Okay, they finally met XD What did you think of the first part of the scene? The second half will hopefully be even better, at least the bits that I have in mind are pretty good :)

12.

A Dangerous Mind

Rolanda felt odd as she came to stop a few metres away from the throne, her eyes taking in a surprisingly familiar picture – the man sitting up there was the same one who had looked down from the balcony above the courtyard on the day Alannah and her at arrived at the castle. The same one who had caused this strange feeling inside of her, and now, as they were closer, she could at least describe it – it was as if she felt drawn towards him, though not in some romantic way. It was more magnetic, and felt rather natural, despite it being odd and seemingly having no reason at all.

And as if that was not enough already, she was also feeling extremely afraid what was coming, and also nervous – his whole dark appearance was rather intimidating. She just did try to not show how uncomfortable she felt, though this was hard as his constant stare of curiousity was just intensifying everything.

A man, deductible from his clothing he was inheriting a pretty high position on court, stepped closer and growled darkly:"Bow."

Rolanda gulped, and obeyed, lowering her head in something she hoped would look like a respectful gesture. She felt horribly exposed in her nightgown, even though its thin material was covering her whole body, and she wished that they would have bothered to hand her some clothes that were just a tiny bit closer to being appropriate for a visit in the throne hall. Because even though she she stood in front of a king who she thought was cruel and had no right to be in this position, she would still have preferred to look decent.

She had not had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of her own reflection since the night they had been taken from their cottage, but she was pretty sure that she must look rather miserable, as she had not been able to wash herself properly since their arrival. Down in the dungeons, one preferred to drink the little water they provided the prisoners with instead of trying to look as if they had just stepped out of the bathing tub.

The fact that the king was simply staring at her, not even having acknowledged her presence with a gesture, was causing her to shuffle from one bare foot to the other. She just wanted to start and look around the throne hall, interested in discovering even more of the riches that were decorating this room, but in that same moment the king ultimately reacted.

It looked like he was emerging from the depths of his thoughts, breaking through the surface like someone who had just jumped into a lake and was now coming up to take a breath.

"Thank you, you may go," he told the soldiers in a calm voice that sounded as if he was never giving anything of his thoughts or feelings away. He slowly stood up from his throne and casually said:"Miss Hooch. What a pleasure to meet you. May I ask about your forename?"

Rolanda moved her lips, but she found herself unable to make a sound, feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the whole situation. The one man that had stayed behind stepped forwards slightly and answered in her place:"It is Rolanda, your highness. Her younger sister's name is Alannah."

"Thank you, Ronan."

The king had therewhile reached the incredibly large dining table that was standing in front of the windows. Servants were lighting the torches that were sticking in iron handles on the walls, and also the candles on the table were lit as the sun was vanishing behind the horizon and the moon took over its place on the sky.

Huge plates with freshly grilled meat, cooked vegetables, fried and cooked eggs and fruits were covering the table, just as bowls with mash of different grains and soups and also huge jugs of wine and warm mead. Everything looked simply delicious and it was a meal that could have been worthy a high holiday or a guest who was at least a prince.

Severus sat down on a chair elegantly and gestured over the table and all its contents, whose heavenly smells were filling the air, invading Rolanda's nostrils.

"Sit down, Rolanda," he offered politely, nearly friendly, but she did not dare to move, fearing that it could be a trick of his to let her make a mistake that justified some sort of punishment. The man King Severus had called Ronan was pushing her forwards, gently but certain, and so she gulped and sat down on one of the comfortable chairs to the king's right side, barely daring to even touch the table.

"Would you like to have a drink? Or maybe something to eat? Choose anything from my dinner table, Rolanda. It is enough for both of us," Severus chattered, taking a red, juicy looking grape from the plate to his left and popped it into his mouth before taking a sip of the wine a servant had just poured into his richly decorated golden goblet.

When she had realised that she was truly being brought to the king, Rolanda had really expected everything, from a simple interrogation over torture to a death sentence, but she certainly had not thought of the possibility that she would be sitting at the king's dinner table with him. Let alone being offered to eat the same food as him, the food that was only supposed to be eaten by the king himself and some royal guests of him.

These circumstances made her feel more than suspicious and she hesitantly answered, her voice being a little bit quieter than she intended:"I... I don't want anything, but thank you... your highness."

"Why not? It is delicious, especially the deer," the king wondered, pointing at the plate with the huge piece of meat that looked extremely mouth-watering on its bed of wild herbs and carrots, but she still did not dare to believe that he was actually serious about eating with him.

"I... I am not really hungry...," she answered, trying not to stare too longingly at the plates full of delicacies. Though she had told King Severus that she was not hungry, she really was extremely hungry – her stomach was churning and the emptiness of it was painful. They had not had their ration of bread yet when the soldiers had come back to take her, and with the small amounts of food provided one got hungry again pretty fast.

She wished she could have sunk her teeth into the next piece of meat, filling her stomach until she could not move any more, but she still could not believe that she really was offered all of this after being on the edge to starving for the last days.

Something about this situation was just not feeling right – his friendliness was disturbing, especially when she thought of what she had seen and experienced in Waterhal and in the castle. This man was capable of giving the cruelest orders, he was responsible for the deaths of some of her oldest friends and neighbours, but still he was sitting here, chatting with her as if they had met for this friendly dinner to have some nice conversation.

"If you should change your mind, feel free to serve yourself, Rolanda," he said, ripping a big chunk of bread from a loaf and dipped it into a sauce made of parsley. After he finished chewing, he casually asked:"So, your parents are merchants?"

Rolanda nodded, her fingers trembling as she hesitantly reached for a grape, as if Ronan could step forwards and attack her if she tried to eat it.

"When I met your father for the first time, he was not selling rare every day goods... Can not understand why he changed his business, but as long as he is happy with it..."

Rolanda did not know what he was talking about - for as long as she could think, her father had sold the same type of goods, only changing it because of the seasons. And King Severus did not really look much older than her, maybe about five years... Things just seemed to become even more mysterious, but she did not have the courage to ask him any of the questions that were burning on her tongue since this afternoon.

A servant placed a goblet made of thin wood next to Rolanda and poured some water into it. Severus nodded at the man, who immediately left again and continued to speak:"So, I heard that they had gone on a trip and left you two alone at home. I admit, Rolanda, I am really interested in where they went and I asked myself if you could tell me something about it."

Rolanda had only been waiting for this moment – the one in which he truly admitted why he had ordered his men to bring her up here. Though she asked herself why he was asking her the same questions as his men had done just earlier this day. Were they expecting that she would give him different answers, only because of a more friendly tone and the offer of a nice dinner?

Rolanda took a deep breath, summoned all her courage and answered:"Your highness, I already told this to your men who interrogated me, and I am more than willing to say it again for you: I really don't know where they have gone, they haven't told me anything! I know that this sounds unlikely, but it is the truth, I swear."

Inwardly, she was just praying that he would finally be the person who believed that she was telling them the truth, that she had no reason to lie to them – the simply had to see that she would never willingly endanger Alannah only to keep a secret from them!

Severus took a big gulp from his goblet, never looking away from her with his thoughful gaze and he looked frighteningly peaceful as he said:"I heard your sister is still very young... Sweet, little Alannah... what a pity it would be if anything happened to her."