As Sigfrid led the group of slightly annoyed people he wondered if perhaps now wasn't the time to quit circling aimlessly and head to the real destination of their little 'expedition'.
He merely thought it when frustrated Michael growled at him "We passed this certain armour for the second time, I'm sure of it, You're taking us nowhere, Sire!" clearly even he was at his limit. Who like who, but he knew the Palace through and through, the only thing he didn't know was where exactly Eric took Ley.
And thus they were at the mercy of wayward Aran successor.
A pure hell.
Deciding that his father had enough time alone with Lena, and that if he stall any longer he probably won't survive it unscratched considering furious faces of surrounding him men, Sigfrid without commenting on the accusation of silver-haired man picked up his tempo and briskly strode in completely opposite direction than he was leading them a second before, clearly not caring anymore about the semblance.
Gathered people glared in disbelief at his defiant back and muttering some curses stomped after him in resignation.
In mere moments they reached a huge door with two familiar Aran guards in front of it, as the men noticed approaching people they swiftly bowed and opened the wooden double door before them.
As little confused seekers entered the unfamiliar alcove they were welcomed by stunning scene.
King Eric with his arm delicately around Ley's shoulders stood before the old painting while kissing her brow and whispering something into her ear.
But that wasn't the most surprising thing...
What was even more shocking, Ley wore some kind of elegant pewter dress without ostentatious embellishment which hugged her slim figure emphasizing her surprisingly feminine silhouette normally hidden beneath many layers of clothes.
As confused group froze at the entrance only then they noticed just whom the painting represented.
Ley wore exactly the same dress as the woman on it.
"Jesus… She is the splitting image of this woman…" Lucien whispered while staring at it with slightly dumbfounded expression on his face.
"No wonder Arans were so sure they found the correct person." Cid mumbled to himself while following with his gaze from Ley to the painting back and forth.
The tiny girl let go of Gideon's hand and run toward still unaware of them pair "Leeey!" Maria called while still laughing and hugged the woman around her waist "You look pretty!" little face beamed at surprised Lena.
Eric glanced over the head of his companion at their unexpected visitors and noticing his advancing son he arched a brow at him "Didn't I tell you to avoid Leone Quarters today? Let me guess, you were picking your outfit so long that you tried to use some shortcut later and bumped into them" he indicated with his head at hesitant group, which clearly didn't expect something like THAT "really, so unprofessional…"
Prince scowled at his father slightly annoyed to be found out so easily "I might have turned in wrong direction at some point" he grumbled reluctantly and swiftly turned toward frowning woman who observed her friends "You look extremely lovely this morning, Ley." He bowed gallantly before her not even trying to kiss her hand, after the incident with Shine she wasn't so naïve anymore, at least not in this matter.
Woman stared at him blankly and as she finally blinked several times like from waking up from some strange dream she glanced back at Eric "I completely forgot about the passage of time…" then she frowned "But how did you know Sire about that specific date?"
Aran King smiled at her fondly with slightly distant expression on his face "But of course I was by Zara's side when you were being born…"
Seeing that once again they're heading in dangerous direction, to avert another embarrassing incident Lena quickly interjected "That I already know, but how come you know the exact date as my mother from another world picked out for me?"
Eric was abruptly forced to leave his tempting la-la-land filled with many precious memories. The more he heard about the woman who raised his baby the less he liked her. He'd be eternally grateful that she took care of his Lena but from what he already learnt that was as far as his gratitude would go.
"I don't know what you're asking, you WERE born on March the 4th…"
Surprised Ley glanced at her advancing friends wondering how bloody coincidental it was… yeah… only if SHE would believe in mere coincidence.
Right… Bloody unlikely…
The group warily approached them all the while peeking at the portrait. In a way that was an eerie experience, sure the children could resemble their parents, but any person looking at it would get impression that the woman standing next to the king was exactly the same one who sit for this painting. Except for their expression and minimal differences in their features they seemed almost identical.
All Leone's assumption and theories about Lena's heritage confronted with this almost naked evidence seemed suddenly like some childish gibberish.
And yet, under Ley's fringe rested dark jewel…
Just what on earth Ariana did?!
Old king stared at them almost defiantly still casually holding an arm around exotic woman, as if he dared Shine to gainsay him and his voiceless declaration.
Lucien hesitantly looked around them noticing festive character of this strange gathering and asked slightly intrigued "King Eric, just what is this all for? Why did you take Ley so secretly, didn't it occur to you that considering last events we would be frantic about her safety?"
Old warrior narrowed his grey eyes slightly, but in the end only shrugged, clearly nothing was able to disrupt his good mood today "I figured sooner or later you will find us, I was in such hurry to bring my Lena here before she will change her mind that somewhat I forgot about you, please accept my apologies." But his bland tone strangely didn't match his words.
"But why all this food and elegant clothes?" Sean wondered aloud voicing the question which was killing all of them by now.
Finally Eric let go of Lena and slowly strode toward his gift with his hands clasped nonchalantly behind his back. Once he reached the easel he delicately traced the face of sleeping dark-haired infant with his fingers and smiled to himself while seeing little fist clenched on the long black hair.
At his caring gesture Ley felt even more uncomfortable.
"We celebrate today." Aran answered his face strangely peaceful.
"But what do we celebrate?" Sharris perused to Lena's great discomfort.
Eric glanced over his shoulder and flashed them wolfish grin "Oh? But of course the birthday of my baby girl…"
Ley had the urge to hide in the deepest hole, but miraculously she managed to stay in place and keep blank expression on her face.
All non-Arans looked at her immediately and stared so long with various expressions she had to fight the urge to squirm. Thankfully outwardly she still seemed calm and composed, or at least she hoped so...
The king continued casually ignoring their stunned glances "Two decades ago at the sunrise of the March the 4th my beautiful Zara gave birth to Lena."
Sean swiftly looked at exotic woman "You are only THREE years older than me?!"
Lena raised a brow at him "You found that only now? So what if I am?"
"You are younger than I thought!" boy exclaimed "Considering how serious you are sometimes I always thought that the age gap between us is much bigger!"
Ley cocked her head "Maybe it's not me who is too mature but you who is too childish? Ever thought about THAT possibility?"
Laoud Prince scowled at her but then abruptly beamed "Well, that makes it even easier for our engagement plans…" before he was able to finish one silver brooch hit him in the forehead.
"And since WHEN did I ever say: yes?" the woman casually straightened her crooked sleeve after her quick intervention ignoring his petulant frown as he massaged his abused forehead. Good the distance between them wasn't so big, otherwise it sure would be painful.
Eric only chuckled seeing this scene not even slightly alarmed, his 'possible-danger-detector' didn't even budge and Laoud's comment, the kid was harmless, but as for the others…. The man discreetly observed his main 'worries'.
Lucien stood there blankly staring at Ley, never did it occur to him that her real age would be so young… well definitely not before she reluctantly told them about the story of Ariana, then he could do his math, except that in chaotic last events it ever occurred to him to do this.
He knew her for nearly one year, that would make her 19 when she came to their world… This sentence alone tasted bitterly in his mouth, really? Another world? Somehow Prince Sean was right on spot, when you looked in those black eyes you saw the old, painfully experienced soul.
Just what kind of life did she lead thus far to give such vibe?
Shine couldn't stop himself from comparing the woman from painting to Ley. At first glance they seemed identical, but once you focused some more you could easily point out the minor differences.
The face of this Zara was more round, the eyes slightly more slanted, since she sat on some kind of throne it was hard to tell her exact height, but comparing how big the hand of young King Eric looked on her shoulder to the scene they saw earlier while old monarch hugged Ley, the daughter must've been quite taller than her.
What made even bigger distinction was the expression of the woman on the painting. Never before did Leone see Ley with this kind of serene smile, it warmed the entire face of that woman. If her daughter smiled a little more, they would look even more similar to each other.
The last but probably the biggest difference were the eyes. As much as Zara had to go through many difficulties in clearly foreign to her country, Ley's eyes seemed like they belonged to much older person, as if the daughter and mother switched their places.
At least that was his first impression after comparing living woman to the oil painting from nearly two decades ago.
Just where did his sister fit in in this picture? The way he saw this now, there wasn't even the slightest possibility of Lena being somehow related to Leone.
And old king seemed to be well-aware of that.
AND he triumphed…
Sharris looked at Ley somewhat ashamed "I didn't know you have a birthday today… I don't have anything for you…"
Woman looked at her in clear surprise "Anything for me? But I don't want anything, I too forgot about it completely" woman shrugged uninterested "besides it's not like I ever celebrated it, so it's not a big deal…"
Hearing that the face of Aran King formed in outraged scowl "What do you mean you never celebrated it?" he asked in deceivingly calm voice, and perhaps it would be convincing if not for his expression.
Alarmed Lena glanced at him and tried to placate this overprotective man "Is it really that important? I never felt the need to, and besides we never had too much money to waste it on such trivial matters back then…"
"…'trivial matters'…?" the man echoed her words his mood plummeting down with surprising speed, it seemed that Lena's efforts to bagatelle it clearly failed miserably.
"…'not enough money'…?" he continued.
It became worse and worse by each second.
In the act of desperation Ley touched his arm slightly "Do we really have to speak about the past? Didn't you want to show me something before they arrived?"
Eric reluctantly dropped the topic silently promising himself to ask about it later when they'll have more privacy, after all it was family matter there was no need for the presence of some outsiders.
"I prepared another gift for you, though calling it a 'gift' would be inappropriate word probably…" the old warrior turned toward the entrance and bowed gallantly "Lady Arena, I'm glad you accepted my invitation, as the childhood friend of my Lena, this event couldn't begin without you…"
Clearly Eric decided to bend the truth to his full advantage. He concluded that Tamirian Princess has to have some kind of connection to Lena if by merely crying she was able to entice his daughter to visit this world.
Even if it was for the short period of time.
He didn't know yet what kind of bond they have, and clearly Lena too didn't know what exactly convinced her to follow this particular silent sob but the facts were undeniable, it worked ONCE before.
The more 'anchors' the better' man plotted.
Lucien's sister stood hesitantly near the door with Max at her side desperately clutching at her writing pad. Young princess looked with slightly widened eyes at little uncomfortable Lena and then back at the portrait. One delicate brow arched in mute question.
"Welcome Princess Arena" exotic woman begun hesitantly "It's futile to ask me what's going on, I know as much as you, apparently this was a 'surprise' prepared by King Eric."
Blond brows knitted slightly, Tamirian marched decisively toward Lena while writing something hastily, once the woman was in front of her she practically shoved the page at Ley.
"Don't call me like that! Call me by my name as you did in the past!"
Lena looked at her little confused by stern grimace on Arena's face, whose cheeks were slightly coloured by pink angry blush.
"O-K…. I will call you normally…Arena" Ley said slowly still not understanding why the princess was so frustrated.
As she said the name, Tamirian beamed at her practically radiating with silent satisfaction, she nodded regally her eyes smiling.
Eric looked at his daughter little pouting "And here I have still to wait before you'll call me normally… it's not fair…" he grumbled half-jokingly to himself.
"Erm…" Lena grunted little embarrassed "calling the princess by her name is not a big deal, while with you sire… You have to understand that I grew up believing that other man sired me, it will probably take some time before I get used to the idea of your place in my life…" she gazed helplessly at the painting while searching for the accurate words.
"I'm not saying that I do not acknowledge your position, you…" she gestured to the woman on the portrait "You made her happy, and for that alone I'm grateful to you" she paused once again "I may resemble her, I may even understand with my mind that it was her who truly gave birth to me, but at the same time when I spell the word 'mother' I see the image of the woman who took me in…"
Lena lowered her hand and started playing nervously with the hem of her sleeve not used to sharing her thoughts so openly but feeling at the same time that if she won't say it now, she will postpone it for forever.
And that indeed was 'unfair', that man like no other deserved some kind of honest answer from her. Only and as much…
"I'm not good with dealing with other people, I'm well aware of that…" woman smirked to herself "the only time my teachers had anything similar to criticism to say to me was when I refused to cooperate with my peers, when I refused to open up to them, to form any bounds..."
She raised her eyes at frowning man "I was so focused on achieving demands of my mother and surpassing her expectations that I grew up with the conviction that there is always some ulterior motive in human relationships and that this term is a useless empty word…"
Lena glanced at her four friends "It took me a while to acknowledge that I was wrong back then." She sighed with resignation "Now I see that the word 'friendship' indeed has a true meaning, that it's not some empty catchword." She looked once again at Eric "I'm only now learning how to deal with emotions" she snorted at herself "I'm currently on the 'friendship level', it'll take me some time to learn the true meaning of word 'family'…"
Eric didn't interrupt her, he felt it was a rare moment when she let anyone inside, when she allowed others to see the glimpse of her soul and heart. It was miracle he didn't stop breathing too afraid to spook her accidentally.
"What I wanted to say" woman continued with more and more difficulty by each passing second "I will try to change, I don't know how much time it'll take me, but one day maybe I'll be able to fulfil your wish and call you properly…" she abruptly fell in silence while glancing slightly uncomfortable at King of Aran.
And to Ley's internal panic attack, Eric had suspiciously shiny eyes by that time.
He cleared his throat and with little raspy voice answered "I said so before, I waited two decades, several years more won't make any difference to me." He hesitantly brushed woman's cheek "I'll wait, as long as you need me to."
The other people felt suddenly like outsiders, clearly out of place, like some kind of intruders who dared to disrupt someone's privacy.
Suddenly Aran King straightened his back and once again clasped his hands casually behind his back "Since you are already here I suppose we should add more chairs" at his comment servants immediately brought several more as if they were already prepared.
At questioning arched brow of his son Eric only shrugged nonchalantly "What? I figured they'll tag along either way…"
Sigfrid pinched the base of his nose in irritation while closing his eyes briefly "Couldn't you say so before?"
His father with his back already to him with Lena at his side answered innocently "I don't know what are you talking about, my son…"
"Really…! And here I was at such pains to led them as long as possible, while YOU already counted them in this party! Couldn't you just invite them like any normal person would?! They wanted to skin me alive, I know that!"
Eric winked at him while adjusting the chair for Lena to sit in it "And miss all this fun while you must've cringed under their glares? A pity I didn't see that."
Aran Prince muttered string of curses under his nose and without another comment figuring it was already useless he marched to the table where gathered people already sat.
Aran King was the only one still standing, as the gathered guests made themselves comfortable, only then they noticed that there was still one more free chair.
"I already know that giving you gowns isn't the best present for you, but I still think you should have something created only for you Lena, the mere idea that you may be forced to wear the clothes of this venomous Eleanor is just unacceptable."
Ley couldn't argue that, she had to admit it to herself – the idea never occurred to her.
"That's why I still hope that you will accept the dresses I brought with me" Eric glanced at her "Mostly they are your mother's, and the few more were picked out by your older sister."
"Sister?" Lena mumbled weakly feeling slightly panicked. Wasn't Eric and Sigfrid enough to deal with? There was still more of this crazy eccentric royal family?
Aran monarch grinned to her "Indeed, you have two more siblings, they're four years older than you, so together with this lazy son of mine right here who is 27 this summer, you are the youngest of my children"
Bewildered woman tried to stay as calm as possible.
Don't panic… Do not panic… DO-NOT-PANIC….
She cleared her throat uncomfortably "Are… are they similar to you, Sire?"
King waved his hand dismissively "Nah… unfortunately the only one who resemble me so much is Sigfrid, the twins took more from my deceased wife, the queen…" he said which earned him petulant scowl from his oldest offspring.
"Your wife died?" Lena asked little confused "My condolences..."
Eric frowned seeing her strange expression "Why so surprised? Surely you weren't thinking that I offered the position of the First Concubine to my Zara because the queen title was already occupied?"
At her slightly embarrassed silence the king sighed heavily.
"Let me explain this properly" he sat at the edge of the table next to Lena and folded his arms "When I ascended the throne my future wife was already chosen, it was solely political pact, an arranged marriage…" he paused for a moment while glancing at calm Sigfrid "as it often happens, we didn't love each other, we were young, inexperienced and only followed the will of our parents. Fulfilling the duty to ensure the continuation to the line of the succession was our main responsibility and worry at that time."
"Even though we didn't love each other, we respected the other party, and you could even risk saying that in a way we liked each other" man gazed at the window little lost in his memories "We were faithful, that was great partnership, we could have always ended up in worse situation after all."
"The first child was born and with this the line of the throne was safe. For next three years together with my wife we built the strong position of our house to ensure the political safety of our new family."
"And then once again she was pregnant." Eric turned toward Lena with his slightly clouded eyes "I was a free-spirited man back then, I didn't value my family as I should have, only after meeting your mother I changed."
Little distracted the king looked at the painting "As I inspected our northern borders, my wife died in labour while giving birth to the twins." He glanced at silent Ley "And the worst part of that was that I didn't mourn her, not truly from the bottom of my heart. I felt lonely and somewhat empty but soon the pain passed away, leaving me with slight prick of conscience."
Aran monarch looked with little guilty expression at Sigfrid "As the young widower I practically shoved all my parenthood duties at teachers and nannies, truthfully? I had no idea what to do with little kids at that time… Forget about twins at that…"
"To my eternal shame I allowed some strangers to raise my children in my place, while I enjoyed my freedom and focused on my country even more."
Once again man's gaze returned to the painting, the slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips "Three years after the death of my wife, by pure coincidence I caught the ship whose captain tried to sell his previous customers as a slaves." He grinned at Lena "And then I met your mother."
Man smiled fondly to his memories, it was clear that the mere mention of Zara he radiated with love and happiness.
"The tale of our love is for another day and in more private family circle, but sufficient to say, it took me almost six months to convince Zara to accept my feelings." Eric glanced at other men at the table and smirked "I suppose you inherited your stubbornness from her."
"I was so ecstatic that she finally agreed that I overlook one significant factor - the old noble houses refused to acknowledge her as the next Queen, they claimed that since she refuses to speak about her heritage and past, moreover because in the eyes of the law she was freed slave, she is not fit for such position."
Aran King grimaced angrily, clearly even now it irked him to no end "They even dared to pick out another candidate for my wife!" he growled at the recollection "That's when I swore to never let anyone to control my private life ever again. I searched our entire library and finally after several days I found the old law from barbaric times, when our people could choose more than one life companion."
Old warrior smirked "I'll never forget their faces as I announced then that I choose Zara as my First Concubine, and that I have NO intention to ever get married."
He looked at his adoptive daughter "Zara was my only First Concubine. Only she was, and she will ever be."
Lena didn't know what to answer, she didn't expect that. She thought that in middle ages, especially in some barbaric regions the matrimonial issue was slightly different from her modern perspective. That's why she assumed Zara was Eric's mistress, lover, the concubine one of many with which he just happened to fall in love with. Not the unofficial 'wife', because that indeed she was thanks to his political machinations.
Now she felt slightly ashamed by her theories. The only thing which excused her was the fact that it was still hard for her to believe that in this era ruled by old customs and laws, one man would be stubborn enough to not give a shit about all this and put his foot down.
The more she learnt about Eric the more he resembled some kind of enlightened ruler who was ahead of his times.
Or, once he found what he desired the most, he simply was stubborn as a mule.
And he was eccentric enough to pull such a stunt..
Or he really loved that Zara…
Or probably all of it together…
The king spoke again, interrupting Lena's internal debate "By your mother's side I learnt that I wronged my children terribly. She tried to be a mother to them, but as you can guess it wasn't easy. Later after your birth the reality finally slammed into me. I wasted four long years, the infants who were born in such tragic way, grew up, the little boy was already seven years old."
Eric sighed heavily his shoulders slightly sagging under invisible weight "In a way it's fate's joke, that I found my parenthood while witnessing the birth of child that wasn't even mine…" the man smiled warmly at Lena "Your existence made me realize that never again I should neglect my family so."
Everyone looked at normally eccentric man in new light.
Now that Lucien thought about it, he couldn't recall the time when his own father behaved so casually around his children. Always in the back of his head Lucien was well aware of the fact that his father was a KING first, then a parent. With doting escapades of Eric, with his constant teasing, with his never ending jokes under address of his oldest son, you felt warmth.
He was a FATHER first, then a monarch.
And he became that way solely because of this mysterious woman who gave birth to Ley…
Michael never knew what true family means, in that matter he was similar to Ley with her carefully guarded heart. At first he was simply content that the presence of Aran King created some kind of breathing space for the exotic woman. Neither Leone, nor Tamirian could corner her now that Eric stood like huge glowering shield before them. With Sigfrid, Ley could cope with on her own, but with them, she was strangely vulnerable, like an innocent child which hasn't learned yet how to be grow up woman in full meaning of this word.
Silver-haired man didn't understand the unusual behaviour of Aran, but his protectiveness was sufficient enough for Michael to be grateful to this man.
And now, as they learned more about this old warrior he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was an exceptional man. Now he understood why Sigfrid claimed his father is a good king, loved so much by his citizens, who are so devoted to him, that the possibility of treason is only laughed at.
Abruptly Eric shook his head as if he was waking up from his memories "So now that you know about the most important facts, I have the last birthday present for you" he pushed away from the table and clapped his hands loudly.
At his signal the door to adjusting room suddenly opened and the guests saw Bisal who turned sideways to them and offered his arm to someone while bowing deeply.
In the silence of the alcove loud rhythmical patter could be heard. As the hooded man turned their way from behind him, heavily supporting on his arm stood a woman with the cane in her other hand.
It was the word 'ancient' personified. The word 'old' wasn't strong enough to fully describe her age. It just didn't give her justice.
There wasn't one place on woman's face that wasn't wrinkled by age, her silver hair were tied in strict bun at her nape, she bowed under the passage of the time.
And she was tiny…
Lena thought that Head Dressmaker was petite, but clearly compared to this old granny she was a giant. The woman barely reached to the waist of the man, be it because of her advanced age or simply 'her'.
But her age wasn't the one which stunned Lena the most. It was woman's outfit which strangely resembled Korean hanbok…
The dress was as colourful as any traditional hanbok would be, the colours were vibrant blue and red combined with simple lines and floral pattern sewed with silver thread.
As they slowly neared, Lena slowly stood up from her seat and accompanied by Eric met the pair halfway.
In the midst of countless wrinkles gazed at her two piercing black almond-shaped eyes.
Asian eyes…
Woman stared in silence at dumbfounded Ley, she was still leaning heavily at Bisal, perhaps now even more since her obsidian eyes were filled with unshed tears.
Eric's gentle voice filled the alcove "Lena, let me introduce you Lady Chun Hei, the nanny of your mother, and considering she was already ancient when I met her two decades ago, the nanny of several other generations from your family" he tried to lighten the mood, strangely the atmosphere was just too tense "This meeting is my last gift for you."
Both females stared at each other absorbing each detail, following with their gazes over their faces noticing every line, every shape which told them one thing.
They belonged to the same race.
Finally one tear slowly run down wrinkled cheek as woman whispered "Son Nyu Ttal-Is! (Granddaughter!)" old granny said in some older version of language which almost sounded like pure Korean.
Ley froze, the significance of this one particular endearment, the importance that somehow she understood this old woman slammed at her like tsunami.
Once Lena overcame her initial shock she clasped her hands in front of her waist and bowed slowly, the cascade of her black hair flowing down and covering her expression briefly "Mannasuh bangapseumnida, Hal-mu-nee-nim (Happy to meet you, grandmother)"
As she glanced from under her fringe she saw that woman blanched abruptly "Yu know te language of yur ancestors?" shaken woman asked in heavy accented almost-English.
Confused Ley frowned but she too switched back into it "Your accent is slightly different from what I'm used to, but I could understand what you said" she straightened her back "Did I say something wrong? Did I offend you in any way, Lady Chun Hei?"
"Anijo (No), Tell me child, wher did yu learn it? Did yu live in yur mother country?"
Lena wondered briefly how to answer, but finally decided to be honest "No, I lived in faraway country, where people shared the same features and colouring as me and spoke in similar language as you greeted me a moment ago, that's all."
Hearing that ancient woman relaxed slightly releasing Bisal from her death grip. Then she slowly hobbled toward still standing in front of them Ley and smiled fondly "It iz yu…" she delicately touched Lena's cheek with her bony fingers "te baby of my Zara…" she glanced at strangely silent Eric "Yu kept yur word, yu brought her back, Foreigner…"
The man only nodded once and gestured toward the table "Come and have a seat, it's already prepared Lady Chun Hei" he grinned at her mischievously "And after twenty years you could finally call me by my name, you know?"
Granny waved her gnarled with age hand dismissively "I'm too old to change myself, and I could always turn back to callin yu 'fool'…"
Aran King only chuckled while leading them back to the table with surprised guests "You never change, do you?"
"And what point of that would be now?"
"Indeed, what point…" he echoed her words smiling under his nose at her proud tone.
As they sat once again old woman gestured at Bisal who was reading himself to leave "Yu stay, yu brought me here al this way, yu can eat as well."
Man glanced uncertainly at his king, but at affirmative nod, one more place next to the ancient lady was prepared in mere seconds.
As he was almost sitting the old cane blocked his way "Yu're eatin not fightin, take off this cloak tis instant, boy" stern voice lectured him.
Bisal glanced miserably at Chun Hei "Do I really have to? I'd really rather…" at her imperiously arched brow he surrendered.
Other companions always were somewhat curious why is this man constantly covered in some kind of baggy garbs, most of the time with his hood on.
And NOW they could finally see the reason for that.
He was the same height as Sigfrid, maybe slightly shorter but not by much, but that was the last similarity.
Once he reluctantly shed the cloak under watchful stare of two black ancient eyes, the other guests nearly snorted seeing it.
Bisal was simply thin, or more like stringy, you could see the lines of his muscles, well, only if you focused enough. His far too slim figure for a man alone wasn't something to laugh at, but combined with his height he looked more like some still growing teenager at the beginning of his main growth spurt. Nobody seeing him on the street would be able to guess how dangerous he could be.
He glared at grinning Sigfrid "Very funny My Prince, it is my speed what counts not weight, thank you very much!" he sighed heavily while hanging the cloak over the back of his chair "That's why I prefer to hide it from the sight of outsiders, they just tend to underestimate me because of how my body looks like, they never take me seriously! And then I have to clear all this mess up once they try to went their frustration on me. Really bothersome… With cloak at least they'll be surprised that they couldn't hit anything" he grumbled under his nose causing Sigfrid's smile to widen even more "and then it's usually too late for them…" he glanced meaningfully at chuckling liege.
Aran Prince raised his hands apologetically "Now, now, there is no need to feel so touchy, I just couldn't help myself, instead of glaring at me you should have seen their faces…" he gestured at their companions, who managed to don expressionless masks in time.
"Well, that indeed gives you an advantage of surprise attack" Lena commented "And I understand you completely, if I got one golden coin whenever someone labelled me as a weak just because of my stature and gender, I'd be filthy rich by now…"
Hearing that faithful aide flashed her smile "I suppose we're comrades then, Lady Lena."
She smirked "You show me few of your tricks and we have a deal…"
At Eric's another signal servants moved from their posts. As the food was served, slowly the friendly talk around the table filled the room.
Some curiously asked Bisal about his training which had to be quite unusual considering his physique, some discussed the 'horde' which invited themselves to Sevia and what to do with them if they won't want to leave, the old nanny plagued Ley with many questions about the culture of the people among whom she grew up. Unfortunately back then she didn't pay much attention to things about which granny wanted to know the most.
Both females were so immersed in their lively discussion that Lena didn't have the time to put anything on her plate. Lady Chun Hei switched so many times from 'Korean' to almost-English, that combined with her heavy accent young woman had to focus her all attention to not to miss a word of it, or else she would be doomed.
Seeing that Ley's plate was still empty Shine sighed little amused and gave her some stew. Noticing that Lucien frowned at Leone and his gesture and with determined scowl he added some potatoes and vegetables he wasn't familiar with, and arched a brow challengingly at other man. Before he could add more, Sigfrid smirked at both of them and tossed grilled ribs and onion.
Men looked at each other and narrowed their eyes…
…And the battle began...
Lena finally managed to convince talkative lady to pause and choose something to eat for herself and she picked her fork to do the same.
Only then did she notice that her own plate disappeared under the mountain of various food which nearly spilled on the table.
"What the…?!" she scowled and suspiciously glanced at men who sat the opposite to her, and naturally all possible culprits looked as innocently as a new-born baby would.
Woman once again looked at this Machu Picchu and she would be damned if she knew how to begin and not to create some kind of catastrophe.
Michael shook his head mockingly and gave the 'contestants' a pitying look. Then seeing woman's dilemma he swiftly switched his own untouched plate with hers – the monstrous challenge.
Lena opened her mouth to say that it's not necessary, but quickly shut it once she noticed that silver-haired man picked all her favourite dishes in reasonable portions without a fail.
She glared at possible culprits for good measure and ostentatiously dug in.
Three men glared over her head at first sword of Sevia and begrudgingly followed woman's suit.
The old nanny observed this entire scene and chuckled loudly "Yu ar te same as my Zara" she glanced at glowering Eric whose gaze was trying its hardest to strangle the trio.
Lena frowned and looked at Lady Chun Hei with slightly puzzled expression on her face "What do you mean?"
Granny put down her silverware and folded her bony arms over her colourful hanbok.
"My Zara too wasn't aware enough of herself, and so many tried to woo her" she smirked at Eric "And some sit here… did Foreigner ever tell yu how he met uz?"
Lena noticed slight frown on Aran King and felt even more intrigued. Once again she lowered her fork and inquired "He told me he saved you from slave traders…"
Chun Hei smiled showing tiny white teeth, Ley even briefly wondered how did she manage to keep soo many them at such age, but decided it's not worth changing this highly interesting topic only for that.
"Did he tel what he said to my Zara once he saw her?" at mute shake of head granny snorted, Aran's frown turned to slightly offended scowl, but instead of interrupting her he took a deep sip of his wine with resignation.
"He said" woman pointed her forefinger at woman " 'Be my lover, I'll give yu many-many things' " she mimicked an arrogant tone, and surprisingly even with her accent it was clear just who exactly said it even without explaining so before. The king muttered something under his nose, but once again didn't interfere.
"Well… that sure goes in the family then…" Lena glanced at Sigfrid, who squirmed slightly under her stern stare.
Ancient lady smiled even wider "That it doez… And do yu know what yur mother said?"
Eric suddenly mumbled "Sure, twist the blade in my wound, why don't you…"
Chun Hei smirked "Yu asked for it back then!" she turned to Lena as if she was sharing some kind of juicy secret, the table suspiciously fell silent. Eric took another swing of his drink "Yu hav to remember that we wer prisoners on the ship, and we did not know how to speak their tongue yet, not good enough to speak but good to understand."
"Te only excuse for uz iz, we didn't hav any other occasion to learn, only by listening to crude language of sailors…"
The black eyes twinkled mischievously with suppressed laughter "My Zara bowed respectfully and wanted to refuse, she picked more words than I, but only crude words az we learnt later…"
"When Foreigner with te ego az big az his country made offer, My Zara said the words she heard so many-many times before on te ship: 'You can shove it where the sun doesn't shine'…"
Lena stared blankly at chuckling woman and turned disbelieving stare at Eric, who… sulked…
Seeing her questioning gaze he sighed "She did say the exact words, before my subordinates, before the crew and pirates and all that while bowing regally, can you imagine that?"
"Wheeell, well!" Sigfrid snorted "You never mentioned THAT part, only that she rejected you, damn and all those years…." He laughed aloud "And you…" he wheezed while drying his eye "and you say… I don't know… how to treat ladies properly…" he clutched at his stomach "God, this is just too good…!"
Eric angrily put down his goblet "I was young and foolish back then! I didn't know Zara yet!" he crossed his arms petulantly "Anyway I never bedded venomous snake like you did!"
Sigfrid's suppressed chuckle stopped as if it was cut off by a knife "Really, how many times are you going to remind me of that dreadful foolishness of mine, huh? Can't you see I already have goosebumps?!" he scowled at his father.
"As long as it's needed! You don't deserve my precious baby girl, you brat!"
Granny snickered at this scene and continued "We didn't know we offended him, he forced himself to smile so we learnt much-much later. He offered to escort uz to some safe place, and since we were lost we allowed him."
Woman's black eyes stared at window blankly as she once again remembered that events "He made sure we ended up in hiz capital, close to him, I knew te words hurt hiz pride, I knew he will come back if only to prove something to himself…"
Entranced Lena listened to every word of this old woman, understanding the past little more. No one said anything too curious how the woman who rejected certain ruler in the end became his almost-wife, even if for the short period of time.
"We didn't need hiz money! Once we were freed we got back our things, our treasures" Chun Hei proudly raised her head as if daring anyone to negate her statement "We chose old house on te outskirts of te city, but that pest just came back…"
Other nobles glanced at Eric, but the man didn't seem offended in any way, he even smirked under his nose defiantly.
"As if you would get rid of me so easily. I admit, at first I thought about my Zara as a challenge, after all she DID humiliate me in front of my subjects, it didn't matter it was unintentionally or not. But in the end I did change!"
Ancient Asian arched a brow at him "He came back over and over again, with one eccentric present after another, silk, gold, silver, jewels yu pick… hiz pride must've hurt terribly… My Zara returned every single one of tem, he offended uz! Az if he could buy her with gifts!" woman waved her hand in agitation.
Eric grimaced "I never thought about it like THAT! I wanted to prove she would come to me on her own accord! Isn't giving presents common way to court ladies? To their heart?"
Tiny woman looked down her nose at him "You wer useless bum, who thought tat money and position will be enough!"
Eric blushed a little at this, but didn't even try to deny that at that time those lines didn't cross his mind back then.
Granny calmed down a little, and turned to Lena "Yu know his family has te stubborn streak in tem, he even appointed tat bodyguard to uz, we said no…"
Aran King scowled "What's wrong in trying to ensure your safety?"
Woman replied "Yu did not ask, yu just did." She adjusted her ribbon slightly "Ten he changed tactic, he sent te boy" she gestured at Bisal, who only smiled at her warmly.
Eric straightened in his chair abruptly "Wait! Just wait a damn moment! You knew I sent Bisal to watch over you?"
Chun Hei smirked at him "Yu see thin boy who follow yu, yu understand ten he is no ordinary child."
Aran looked at slightly fidgeting aide "You screwed up… And here I thought that kid won't attract so attention as normal guard would, just don't tell me you got caught red-handed, because I'll not be responsible for my actions…"
"Do not threat a boy!" woman interjected protectively "He did no wrong!"
Eric looked at Bisal's blushing face in disbelief "You WERE caught!" he drummed his fingers on the table in irritation "And I believed you will be smart enough to elude this old protective dragoness!"
The aide scowled at him "She cornered me and offered either her cookies or good feeling of her cane, I wonder what would Your Majesty pick in my place!"
Aran monarch flinched well acquainted with this particular piece of wood, he moved his right hand over his face tiredly "I don't believe it! You sold your liege for cookies…" abruptly grey eye peeked between his fingers "Were they any good?"
Bisal smiled widely at him "They were delicious…"
The fingers once again covered man's eyes "Damn…"
"Anyhow" granny imperiously ended their little confrontation "I knew long before tem, when tey fell fell in love… foolish younglings…"
Man's head snapped up at this revelation "Huh? Since when? You chased me away with your damn cane whenever you saw me, and you tell me you KNEW we will love each other long before us?!"
Woman snorted "Of course I knew!" she looked him in the eye while continuing her tale "From te beginning he knew Zara was having te baby of her dead husband, we thought he will give up, but he did not. Hiz gifts appeared one after another and before we knew three months passed."
Chun Hei leaned back in her chair more comfortably "Entire city thought te baby iz hiz, and he did not say otherwise. After those three months Zara fell from te stairs and we feared te baby was harmed, te doctor came…"
She connected the tips of her fingers and looked over her joined hands "az she was examined, ten one man sneaked in, and brought water lilies still with dirty roots and left tem" she raised her brow sardonically at Eric "I had to order maids to clean te floor since he muddied it all with hiz huge dirty feet."
Aran blushed slightly his eyes wide with surprise "How did you know it was me?" he swiftly glared at Bisal "You little…!"
"Te boy did say nothing" exotic granny interjected "I saw yu with yur wet trousers and boots all in mood, az yu jumped over our fence az yu wer leaving."
Man looked at her little puzzled "You stopped threatening me with your cane some time later" he thought aloud "Why?"
Woman looked at him as if he was an real idiot "It was first gift yu picked by yurself. Yu yurself went to te river and picked te flowers, yu remembered which one Zara loved" she lowered her hands slowly "Once my Zara came down and saw me az I cursed yu and ordered te cleaning she told me to not to throw te lilies out since yu worked so hard to get tem" woman's eyes shone with tears "My Zara smiled for te first time after many-many months" she pointed her delicate finger at him "only ten yu proved to be worthy, yu made my baby smile" she nodded in satisfaction "Yu already loved each other, she did not throw flower, yu with yur own hands picked tem and did not even wait for her gratitude."
Old black eyes looked in the grey ones "Yu did not want anything in return, only so she would feel better." She once again nodded "Tat iz love, foolish youngling, not gifts, not gold and silk, but muddy lilies."
The silence filled the alcove, Eric seemed slightly lost in his own memories, finally he nodded "You may be right wise Chun Hei, it indeed was the first time I picked anything by myself, before I only ordered…" he looked at old proud woman with smile playing on his lips "Huh? I defeated the fierce dragoness without noticing it… and here I tried so hard to overcome the first obstacle, damn I wasted three bloody months…"
Woman snorted divisively "I left yu free way, what yu did with tat chance iz yur own achievement or fault."
Ancient nanny smiled fondly at Lena "Te Foreigner changed, he proved himself to me, after tat he stopped with tis silly expensive gifts, and only talked with Zara, spent a time with her. He give her back te happiness." She touched Ley's cheek "He found once again hiz family, and in a way yu did tat to him."
Bewildered Lena glanced at people around them and tried to digest what she just learnt. In a way it was crazy, what kind of man, after being publically rejected in such manner would try to court the woman who humiliated him so? Let's not forget! The man in middle ages…
What was even more confusing was the fact, that they both fell in love in the end, despite obstacles, despite cultural differences… And that man, who in the beginning chased after intriguing woman instead of taking care of his own children became the craziest neophyte in dotting department there ever could be…
Slowly the talk resumed, the old nanny was little tired with her long speech, the atmosphere became once again almost festive.
To Lena's despair Eric backed up by Chun Hei forced her to look at the gowns and pick some of them for the Head Dressmaker to adjust it later. With the music playing in the background they celebrated reunion, old granny told few more anecdotes from Eric's past causing the guests to laugh from time to time. Despite the fact the king and ancient woman constantly bantered, it was obvious they respected each other now.
At some point Sean asked how Chun Hei managed to have such beautiful teeth, ancient lady proudly said that just mentioned teeth were a gift from Aran King at one of her birthdays, it appears once she started having some problems due to her advanced age, he found a talented craftsman and paid him to create artificial ones.
Thankfully Lena stopped her in time before she took out false teeth to show them to the others proudly.
As the men sipped the wine near the window Eric boasted about his family, Zara and great advantages of fiercely protected family ties. As Chun Hei nodded in agreement it was easy to find out just who 'converted' free-spirited King. In a way the men could console themselves that Eric too, had to go through some kind of trial in a way perhaps even more demanding, since there were major cultural differences and language barrier.
Though Aran King immediately poured cold water on them, if he had to go through pure hell back then, he saw no reason anything should be easier for younglings these days. Especially if some insolent brat was trying to do something to his precious baby girl.
The time passed, and as they were immersed in plans about uninvited guests and inevitable need for some kind of official audience the noon passed and the sun slowly wandered once again back to the line of the horizon.
The first one to feel the passage of the time was Maria, who at some point nodded off on Gideon's lap as he talked with his old not-so-cloaked-now-friend.
Seeing that, Eric ordered the maids to clear the tables, and servants begun reverting the alcove to its original state, before 'Aran invasion'.
Only few aides were left when something unthinkable happened.
The man felt as his palm became sweaty more and more with each passing second, he knew his time was up.
They spent in this room nearly entire day, on top of that many guests belonged to different nations and had high political positions at that.
His window of chance was narrowing rapidly, if he ever do this, this was the last occasion, never again he will be able to come so close to this woman.
His hatred was burning like the real fire, he felt that if he hesitate never he will forgive himself that.
He slowly crept closer to her while picking up the empty plates, nobody noticed that under them he held thin stiletto so deceivingly small, it easily hid in his entire palm.
Two steps… three… one more…
He was right behind her back, as she talked with some old hag who seemed to lecture her about something.
One last step…
With one quick move he tossed his burden at the men who stood near them by the window and lunged at the woman with the knife in his hand