Preliminaries

If all the prisoners from the slammer were let out, it would still be less maddening there than what the palace was right now. Etna had almost gone into an arrest when Athos told her that the engagement was pushed up to to-morrow. 

The news about the engagement had spread fast like a forest fire. Everyone in the palace was working, even some soldiers from the royal army that had failed to say no to Etna.

Mircea had a meeting with the council members in an hour. She didn't know if she wanted to tell the council she was going to say no to King Kirill's proposal. Perhaps it was because she knew they would push her to say yes. Tell her about the benefits she already knew of. 

Moreover, she hadn't perceived how she was going to say no to King Kirill. The coronation ceremony was next week, and there was one question swirling in her mind. If she did say yes at the end, and became Cetus' queen, where was Mircea going to stay?