Thanks: Valencia22, clarylissa, Csporty128, Krizta, Lady Sandrilene, veralidaine, a tammy fan, Kate, Alura, Stacey, Kiyleine, Kali, Lady Kewlness of Queenscove
Chapter Four: A Light Spell or Blowing Up the Castle
"You know, this doesn't seem very jolly," Owen whispered to his older knight friends. "I feel like we're encroaching on her privacy or something."
"Of course we are. That's what spying is," Neal insisted. "It's not like we're hurting anyone or anything."
"What if we see something we shouldn't see?" Owen asked worriedly.
"Like what? Keita and Numair holding hands?" Neal retorted. "Come on, Owen. People do things like this all the time. I've even noticed a few ladies spying on you at court."
Owen's eyes went wide. "Really? Like who?"
"Like--" Neal started but Kel hit his arm.
"They're on the move," she hissed, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him and Owen behind the bushes with her. All three popped up, dusted themselves off, and strolled down the path, following Keita and Numair.
"She has the Gift," Neal said suddenly.
Kel gave him a "are you stupid?" look. "Um...yeah."
He blushed and rolled his eyes, jamming his hands in his pockets. "The Gift shields itself from others who have the Gift, you know."
"It's a maroon color," Owen added. "With kinda black swirls. Or so I hear. I've never seen it myself, though..."
Kel sighed, keeping an eye on Keita and Numair. They ducked into a shop that sold items for the Gifted which Owen saw and briefly conspired with Neal. "You go in, okay, Neal? And tell me what happens. It will look odd if Kel or I go in there," Owen explained.
"Sure thing," Neal agreed and moseyed on over to the shop.
Kel and Owen, meanwhile, pretended they were looking for something along the side of the road while they waited for Neal to return with news of Keita and Numair. It took Numair and Keita a full forty-five minutes to come out of the shop for the Gifted, each toting more than an item or two. Neal jogged over to his friends and asked, "Did you find it yet?"
"Yes," Owen said, producing a ring out of nowhere in case anyone had thought it suspicious that Kel and himself were crouched along the road like that.
When they were certain they could watch Keita and Numair and still maintain a less-than-stalker distance from them, Neal told his friends what they had bought in the shop. "It was just your generic spell-casting things although Numair's were more than basic. Keita bought some pretty hefty stuff herself."
Owen didn't care about that. "What did they say to each other?"
"They just talked about what they were buying. I have no idea what kind of spell Keita's planning on casting, but it looked pretty difficult. It also looked like it might dip a little in the darker side of magic," Neal trailed off. "But I don't know, I'm just a healer. I'm not trained in that sort of magic."
"We know," Kel sighed.
They followed Numair and Keita back to the castle, still maintaining the same less-than-stalker distance. "We haven't found out much, have we?" Neal mused. "Except that Keita may very well be trying to blow up the castle."
"What?" Owen cried desparagingly.
"Or she could be casting a spell to let more light into her room," Neal continued as if Owen's outburst hadn't happened. "As I said, I'm not very good at that sort of magic because I'm a healer."
"If you tell us you're a healer one more time I might have to do something drastic," Kel informed him.
"Aw, I didn't know you cared, Kel," Neal retorted.
Kel told him something scathingly that Owen only half-listened to. He was still nervous--it was just his luck that he would fancy a court lady that had it in her head to explode the palace. Owen hadn't listened to the second option Neal had offered and didn't want to know it, for it certainly had to have been worse than blowing up the castle, or else Neal wouldn't say it first. That sentence hardly made sense in Owen's head, much less to anyone else.
"Ah, home sweet palace," Neal murmured as they approached the gates. They trailed in next to Keita and Numair.
"Hello Lady Kel, Sir Neal, Sir Owen," said Keita from the saddle, offering a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Good afternoon, Lady Keita," Neal replied congenially.
"Hello, Lady Keita. Afternoon, Numair," Kel answered.
"H-hello," Owen told Keita. "A pleasure to see you."
Keita nodded.
Numair finally realized that Kel had said hello to him. "Hello, Kel."
"How goes it?" she asked.
"It goes well," he replied. He yawned and shifted uncomfortably on his horse. "Just most of the same old things I do everyday."
"So I see," Kel admitted.
The horses were stabled soon and Numair and Keita waited for Neal, Kel, and Owen. Numair walked next to Kel, leaving Owen and Neal with Keita. "Have you heard?" Numair wanted to know.
"About what?" Kel countered.
"About Emperor Kaddar from Carthak," Numair replied. "It seems he and some of his servants have been invited by Jon for something or other."
"I hadn't heard," nodded Kel. "Will they be holding anything in honor of him?"
"Jon wanted to hold a ball--" Numair paused at the expression on Kel's face, "--but it displeased Thayet to hear such a notion. She suggested a contest that the servants could participate in, or a contest that Kaddar's entourage could join in with. They're only allowing a certain amount of Tortallans per event, and I think it would be a good change of pace for you."
Grinning, Kel looked up at Numair. "Will they have tilting?"
"I know for certain they will be archery, tilting, swordfighting, and a contest for the Gifted," Numair replied. "I've heard your legendary tilting skills. I fear for the poor Carthaki servants that decide to test their skills against yours."
"When do I enter?" Kel asked.
"I believe signups are a week from today," he informed her. "Well, this is where we go. Keita!"
"Coming!" she answered and dashed over to Numair, latching onto his arm. "Lovely talking with you, good sirs."
"I'll talk to you later, Kel," Numair bade her farewell and walked off with Keita.
"Goodbye!" Kel called after him. Promptly, she turned to face Owen and Neal. "Well? What did you talk about?"
Owen shot a dirty look at Neal. "He did most of the talking."
"Tsk, tsk," Kel shunned him. "What's Daine going to think when she finds you were flirting with Numair's new lover?"
Neal rolled his eyes. "I wasn't flirting with her. And Owen wouldn't talk--so I had to."
"You didn't give me a chance to with your jolly big mouth!" Owen sputtered.
Sighing, Kel put a hand on his shoulder. Owen had had his Ordeal last Midwinter and was nearly as tall as she was now. "Now, Neal, apologize to Owen."
Rolling his eyes, Neal said, "Sorry."
"Good boy."
"Don't treat me like a dog," Neal mumbled grumpily.
"Hey, did you guys hear about Emperor Kaddar coming here from Carthak?" Kel asked suddenly.
Neal and Owen exchanged glances, balking at the sudden change in topic. Owen shook his head. "I haven't."
"I think I may have heard something about it," Neal admitted, not bothering to point out that Kel had abruptly changed the subject on them. "Why?" he asked. "Do you think they'll hold something 'in honor' of his arrival?"
"Numair said Tortall will host a contest because Her Majesty got tired of balls," Kel explained. "They'll have tilting, swordfighting, archery, and some sort of event for the Gifted."
"Three guesses what She Who is To be Feared With a Lance is going to enter," Neal said dryly.
Kel grinned with embarrassment. Owen groaned. "I don't know what I should enter," he told them with a slight twinge to his voice.
They had entered the palace by then.
"What will you enter, Neal?" Kel asked.
"I'm not entering any of the contests. Knowing Father as I do he'll commission me to help out with the infirmary...mainly with people you and Sir Raoul smash in tilting," Neal teased her.
"Surely you'll watch Daine in the archery contest though?" Kel pressed.
Nodding, Neal allowed himself to smile. "Of course. I wish I could watch you too. And Owen, whatever you're entering."
Owen frowned. "I guess I'll have to enter swordfighting."
"You can enter ti--" Kel started.
"Run, Owen! Don't listen to her and her talk of tilting!" Neal interrupted his best friend.
Owen nodded quickly. "I'm off! That swordfighting looks rather jolly now!"
As Owen ran off, Kel put her hands on her hips. "Come on, let's not force the poor boy into doing something he would rather not do."
"Hm, either get pulverized by you in tilting or get beaten worse in archery by Daine," Neal told her. "Quite frankly, I don't want to be healing Owen at this contest."
"Well, we'll just have to make sure someone suits his armor tight enough then," Kel grumbled.
"Kel, he's a full-fledged knight now," Neal assured her. "They wouldn't let a knight like him go without suiting his armor up properly."
"You said you didn't want to see him in the infirmary," she retorted.
Neal shook his head and patted her shoulder. "I need to go find Daine. Bye, love!" and he took off.
***
He found Daine meditating by the lake.
Rather than disturb her, he just sat next to her and joined her in meditating.
Another half-hour passed before Daine realized that Neal had joined her and she came slowly out of the private place her meditation offered. Neal came out of it a few moments later. He smiled at her. "I was looking for you."
"Oh?" Daine sounded interested. "Why?"
"Have you heard about Emperor Kaddar visiting?" he asked, playing with the blades of grass beneath his hands as he watched the lake reflecting the sun and sky above.
"Yes," nodded she. "Why do you ask? It's fair odd of you to ask such a thing. In fact, it's fair odd that you even know about it. It hasn't been announced to the court yet that he will arrive. Jon was supposed to do it today..."
"Kel heard from Numair," he explained. "Did you plan on entering?"
Daine offered him a smile. "Yes I was. Archery."
"Kel's doing tilting," he continued. "Owen's entering swordfighting."
"What will you enter?" Daine asked.
"The infirmary," he replied.
Daine laughed. "I'm sure you'll do fine in your event."
He shook his head. "My father will make me help out with those who are injured. Probably Carthaki participants mostly, and those participating in the tilt with Kel and Sir Raoul."
She laughed again.
Goddess, she's pretty when she laughs, Neal realized. ...Hey. None of that, now. You love Yuki, remember? That's who you want back.
"Jon said I could invite you to supper the first night Kaddar's here," Daine informed him. "Do you have plans or can you come?"
"I can come," Neal said without even thinking about it. "What plans am I going to have anyway? Eat in the mess hall and sit down for an hour reading?"
Daine smiled. "Okay. Kaddar is an old friend of mine and I want you to meet him."
"I think I remember when Ozorne and all of Immortals first showed up..." Neal trailed off.
"You should." Daine shoved him playfully. "I was fourteen when I had to fight 'em and I'm only three years your senior. That would make you eleven."
"Alas, but I lived a sheltered life," he answered her.
Daine nodded sympathetically. "I understand." She stood up and stretched, then bounced on the balls of her feet. "I can't wait to see Kaddar again! I haven't seen him for...Goddess, I haven't seen him for more than eight years!"
Neal smiled tightly. "Right."
***
The next few days passed in a blur of preparation around the palace. Typically, the leaders of countries like Carthak rarely visited Tortall, but apparently Jon needed to speak with Kaddar and simply couldn't make the trip himself for the gods know what reason. Kaddar had agreed to take a ship and come to Tortall, much to the king's relief, and thus Jon had waited until the last minute to get things prepared.
"You're dropping the ball, Jon," Numair commented while they sat in the war chambers one day. The rest of the palace had been cleaned and Thayet had threatened anyone with imminent death if they had caused a mess or clutter somewhere.
"I wish all we were having was a ball," Jon sighed and sat in a chair next to Numair. The king, the mage, the mage's lover, the wild mage, Neal, the king's son, the prince's wife, the king's daughter, the King's Champion, the Prime Minister of Tortall, the commander of the King's Own, the commander's wife, and the queen all sat around the table in the war chamber. They were all invited to the Imperial Dinner held the next night needed a rehearsal that evening so they would know exactly where to sit and what they would serve.
"But Jon, it's Emperor Kaddar," Thayet told him. "It isn't everyday he comes to visit. He's a nice man and we should hold a nice dinner for him. It's rude not to; it's protocol, you should know that."
The stress of the last few days was apparent in Thayet's voice as well.
Daine patted the woman's shoulder, offering a sympathetic smile. Buri of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, on the queen's other side, gave her friend's a hand an encouraging squeeze. Taking a deep breath, Thayet offered Daine and Buri a smile and let her posture slip a little. "I do see the sense of Jon's suggestion, though," Buri said. "A ball would have been simpler. Just employ the pages and squires and you're off."
"But we hold balls for foreign diplomats," Thayet tried to explain again.
"Oh, just let the poor woman be," Alanna said across the table, sitting on the other side of her king. "She wanted a formal dinner and a contest, so we're holding a formal dinner and a contest. To hell with what the rest of you want, she's the queen."
Neal gaped at his knightmaster. If this was what the inner circle of royalty was like, then he wasn't sure he had quite believed his ears. "You'll catch a lot of flies that way, Neal," Gareth the Younger told him, sitting directly across from him and hardly sparing a glance up from the stack of papers in front of him. "Jon, I need your signature on these."
"Slide them down, Gary," Jonathan answered wearily.
"Gary, please tell me you won't do that at the dinner tomorrow," Thayet said pleadingly.
"Of course not," he told the queen innocently, placing a pen on top of the papers the needed signing and sending them down the table.
Raoul laughed. "Somehow I don't trust the look on his face. Maybe it's because I've known him since I was a page?"
"That would do it for you," Alanna agreed.
Numair yawned. "When does this rehearsal start? I have something setting up in my chambers..."
"It should start as soon as the page they send as messenger tells us to come in," Thayet offered.
"Mother," Kalasin said softly.
"Yes?" the queen looked at her daughter.
"Didn't the cooks tell you to tell them when you were ready?" Kalasin prompted.
A strange look befell Thayet's face, followed by the draining of all the color. "Yes," she groaned. "Thank you, Kally."
Kalasin smiled. "Yes, Mother."
Disbelievingly, Roald watched his mother leave the war chamber and began to laugh. "Oh gods, if Mother's head wasn't attached to her neck this week she would have forgotten it somewhere."
"Roald," Shinkokami said beside him. "That isn't very nice to say about your mother."
"It's true," Jon agreed. "It's mostly my fault too." The papers came sliding back to Gary.
"Don't say that," Alanna admonished. Then she frowned. "Wait. You can say that. Feel free."
"Thank you so much for the support," Jon retorted dryly.
A page knocked timidly on the open door. Raoul leaned back in his chair and pulled the door open further. "Something you need?"
The page nodded mutely.
Jon got up out of his chair. "Yes?"
"Her Majesty requests your presence in the grand dining hall," the page announced clearly. His cheeks colored as his voice echoed off of the walls.
"All right, you heard the boy," Jon said to the rest of the room. "Let's get going."
The entire party stood up, the simultaneous scraping of chair legs on the floor making the page wince. They filed into the dining hall to find Thayet standing worriedly off to the side, glaring at the chairs seated around the tables.
"Thayet?" Jon asked.
"How many people are coming with Kaddar?" she countered.
Helplessly, Jonathan looked to his cousin. Gary fished a piece of paper out of the stack he carried with him and scanned over it. "Including Kaddar's 'manservants,'" Gary told them, "there will be a total of sixteen people including Kaddar himself."
"How many people are attending the dinner?" Thayet asked, playing with her hair impatiently.
Gary took a brief count. "Thirteen of ours, Thayet. That's twenty-nine people attending the dinner."
"Actually, I asked Lady Yukimi to attend as well," Shinko volunteered the information.
Gary nodded. "Thirty."
"How many 'manservants'?" Thayet pressed.
"Not 'manservants,'" Daine muttered under her breath. "Slaves."
Neal slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a comforting hug.
"Kaddar's bringing three 'manservants' for himself, and he's bringing six noblemen with him, each bringing a 'manservant' with him," Gary sighed. "Anything else you would care to know, Your Highness?"
Thayet did some quick mental calculations. "Nine 'manservants' that won't need chairs. We'll need twenty-one chairs, then." She counted the chairs and sighed. "We only set out fifteen chairs." She called out over her shoulder for one of the servants to come. "Bring me six more chairs, please?"
The chairs were brought in and situated around the table.
The rest of the rehearsal dinner went smoothly, without much error. Everyone was made to exit the dining hall and re-enter, finding their seats without Thayet's help. Jonathan made a small speech and filled in something of Kaddar's answer, then the dinner itself was pretended to be brought out--much to the disappointment of the majority of the male population in the room (the only one too busy to notice was Gary)--and they were released to go have their own supper.
"How about we just head down to the city and get something to eat instead of ruining our appetite with the stuff from the mess?" Neal proposed to Daine.
"Sounds fair appealing," Daine agreed.
"Neal!" Roald called from the down the hall. "Where are you two eating? We're going down to the city!"
"We are too!" Neal called back.
"Care to join us?" Roald yelled.
Shinko and Daine had clapped their hands over their ears while their men of choice felt the need to shout at each other across the hallway. Briefly, Neal glanced down at Daine and shrugged. "Sure!"
Neal tugged his friend and temporary "lover" down the hallway to join Roald and Shinko. The princess and the mage sighed and decided to walk with each other while Neal and Roald conversed.
"So when, exactly, did you and Daine start courting?" Roald asked of his long-time friend. "She's one of my oldest friends, you know. I knew her way back when. Almost killed Numair for breaking her heart like that."
Neal watched Daine for a moment before sighed. "About a month ago."
Letting out a low whistle, Roald shook his head. "That's not what the ladies of the court are saying. They're saying that you and Daine started courting while you were still engaged to Yuki."
Neal tugged on Roald's sleeve and they slowed their pace a little, dropping out of the two women's hearing range. "We aren't truly courting," he said quietly to Roald. "It's part of a plan to get the ones we truly love back."
Roald took this in, looking up at Daine and back to Neal. "Honestly?"
His friend simply nodded.
"...Is that why you haven't taken your eyes off of Daine the entire night, even while you're talking to me?" Roald asked.
Neal froze, blinked, and looked at Roald, who simply raised his eyebrows, gave Neal a knowing look, and ran to catch up with his wife and friend.
"You know, this doesn't seem very jolly," Owen whispered to his older knight friends. "I feel like we're encroaching on her privacy or something."
"Of course we are. That's what spying is," Neal insisted. "It's not like we're hurting anyone or anything."
"What if we see something we shouldn't see?" Owen asked worriedly.
"Like what? Keita and Numair holding hands?" Neal retorted. "Come on, Owen. People do things like this all the time. I've even noticed a few ladies spying on you at court."
Owen's eyes went wide. "Really? Like who?"
"Like--" Neal started but Kel hit his arm.
"They're on the move," she hissed, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him and Owen behind the bushes with her. All three popped up, dusted themselves off, and strolled down the path, following Keita and Numair.
"She has the Gift," Neal said suddenly.
Kel gave him a "are you stupid?" look. "Um...yeah."
He blushed and rolled his eyes, jamming his hands in his pockets. "The Gift shields itself from others who have the Gift, you know."
"It's a maroon color," Owen added. "With kinda black swirls. Or so I hear. I've never seen it myself, though..."
Kel sighed, keeping an eye on Keita and Numair. They ducked into a shop that sold items for the Gifted which Owen saw and briefly conspired with Neal. "You go in, okay, Neal? And tell me what happens. It will look odd if Kel or I go in there," Owen explained.
"Sure thing," Neal agreed and moseyed on over to the shop.
Kel and Owen, meanwhile, pretended they were looking for something along the side of the road while they waited for Neal to return with news of Keita and Numair. It took Numair and Keita a full forty-five minutes to come out of the shop for the Gifted, each toting more than an item or two. Neal jogged over to his friends and asked, "Did you find it yet?"
"Yes," Owen said, producing a ring out of nowhere in case anyone had thought it suspicious that Kel and himself were crouched along the road like that.
When they were certain they could watch Keita and Numair and still maintain a less-than-stalker distance from them, Neal told his friends what they had bought in the shop. "It was just your generic spell-casting things although Numair's were more than basic. Keita bought some pretty hefty stuff herself."
Owen didn't care about that. "What did they say to each other?"
"They just talked about what they were buying. I have no idea what kind of spell Keita's planning on casting, but it looked pretty difficult. It also looked like it might dip a little in the darker side of magic," Neal trailed off. "But I don't know, I'm just a healer. I'm not trained in that sort of magic."
"We know," Kel sighed.
They followed Numair and Keita back to the castle, still maintaining the same less-than-stalker distance. "We haven't found out much, have we?" Neal mused. "Except that Keita may very well be trying to blow up the castle."
"What?" Owen cried desparagingly.
"Or she could be casting a spell to let more light into her room," Neal continued as if Owen's outburst hadn't happened. "As I said, I'm not very good at that sort of magic because I'm a healer."
"If you tell us you're a healer one more time I might have to do something drastic," Kel informed him.
"Aw, I didn't know you cared, Kel," Neal retorted.
Kel told him something scathingly that Owen only half-listened to. He was still nervous--it was just his luck that he would fancy a court lady that had it in her head to explode the palace. Owen hadn't listened to the second option Neal had offered and didn't want to know it, for it certainly had to have been worse than blowing up the castle, or else Neal wouldn't say it first. That sentence hardly made sense in Owen's head, much less to anyone else.
"Ah, home sweet palace," Neal murmured as they approached the gates. They trailed in next to Keita and Numair.
"Hello Lady Kel, Sir Neal, Sir Owen," said Keita from the saddle, offering a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Good afternoon, Lady Keita," Neal replied congenially.
"Hello, Lady Keita. Afternoon, Numair," Kel answered.
"H-hello," Owen told Keita. "A pleasure to see you."
Keita nodded.
Numair finally realized that Kel had said hello to him. "Hello, Kel."
"How goes it?" she asked.
"It goes well," he replied. He yawned and shifted uncomfortably on his horse. "Just most of the same old things I do everyday."
"So I see," Kel admitted.
The horses were stabled soon and Numair and Keita waited for Neal, Kel, and Owen. Numair walked next to Kel, leaving Owen and Neal with Keita. "Have you heard?" Numair wanted to know.
"About what?" Kel countered.
"About Emperor Kaddar from Carthak," Numair replied. "It seems he and some of his servants have been invited by Jon for something or other."
"I hadn't heard," nodded Kel. "Will they be holding anything in honor of him?"
"Jon wanted to hold a ball--" Numair paused at the expression on Kel's face, "--but it displeased Thayet to hear such a notion. She suggested a contest that the servants could participate in, or a contest that Kaddar's entourage could join in with. They're only allowing a certain amount of Tortallans per event, and I think it would be a good change of pace for you."
Grinning, Kel looked up at Numair. "Will they have tilting?"
"I know for certain they will be archery, tilting, swordfighting, and a contest for the Gifted," Numair replied. "I've heard your legendary tilting skills. I fear for the poor Carthaki servants that decide to test their skills against yours."
"When do I enter?" Kel asked.
"I believe signups are a week from today," he informed her. "Well, this is where we go. Keita!"
"Coming!" she answered and dashed over to Numair, latching onto his arm. "Lovely talking with you, good sirs."
"I'll talk to you later, Kel," Numair bade her farewell and walked off with Keita.
"Goodbye!" Kel called after him. Promptly, she turned to face Owen and Neal. "Well? What did you talk about?"
Owen shot a dirty look at Neal. "He did most of the talking."
"Tsk, tsk," Kel shunned him. "What's Daine going to think when she finds you were flirting with Numair's new lover?"
Neal rolled his eyes. "I wasn't flirting with her. And Owen wouldn't talk--so I had to."
"You didn't give me a chance to with your jolly big mouth!" Owen sputtered.
Sighing, Kel put a hand on his shoulder. Owen had had his Ordeal last Midwinter and was nearly as tall as she was now. "Now, Neal, apologize to Owen."
Rolling his eyes, Neal said, "Sorry."
"Good boy."
"Don't treat me like a dog," Neal mumbled grumpily.
"Hey, did you guys hear about Emperor Kaddar coming here from Carthak?" Kel asked suddenly.
Neal and Owen exchanged glances, balking at the sudden change in topic. Owen shook his head. "I haven't."
"I think I may have heard something about it," Neal admitted, not bothering to point out that Kel had abruptly changed the subject on them. "Why?" he asked. "Do you think they'll hold something 'in honor' of his arrival?"
"Numair said Tortall will host a contest because Her Majesty got tired of balls," Kel explained. "They'll have tilting, swordfighting, archery, and some sort of event for the Gifted."
"Three guesses what She Who is To be Feared With a Lance is going to enter," Neal said dryly.
Kel grinned with embarrassment. Owen groaned. "I don't know what I should enter," he told them with a slight twinge to his voice.
They had entered the palace by then.
"What will you enter, Neal?" Kel asked.
"I'm not entering any of the contests. Knowing Father as I do he'll commission me to help out with the infirmary...mainly with people you and Sir Raoul smash in tilting," Neal teased her.
"Surely you'll watch Daine in the archery contest though?" Kel pressed.
Nodding, Neal allowed himself to smile. "Of course. I wish I could watch you too. And Owen, whatever you're entering."
Owen frowned. "I guess I'll have to enter swordfighting."
"You can enter ti--" Kel started.
"Run, Owen! Don't listen to her and her talk of tilting!" Neal interrupted his best friend.
Owen nodded quickly. "I'm off! That swordfighting looks rather jolly now!"
As Owen ran off, Kel put her hands on her hips. "Come on, let's not force the poor boy into doing something he would rather not do."
"Hm, either get pulverized by you in tilting or get beaten worse in archery by Daine," Neal told her. "Quite frankly, I don't want to be healing Owen at this contest."
"Well, we'll just have to make sure someone suits his armor tight enough then," Kel grumbled.
"Kel, he's a full-fledged knight now," Neal assured her. "They wouldn't let a knight like him go without suiting his armor up properly."
"You said you didn't want to see him in the infirmary," she retorted.
Neal shook his head and patted her shoulder. "I need to go find Daine. Bye, love!" and he took off.
He found Daine meditating by the lake.
Rather than disturb her, he just sat next to her and joined her in meditating.
Another half-hour passed before Daine realized that Neal had joined her and she came slowly out of the private place her meditation offered. Neal came out of it a few moments later. He smiled at her. "I was looking for you."
"Oh?" Daine sounded interested. "Why?"
"Have you heard about Emperor Kaddar visiting?" he asked, playing with the blades of grass beneath his hands as he watched the lake reflecting the sun and sky above.
"Yes," nodded she. "Why do you ask? It's fair odd of you to ask such a thing. In fact, it's fair odd that you even know about it. It hasn't been announced to the court yet that he will arrive. Jon was supposed to do it today..."
"Kel heard from Numair," he explained. "Did you plan on entering?"
Daine offered him a smile. "Yes I was. Archery."
"Kel's doing tilting," he continued. "Owen's entering swordfighting."
"What will you enter?" Daine asked.
"The infirmary," he replied.
Daine laughed. "I'm sure you'll do fine in your event."
He shook his head. "My father will make me help out with those who are injured. Probably Carthaki participants mostly, and those participating in the tilt with Kel and Sir Raoul."
She laughed again.
Goddess, she's pretty when she laughs, Neal realized. ...Hey. None of that, now. You love Yuki, remember? That's who you want back.
"Jon said I could invite you to supper the first night Kaddar's here," Daine informed him. "Do you have plans or can you come?"
"I can come," Neal said without even thinking about it. "What plans am I going to have anyway? Eat in the mess hall and sit down for an hour reading?"
Daine smiled. "Okay. Kaddar is an old friend of mine and I want you to meet him."
"I think I remember when Ozorne and all of Immortals first showed up..." Neal trailed off.
"You should." Daine shoved him playfully. "I was fourteen when I had to fight 'em and I'm only three years your senior. That would make you eleven."
"Alas, but I lived a sheltered life," he answered her.
Daine nodded sympathetically. "I understand." She stood up and stretched, then bounced on the balls of her feet. "I can't wait to see Kaddar again! I haven't seen him for...Goddess, I haven't seen him for more than eight years!"
Neal smiled tightly. "Right."
The next few days passed in a blur of preparation around the palace. Typically, the leaders of countries like Carthak rarely visited Tortall, but apparently Jon needed to speak with Kaddar and simply couldn't make the trip himself for the gods know what reason. Kaddar had agreed to take a ship and come to Tortall, much to the king's relief, and thus Jon had waited until the last minute to get things prepared.
"You're dropping the ball, Jon," Numair commented while they sat in the war chambers one day. The rest of the palace had been cleaned and Thayet had threatened anyone with imminent death if they had caused a mess or clutter somewhere.
"I wish all we were having was a ball," Jon sighed and sat in a chair next to Numair. The king, the mage, the mage's lover, the wild mage, Neal, the king's son, the prince's wife, the king's daughter, the King's Champion, the Prime Minister of Tortall, the commander of the King's Own, the commander's wife, and the queen all sat around the table in the war chamber. They were all invited to the Imperial Dinner held the next night needed a rehearsal that evening so they would know exactly where to sit and what they would serve.
"But Jon, it's Emperor Kaddar," Thayet told him. "It isn't everyday he comes to visit. He's a nice man and we should hold a nice dinner for him. It's rude not to; it's protocol, you should know that."
The stress of the last few days was apparent in Thayet's voice as well.
Daine patted the woman's shoulder, offering a sympathetic smile. Buri of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, on the queen's other side, gave her friend's a hand an encouraging squeeze. Taking a deep breath, Thayet offered Daine and Buri a smile and let her posture slip a little. "I do see the sense of Jon's suggestion, though," Buri said. "A ball would have been simpler. Just employ the pages and squires and you're off."
"But we hold balls for foreign diplomats," Thayet tried to explain again.
"Oh, just let the poor woman be," Alanna said across the table, sitting on the other side of her king. "She wanted a formal dinner and a contest, so we're holding a formal dinner and a contest. To hell with what the rest of you want, she's the queen."
Neal gaped at his knightmaster. If this was what the inner circle of royalty was like, then he wasn't sure he had quite believed his ears. "You'll catch a lot of flies that way, Neal," Gareth the Younger told him, sitting directly across from him and hardly sparing a glance up from the stack of papers in front of him. "Jon, I need your signature on these."
"Slide them down, Gary," Jonathan answered wearily.
"Gary, please tell me you won't do that at the dinner tomorrow," Thayet said pleadingly.
"Of course not," he told the queen innocently, placing a pen on top of the papers the needed signing and sending them down the table.
Raoul laughed. "Somehow I don't trust the look on his face. Maybe it's because I've known him since I was a page?"
"That would do it for you," Alanna agreed.
Numair yawned. "When does this rehearsal start? I have something setting up in my chambers..."
"It should start as soon as the page they send as messenger tells us to come in," Thayet offered.
"Mother," Kalasin said softly.
"Yes?" the queen looked at her daughter.
"Didn't the cooks tell you to tell them when you were ready?" Kalasin prompted.
A strange look befell Thayet's face, followed by the draining of all the color. "Yes," she groaned. "Thank you, Kally."
Kalasin smiled. "Yes, Mother."
Disbelievingly, Roald watched his mother leave the war chamber and began to laugh. "Oh gods, if Mother's head wasn't attached to her neck this week she would have forgotten it somewhere."
"Roald," Shinkokami said beside him. "That isn't very nice to say about your mother."
"It's true," Jon agreed. "It's mostly my fault too." The papers came sliding back to Gary.
"Don't say that," Alanna admonished. Then she frowned. "Wait. You can say that. Feel free."
"Thank you so much for the support," Jon retorted dryly.
A page knocked timidly on the open door. Raoul leaned back in his chair and pulled the door open further. "Something you need?"
The page nodded mutely.
Jon got up out of his chair. "Yes?"
"Her Majesty requests your presence in the grand dining hall," the page announced clearly. His cheeks colored as his voice echoed off of the walls.
"All right, you heard the boy," Jon said to the rest of the room. "Let's get going."
The entire party stood up, the simultaneous scraping of chair legs on the floor making the page wince. They filed into the dining hall to find Thayet standing worriedly off to the side, glaring at the chairs seated around the tables.
"Thayet?" Jon asked.
"How many people are coming with Kaddar?" she countered.
Helplessly, Jonathan looked to his cousin. Gary fished a piece of paper out of the stack he carried with him and scanned over it. "Including Kaddar's 'manservants,'" Gary told them, "there will be a total of sixteen people including Kaddar himself."
"How many people are attending the dinner?" Thayet asked, playing with her hair impatiently.
Gary took a brief count. "Thirteen of ours, Thayet. That's twenty-nine people attending the dinner."
"Actually, I asked Lady Yukimi to attend as well," Shinko volunteered the information.
Gary nodded. "Thirty."
"How many 'manservants'?" Thayet pressed.
"Not 'manservants,'" Daine muttered under her breath. "Slaves."
Neal slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a comforting hug.
"Kaddar's bringing three 'manservants' for himself, and he's bringing six noblemen with him, each bringing a 'manservant' with him," Gary sighed. "Anything else you would care to know, Your Highness?"
Thayet did some quick mental calculations. "Nine 'manservants' that won't need chairs. We'll need twenty-one chairs, then." She counted the chairs and sighed. "We only set out fifteen chairs." She called out over her shoulder for one of the servants to come. "Bring me six more chairs, please?"
The chairs were brought in and situated around the table.
The rest of the rehearsal dinner went smoothly, without much error. Everyone was made to exit the dining hall and re-enter, finding their seats without Thayet's help. Jonathan made a small speech and filled in something of Kaddar's answer, then the dinner itself was pretended to be brought out--much to the disappointment of the majority of the male population in the room (the only one too busy to notice was Gary)--and they were released to go have their own supper.
"How about we just head down to the city and get something to eat instead of ruining our appetite with the stuff from the mess?" Neal proposed to Daine.
"Sounds fair appealing," Daine agreed.
"Neal!" Roald called from the down the hall. "Where are you two eating? We're going down to the city!"
"We are too!" Neal called back.
"Care to join us?" Roald yelled.
Shinko and Daine had clapped their hands over their ears while their men of choice felt the need to shout at each other across the hallway. Briefly, Neal glanced down at Daine and shrugged. "Sure!"
Neal tugged his friend and temporary "lover" down the hallway to join Roald and Shinko. The princess and the mage sighed and decided to walk with each other while Neal and Roald conversed.
"So when, exactly, did you and Daine start courting?" Roald asked of his long-time friend. "She's one of my oldest friends, you know. I knew her way back when. Almost killed Numair for breaking her heart like that."
Neal watched Daine for a moment before sighed. "About a month ago."
Letting out a low whistle, Roald shook his head. "That's not what the ladies of the court are saying. They're saying that you and Daine started courting while you were still engaged to Yuki."
Neal tugged on Roald's sleeve and they slowed their pace a little, dropping out of the two women's hearing range. "We aren't truly courting," he said quietly to Roald. "It's part of a plan to get the ones we truly love back."
Roald took this in, looking up at Daine and back to Neal. "Honestly?"
His friend simply nodded.
"...Is that why you haven't taken your eyes off of Daine the entire night, even while you're talking to me?" Roald asked.
Neal froze, blinked, and looked at Roald, who simply raised his eyebrows, gave Neal a knowing look, and ran to catch up with his wife and friend.