A/N: Okay! I'm Back! Aren't you all so excited? listens to cheering I knew you would be. Ha, ha, yes, the wonderful Hobbit Shortness is back from her trip to Kenomee! And what a trip it was... Lots of wonderful hard hiking, and I got to swim in a waterfall! That's something that I've always wanted to do... when I was really little I saw the animated version of Robin Hood (the one with the foxes) and when I saw them go behind the waterfall I knew I had to do that. And I did! Er... yeah. I had so much fun... I'll just shut up now though... maybe I'll tell you guys about it if you really want to hear.

But the trip isn't the reason this chapter is so late. Unfortunately, my grandma's computer was zapped in a recent thunderstorm. My parents took my computer (Herman) away to somehow fix hers, thereby setting off a chain of events that culminated in my getting a new(er) computer from my dad's cousin. I have named him Johnny, after the most magnificent Johnny Depp. I'm really sorry this took so long, but it was really out of my control. I would never willingly abandon you for so long, loyal readers! So, read the chapter, enjoy, and review!

Disclaimer: Vidanric isn't hot, Bran is subtle, Nee hates Bran, Tamara is kind and caring, Galdran isn't an egotistical b-----d, Flauvic is ugly, and I'm Sherwood Smith. note heavy sarcasm

Okay... now where did I leave them?? Oh right...

((-))

Chapter six: Dinner Chez Reneselaeus'

Nee and I returned to our rooms to prepare for dinner with the Renselaeus'. Nee suggested I wear a dark violet gown, so dark it was almost black. It had tiny snowstones embroidered in lily patterns across the front. Looking at my reflection, I resigned myself to the fact that I would always be small and scrawny. However, the gown was sown to flatter what little figure I had.

"I think you should wear your hair down," Nee commented, looking me over.

"For dinner? I might kneel on it!" I protested.

"We'll dine empire style, for Prince Alaerec will be there," Nee informed me. I remembered from our last meeting that the Prince had been wounded in the Pirate Wars. He could walk, with difficulty, and he dined in chairs.

Nee handed me an enameled box with several snowstone hair ties within. Thin ribbons of silver and white hung from the tie itself. I sat down on a hassock while Mora gently entwined the ties into my hair. Nee assured me the dinner would be fine, and we went into the hallway to meet Bran.

The dinner passed uneventfully. I watched the faces of those around me. All those present save my brother showed no true expressions, at least as far as my eyes could see. Their faces showed no other emotion than that of polite interest. My brother's face changed as he talked his laugh real, his shrug careless, his smile genuine. When the meal was over, the Princess invited everyone to another room, for music and hot chocolate.

The Princess and I slipped away from the others and she showed me the palace library. The doors opened and the Princess touched a glowglobe, and all the globes lit up to show a long room lined with bookshelves crammed with books.

"The books are all arranged by year," she said, nodding at the shelves. "These on this wall concern Remalna. All those there are from other parts of the world. Some real treasures are numbered among that collection. And under the windows are plays and songs."

The Princess showed me plays that had been written down. She also showed me a book: The Queen from the Plains. I had read it once back home, and I recognised it. She took another four off the shelves. All seemed to be the same book. A quick glance showed me that they were all vastly different.

"Going back to the memoirs, Your Highness, how does one know one is getting the words of the person whose name is in front?" I asked. She flipped to the back and showed me a seal with a name and date. Below there was written: The Fellowship of the Tower.

The Princess explained that the purpose of the guild was to stay true to the truth. It guarantees that every word was exactly copied from the original memoir. The purpose of the Guild was to spread knowledge, not comment or alter or to improve. She replaced the books on the shelf, and suggested we rejoin the others.

When we returned, folding doors had been thrown back, turning two rooms into one. In a cozy gallery, musicians played music for the crowd in the middle of the room who were toeing their way through one of the complicated court dances. I stood near the tiers along the wall, tapping my foot. This music was as different as can be to that of the Hill Folk's, but it was impossible to keep still.

The Duke of Savona came to me and bowed. He smiled and held out his arm to me. I let myself be led out into the middle of the crowd. Savona was an excellent dancer, and made me feel more at ease. It was my very first dance at Court. He did not speak until the end of the dance.

He clasped my hand in his, leaned close so that I could smell his clean scent, and murmured, "Your favourite colour, Melirara. What is it?"

No, "Countess." No, title. I felt a little dizzy and nervous, and almost said blue, but had enough presence of mind to stop myself. Blue was the primary Renselasus colour. "Lavender," I squeaked. He smiled.

"Will you wear it tomorrow?" he asked.

"Certainly. Your Grace."

"Call me Russav." He bowed again, and turned away. I couldn't help but glance over at Shevraeth, who was similarly leaving his partner. He glanced around the room, and for the briefest instant our eyes met. Then he turned away again... but I was sure I saw a smile in his eyes.

"Here's Geral Keradec," said Bran, stepping up with a tall, red- haired man. "Wants to dance with you, sister."

My mind full of Shevraeth and Savona, I desperately grasped at the polite way to respond to such a request. Geral also insisted on abandoning titles right away, and I found he was funny, and shy. He liked music and poetry, and was a very good dancer. When the dance was finished, he handed me off to another partner.

So the evening went. I danced with anyone who asked, and had hardly any time to think. I looked around after every dance for Shevraeth, but always he was with some other woman, dancing the last steps, or else leaving her with a polite word or two.

I thought I'd been discreet about my stolen glances, but someone had noticed. After a few hours Bran came to claim me for a dance. Grinning in relief, I settled into the complex steps of the dance.

"Danric's looking nice tonight, don't you think?" Bran asked. I gave him an incredulous look.

"What?" I demanded.

"He seems to be having a lot of fun," Bran continued. "I don't usually see him dance so much. Maybe he finally decided to relax a little, and let people talk to him." He grinned malevolently at me. "You noticed, didn't you?"

"I--no, I didn't notice him at all," I said, defiantly sticking out my chin. Bran just grinned.

"Come sister, I've been watching you. You've looked for him at the end of each dance," Bran admonished. "You like him more than you care to admit."

"I don't like him Bran," I protested. "How do you know I was looking for him? Maybe I was just looking around the room to see who's here?"

Bran just kept grinning his annoyingly knowing grin. "You've been staring."

My jaw dropped. "I have not!"

"You have," Bran said. "Don't think I wouldn't pay attention to your mood at your very first Court dance. Don't worry, unless someone else has been watching closely, I don't think anyone's noticed."

"There's nothing to be noticed!" My protests fell on deaf ears. Bran laughed quietly.

"You do like him," he insisted. "What happened in his parlour last night?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Bran!" I exclaimed. He laughed. "Nothing happened Bran. Nothing."

"Would Danric tell me the same thing?" he mused. "Would he tell me nothing happened?"

"Shut it Bran," I said, glaring at him. To my relief, the music began to slow. The dance ended. Grinning, Bran left.

I looked across the room. Shevraeth was talking quietly with some gentlemen, all of them unknown to me. Remembering Bran's accusations of me staring, I looked away, to the other side of the room.

Savona was leaning against the walls, his powerful arms crossed. He was watching me. Our eyes met, and I blushed, hoping he hadn't seen me staring at his cousin. He grinned. I turned away, to begin another dance.

Dancing was an agreeable distraction, but even that couldn't keep my mind completely occupied. I glanced at Savona again. He was still leaning against the wall, watching me. Our eyes met, and he grinned again. I had to know what Shevraeth thought of this. I glanced across the room. He was dancing at the other end of the room, conversing quietly with his partner.

I sighed. Maybe with relief, maybe for some other reason. I honestly couldn't say.

(-)

Later, in the early hours of the morning, Nee and I were curled up on big comfortable chairs in my sitting room.

"Savona didn't dance with anyone else," she told me. I furrowed my brow.

"We only danced once," I said. "And he didn't say a word, until the end. What about the question about my favourite colour? Ought I wear it tonight?"

She pursed her lips. "I'll wager my best necklace all the decorations in that ballroom will be lavender, even if he has to empty the entire city today to find them. Did he say anything else?"

"He asked me to call him Russav," I told her. She looked surprised.

"I don't think anyone calls him that--except for Vidanric, and sometimes Tamara. We all grew up calling him Savona."

"Well, I can't think of him as anything but Savona," I said ruefully. "What does it all mean?"

"I means you are going to be very popular," Nee predicted.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"You mean, what does it signify in personal terms?" she asked. "That question, my dear, you are the one to answer, not I."

I groaned. Tiredness itched at my eyelids, and thankfully Nee left a few moments later. As I crawled into bed, I felt a pleasant sense of anticipation. Not just for my very first ball tomorrow, but the day after that, my Name Day. Last year was my Flower Day, and because of the war I had no music, no celebrating. Bran had promised me a wonderful celebration in the capitol. And well, here we were. I couldn't care much less about a party with all those strangers from Court, but I looked forward to celebrating with Bran.

(-)

As they left together, Russav and Vidanric enjoyed a few moments of quiet which they hadn't had since the diner began. Vidanric massaged his left temple, where the beginnings of a headache resided. They made their way to vidanric's rooms where, much like Nee and Mel, they were going to discuss the evening.

"She's a magnificent dancer, you know," Russav told Vidanric. There was no need to say who "she" was.

"I know," Vidanric said. "I know. I was watching."

"And she was watching you," Russav said, rising his eyebrows. Obviously his cousin didn't know this, otherwise he would be feeling happy and optimistic, instead of down and depressed. Indeed, Vidanric perked up at hearing this.

"I saw her watching me only once," he said. "Just after your dance."

Russav grinned. "Obviously she is comparing me to yourself, and, as she searched for you at the end of every dance, she found you infinitely more intriguing."

"At the end of every dance?" Vidanric asked. Russav nodded.

"Only twice did she look around and see me," he elaborated. "And after the second time she looked over to you." Vidanric smiled ruefully.

"And I was too terrified to go near her," he said.

"Vidanric, the one who slew Galdran, he who took his armies straight into Tlanthian territories, is afraid of a girl!" Russav teased.

"Downright petrified," Vidanric agreed.

((-))

Well, there we have it. Another chapter for your enjoyment. It's a little longer than most, (I think) but I assume you all like that, right? Um... yeah. I know Smith says that at Court you don't dance with your brother, but I don't care. I had to fit that in, and I didn't feel like having her go get punch. Besides Mel and Bran aren't exactly the perfect examples of Courtiers, are they?

Er... yeah. Guess what? I went to the library today, and imagine my surprise and extreme delight when I find the first three of Wren's books. And I wasn't even looking for them! Yay! Much happiness.

So again, I apologise for the delay, and I would love for you all to review and tell me that you hate me for taking so long but that you love this chapter. So.... Please do that!

review responses!:

Wake-Robin- Update, as requested! Also, some extra Vidanric and Savona I hadn't originally planned.

Squirrel Maiden of Green- yay, I'm glad you think it's loverly! I'm glad you like Danric and Russav, so I hope you like this last bit. Sorry I took so long... argh, stupid computers.

FelSong- argh, I'm happy you liked the convo at the end. I'm really not great at adapting the quotes from the book to my fic. need to work on that. I was going to keep it nearer the original than most, but I'm gonna have a lot of things that weren't in the book. I hope you won't be too disappointed! I did read It Is You.... Did I leave a review? I don't remember. But I did like it. a LOT.

Narm's Briton 44- You really can't know how much that means, someone telling me I have talent. I love writing with a passion, and being so complemented (however undeserved) really means a lot. Also, I LOVE TAMORA PIERCE! She's great! I need to get the books for myself. I borrowed them originally from my friend Megan, and I've been borrowing them from the library whenever I feel the need to re-read them. I've read POTS, The Immortals, and all of SOTL except for Lionness Rampant, because Megan lost it, and I haven't yet gotten it at the library. Isn't Kel a grand character? And Alanna? And Numair? (I am particularly fond of Numair.) Yay Tamora Pierce!

StarGirl98-You're welcome! Thanks for the understanding about the quoting... when people quote word-for-word for about two pages, or when they don't even mention it but allude to it later.... argh, that really gets on my nerves.

Elemmire09- Yay! I'm so glad everyone liked the conversation. Thank you! Enjoy!

Phillipa- yeah, When I'm distracted, giddy, or angry, it usually shows in my writing. I can't help it. It really was no problem to fit in some feeding reviwers in my hectic shedule. course, I paid for it later when I forgot to pack things... but it didn't matter, lol. I'll definitely consider having Russav provoke him. ponders... excellent idea! I think it would be excellent to have Danric throw a chair through a window. I know the flopping down ungracefully thing was wierd. I thought it might show how different he is when it's just him and his cousin. though maybe "flopping down gracefully" would be a better description of it.

Black Rose25- GO WOLF! yes, the harp came directly from Fish Kiss! (Thank you Phaerie!) I'm glad you liked! sing campfire songs too There were ants, ants, weraing rubber pants in the store.... in the store... ...

Phaerie- grovels at your feet I stole your idea, please, master, be kind! cough I also love the ink congratulates muse on coming up with a good idea on his own, though yes, Danric was OOC. grumbles about stupid mask oooo... Tenth Kingdom is this wonderful tv miniseries-type thing. there was like six or seven episodes... and it's this wonderful story of a girl who goes dimension-hopping with her dad and theres a dog that's actually a prince, and Wolf... who's like a werewolf... (there's not enough room to explain it here, but if you e-mail me I can explain it better) I'm so glad you like!

Eve-I'm sorry I've slacked on my obligations! (see excuse above, lol) I'm glad you're demanding chapters though... means you like!

REVIEW!