A/N: This chapter is dedicated to our very confused friend Trevor (Numie). We hope you understand what we're talking about. You probably won't, but that's okay. Keep on reviewing! We love to hear all your feedback (positive feedback, that is).
Disclaimer: By The Way... Timon, Teron, Ragnal, Hugo, Dermid, and Vergor Thunderstar belong to us.
Suddenly, Kaddar reached forward in an attempt to hug Daine. However, he pulled back before Daine could register what he was doing.
"Would you like to come in? I'd love to catch up on all the time since I've seen you last." Daine hesitated.
"I don't think so. You must be tired and I need time to get ready for the banquet."
"Right, of course... the banquet. I suppose I'll see you then."
"Uh, yes. See you then." She said with fake cheeriness as she quickly walked down the hall in the direction of her rooms. At the same time, Kaddar went into his rooms and closed the door.
"Mithros, I'm such an idiot!" He looked around the large, expensively furnished room. His bags were already in the room waiting to be unpacked. With a sigh, he picked up one of the bags and opened it. "You'd think a prince would know how to properly court a lady. And with all the etiquette training I've had--" Suddenly an older man with a gloomy disposition walked into the room wearing the typical clothes of a servant.
"I can do that for you, your Imperialness," the man said in a melancholy tone.
"Oh, thank you." He stepped aside as the man began unpacking the Emperor's things.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Numair faced the mirror as he attempted to pull his hair back. He muttered curses under his breath as it kept trying to escape its bonds. After many minutes of battling with his black hair, he was successful. "Finally," he said, looking approvingly at himself in the mirror. He heard voices and footsteps as a group of people passed by his door, slightly ajar. He just caught a glimpse of a group of men he didn't know. Behind them, he saw Daine walking next to Kaddar deep in conversation. He scowled at the sight of them together. He suddenly felt much older than he actually was.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jon looked up from his empty plate to see to Kaddar walking towards him.
"Excuse me, Your Highness. You were finished with your meal, and I was wondering if...I kind of wanted to talk about our alliance."
Jon nodded. "Of course. Kings should be friends, shouldn't they? Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the empty chair next to him.
"Well, my advisers and I were thinking about-"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Keladry of Mindelan, Lady Knight of Tortall, turned her head as she heard a familiar voice.
"My own Lady Knight!" Neal exclaimed in his signature drawl. Kel stood up as Neal ran over to her. They shared an embrace. Kel pulled away.
"How's Yuki?"
"Just being Yuki." Neal shrugged. He smiled over Kel's shoulder and gave a small wave. Kel turned around and saw Owen approaching.
Owen, excited at seeing Kel, bowled her over and gave her a giant hug. Suddenly, he backed away. "Sorry, didn't mean to treat you like a girl, or anything." Kel gently cuffed him in the arm.
"How's the life of a knight treating you?" she asked him.
"Not as jolly as I thought it would be."
"What, not enough blood and gore to your liking?" Neal asked sarcastically.
"Can we join the party?" Faleron asked as he approached the three friends, with Merric at his side. Neal shook hands with both Faleron and Merric.
"Let's sit down, shall we?" Neal asked, pointing to a cluster of empty seats. They moved to sit down as Cleon appeared, holding a drink in his hand. Neal stood up and gave Cleon a pound on his back. Cleon returned the favor with his available hand.
As the rest of the group greeted Cleon, Kel fully immersed herself in the task of pulling out a loose string from her tunic. When she finally looked up, Cleon gave a small smile in her direction. She timidly returned the smile, using all of her Yamani training. The group of friends sat down, reunited once more, and began recounting their tales.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Daine looked at Numair from her seat beside him. He had been quiet all evening. She decided to venture a question. "Is something wrong?"
Numair head snapped up at the question. "Well, so much is going on right now. I just needed to think, what with the Jewel missing, and the Emperor being here," he trailed off, with a bitter edge to his voice that Daine couldn't help but notice..
"What do you have against Kaddar? You've been this way ever since we first him at the peace talks."
Numair raised one brow at the name Kaddar. "Nice to see you're still on close terms with him," he said tersely.
Daine could feel anger beginning to stir within her. "Actually, it is. You know, it's very nice!"
"Daine..." he began.
"You know what, Numair? I don't want to hear it!" She stood up and walked away, in the direction of Lindhall, leaving a very bemused Numair behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cleon looked over at the sound of a very familiar voice. His gaze landed on the sight of Kel and Dom talking. He decided to walk over to a closer seat to do a little eavesdropping. As he listened in on their conversation, he discovered that 'talking' didn't exactly describe what they were doing; it was more like flirting. He saddened at the thought of Kel being with Dom. He had always noticed how fond of her Dom seemed to be. He knew he was being selfish. Since he had been forced to be married to an heiress, despite Kel's feelings, she should be allowed to be happy. His marriage had turned out to be a very happy one, and he should wish the same upon Kel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Neal sat alone with a drink in front of him. He hadn't had anything to drink all night. Yuki hated alcohol. Suddenly, a man with dark skin and very dark blue eyes sat down next to him.
"Are you just going to stare at that glass all night?" He asked.
"Umm... I think so."
In a quieter voice, the man informed Neal, "Well, I suggest you start drinking, my good man."
"Dare I ask why?"
The man leaned even closer. "I have the sight, you know. I can see that you better drink up everything in that glass. You might even drink another one after that. I can't tell for sure, but I think you might have to have a third as well."
"Who am I to deny my fate?" Neal asked, a smile forming on his face.
"I think I see myself joining you in this task. It's fuzzy, but I have a good feeling about it," he said rather dramatically. Neal could tell he was going to like this man, who appeared to be about his own age.
"Cheers!" Neal said as he held up his glass.
"Cheers, indeed," the other man said and joined him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alanna sat lazily perched on a desk, while Thayet sat neatly, with her ankles crossed. Alanna had gladly escaped the banquet at Thayet's request. Raoul was so lucky he didn't have to attend. The two women sat alone in the room, impatiently waiting for their third member to arrive.
"Where the hell is Numair?" Alanna finally yelled.
"Call him with your Gift," Thayet suggested. She was much more for taking action as opposed to yelling about things. Alanna did just as she suggested. Purple magic shimmered around her as she called Numair to inform him that he better hurry up. They waited for a few more minutes, before he came in.
"So, how are you both?"
"Is that all you have to say?" Alanna asked, glaring at him.
"What? What did I do?"
"What did you do? I think you know-" Alanna glared at him once more.
"Well, now that you're here, perhaps we should begin with our project. It was coming along very nicely before the interruption of the missing Jewel-" Thayet began.
"Please don't talk about the Jewel right now," Alanna pleaded.
"I won't. As I was saying... we were very close to getting that amendment passed about rights for servants. We better get this finished quickly, because this harassment has to stop right now," Thayet said forcefully.
"That's why were doing all this," Alanna said. Thayet took out a document. Alanna looked at it and said something that went right over Numair's head.
"I'm so confused! What are you talking about?"
"Here read this," Alanna said as she stood up and walked over to Numair to give him the document. He began to read. The two women watched him as he read.
Twenty minutes later, he was still reading the three-page document.
"Ye Gods! Didn't anyone teach you how to read? Maybe that's why you spend so much time with your books!" Alanna was exasperated.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," Numair laughed out loud. For some reason, he found this situation, which had no humor at all, to be very funny.
"Shhhhh! Laughing out loud is forbidden!" Thayet informed Numair. As an afterthought she added, "You twit!"
"Hmph!" Numair grunted as he turned and walked out of the room.
A/N: We wanted to continue, but we had to stop at an awkward place. So sorry! The last part with Thayet, Alanna, and Numair was a little OOC. It was sort of just for our own entertainment. Hehe... we thought it was funny if you didn't. R/R! (Numie- you especially. If you don't review, we are going to hurt you!)