key life but because it was his dream, she’d willingly committed herself to the challenge and he hoped that the ancestors might one day bless Danton as he had been blessed.
    All those reasons were why he had asked for his mother’s assistance today for he had yet to find his life mate, but he hadn’t expected this. This piece wasn’t valuable monetarily, but it was irreplaceable to him because it had sat in that exact same spot on his father’s desk for as long as Danton could remember. He remembered how his father would let him play with it. He remembered how the spherical balls, set up in a linear fashion would transfer their energy from one to the other until the last ball would swing out then come back to start the process all over again. When he’d gotten older, his father had confided in him that whenever he found himself struggling with an important decision he would start the balls moving. He said watching them helped calm him and cleared his thoughts, allowing him to focus. By the time they’d stop moving, he would know what the right decision was. To have it on his own desk now….
    “It was always meant to be yours, Danton.” Jacinda let her gaze travel over her first son. He was the image of her Stephan right down to his passion for serving his people in the best possible way. He still had much to learn and she wished Stephan were here to guide him, but she had faith in her first born. “You are following in your father’s footsteps, not because of him, but because it was what you were meant to do. He would be so proud of you.”
    “I want to make him proud, Mother, but also you.”
    “Just be yourself, Danton. Follow your instincts and do what your heart tells you is right and I will always be proud of you. There are many that lose their way once they take this office. They become more concerned with their own wants and needs for success and power and forget about the people they are supposed to be serving.”
    “I will never do that, Mother.”
    “I know you think that now, Danton, but there will be