Chapter 14

He was tired, bored and generally fed-up with the party arrangements. Rubbing a hand through his brown-black hair, Liam of Conté wondered why the Gods allowed such people to live. Okay...he'd admit that was a bit cruel but when he asked for confirmation on Tuesday, he wanted it on Tuesday not Thursday. Slumped over his desk, he decided that the royal bakery needed a refresher course at the moment.

A knock resounded at the door and his assistant stepped through. The older man's lips were pursed with disapproval while his eyes seemed amused. The prince straightened and gave the man an inquisitive look; mismatched eyes annoyed.

"It appears we have another entry for the competition, Liam," the man said.

"And? I thought you were dealing with that, Edgard..." the prince replied. Now was not the time for special guests to arrive.

"It is the violinist from the farm..." Edgard's voice carrying more meaning than his words, "She is here with two escorts." Two? Surely not both of the girl's employers came with her.

"Show them in," Liam ordered, "Send for a maid as well." Why would she come with two?

"Of course," Edgard replied with a bow. Liam turned to look out the window down into the streets of Corus; once done with the violinist he would go for a ride.

"Your highness," Edgard voice broke into his thoughts, he swung his chair so that his profile was shown, his sapphire eye locked on his aide and his companions. "May I present the violinist, Katherine Trallem and her escorts Jeremy Cornfield and Anelee...Draper."

Draper? Liam swung his chair around so that he could fix his hazel eye onto the group as well. He stood and gestured to the seats in front of his desk.

"Please, sit," he requested as the trio finished their bows. They looked like they might refuse and he wanted to sit, time to bring out protocol. "Sit," he repeated with a smile, "you have no doubt travelled along way and it would be rude to keep you standing. Besides, it is protocol for royalty that if your guests stand, so do you and I really am tired."

Jeremy immediately dropped into one of the chairs followed closely by Anelee. Raven however was too busy examining the room and the prince to hear.

They were in a small office with light green walls and wood panelling. The wall, behind the desk and opposite to Raven, was all window above the panels that extended for a metre from the floor. There was crown moulding where the walls met the ceiling. The ceiling itself was alabaster and printed with an intricate pattern of Ha'Minch thistle [1].

There was also a severe lack of security in her opinion.

She looked at the man who had asked for her presence. The prince was handsome, with a slightly pronounced nose and hair that was a shade off of black. His left eye was the sapphire of the Conté line while his right eye showed the same hazel as expected from the jin Wilimas. He kept his chin shaved clean and while his clothing was simple, the quality of the umber linen more than made up for its plainness. He took after both of his parents in equal amounts and Raven was pleased to see that his eyes were free from the spark of a lecher that one could see in Barnesh's eyes.

She sat. So did Liam.

"Firstly, I'd like to welcome you to Corus and the Royal palace. I hope that your stay here will be pleasant." Try as he might Liam couldn't seem to focus on the violinist, so he looked past her. "Now, it isn't customary for the prince to greet all musicians and their companions," he indicated Jeremy and Anelee, "but as you have been invited, I wanted to greet you personally."

"Thank you, my prince," Jeremy replied, bowing his head. While on the outside he was calm, his mind was fidgeting madly trying to think of where Katherine's last name came from. Trallem...she had never used it before, but then again she hadn't really told him that much about herself. He pulled the invitation out and looked at it, "Here it says that Katherine needs to register."

"That it correct..." Liam moved a stack of papers to reveal a registrar, "This is only the backup but Edgard, my aide, can transfer your names onto the official guest list later." He confided, trying to make them comfortable, "So if I can have you sign your names and positions where indicated, that would be wonderful." The prince stated, all business.

"Positions?" Anelee echoed.

"Yes," the prince replied, "we like to keep track of who and what we have in the palace. So you write down your specialty. Katherine would be a violinist—if you don't my using you as an example—" Raven gave a light shrug as she wrote 'Katherine Trallem, violinist', "Jeremy, you would likely be an escort and your surname says a farmer. Do you understand?"

"Yes, thank you...my prince," she answered as she took the registrar from Raven to write: Anelee Draper, escort/ red robe mage. Jeremy then filled out his information as another knock resounded on the door.

"Come in," Liam called. The door opened to reveal Edgard and a woman in servant's garb. Liam recognized her. "Rose will show you to your quarters." It was a dismissal.

Raven stood and helped Jeremy up, they then bowed and moved after the maid; Anelee stood in front of her chair waiting to be acknowledged. The trio bound for the guest quarters halted and looked at her; she waved them on, so they went, if somewhat reluctantly.

Liam looked up, and up, and up into the face of the Tyran woman. "Yes?" he asked. She had written that she was a mage on the registrar.

"I heard that Arram Draper was at the palace," she said, "knowing his closeness to the royal family, I was hoping that you could tell me whether or not this is true."

Liam looked at the woman curiously. Arram Draper...that was uncle Numair's old name. The mage before him had the same colouring and greater height as Numair; she even had the same type of face with the slightly longer nose...Who was she?

"That is true, he is at the palace," he conceded while he studied her. "Though he now goes by Numair Samalìn." Nothing about her indicated malicious intent so that bit of information wouldn't be too damaging.

"He always wanted some mage-like name," Anelee remarked amused, "Thank you, my prince." She bowed deeply and then left, a smile on her face.

Liam never did go for the ride. He was stuck puzzling over the new guests. It frustrated him that the only thing he could remember about her was her name and that she was short.

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| [1] The Ha'Minch thistle is in fact a Scottish thistle.|

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