Chapter 17
"Elsa?" Nik cracked the door open. I set my book down beside the bed and slid to the floor.
"I'm fine Nikolai. Did you get everything sorted?" He nodded, striding across the room to wrap me in a hug. Again it felt like he was invading my space, which was ridiculous.
"For now. Dinner is soon; we should get ready. Formal attire." He rolled his eyes and turned to the wardrobe, most likely to find his old military uniform he hasn't worn since my birthday.
"What am I wearing tonight?" I picked Alyssa up and sat her on the bed, pulling her white dress off before finding her bag.
"If you're not in the mood for an ice gown I'm sure there's something in your bags that will suit." He called from the depths of the wardrobe.
"Lyssa doesn't like my gowns. Pick something before you come out." He mumbled an agreement and continued changing. Rummaging through Alyssa's clothes I found the dress Anna had made for her not long after she was born. I smiled at it; it was almost the same dress Anna wore for my coronation.
"Look bubba, you wanna wear this?" She kicked her legs and clapped. "Of course you do." I wrestled her into the outfit and found the little baby shoes Anna undoubtedly packed into the bag. "We'll you're done. Hopefully you can keep this clean, hey?" she tried rolling over and managed to land on her stomach.
"This one should be good." Nikolai brought out a blue and violet dress with white sleaves.
"The Isles' colours." I rose an eyebrow.
"My dad will be happy." I rolled my eyes and went into the wardrobe to change. It was lovely with a royal blue skirt and bodice, the sleaves were a loose gauzy white material bringing in the violet with the sash and some flowers, which also had white in them, at the top of the bodice. Once I managed to get myself into this dress, which was obviously not actually mine, I stepped back into the bedroom to see Nik playing with Alyssa. I had to close my eyes for a second. This shouldn't be us. This should be Jackson and I, or Jack if that's who he is now. Nikolai heard me behind him and turned around.
"Have I ever told you I don't suit these colours?" He laughed.
"You're fine, and even better my father will be pleased." I rolled my eyes. I grabbed Lyssa off the bed and sat her on my hip. Nikolai led us back down the stairs and out of the children's wing of the castle. We made for the other wing of the castle, assumedly the King and Queen's wing, and he knocked on the door. A butler opened the door and led us inside, though I suspect Nikolai didn't need the escort, through to a grand dining room with a long table. A chair for Lyssa was set up next to one head of the table. There were no place names but everyone seemed to have a place they had to sit. Selene, Celeste, Johanna and a man about my age who I assume is Hans sat in their seats; the girls far down one end of the table, leaving three seats for Rosaline, Ida and Delia, with Hans next to the younger two. Nikolai instructed he was sitting in a spot usually for one of his other brothers so I could be seated at one head with the two of them by my side. One by one, aside from the twins and the triplets who arrived together, the Princes and the girls filed into the room. From what I could tell they sat in order of the line for the throne. Desmond's seat sat empty at the other head but Albert sat to his right, an empty seat across on Desmond's left most likely for Ayana. Albert, Viktor, the triplets, the twins, Elias, William and Nikolai sat down the left of the table while Michael, Peter, Hans, Johanna, Rosaline, Ida, Delia, Selene and Celeste sat down the right of the table, a seat for their mother at the other end of the row. Alyssa sat beside me at the head.
"Rise." The whole room stood to welcome their parents into the dining room. When the two of them took their seats, Ayanna with assistance from her husband and help, everyone sat back down.
"Elsa, that is a lovely gown. I assume your husband chose it for you." I smiled across the length of the table.
"Actually I found this myself, I thought you would like to see me in the Isles' colours while I visit." There's no harm in a white lie now and then to gain the King's favour. He smiled a cruel smile that unsettled me.
"Much appreciated. Now if I'm not mistaken this is the first time you've seen all my children." I nodded in agreement. "I'm sure you know who everyone is and everyone knows who you are, so we'll skip the formalities and get straight to the dinner." I smiled in mock appreciation. Serving boys, and by boys I mean kids younger than 14, glided through the room placing china plates in front of each guest, and a small, less expensive bowl of baby mush for Alyssa. A gentle hush of chatter settled over the table as we ate and I noticed paper being passed around. William handed one to Nikolai and he opened it, laughed, wrote something down, nudged William a few times and had it handed back down the table.
"What was that?" I looked questioningly at Nik, a smile still on his face as he watched the paper being passed down to Robert. His head whipped around to respond.
"We obviously can't just call across the table when we want to talk, so we send notes. Andrew came up with it when he learnt to read and write. Mostly to rub it in our younger siblings' faces that he had finally learnt and they were still learning." The paper was coming back down the table now, and landed in Nikolai's hand. Will nudged him once in the shoulder and Nikolai looked at him strangely before returning to me. "Apparently this one is for you." I took the small square of paper and unfolded it.
While this may not be the most formal of methods, I would like to formally say it is lovely to meet you Queen Elsa. A1
"A1?" I asked Nikolai.
"Albert. There's more than one A, since he's the first born A, he's A1. Alex is A2, Andrew is A3. It's the same for the twins, Delia, Robert and Rosaline." I smiled down at the paper before looking down the table to see Albert, beside his father, raise his glass slightly to me before sipping from it. I scribbled a reply with the charcoal I found next to my plate.
Likewise Prince Albert. I look forward to any dealings between our two Kingdoms during your reign. E2
I smiled at my signature on the message. I handed it to Nikolai and he nudged William again, this time it was eight times. I watched William more closely as he passed it to Elias, nudging him seven times. They silently indicated how many passes were left for the note. I looked around the table and saw notes being passed along between siblings, few to the girls that weren't from the girls and they didn't send many to their brothers, but it seemed completely harmonious how they interacted without actually interacting. A hand held paper to me from my right and I looked up to the smiling face of Celeste. I took the note.
Beware of that seat; very few dignitaries who sit there hold their thrones for too long. J
I looked down the right side of the table to Johanna pretending she hadn't sent anything to me. I folded the paper and sat it under my plate, planning to throw it away later. I looked to Alyssa, reaching for the bowl on the table, and smiled. I grabbed the bowl and flinched away from it when I discovered it was cold as ice to the touch, yet the contents were still lukewarm. I took a breath and picked up the mush to feed my daughter, ignoring the mark her father left behind.