A.N. I, of course, do not own any of these characters except the ones you do not recognize. Please R&R! This is, after all, my first story. Pippin.
Eugenides
Sounis was coming, coming to see my queen and I after sixteen long years. The palace-and the people-had to be cleaned, rooms prepared for Sounis and Helen...the work was long, in-depth. But everything had to be perfect, to prove to Sounis that Attolia, the country he had sworn loyalty to, was put together, not going to fall apart at the visitation of a foreign ruler.
Sounis
I stood in front of Gen and Attolia, Helen at my side. Gen was wearing his hook, so he couldn't shake my hand. Instead, he stepped off the dias where the two thrones were and locked me in a crushing embrace.
When Gen let me go I politely greeted Attolia. A sound behind me made me turn. One of the wooden doors at the back of the room was creaking open.
A little head poked in, followed by another. Two children, a boy and a girl, both no more than five, ran into the room and to Gen and Attolia. Gen laughed and picked up the little girl as the boy clung to Attolia. I looked at Gen and raised my eyebrows. He shrugged, which made the girl cling tighter to his neck.
A worried-looking woman rushed into the court. She stopped hurridly in front of Gen and Attolia. "Your Majesties, I am so sorry. You know how hard they can be to control..."
She trailed off as Attolia stepped down in front of her. "It is fine, Zoe. We do know that if Irene and Sophos don't want to do something, or if they want to go somewhere, they will get their way. We don't blame you."
Gen looked sidelong at me, blushing red. "Sophos?" I asked.
"Well, you're Sounis now, so we didn't think you'd mind... And, Sounis, you're one of my best friends. Irene's named for her mother, Sophos for you... Ana for no one..."
To my amusement he trailed off, embarrassed, as Zoe carried the two children out of court.
Zoe
To be honest, I was sure Attolia would have my head for allowing the twins to escape into the throne room. When she was nice about it, I was suspicious. But then I realized that having children mellowed her. Ana and Irene and Sophos, they changed something in her. Not making her a worse queen, but a better one. her husband may have helped, too.