Chapter Three: Dinner

Lana followed the hostess into a dining area of sorts, with a low table and six cushions laid out on the floor. Unsure of the protocol when it came to seating, she waited for everyone else to choose their place. Lady Amara took the spot closest to the kitchen, with Princess Rayfa sitting next to her. Her son placed himself off to the other side, Ema on his left. Between a moody teen and her sister, Lana chose to sit beside Ema.

Glasses of water and small plates were orbiting the main dish, a simple plate of meat with vegetables strewn about. Lana was relieved to know she wouldn't have to use chopsticks tonight, if nothing else.

"So, what was in the falling pan we heard earlier?"

"Oh." Lady Amara giggled, covering her mouth. "Well, as you can see, dinner survived, but... Let us simply say my crash course in dessert making crashed. The ruined pashra'sueet had to be disposed of."

"Darn," the teenager pouted.

"That's too bad. I was hoping Lana could try some while she's here." Mulling it over, Ema grinned. "I guess we'll just have to go buy some from the bazaar!"

Oh Ema. You and your penchant for sweets. Lana honestly couldn't bring herself to care either way.

A laugh. "I think we'll have to thank the Holy Mother that nothing else was destroyed in my incompetence. I'm no Mrs. Inmee, it seems."

"Mother, don't be so hard on yourself. I've enjoyed many of the food items you made for me."

"You're too kind, Rayfa. But simple snacks are no match for true cuisine."

"Regardless, let us be thankful there's plenty of edible food before us." Nahyuta ended the conversation with another small smile, to which his mother laughed. Lana watched him, trying to discern if he was teasing or just rude.

And with that, Lady Amara led her children in a short prayer, which the Skyes politely abstained from. As they went for their food, Lana was surprised food wasn't passed around but snatched up with a fork from all directions. It was chaotic, to be sure.

She watched Ema take a bite, discreetly asking what it was. It made her cringe when Ema answered with her mouth full, mumbling something about yak.

After a minute, Lana took a bite. The texture was different than she was used to, but nothing bad. The spices, at least, had been kept moderate.

"How is it, Ms. Skye?"

She flinched. Lady Amara had been watching her the whole time. "Wonderful."

"Please dear, flattery is for formal occassions and power grabs. I've come to prefer honesty over the years."

That obvious, huh? "...It's better than plane food, that much is certain."

Ema snorted, and the man next to her smiled. They knew what she was talking about.

"Ah yes. The flight from here to America is quite long, I recall. Did you fly here directly, or connect in Tokyo?"

"Direct. I don't like chasing flights, especially if one gets delayed." Lana had never been one for traveling, having done next to none of it in her life. The trip here was her third time on a plane.

"There's also less chance one of the airlines will lose your luggage." Nahyuta added. "I can't but wonder the fate of that never recovered."

"Why, how many times did it happen to you?"

"...Perhaps ten. Considering how much I used to travel, that's only a handful of occasions."

"I see." Lana didn't have a response to that. She shoved more food into her mouth, merely listening as Princess Rayfa went into a long monologue about spirit training. She remembered the gist of it from Mia Fey, but the details were alien to her. But Lady Amara seemed to be a patient teacher, if nothing else.

"At this rate, your coronation could take place next Founder's Day." Lady Amara sighed at the thought, gazing off into the distance. "I remember my own, all those years ago. Dhurke and I had just married, and the weather was meant to be. The priests claimed it was a symbol of good fortune, for my reign to start that way. But we all mistake the signs at some point in our lives. It was good fortune for one person, at least." The last part was spoken with a sigh.

Lana tried to remember what she could about the political situation here. On the plane over, she'd had nothing to do but read.

Twenty five years ago, Queen Amara had taken the throne with her new husband, a lawyer from humble beginnings. She became pregnant with her first child only a few months in, relying on her sister for more and more to care for the state. Dhurke Sahdmadhi hadn't been one for state affairs, preferring to continue taking cases of the poor in need of legal help and visiting bars every evening, something he was later insulted for.

After the baby boy (Nahyuta) was born, Queen Amara never made much of an attempt to reclaim her duties, content with the job her sister was doing and the duties of being a new mother. Her title became more and more ceremonial as Ga'ran worked without recognition. Angry with her position, Ga'ran became unwieldy at that time and tried to take more power, lashing out semi-publicly when Dhurke and later Amara sought to reign her in. To prevent further incident, Queen Amara promoted her from a prosecutor to Minister of Justice. Ga'ran chose not to accept the consolation and attempted to continue her duties as before, but Amara always refused. Eventually, she came to believe Dhurke was the reason she couldn't persuade her sister to give in.

So twenty three years ago, she hatched a plan with Inga, a noble's youngest son and detective she'd often partnered with, to fake an assassination plot against Amara and frame Dhurke for it. With the head detective and lead prosecutor against him, Dhurke never stood a chance. All in all, any happiness Amara might have had as queen was born of ignorance and initial neglect. And while Lana felt bad for her, she hadn't exactly been painted as blameless in the articles.

Of course, she wasn't about to say those things here. These people were near gods in Khura'in. It seemed unthinkable she'd get away with criticizing them here.

It would be interesting, to see how Nahyuta handled such a position of power. Hopefully better than Lana had hers.

"Lana? Can you hear me?"

"Hm?" She looked over at Ema, who was staring. "Did you say something?"

"I was merely asking about Ema's childhood," Nahyuta spoke with a mischievous smile. "I'm afraid she already knows all of my embarrassing moments, and it's rather unfair of her not to share any about herself."

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Ema's face was serious, causing Princess Rayfa to laugh.

Lana pretended to consider it. "Hm... I don't know. It seems like he's at a disadvantage here."

"Lana! You're my sister. You should be on my side!"

"As if that's ever stopped my relatives," Nahyuta countered. "Well, Ms. Skye? Do you have anything I can use when she attempts to make me blush?"

Somehow, I just can't see you blushing. Still Lana couldn't deny she was tempted. What story about her little sister should she tell?

Oh! She knew the perfect one. "When Ema was in fourth grade, she wanted to show the teacher how much she knew about science. So she tried to power a lightbulb using salt water, except... She didn't use salt water. She used-"

"Lana!" Ema cut her off. "I mixed up some bottles and got acid in my teacher's eyes. It was an accident."

"Yes, that vinegar you used was left over from when you mixed vinegar and baking soda on the counter. I got to clean it up when she was done."

Amara giggled. "That sounds exactly like Rayfa when she was younger. She was such an adventurous girl!" She paused for a second as Rayfa protested, eventually consoling her after more teasing remarks. "So, the two of you are how many years apart?"

"Thirteen," Ema answered, glad for a change in subject.

"Well, no wonder then. The way you talk about each other, I nearly thought Ms. Skye was your mother. Do you parents ever tease you about it?"

Nahyuta turned away. Ema bit her lip, leaving Lana to explain. "They... died. Many years ago. I became Ema's guardian after that, and... I guess I sort of did become her mother. But I'm still just her sister. Or something in between, at least."

Nahyuta had reacted to the comment, same as Ema. She must have told him all about it at some point.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss. You two must be very strong, to deal with such a loss at so young an age."

"I was in college," Lana replied. She remembered moving back into her parent's tiny house to live with her sister, losing so many friends when they couldn't understand what she was going through. In those first few months, Mia Fey seemed like the only one who understood.

"I apologize for bringing it up." Amara seemed slightly flustered, though she kept her composure. "I'm not a good person to have casual dinner with, am I?"

Lana smiled. "When I heard I was having dinner with the royal family of a country, I didn't think there would be such thing as casual."

"And I told her not to be concerned. Everyone's a person first, right?"

"Agreed." Nahyuta closed his eyes, expression serene. "We are all stripped down to our very souls before the Holy Mother. Titles are not so important that they make one's life more important than another's."

Lana thought this was an odd line of thought for a man like Nahyuta, but she couldn't rightly call him out on it. Not without realizing her own hypocrisy. If what Ema said about him was true, they had more in common than she'd thought. Maybe that's why she was so quick to forgive him a few months ago.

She hoped she hadn't set the wrong example for Ema. Grateful as she was that Ema was still in her life after the crimes she'd committed... Lana had also gone to prison for those crimes. She acknowledged that what she done was wrong, and spent years paying for it. Lana hoped Ema understood that the punishment her sister had received was fair.

What she wanted to know was how this man was paying for his own sins. But she wasn't about to raise a fuss in front of his mother and sister and Ema, who would undoubtedly defend him. Lana would have to be strategic about this. There was a reason she hadn't mentioned her mission to anyone.

"Thank you for the food, Lady Amara. It was kind of you to invite me, and I enjoyed the meeting. But..."

"Oh forgive me! You must be quite tired from the flight." Amara turned to the side, eyes lost in memory. "I remember back when I was still Nayna, and Nahyuta would return from trips to overseas. He was always so tired and cranky."

"Mother, please." His mother only smiled wider at the edge to his voice. "Please Ms. Skye, don't feel forced to stay here any longer than you wish. It was our pleasure to welcome you to this humble kingdom."

"You're not even going to stay for dessert?" Rayfa asked.

"There's no dessert, remember?" Ema pointed out, pulling her labcoat out from behind her. She followed her sister to the door, eyes temporarily landing on Lana's half eaten plate. There were a few more minutes of goodbyes to get through before the two could return to Ema's apartment.

"Well, did you have fun?" Ema asked on their walk back.

"It was different." Lana didn't have much of a reply for her.

"Do you wanna stop by a shop to try some pashra'sueet?"

"Not tonight." Lana had things to think about.

How was she going to go about this?


A/N's: Sorry to leave everyone waiting. I meant to get this out earlier, before I started Camp NaNoWriMo.

Yes, I'm participating. Gonna write my first full original novel, everyone! Or at least, the first 20K of it this month. The camps are nicer than the actual thing, because you get to set your own word count instead of being required to shoot for the 50K. Still, I probably won't be updating this fic at all this month. Hope you all understand.

But I wanted to make sure you had something to tide yourselves over with in the meantime. How are you enjoying the story so far? Let me know in the reviews, and see you in May!