A/N: Going to be so incredibly busy the next couple of weeks...I'll post as I can. There is going to be a lot of traveling with limited wifi, but some of you may remember that when I travel I end up writing a lot of material :)
Alex: Thanks :) Orchestra festivals can be a lot of fun. Hope you saw some good stuff :)
Aubrey: Cable is on its way out, but first they need to lay the lines for internet on a mass scale before they do away with it completely. For example, I live in the middle of nowhere and rely on expensive satellite internet that comes with a 10 gig allowance. When I lived in the city, I paid $60 less per month for unlimited high speed. I don't have Netflix, though it is tempting with Fuller House up...someone watch that and tell me if it's any good.
TheRanger'sDaughter: Right now the families are being established, so you'll get a lot of sweet kid moments until action picks up :)
Raider: Glad you got it :) Enjoy your last days abroad! Yes, some just have that parental instinct.
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.
Reese successfully avoided Hazen for three hours and sixteen minutes upon arriving in Roscrea. Now, he was trapped. Reese looked to Robin across the room, silently pleading for her help in desperation for relief but she continuously, purposefully ignored him. Reese clung to the fact that, once the welcoming was over, he could duck all royal duties until the official welcoming of all guests in two days. Hazen would dutifully appear each and every time it was expected of him. Reese simply had to walk to the opposite side of the castle and be clear of the perfect prince.
"Have you started hearing cases yet?" Hazen asked with the excitement of a boy during the Harvest Festival. No, they were in Hibernia. Hibernians celebrated Samhain.
Reese tilted his head back so his sip of mead would become a gulp. He didn't make a habit of drinking, but he'd hoped the mug would help deter the upstanding Hibernian heir. Hazen looked forward to ascending the way apprentices looked forward to graduation day. Reese wanted to put off his ascending as long as possible. He gave one more desperate glance to Robin, wanting her to come save him. Again she refused. She leaned down to whisper something in her little sister's ear that made Anne grin. Reese glanced again to the six little girls playing together beyond the Araluen O'Carrick sisters. Iris, Mara, Halle, Maggie, Jasmine, and Lily should be including her. The girls didn't maliciously exclude Anne from their games, but they didn't exactly go out of their way to include her either. Mara would be the most likely to notice Anne's separation and reach out to include her. Because the girls were chasing one another, it was quite likely Mara had already reached out and Anne turned her down. Anne latched onto Robin any time she was around. She adored her older sister in a way that made Reese wish he had a younger sibling.
Horace III had awkwardly joined Carter (Tucker and Caitlyn's oldest), Max (Warden and Carissa's oldest), and the brother of Elizabet's fiancé, Noah. Horace III had no Araluen peers when the younger boys split off. Carter and Max were both quick to include him, but by this time next year Max would have an apprenticeship and was already separating himself from the younger crowd. Carter and Horace III would be perfectly fine going off on their own boyhood adventures, but now Noah was in the mix. Luckily Carter's family was based at the Academy while Noah's would forever be based at the castle. It evened out the social pecking order when Horace III jumped into the mix.
Reese once had Russ and Holt to fall back on, but now those two were settled into their own careers Reese was stuck with Hazen.
"Did you hear me?" Hazen asked. Reese swallowed his drink. Hazen wasn't near as dense as he sometimes appeared to be. Mason and Scout had raised him too well for that. They'd raised him to be a good leader, and good leaders knew how to steer uninterested conversation partners. Reese's parents had given him the same lessons, only he was quicker to end painful conversations than try to steer them. Before Reese could formulate an answer that would throw Hazen's guard off, Jin appeared at his side.
"Prince Hazen," she greeted him with a Nihon-Ja style bow. Reese had to take another drink to hide his smirk. Jin knew perfectly well how to perform the curtsies used in both Hibernian and Araluen courts. She also knew curtsying to either of them was ridiculous. To Reese, she was a close personal friend. To Hazen, she was family.
And then Hazen took his crown a notch further. He began speaking to Jin in rapid Nihon-Ja. Reese learned Nihon-Ja through tutors, a course at the Academy, and seeking out partners to practice with any time he could. Hazen learned it as a second language from birth. Reese could follow the conversation but had little hope of adding to it. Though the pretentiousness of the whole ordeal was clear, Reese recognized a favor when he saw one. He nodded a private thanks to Jin and escaped under the pretense of needing a refill.
"You'll regret it if you have much more. Our stuff is stronger than what you have in Araluen," a new voice said behind him. Reese finished pouring his drink and turned to face Gabe. Gabe wasn't much older than him, just about six years his senior. Reese had looked up to him as a child. Gabe had been to Reese what Hazen was to Horace III, a distant figure to look up to on the other side of the sea. Only, Reese and Hazen would one day ascend to be kings. Horace III had six people ahead of him, Gabe three. Once Elizabet and her fiancé welcomed children of their own Gabe would be pushed even further down the line.
"I need it if I'm to speak to Hazen again tonight," Reese whispered. Gabe smirked and poured his own drink. The two leaned against a railing to sip their meads while taking in the rest of the party.
"Hazen's not that bad once he steps away from his crown," Gabe said after several moments of silence. "It's just a heavier crown than the rest of us have. He's got more pressure to wear it well." Gabe jabbed Reese with his elbow. "You've got a similar weight."
"Don't remind me," Reese groaned. "I never asked to be a crown heir. I was adopted into it."
"It can't be all that bad."
"Do you want it?"
Gabe shook his head. "Not on your life."
Reese chuckled as he took another drink. "How is it the only natural child of a king and queen dodged crown heir status?"
"I have no idea, but I'm glad I did."
Reese and Gabe chuckled together. Reese began to change the conversation, but Gabe noticeably brightened up. He became entranced by something across the room, prompting Reese to follow his gaze. Lorelei, Gabe's soon to be wife, laughed about something Kineta had said. The two stood with Scout, Caitlyn, Anamaria, Kelly, and Cassandra.
"You really like her, don't you?" Reese asked. Gabe nodded without turned away from Lorelei.
"Everyone should have a chance to be this happy," Gabe replied. "Who knows? Maybe one day you'll find a girl who makes you want to be king."
Reese groaned and Gabe slapped his shoulder.
"Lorelei has a younger sister, you know."
"Are you trying to set me up?" Reese teased back. Gabe just laughed more. Reese sighed, looking back at Gabe's fiancée. She fit in so easily with the family, like she was meant to be part of their circle. Reese wished he fit in the way she did.
Elizabet sat on a chaise opposite of Kane and Gabby. She leaned forward so she could touch Gabby's arm while they spoke, letting her know where she was at. Even if the crowd was family, Elizabet never felt comfortable in large groups. She gladly retreated to a secluded spot by the fire with Kane and Gabby. Kane's back started hurting him about an hour ago, forcing him to sit. Gabby, as usual, stayed by his side.
"Stealing Elizabet away again?" Neil teased as he sat down next to her. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to kiss her cheek. Elizabet blushed, averting her eyes from Kane so he couldn't tease her…too much. After those sick men killed her family, burnt her house, and then Uncle Calvin abandoned her at an orphanage it took her awhile to trust men again. She warmed up to Sean after her adoption and trusted only him for months on end. She ultimately warmed up to Warden, who was a natural with frightened children, and Kane, who she had no choice but to trust years ago in Nihon-Ja. She now realized just how much her father, Warden, and Kane did for her though none of them really meant to. They'd just been focused on calming a frightened little girl back then. They hadn't meant to show her it was okay to trust men again, but they did and because of that she was able to open herself to Neil. She could never repay them for such a gift, so instead she playfully endured their teasing.
"Neil?" Gabby asked, turning her head towards his voice.
"How are you able to do that?" Neil asked. Elizabet laughed. One of her favorite things about Neil was his acceptance of those different than him. He accepted her title without a second thought, and then he accepted Gabby's blindness. Elizabet rested her head on his shoulder, smiling to Kane while Gabby gave her spiel about being able to recognize voices because she couldn't see faces. He smiled back and winked at her. Elizabet laughed. Kane and Gabby's blessing meant almost as much to her as her parents'.