Another new chapter! Another new week! Another new group of reviews! [Large group I hope! ;)]
Emile reluctantly followed Rhonwen as she guided him over to the sofa, never losing eye contact with Ahmed. If his father found out about this his goose was cooked.
"Everyone come here and sit down, we have a lot to talk about," Rhonwen said in a gentle yet queerly commanding voice.
The brothers all looked back and forth to one another, and Ahmed took a step forward, evidently making the choice to listen to Rhonwen. Again, like in the past, the others listened to Ahmed's unspoken orders and followed him over to the sofa, though none of them were quite brave enough to sit down. Edward, Akram, and Augustine stood a comfortable distance behind them, still wary that they might try to run, and all the girls besides Rhonwen gathered on one of the larger sofas. Ahmed sat down at the very edge of the sofa across from Rhonwen and Emile, not taking his eyes off of them as he did so.
"Emile," said Rhonwen in a very controlled and formal tone, "Would you like me to introduce you to these princes from Agrabah?"
Emile nodded, still too nervous to say anything out loud. His eyes quickly flashed from Rhonwen to Ahmed and back, and his neck fur was spiked in apprehension.
"Alright then," she said, her voice giving no hint that she was at all nervous with this awkward situation, "The one that is sitting in front of us is Crown Prince Ahmed, and his brothers over there are princes Afeef, Ala', Akif, and Adnan, respectively."
Each of the brothers gave a small, nervous head bob when their name was stated. It was clear that curiosity was taking over for fear in their minds, as they had slowly begun to migrate closer and Ahmed was now seated more comfortably.
"Gentlemen," Rhonwen continued, still seeming flawlessly calm, "This is Crown Prince Emile. He, like I said before, is due to inherit this kingdom."
Emile nodded to them, but was startled to feel Rhonwen's elbow poking his ribs. He looked down to see her looking back at him, mouthing to him to say something.
"I…eh…" he started, his fur bristling again, "I'm very pleased…to meet you?"
He didn't intend to end that as a question, but it came out that way all the same. He fidgeted for a few seconds, and looked to Rhonwen a few times for direction, but she continued to look at Ahmed, as if waiting for his reply. Ahmed cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Good to meet you too," he said, sounding a bit unsure but doing a better job hiding it than Emile had.
Emile was afraid that the conversation would fall into awkward silence again like it had with the others, but apparently Rhonwen was prepared for that this time.
"Emile was cursed when he was young, which is why he looks the way he does," she said, looking to Emile, "Would you like to explain how it happened?"
"Um, well," he started again, still uncertain of his footing in this new terrain, "My father was cursed when he was young, and it passed on to me even thought his cursed was broken."
The other boys hesitated for a little bit before speaking, but curiosity got the better of them.
"Are you like a werewolf?" asked Afeef, stepping forward a little bit.
"No, I'm not a werewolf," replied Emile, "I am in full intelligent control of everything I do, and I don't transform into a man unless I break the curse."
"How did it pass to you if he broke it before you were born?" asked Ahmed curiously.
"I don't really know," Emile said, still very nervous but at least now capable of speech, "I think it's just because the witch really hates my father."
"Do you get fleas?" asked Akif, cracking all the other brothers up.
"I don't know, do you?" Emile said back, amazing himself by his own courage.
The other boys laughed, and the brothers chuckled. Red's snorting laugh and a high pitch squeaking which seemed to emanate from Dianna soon brought the room to some level of comfort again, as Akram illustrated by returning to his seat. The other brothers all sat down and started to ask so many questions that Emile was flustered in a completely different way than before, and eventually even Edward and Augustine sat back down, though they never really relaxed with the other boys so near.
"ALRIGHT, HOLD YOUR HORSES!" an irritating voice suddenly said, "THIS GUY HELD ME PRISONER YESTERDAY AND THREATENED MY LIFE! A PRINCE? NOT BUYING IT!"
"Iago," Ahmed said laughingly, "When we were young we used to sneak up on you and pull your feathers to make toys. Not to mention, he's not the first one to threaten your annoying life. Shut your beak, or I'll find some string and shut it for you!"
Iago blinked and made a rather hilarious scowl of wounded birdie pride.
"WELL! I'VE NEVER BEEN SO OFFENDED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!" he said in a pathetic voice, then few up to the highest shelf in the library and sulked.
Rhonwen was rather pleased so far with the way things were playing out, and now she had a good example for her father to show diplomacy can be better than violence sometimes to solve a difference, even if it isn't as fun.
"So, Emile," said Ahmed after a short laugh at the feathered pestilence's tantrum, "What were you guys doing in here before we came in?"
"What business is that of yours?" asked Red, her face quickly changing from calm and almost happy to irritated and ready for a fight.
"Hey, doll," said Ahmed, looking at her with a mixture of amusement and annoyance, "I asked him not you. And it's only a simple question, nothing to twist your bloomers over."
"Oh trust me," she said, turning away from him coldly, "You have absolutely no effect on my bloomers."
The other brothers laughed a little and Ahmed turned a bit darker color in the face, but after a moment he restated his question to Emile and Red didn't find any point in stopping him this time. Emile looked around to the others, and seeing no objections in their faces, he turned back to Ahmed.
"Well, we were talking about possibilities for the identity of the witch," he said, a little nervously.
"Really?" Ala' asked, looking intrigued, "Got anything that looks promising?"
"Well…" Emile began, but was cut off by Melody.
"We were thinking of witches from literature, who could have done what this witch did and had a similar description," she said simply, "Know of any literary witches who can change forms, turned people into animals, and have blond hair and green eyes?"
The boys stared at her for a few moments before shrugging their shoulders.
"Yeah, didn't think so," said Red smugly, "Don't think these ones are really the literary kind, Mel."
Augustine snorted amusedly and Edward grinned from the loveseat where he and Dianna sat. Melody and Rhonwen both looked a little worried that the situation would diminish back to irritated bickering and Emile shared their concern. Akram had a queer look on his face, and it was evident to anyone who looked at him that he felt he was caught between a rock and a hard place. After a moment, to everyone's surprise, Ahmed smiled.
"You're right," he said, "I'm not really the intellectual type. I only read what I have to in order to rule my country one day. Other than that, I'm more interested in physical pursuits."
Red turned a deep shade of crimson and turned away from him again. Ahmed smirked. That is, he smirked until he saw Augustine sit up a little straighter.
"Do not speak to my fiancé that way," Augustine said, in no uncertain terms. Red glared at him for taking charge of her fight again, but Augustine didn't seem to notice.
"Fiancé?" Ahmed asked, his eyes widening, "Now I get what you problem was! I won't hit on her any more, all you had to do was tell me she already belonged to someone else."
A silence took the room as everyone felt about as awkward as they ever had. Both Red and Augustine were rather red in the face at that moment in time, and everyone else, besides the offender, turned a shade of pink. Everyone, that is, accept Akram, who turned more of a purplish color, the other brothers, who didn't understand how inappropriate the remark was, and Emile, whose embarrassment showed through raised neck fur instead. Red started to sputter, and it was clear that she was trying to formulate a remark through her fury, but her brain needed time to reboot. After a moment she stopped sputtering, looked down, took a deep breath, then glared back up at Ahmed in a way that would make any man cringe, bravado or not.
"I do not belong to anyone!" she said wrathfully, "And if you don't watch your foul little mouth I'll slap it right off you face!"
Ahmed stared gapingly at her for a few moments before his bravado kicked back into control. He stood up and stepped closer to Red, smirking.
"You need someone to show you your place, woman," he said, trying to make his voice sound rich and seductive, "I'd be happy to do the honors."
At this Augustine shot up from his chair and was at his side in a heartbeat, but it didn't even take that long for Red's hand to dart out and impact with Ahmed's face with a resounding SLAP! And, before Augustine or Red could do anything at all about it, Ahmed struck back, a heavy downward slap to the face which drove Red to the floor. Justly enraged, Augustine stepped forward and initiated the fight which had been so long anticipated by them all.
"Get away from her now!" said Augustine, grabbing the smaller boy's shirt with his left hand and pulling the right hand back, "Or so help me I will hit you so hard that you and all your grandchildren will find yourselves in the next century!"
"Get your hands off of me!" Ahmed said in a threatening voice.
"And if I don't?" said Augustine through bared teeth.
Ahmed didn't answer with words, but simply punched Augustine in the stomach. Augustine returned the blow to Ahmed stomach and the two of them began to roll around on the floor in an intense grappling match. Ahmed's brothers, with the acceptation of Akram, all began to cheer for their brother, and yell Fight! Fight! in a boyish manner. Edward, Emile, and Akram all stood close to the fight, waiting to see if Augustine needed anyone to intervene. Melody, Dianna, and Rhonwen all looked on with worried expressions, and Red, quickly recovered from the hit she took, was openly encouraging Augustine to, "Punch him in the gut! Sit on him! Make him go through the rest of him life with the nickname pancake face!"
The boys rolled to and fro, bumping up against the furniture here, bashing into a wall there, and eventually making their way closer and closer to the doors. Augustine finally found a good maneuver and pinned Ahmed to the ground, planning to get the other boys to help him hold his opponent while they transported him to some sort of thorny bush. This promising idea was interrupted, however, by the sudden rolling of his eyes as Augustine fell asleep and freed Ahmed from any tight grip.
Ahmed pushed him off and their positions were reversed, accept Augustine was unconscious and Ahmed was spiteful. Before anyone could do a thing about it Ahmed had punched Augustine's sleeping face a good five or six times. The other brothers began laughing and Akram started yelling at them in Arabic while Emile and Edward pulled Ahmed off of Augustine. Emile lifted Augustine up by his shirt and was about to ream him in a very loud voice, even for Emile, when the unexpected and terribly unfortunate happened. The door opened, to reveal King Eugene, Queen Aurora, King Aladdin, and, worst of all, Emile's father. This was definitely not good.
And finally someone confronts Ahmed and gives him the licking we all hoped for! Review, I always love to hear your reactions to dramatic chapters!