Chapter 8: Dinner
Schmendrick walked down the corridor to the dining room with a beautiful woman on each arm. Molly was to his right in a frock of midnight blue matching the color of his own wizarding robes, while the Lady Amalthea pensively glided on his left in gown of the palest lavender given to her by one of Ariana's maids. As they reached the large wooden doors of the feasting hall, the chamberlain at the threshold announced Schmendrick and Molly to the court and after inquiring her name, he announced Amalthea.
Ariana glanced at Lir when her name was announced and she saw the shift in his body language happen instantly. He had been slumped in his kingly chair, a melancholy expression on his handsome face, but when her name was mentioned his eyes softened as they searched for her face but then quickly hardened as he straightened in his seat.
"Schmendrick, how do your rooms suit Molly and yourself?" Lir asked politely as the trio sat at the table.
"They're lovely Lir," Molly answered for him. "You've done a wonderful job rebuilding the castle."
An awkward silence descended over the room and it was Ariana that broke the quiet.
"Lady Amalthea, how is it that you are acquainted with Schmendrick and Molly?"
"Schmendrick was my savior once many years ago," was the reply. "He has been my rescuer uncountable times ever since." As she said these words, she looked at Lir and saw faint amusement peering through the anger in his troubled blue orbs.
Tension hovered over his Majesty and the royal guests like a fog that seemed so tangible that Molly thought that she could reach out and snatch it from the air. Her eyes darted from Lir to Amalthea and then to Ariana.
"Have you been placed in a suitable room yet Lady Amalthea?" Ariana asked, taking a sip of blood red wine from the delicate crystal goblet in front of her.
"Not yet milady. Your maid Serana assured me that she would have one ready for me by the time we had finished dining," Amalthea told the fiancé of the man she loved.
"Put her in my father's room, well the remake of my father's room," Lir said, his eyes locked on Amalthea's, "I'm sure that the Lady Amalthea would find it fitting."
"But Lir, you've always reserved that room for visiting royalty and dignitaries," Ariana objected, glaring at Amalthea. She was beautiful, there was no disputing that, but certainly she could not be that important. "Perhaps she would be more comfortable in one that's a little less elegant. We wouldn't want her overwhelmed."
"Lady Amalthea is of more importance than you could imagine Ariana," Lir chided her, knowing her thoughts, "Her origins go back farther than anyone could trace. If a man spent his entire life trying to unravel the enigma of Amalthea's heritage, he still wouldn't even touch the edges of it. She'll be very comfortable in the suites."
Ariana's head lowered in defeat. Lir had known what she was trying to do and he had evaded her. The rest of the dinner was filled with long, silent pauses broken only by Ariana's feeble attempts at conversation. What she couldn't see was the other conversation passing through the eyes of her husband-to-be and his cherished friends. Entire thoughts passed between Schmendrick and Lir with occasional admonishing glares from Molly. Lir never dared to look at Amalthea during these times for he knew that if he allowed himself the indulgence of staring into her penetrating eyes he would be trapped forever with no hope of escaping her unwitting spell.
A/N: Please, please, please!!!! Someone review this story and let me know what you think! I live for reviews and I haven't gotten one in so long. - IrethAnwarunya