In Finn's second year on the throne, Court had changed so drastically. The most notable change was in Claudia's now official rank as Queen. In keeping with tradition, she was given her own household of ladies-in-waiting. Though Attia refused several times over to be added to it, Lady Anne, Casper's surprisingly continued love interest accepted the invitation. In effect, the three unofficially became Court's most important women. As such, the three stood together near the back window of Finn's office while they waited for the remaining men in the room to leave for the night. It was fairly common knowledge all politics ended an hour early every Friday to give the newly wedded King and his closest companions time to themselves. It had become a bit of a ritual for the six to gather for dinner and the occasional card game or some other entertainment.

"Whose turn was it to bring the wine?" Anne asked curiously as she looked to Claudia.

"Casper I think," Claudia answered with a shrug. She met Anne's gaze for a moment before she eyed Finn across the room. The men's chatter was relatively quiet, but Finn knew he needed to end the day's work rather soon. At least before Keiro and Casper arrived. When it seemed the man had no intention of leaving, Claudia excused herself from her two closest friends to approach her husband. She brushed her fingers against the small of his back, and Finn had nearly jumped at the sensation that had caught him off guard. "Ready for dinner, yet?" she asked gently as she peered up at him, her arm snaked around his back. She could feel his tense slightly at the touch as he looked down at her with slightly widened eyes.

"Yes, of course," he replied simply, then pressed his lips to her forehead. "We'll continue this tomorrow," Finn declared simply, casting only a singular glance in the man's direction. When he turned back to Claudia, he didn't even pay attention to whether the man had left the office or not. The next thing he knew, Keiro and Casper's rather crude conversation was filling the room's quiet.

"Well, I think she's definitely worth a little extra effort," Casper declared as he shut the door behind him and Keiro.

"I only have so much attention span for one woman, Casper," Keiro replied as he walked towards the circular table that had been set up in the far corner of Finn's office. In his arms he carried two different bottles of wine. "I managed to bribe the cellar keeper for a white wine," he bragged as he met Attia's gaze. "This one is for you," he told her as he turned so that the neck of the white wine bottle was pointed towards her. When she pulled it from his grasp, he turned back to walk towards the table. "And a red for the rest of us who actually drink like adults."

"Oh, bite me," Attia chided him as she took her seat on the other side of the table. Keiro let his grin flash for only a second as he kept his gaze downward on the empty table. Within the next few minutes, the others found their seats and arranged themselves so that the women sat on one side, the men on the other while Claudia and Finn sat besides one another as did Casper and Anne. The most functional part of that seating arrangement, however, was that Attia and Keiro were not awkwardly seated away from each other, rather it felt like a natural arrangement that simply accommodated their now nonexistent relationship.

"All I'm saying is that she might be worth the extra time you put in," Casper said in a continuation of his and Keiro's conversation.

"Who?" Claudia asked as she peered up at the two men seated across from her.

"Lady Morgan," Casper answered with a wide grin across his face. Of course, once Anne struck him with in his side with the back of her hand, the grin faded rather quickly. "She's alright, you know," he added though in a vain attempt to play down the apparent attractiveness of Keiro's newest victim. Attia kept the pleasant smile across her face but didn't add anything to the conversation as per usual for any conversation about Keiro's conquests. Since their mutual split, they both returned to their lives before their relationship, which meant Attia went back to spending all her time doing side work for Finn or Claudia, and Keiro went back to spending all his catching unsuspecting women.

"She's a terrible choice, Keiro," Claudia warned but Keiro only waved her off. Before he replied, the main doors opened as the servers brought dinner into the room. As they placed one plate in front of each person, Keiro peered across the table at the new Queen.

"I don't know what you're talking about. She's lovely," Keiro replied, almost succeeded in convincing Claudia that he actually cared for the girl. "Have you not seen that shapely green dress she wears?"

"Oh god," Claudia rolled her eyes as she held up her wine glass to the server as he walked around the table with the bottle of wine. "You're terrible, Keiro," she amended her comment, earning a laugh from the female side of the table. "What were you working on earlier?" she asked as she shifted her attention to Finn, opting to change the subject before Attia disappeared into the wall.

"Council thinks we should go on Progress to celebrate the wedding and show everyone their Queen," Finn answered as he shook his head lightly. By then all the glasses had been filled and food served so the servers had quietly left the room, providing privacy.

"It doesn't seem so terrible," Casper commented. Finn peered up at his step-brother with narrowed eyes.

"You'd be coming, too."

"Well, it's a ridiculous idea," Casper responded as though he hadn't said anything to begin with. Everyone laughed slightly at his comment. Since Anne, Casper had become more tolerable to the point where he actually did fit in better with Attia, Keiro, and Finn. After the wedding, even Claudia became more comfortable with Attia and managed to convince herself she did actual belong with the three escapees who managed to snag a kingdom in their spare time.

"Doesn't sound all bad," Attia put in as she peered up at Finn. "Get away from Court for a while. I think we could all use it."

"We'd have to ask all the lords or dukes if they could house us as we continue," Claudia pointed out, but Finn was already nodding.

"Council already started. They already out voted us."

"We didn't vote, Finn," Keiro pointed out as though that had somehow escaped him.

"I'm aware," Finn replied with a laugh. "But even if we all said no, they'd still outnumber us." Of course, Anne wasn't included in things like voting in Council meetings the way the other five were, but she was rarely excluded from those who had quickly become her closest friends at Court. "I don't think we have much choice left. And it's not like any of you have showed up for a Council meeting in months."

"I was busy with the wedding," Claudia defended herself.

"Fine," Finn replied as he turned to Casper.

"I was helping her with the wedding," he replied, earning stares from him and Claudia. Keiro and Attia smiled in amusement but nobody called Casper out on his blatant lie.

"I've been chasing Morgan," Keiro admitted with a shrug before he shoveled a spoonful of food into his mouth. When Finn turned to Attia, she met his stare as she lifted her wineglass to her lips and let the sweet wine trickle into her mouth.

"I've been avoiding them." Attia was the only one to answer truthfully earning a laugh from Finn as he nodded and held up his glass to hers.

"At least one honest person among us," he said as their glasses clinked. The others only laughed as they all enjoyed their dinner. Though they all had finished their dinners when a knock came at the door, it still felt like an intrusion. For a moment, they all stared at each other until Finn sighed and looked up at the door. "Come in," he called out loudly, then narrowed his eyes as a woman strode into the room after the Royal Guards had pushed open the doors for her.

"Morgan," Keiro said, genuinely surprised as he looked at her with widened eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Claudia and Finn had looked to Attia briefly, but she seemed to hardly notice Morgan at all. Attia kept her gaze down as she poked at the remainder of her food until she lifted her wineglass to her lips again. Though both searched her expression for any kind of pain, neither could find any even though she and Keiro had been apart for a few months following the wedding. Then again, Finn wasn't really surprised if in their hearts of hearts, Keiro and Attia hadn't been as deeply intertwined as everyone had believed them to be. Finn knew Incarceron could block out anyone's heart if they let it and he was more than willing to bet his life that at least Keiro had let that happen.

"Well, you said you wanted to do something tonight, so I went to your chambers, but you weren't there and the guard directed me here. I hope I'm not interrupting," she explained as she smiled at Keiro, then let her gaze drift to Finn and Claudia. "Your Majesties," she paid them the attention they were due in public and even bent her knees in a half curtsy. Only Finn nodded at her and Claudia met Anne's gaze.

"Uh," Keiro started before he turned back to the table. Casper enthusiastically nodded, though everyone else remained impartial as Attia did. "No, you're not interrupting," he lied as he stood from his seat and approached her. "I didn't actually plan anything because I didn't expect you to agree," he admitted as he reached her and held out his hand. She smiled brightly up at him as she placed her hand in his and let him press his lips to the back of it.

"I have a feeling you're quite talented at thinking on your feet, so I have faith you'll find something for us," she told him, her voice even and seductive. Keiro grinned at her as he chuckled and lead her to towards the door.

"How do you feel about a moonlit horse ride?" he asked, his hand finding the small of her back.

"See? I knew you could do it," she replied before the Guards pulled the door shut behind them.

"She annoys me so much," Anne admitted as soon as Morgan and Keiro were no longer in the room. "Who talks like that?"

"When you're trying to land a man, Anne," Casper answered, but with Keiro out of the room, there was nobody to encourage or even humor him. In the quiet following his comment, he turned to look down at Anne, who only stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"All the time?" she questioned, but Casper made no sign he'd even heard her. "She talks like that all the time," Anne declared as she turned away from Casper to look at Attia, then at Claudia. "In normal conversation, she sounds like she's trying to seduce you."

Attia only laughed as she sipped her wine. When she met Anne's bewildered stare, she responded, "That's why I didn't ask to join Claudia's household. I get to avoid all that obnoxious crap."

"Didn't ask?" Finn repeated as he rose an eyebrow at her. "You refused to be added to the household on several occasions."

"And for good reason," she replied, pulling laughs from everyone at the table.

"Well, you're probably the only woman at Court who could do that," Anne pointed out. Had it been anybody else, Finn would've simply ignored them and added them to Claudia's household regardless. The older generations at Court fought to keep certain traditions, one of which was no female members in a married King's household, and vice versa. Attia was the only exception, having fought tooth and nail to remain under Finn's employment rather than Claudia's.

"I don't think Lady Morgan will be around for much longer anyway," Attia said simply with a shrug. "Keiro doesn't have the attention span to continue chasing one girl."

"He had the attention span for you," Anne replied, and Attia turned to look at her.

"He wasn't chasing me, Anne. That was a very different arrangement in the beginning."

"What? You were both bored at the same time and place?" Finn asked. Though Attia didn't respond, she knew as well as the others that Finn's comment was more or less true. Why Keiro had actually lingered with Attia was beyond anybody else's guesses. If Attia knew, she wasn't divulging that piece of information. Claudia and Anne particularly admired the balance they seemed to strike between ex-lovers and acquaintances, never revealing too personal information about one another, but still able to sit at the same table and smile and laugh over dinner with common friends.

"Well, I hope she doesn't stick around. Of all the women, he had to pick her?" Anne ranted as she shook her head and sighed.

"Trust me, Anne. He didn't pick her because she's annoying."

"Then why?" Anne asked as she tilted her head and peered up at the Prince, one eyebrow higher than the other.

"Well," Casper started then stumbled on his words slightly when he realized he'd wandered into a trap. Attia, Claudia, and Finn sat by, all thoroughly amused as they grinned at the odd couple. "Word is that most men find her very attractive, but I however, am in a committed relationship therefore do not pay attention to the truth of such rumors," Casper explained, putting his talent for spinning words to good use. Anne rolled her eyes as she turned away, and Casper grinned smugly, but again, nobody was present to appreciate his comments. In many regards, Keiro and Casper were closer than Keri o and Finn. Then again, Keiro, Finn, and Attia, would align always align themselves together no matter what interpersonal issues they had. The three shared a bond Claudia, Anne, and Casper could neither understand nor share in. Claudia had wondered if there had been some understanding between Attia and Keiro rooted in that idea that kept them from fighting after their split. Of course, they'd never said why they'd suddenly stopped spending time together.