Keith had pulled his finger away from Tre's back when the maid came out to make the announcement. He didn't move, letting the others speak around him as he tried to think through what he'd just been told. Every time his thoughts reached Dansu marrying a Mizu, though, everything fell apart. He respected Dansu enough to back off on that one, but he wasn't going to be a pawn.

"If Dansu is Queen, you can be sure of that. If," he answered Tre. Keith turned away from Mizu and faced his proclaimed wife.

"Don't take this the wrong way--it's not about you. But excuse me while I go ask my father what the Flame he is thinking. You're free to come with me if you like." Keith made straight for the large doors that led to where the monarchs sat. It made sense to form an alliance with Chikyu, but that should be Dansu's place. He should have-!

He should have who? Mizu? He could hardly stand the name. Kuki? She wasn't nearly strong enough to stand beside him. So it was Chikyu. No, that wasn't quite right. The last option was nobody. That was the one he wanted. Keith stopped walking, glaring at the doors ahead of him. What he wanted was to have Mizu punished and then life to go back to how it was. That would be the just thing, would it not? Mizu had begun all this, so Mizu should atone and end it there. But instead they would punish Keith and Dansu for their sins.

Keith hadn't been taking this seriously. He could see that. This whole thing had been a joke when he walked in. But with that order laid out by all of their parents, the farce had become a reality.

"Burn it. Burn it all to ash!" Keith turned around to face the Chikyu princess again. "You can't tell me you're okay with this!"