Brian led Emily down the stairs to huge dining room. Well, she thought it was a dining room. The table reached so far down the middle of the room that Emily wondered if people could hear each other talk when they were on opposite ends. On one end was a large elegant chair, complete with a red satin cushion for the back and bottom and smaller cushions on the armrest. Each armrest had little gold tassels hanging off. Suspended over the table were two large chandeliers with about twenty candles each.
"Hold on one second." Brian said pulling out a chair a gesturing too it. She sat down and he left the room through another door. When he came back he was carrying a giant silver platter, bigger than any plate she had ever seen before. He placed it in front of her and sat down across the table.
"I wasn't sure what you liked," He smiled at her. The platter was filled with the most amazing food, cheese, apples, ham, bread and crackers. Lettuce, tomatoes, and hummus. Her mouth watered just looking at it.
"Go ahead." Brian said, watching her amusedly. She did, she started with the apples and ended with the cheese, she rarely ever got cheese at home. It was too much of a delicacy and when they did get cheese Larine ate it all herself. In her haste she didn't notice the ripe tomatoes roll off the platter. They were just about to hit the ground when Brian caught them. "That was close."
"Yeah." She smiled, embarrassed. She took them, used the knife to slice them and finished them off too.
"Would you like anything else?" He offered, still slightly amused.
"No thanks." Emily didn't think she could eat anything else if she tried. Just then Ella came bursting into the room in a huff. Behind her was another woman wearing a gold dress and crown who Emily assumed was the queen.
"There he is," Ella spat shooting an accusing glance at Emily. "With her again."
"Yes there you are," The queen came over to Brian and patted him on the back, "We have been looking all over for you." He stood up. She then looked at Emily, "And who is this?" She asked.
"Emily," Emily mumbled holding her hand out to shake. The queen completely disregarded it before turning to Brian.
"And what is she doing here?" She asked him as if Emily were not even there.
"She was lost and hungry so I offered her food and a place to stay." Brian said matter-of-factly, "Father always says we should help anyone in need."
"Oh yes, well your father says a lot of things. How long will she be staying with us? Will she be joining us for dinner tomorrow? " Brian looked at Emily as if to ask: Would you like to come to dinner? Emily, of course had no idea what they meant by dinner and just gave him a blank face.
"Yes," He said, turning around and smiling.
"Well then she can't wear that." The queen said repulsively.
Ella who had been watching the whole exchange with disgust finally spoke, "Excuse me, but tomorrow night is a very important night and even though Brian wants to run around playing 'peasant protector' I was wondering if we could take care of more important matters." She gestured to her self as if to suggest that she was the important matter before spinning around and blustering out into the hallway. The Queen hurried after her. Brian shot a helpless look at Emily before trailing behind.
Emily could not believe she was going to royal dinner party. She had spent only one full day in the castle and had barely been able to take it all in and now here she was going to a party. That morning had been very nice. Emily had breakfast with Brian and then spent the rest of the morning getting a tour. That afternoon, on the other hand, had been a mess. Millie had already shoved a dress on her, although Emily had insisted the one she was wearing was fine, and women had dressed her faster then she could blink. Emily had just gotten a moment to rest when they door opened a little.
"I see you're dressed." Brian poked his head in before bringing the rest of his body with him and standing in front of Emily.
She smiled, "they got me." She held up the ends of her dress before dropping them in a defeated way. Brian looked like he had been fixed up too. His wavy brown hair was pushed back neatly and he was wearing a very prince like suit. Emily couldn't believe how good he looked, not that he didn't look good before, but it almost took her breath away.
He laughed too, "I hope it wasn't too much."
"No it was fine." They were both silent for a moment, she met his eyes before he looked away.
"I suppose we should be going now." He mumbled, still looking at the floor.
