Chapter Seven: Dinner with Royalty...

Barbie carefully readjusted her hairpiece, standing in front of the full length mirror that was in the suite. She had changed outfits and was now wearing a glittery pink evening gown, complete with a pink pearl necklace and matching earrings... and of course a pair of white silk gloves that reached up to her elbows. Barbie had also carefully redone her hair so that it was piled high on top of her head in a fashionable knot, loose curls carefully placed to frame her features just right. Her makeup was just a light dusting that was immaculately applied, her shoes were designer pink high heels. "Okay Sequin...I believe I'm ready for dinner with the king of this country...who happens to be my grandfather that I had presumed was dead this entire time." She wrinkled her nose at that thought, before striding confidently over to the double doors that led out to the hall. Time to tackle dinner with relatives that she really thought were dead...


King Henry turned away from his queen as his granddaughter, he still had a small piece of his son apparently, walked into the dining hall. Shock flooded him as he observed the change that she had undergone. Since she still had her suitcase, which was full of clothes, he was postponing getting her a wardrobe worthy of her status until later. However seeing her walk into the room dressed in a simple cut, designer evening gown with matching designer shoes, and jewelry, hair done up in the latest style, made him wonder if maybe his son had found a way to provide for a large family and give them wardrobes worthy of their lineage, despite the plain non-designer jeans and sweater that she had worn when they first met said. "You look lovely tonight, granddaughter."

Barbie frowned briefly at that, before silently stepping up to the table. "I wasn't sure you'll like this dress... it's from last season after all." It didn't matter to her if the clothes were not quite up to fashion or not. Long as it was still comfortable and fits, keep it. She could never understand how Raquel fussed over whether or not her outfits matched the latest trends or not.

King Henry hummed, before sitting down slowly into his seat. His queen and recently found granddaughter followed suit smoothly. King Henry had already asked the chefs to make a rather basic meal, in his personal opinion, for dinner since he wasn't sure what it was that his son has been feeding his own child...well, children if what Barbie and that maid said was anything to go by. Since she was raised in the wilds of America, her etiquitte was bond to be lacking in areas, a reason that had led him to also cancel his dinner appointments.

A footman approached the table, swiftly setting three covered silver plates down in front of them. "Dinner is served." He left the room, pausing only long enough to lift the lid off of King Henry's plate.

King Henry picked up his salad fork, picking out a small bite of his caesar salad. "Bon appétit family."

He froze, quickly glancing over at Barbie. She didn't appear to be too concern that he just spoke French. Then again, Americans were known for using phrases and words from other countries. Perhaps she has heard that particular one before. As they ate, he watched her closely to see if she needed help with anything. To his amazement, not only did she not slouch, she used the correct fork and ate in small bites daintily as if dining with royalty was a common activity growing up.

After awhile, the footman returned to replace their salad plates with bowls of steaming cream of asparagus soup. Sitting his salad fork down, he swapped over to his soup spoon. Once again, as he ate, he eyed Barbie...and once again Barbie proved to have excellent etiquette as she silently sipped at her soup. Queen Cecelia lowered her spoon, sitting it down rather quickly before reaching and lifting up her water glass. King Henry raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her, but didn't say anything. His queen had been most upset with their son's disappearance and they fact that their granddaughter didn't bother contacting him didn't bode well with her.

When the footman brought out the third course, King Henry was beginning to get very nervous over the tense silence that hovered over the group. Picking his fork and knife up, he sliced into the grilled chicken that had been smothered in some sort of brown sauce that also covered his side of rice, and threatened to cover his steamed green beans. Silence fell as the group ate, awkwardness filling the air. This wasn't going the way that he thought it would go...for starters he thought he would have to correct his granddaughter's etiquette, but Barbie was proving herself more than capable.

It wasn't until the plates were cleared and dessert, crème brûlée, that the silence was finally broken. "What is your favorite color, Barbie dear?" Queen Cecelia spoke softly as she used her dessert fork to cut into her dessert.

Barbie briefly glanced at her, before glancing down at her outfit. "I suspect you may find it a bit cliche but I rather like the color pink. It has always been a favorite of mine, Votre Altesse."

King Henry jerked a little surprise flashing through him. "You speak French?"

Barbie tilted her head to the side, her gaze piercing him as if analyzing him. "Yes. My mother's sister, my aunt, lives in Paris. I have spent a few summers with her over the years." Barbie turned her attention back to her dessert, placing a small bit in her mouth. Swallowing, she smiled warmly. "My compliments to the chef. I haven't had crème brûlée since early last summer. It is divine."

Silence fell again as they finished their desserts, each with different thoughts dancing in their minds. King Henry glanced over at Barbie, suddenly wondering what else she already knew that would be required of a princess with her standing. Clearly she already knew dinner etiquette, as well as French thanks to this mysterious aunt of hers. Shaking his head, he turned to face his queen just long enough to decline retiring to the drawing room with her. He had a dinner appointment that he needed to reschedule.

A/N: Done! Thinking things through...the only French words you most likely don't recognize is Votre Altesse, which translates to your highness. I looked up French desserts, and then picked one that I recognized as one that is frequently mentioned in my favorite show. Le Beau is a Frenchman amongst the mostly American for some reason prisoners, and the only one that actually knows how to cook anything worth eating. Besides Le Beau, I'm probably spelling that wrong since I'm spelling it how it sounds, Newkirk is the only other non-American prisoner, and he is an Englishman/British. The show is called Hogan's Heroes and its an oldie... as in it's only reruns that you can see now. It takes place during WWII and is about a German prison camp that Ally Fighters are sent to, Stalag Thirteen. There's two types of prisoners there. The actual prisoners that the Germans captured, and the intelligence officers that the Ally Forces had sent to that specific camp to aide the Underground anyway possible. There probably is other non-Americans in the camp too, but it concentrates mostly on Hogan and his team so we only know of Le Beau and Newkirk. And I'm rambling about something none of you are interested in...oops.

Reviews:

StarRose PrincessSparkle: There's a reason why the Queen asked about her favorite color... not long till it's pink. I love her relationship with her siblings! And her dynamics with each one is similar enough that it makes it pretty easy to write all of them, even though she has a different role for each sibling. Now now... I can't answer that. That would be spoilers.

Jaya4Life: You're right...the maid most likely has an headache now...

catlovingmermaid: Why is it that I tell one sister not to send in emojis..and then my other sister sends in an emoji...wait a minute. YOU'RE READING THIS STORY!?

Review!

SkyTalon