Christian and Giselle came to stand beside where we sat at the table. The other couple had turned off to play a game. "Good afternoon, everyone," He greeted. "Empress Pandia, where have you been hiding yourself? I see that you have met my friend Ebony. I hope my brother and his annoying friend weren't giving you too much trouble. Myself and some of my comrades are going to light a fire in one of the bigger caves around here, would you like to join us?"

"No thank you, I think I shall stay here and see what other games I haven't played yet." Pandia stated as she stood up and walked away along the beach. She looked back at me as if questioning if I was would join her but I shook my head. I wanted to go with Christian.

"Ebony, would you care to join me then?" The prince turned to me and offered his hand. "Your sister Giselle will also be joining us."

Giselle stepped up from where she stood behind Christian and he took her hand as well as mine. I laughed as he enthusiastically spun us around back towards the cliffs. "It seems you have been enjoying yourself," I joked.

"Oh, yes, your lovely sister has been absolutely delightful and I just defeated a knight in drinking. Today is going very well. Have you seen my sister yet? Giselle says that she and Reginald have abandoned their guests for a romantic walk along the beach. Ah, here we are." Christian led us both into a large cave where a pile of driftwood was already burning blue and white.

There were already people sitting on logs around the fire and talking. I spotted Victoria and some other women on the opposite side of the fire. Hector walked past where I stood with Christian and Giselle to sit beside Victoria. She happily greeted them as Christian directed us to a large vacant log. Giselle hesitated a moment before carefully sitting on the crumbly wood beside Christian. I was seated on his other side. It was odd being with both of them at the same time. I had caught the glares that Giselle had given me behind his back as we walked, even though Christian did not. She would not be so vengeful with the prince so close, but I feared she might unleash her anger when we returned to the Gilded Leopard. As for now, I would just try to enjoy Christian's company.

He had launched into the tale of how he had defeated the knight in their game. "Sir Clayton has never been known for his ability to hold his ale, but I did not expect him to be such a lightweight. We both made it through the first drink easy enough and the second as well. The third was when Clay started to show signs of defeat. He swayed a bit in his seat and already the ale was sloshing out of his beaker as he lifted it to his lips. That was when I knew I had won."

"Oh, Christian, you are so talented." Giselle crooned from his other side.

The prince turned and smiled brightly at her. His voice was growing louder as he caught the attention of the other people sitting around the fire. "I do have a certain amount of skill for drinking. Even if I wasn't as good as I am now, I am sure that I could still have drunken that poor knight under the table."

Christian laughed and a few men who had wandered in to hear the story laughed with him. I smiled and tried to laugh even though I did not catch the joke. Drinking seemed like an odd thing to have competitions in to me and I had never learned the rules or seen a game before. Giselle seemed to understand for she was laughing heartily with Christian. I was starting to feel out of place in the conversation. Abruptly, Christian stood up and spread his arms out wide and exclaimed, "I feel as if no man can best me today!"

"Careful, my lord," One of the men said. He was a large man with broad shoulders and a barrel chest who was leaning against the cave wall with a few other men. "I have heard about the captain's boy who drinks alcohol like water and has never been beaten in a challenge. If he were here today, perhaps there would be one who could offer you a bit of competition."

Christian waved his hand dismissively. "Bah, that insufferable prick couldn't sip wine at dinner. Besides he is not here today and what a blessing that is. Master Niko is a dark cloud at any festivity. Even if he were here, I could trounce him as easily as I did Sir Clayton."

I was shocked that Christian would speak so unkindly of another person. However, I remembered Niko from the ball and he had seemed aloof. He must have been simply unbearable to be talked about in such a way. The man made no response to Christian's accusations, so he went on. "Why I remember once when the advisors had held council, Niko didn't deign to show up. His father was livid. The council meetings are important to Captain Rydell and he so wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and be a council member. Captain Rydell always speaks about how his son is running rampant through the town doing unspeakable things. If I were that scoundrel's father, I would send him away to fight a few battles as a soldier to teach him some respect."

Christian had sat back down and at the end of his speech everyone else had returned to their own individual conversations. I tried to draw his attention to me and away from Giselle who seemed about ready to pounce. "Niko sounds absolutely horrible. I saw him at the ball with his father. I didn't hear him speak a word to anyone." It was a bit of an exaggeration because I had only seen him for a few moments, but I felt that maybe we could start a conversation that Giselle couldn't intrude on.

"That sounds just like him," Christian had turned away from Giselle and was now completely facing me. I felt a moment of triumph that I had distracted a man from Giselle. I hoped that Giselle had not met Niko at some point in the crowds of people who were at the ball that night. "He and I used to get on very well when we were younger. I don't know what happened, but as we grew older he became simply insufferable. I think that if he had grown up better we would still be close friends."

I shook my head, "It is a terrible thing to lose a friend."

Christian nodded in agreement. "I try not to dwell on the loss too frequently. It is better this way because I think he is a bad influence on people and I would not want him influence me negatively."

I was impressed by Christian's wisdom in how he dealt with the loss of his friend. He had handled it in the best way possible and it only made me like him all the more. I was about to speak again when Giselle decided to interrupt and pull Christian's attention away from me yet again. She was so much better at this than I was. On the night of the ball she had found him long before I had and today she had done the same. It was like she could sense where he was at all times and act accordingly. Perhaps if she did not have such a keen sense for finding royalty, then I would be able to talk to Christian uninterrupted and without competition. I had never felt this way for a man before and felt I was bumbling enough without the added pressure.

"Oh, Christian," Giselle gushed. "That was so noble of you. I'm sure that it takes an extraordinary man to be able to see the virtue of choosing good friends. You are so much better off without that rotten Niko. Why, I remember I was once in a similar situation with a girl I knew back in Lyscos. Her name was Abigail. She was closer to me than a sister when we were growing up. Then once we turned sixteen she began spending time with the miller's boy and the butcher's boy and at the local tavern. Abigail tried desperately to get me to go along with her to these places, but I firmly refused. Even though it pained me, I knew I had to break off our friendship."

I frowned. I remembered Abigail. Before we left for Pharyss, I saw her a few times a week around the town. She was a sweet girl and did none of the things that Giselle said. It was instead Giselle who became mean to the people around her so Abigail stopped spending as much time with my stepsisters. Giselle and Abigail were friends as children but it was not Abigail that went sour. Perhaps I could casually expose Giselle's lie to the prince.

"I remember Abigail," I said as I leaned around the prince to look directly at Giselle. "I hear she only spent time at the miller's and butcher's to teach their sons how to read. They are children you see and their parents did not want to send them to school in the winter because they were still very young to be out in the cold every day. Abigail offered to teach them in the winter months so they would not fall far behind."

Giselle pasted on a smile that only I could tell was forced. "You must not have known her as well as I did, dear Ebony. She was one of my dearest friends if you remember."

Christian had been distracted from our little argument by Sir Brockton who had entered the cave. He created quite a ruckus and everyone turned to listen to him. "Since our esteemed hosts have decided to abandon us for the company of each other in the form of romantic long walks on the beach, I have taken it upon myself to conduct the scavenger hunt!"

On the far side of the fire, Hector stood up and joined his friend. "That's right, I almost forgot. My sister prepared a scavenger hunt for all the guests today. You will join up into teams of two or three and search the beach for the items. Once everyone is gathered, then my friend here will hand out the hunt lists. Now, everyone get to the picnic tables to begin and form your groups. We are going to try and fit this in before the sun goes down."

Sir Brockton and Hector left the cave to gather up the rest of the people for the scavenger hunt. I did not miss the gesture Hector gave Victoria to follow them. It seemed the three of them were to be on a team together. I turned to Christian to try and be on his team, but Giselle had already pulled him away. I did not want to be stuck on a team with both of them together. I followed them to the tables and tried to think of a way to get Giselle on another team.

I had not come up with a worthwhile plan by the time I joined the growing crowd at the picnic tables. It seemed that Sir Brockton had already told others to gather and teams were starting to form.

"Oh, Ebony," I turned at the sound of my name to see Empress Pandia waving to me from a few yards away. "Do you have a team yet? Pernyx and I could do with another teammate."

I glanced at where Giselle and Christian were standing and sighed. It seemed that I would not be seeing him much more today. Besides, I would rather be with Pandia where I would have fun than deal with the stress of Giselle. I joined Pandia and Pernyx. The ambassador from Kiatyss seemed even paler in the sunlight and her pale blue eyes were sharp beneath the black lashes. Her light blue dress matched the haunting color of her eyes. She greeted me with a slight inclination of her head but did not say anything.

"Pernyx is a bit shy around new people. Kiatians do not speak much upon first meetings. I have known her for years and she still only speaks to me in the barest of whispers." Pandia explained.

"Compared to the loud Mektous, you would find me shy." I barely heard Pernyx when she spoke. Pandia seemed to hear her easier and laughed heartily.

"That is true, my friend. The Mektous is a loud and energetic bunch. We do enjoy our conversation." Pandia put a hand to her lips and mock whispered to me, "You can imagine the assemblies between our two nations are some of the strangest things you have ever seen."

I laughed, imagining it and even Pernyx cracked a thin smile.

"Attention, teams!" Sir Brockton shouted from where he stood on one of the tables. Hector was standing on the ground before him holding a stack of papers. "Now that you all have gathered here and hopefully have joined into teams, let the games begin! The winner of the scavenger hunt will be awarded this handsome trophy here beside me. The list is composed of a hundred items and whoever finds the most wins the game! You all have until sunset to search and the best of luck to all of you!"

The trophy was about half a foot tall and made of silver that caught the light beautifully. All the teams rushed forward to receive the hunt lists then all went separate directions to search. I heard one man say his team would win because he knew these cliffs like the back of his hand. Another woman worried about getting her dress dirty. My team took one of the papers from Hector and went to get one of the canvas bags that had been piled around the table. Altogether, I guessed there were about forty teams. With all those people excitedly hurrying off, it did not take long for me to become excited as well.

Maybe it's just because I'm tired, but this chapter seemed to be really long when I read through it again. I should have been getting my textbook for my class but this is more fun and it was raining out anyway.