It's been three weeks since the disastrous hunting trip, and Mother's still mad at me. I asked her once, in a fit of rage, if she would prefer it if I did nothing. She told me to go to my room. That makes no sense! Why doesn't she think about this logically? At least some people are on my side. Apart from Bree and Tramy, who think the story is hilarious, Aunty Evangeline and Grandmother are on my side. At least THEY are using logic. I'm still restricted to the Summer Palace, but at least I'm allowed to 'move around the grounds' which translates to 'find something amazingly stupid and fun that still doesn't break the rules'. So here I am, perched on the roof of the dining hall, watching people scurry below like ants. It's funny, though slightly tiresome, but it helps pass the time until Jay arrives. I don't even notice him appear next to me until he taps my shoulder and I nearly fall through the skylight. I smile at him and he silently waves, slightly nervous. He's always nervous around me. I once asked him why, and he gulped and vanished. Weird. He's known me for all of his short life, and he looks up to me. I am twice his age, after all. Heck, I'm his cousin. He is only seven, though, and I do tend to go wild on my displays of power. I grab his hand and we're no longer standing on the roof, but in a tree in one of the gardens. He puts a finger to his mouth and motions down, and I take a look and see her.
She's in a flowing white dress, standing next to her mother, softly humming to herself. Even from this distance the music takes my breath away, and I nearly fall out of the tree. Corianne. We grew up together, but even so, being with her… I let out a low whistle and she slightly inclines her head in my direction, before tapping her mother on the shoulder and saying a few words. Sara Skonos nods and waves in our direction, and she walks over and hoists herself up into the tree. "Hello, boys," she says, her voice rich and vibrant. I could listen to it for hours. And would probably have to, if she ever forced me to do something. "Where are we going today?"
Jay grins and is about to speak, before I remember. "I can't leave the palace. Mother's orders." Corianne sighs and looks me in the eyes. "Sorry about this. It will be fine." She's absolutely right. Mother wouldn't know, right? My head clears and I shake it. "No, no. You can't do that to me, Cor. She can tell where I am. Always. I give off a large amount of electrical residue or something. You aren't singing me into trouble this time."
She sighs. "Fine. What do we do, then?"
Jay pipes up in his quiet voice. "Dad got me some moving pictures. From the old, old days. We could go watch some of those? Mom's trying to set up the machine right now."
Corianne and I nod in unison, and we're standing in a large side room next to an unperturbed Farley, who shoos us away from the contraption she's working on. "Go sit over there."
We shuffle over to a row of seats set up against the wall, and sit down. Corianne the history nerd says, "You know, they used to watch the moving pictures with popcorn." Jay sighs and disappears for a few seconds, returning with a bag of seeds. Not quite the popcorn that they used to have, but close. I hold my hand out over the bag and the seeds inside start loudly popping, causing Farley to yell at us to shut up. A few minutes later, and the bag of popcorn is perched on my lap, Corianne and Jay leaning in to grab handfuls.
A few other people trickle in – Uncle Shade, Aunt Evangeline, Bree, Gisa, some other nobles, and Farley manages to start a picture up. It's not particularly good, but none of us have ever seen anything like it. Sure, the picture is terrible, and the sound is off, but this… This stuff is old. At least a thousand years. And while none of us have any idea why there's a talking mouse fighting a bulldog, it's still entertaining.
It's been two hours, and the picture finally finishes. We think we know some semblance of the plot, but we still aren't sure why the duck wears a sailor uniform. It's animated, too. That's something, at least. We're about to start another one before practical Gisa checks the time, and we all scurry off to the dining hall for dinner.
I'm sitting near the head of the table, absently curling some fancy pasta around my fork, while Bree and Tramy next to me attempt to humor the rest of the guests. While there are many, they're doing their job. I think I even see Mother smile a few times. Corianne's across from me along with her father Julian – Sara's busy working, so she couldn't make it – and beside me at the head of the table sit my parents, with their chief advisor perched behind them. Shade doesn't eat with the rest of us, so he's content to stand behind my parents. He finds fun in exploring different cuisines around the world, but that doesn't stop him from slipping down next to Jay and Farley every few minutes. I'm not listening to the conversation until I hear the word 'bear' and my head jerks up as Tramy starts on the story of me heroically, singlehandedly fighting off a bear with nothing but a paling knife and my own wits. Corianne rolls her eyes at me as they attempt to out-exaggerate each other, and I grin back until Bree asks for my input.
"Well, if you must know, I didn't use a paling knife," I start, before seeing Bree's pleading look and relenting. "I used a stick I found on the ground by the river." I join in with my horrendous retelling of the story, embellished with several epic fight scenes involving jamming the bear's jaw open, and I notice Mother's tight-lipped grimace has faded into a soft smile. I guess that means she isn't really mad. Father sees, and throws an arm around her shoulder and she laughs openly as he whispers something into her ear. The story is over now, and the entertainment has shifted to other focuses: Namely, pin the metal dart on the Shade. He's grabbed some meat off Evangeline's plate, and she's trying to gut him for it. She starts getting more frenzied and angry, yelling curses, and Shade realizes he's in trouble – people rarely see Evangeline's violent side anymore – and hides behind the Queen. Evangeline sighs, the glimpse of anger quickly erased, and light-heartedly promises to get him back for it. He laughs, and the conversation turns to more mundane topics. The short reprieve of excitement has faded, and now it's just a normal night.