Seto and Yami had gone to do paperwork they had to do and were planning on getting to it when Mahaado and Dylan appeared.

"King Kaiba."

"King Mahaado, is there something I can do for you?"

"Is there someplace we could sit and talk?"

Seto motioned him forward and they went to the living room. Mahaado sat in a chair and Dylan, his assistant, stood behind him. While Seto sat on a couch next to him and Yami on the love seat opposite of Seto. Mahaado sent a glare towards Yami, then back to Seto.

Seto quickly caught on that because he forces his assistant to stand at attention behind him like a dog waiting for orders for his Master. He expected Seto to force Yami to do the same. However Seto wasn't about to force it. Ignoring Mahaado as if he didn't catch what he wanted he said, "So, what is it you wanted to discuss?"

Mahaado wasn't happy, it pissed him off that Seto wasn't going to force Yami to stand. He growled and said, "I was wanting to know about dinner. Are you planning a small set up for me and my family or a large set up for us all?"

"I hadn't given it much thought. But whatever you choose will be fine."

Mahaado was appalled that Seto hadn't given it any thought. "I believe it would be better to have a formal occasion. We could even discuss a few things over dinner."

Seto nodded. "That's fine, I'll be sure the staff knows."

Mahaado smirked, "Will the boy be there too?"

Seto frowned and asked, "You mean Mokuba? Of course, Why?"

"Well you stated that he's shy around strangers and since he's not officially family I just thought…"

Seto's anger boiled, "He is family! He's my brother! He's been through hell in his life and that was the reason I was holding off on telling the world!"

"So, are you planning to host another New Years ball as you have in the past? Are you planning to reveal him then, perhaps?"

Seto was taken aback by the question. He hadn't thought of it. "I'm not sure. But as you said we have done New Years every year so I see no reason not to do it again this year. Though with this snow and the storm that's being predicted I'm unsure of exactly how many would be able to attend. Not everyone can travel such as yourself with the aid of magic."

"Is magic forbidden in this kingdom? I have visited many kingdoms in which it is."

"No, as far as I know it's never been forbidden, I guess it's just never really been popular or enough people that know enough magic to go around and teach it."

"Well I suppose if you wish I could arrange to have invitations sent out and transport any willing parties that can't get here on time or through the snow."

"That might not go over so well. Besides, even if you sent out the invitations, it doesn't guarantee that anyone will know how to respond. Plus as you said some countries either don't believe in magic, don't like relying on magic or magic is forbidden. Unless you're positive that each country you invite will know how to respond to the invitation and is willing to either come on their own or with your help then don't send an invitation. Better yet, how about your assistant work with Master Yami and together they can compile a list of countries to send invites to."

'I'd hate to waste your precious time and energy doing it.' Seto thought.

Then they started discussing what to eat for dinner. It turned out that Mahaado was not only an extremely picky eater but also a hard-core vegetarian. Which only made cooking for him even worse. Seto finally had to call his head chef Haddock in to discuss options. Haddock was a hard-core cook. He didn't like being around people like Mahaado that thought they were gods and people should bow down to him. Haddock only bowed to Seto as his king and he liked working for Seto. Unlike Mahaado he didn't think he was god or any other kind of higher power. Gozaburo had thought that, but had beat Seto down to the point he never felt that way. Plus Yami helped to keep him grounded.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba woke up and stretched. Then as he looked around he smiled seeing Varon sound asleep with a book on his chest. He carefully got up and took a blanket off the bottom of the bed. Then he carefully placed it on Varon. Varon stirred a little but didn't wake up. Mokuba then got dressed and carefully and as quietly as he could, left the room and shut the door. Then he ran down the stairs to the coat closet. Seto temporarily had a bar put below the main one to allow Mokuba and Maura the chance to hang up their coats without help. He quickly put on his coat and snow boots then shivered as he opened the door and the cold wind hit him. It seemed to have gotten colder and more snow seems to have piled up. He was scared to ask anyone but he wanted to find K.C.

Just outside the door were two guards who felt like they were going to freeze to death before their relief replacements took over in an hour. Due to the snow it was agreed that all guards would change out every hour so that no one was out in the snow for longer than an hour at a time. The guards at the gate and door were the only ones on duty outside. Normally there'd be a lot more than 4 guards outside. But the gate was shut up tight and no one else was around.

Mokuba hated asking for help but he didn't know which several buildings pages lived in. He tugged on one of the guards' jackets.

The guard looked down and glared at him, "What is it, kid?"

"I'm l-looking f-for K.C. H-he said he was a p-page." Mokuba said.

The guard was surprised he didn't think the kid would even know what a page was, which he didn't until K.C. had told him. So, the guard gave Mokuba directions on how to get the building the pages lived in. It wasn't easy to find. The whole place was solid white. It had stopped snowing for the moment but Mokuba could tell by the dark clouds moving in that a storm was coming and that that's why it was getting colder. Finally he managed to make it to the building that the pages lived in. It was getting so crowded that Seto had been considering adding a second story or perhaps another building. But he hadn't gotten to it yet.

Mokuba made his way there and knocked on the door. The door opened and one of the boy's there stared down at him, making Mokuba nervous. He then pulled the boy inside.

"Hey guys, it seems like we got a new recruit."

Another boy walked up, "It's kinda weird isn't it? I mean why would the king hire a new page now? Besides I thought the castle was in lock down due to the storm."

"Kori's right Justin, besides isn't he a bit small to be a page? I can't judge if he's fit, just by just looking at him, not with the heavy coat on anyway. But I know one thing, he's a rich kid. Look at this coat, I'm not exactly up on the latest fashion but I do know that I've seen coats like this in the store and man are they expensive!"

K.C. woke to hearing arguing. He walked in to see what was going on when his eyes went wide seeing Mokuba. Then he could see a couple of the other kids shouting at him. A couple of others were shouting at them for shouting at Mokuba, who was standing against the wall like a whipped kid.

K.C. sighed and yelled, "Knock it off!"

Everyone turned to him.

"What's your problem K.C.? We were just examining the new recruit."

"Idiots, who in their right mind would request to be a page in the middle of a blizzard? It's been snowing for days. When was the last time someone came here looking to be a page in the middle of winter? Everyone knows recruiting season and guard tryouts are in the spring."

"What's your point?" Justin snapped.

K.C. smirked, "My point, my point is that that is Master Mokuba. The king's kid."

At that they all froze and were wide eyed.

"W-what do we do?" Kori asked.

K.C. sighed, "I'm sure he's here to see me, so get lost and let me talk to him."

The others didn't need to be told twice, they took off.