A Dinner From Hell

[Sky]

Riannon reclined on a well-stuffed sofa in her drawing room as she idly waited for her son and Christine to arrive for the dinner they had arranged. It had been Sky's idea; he had said something along the lines of how Christine wished to use the Eraklyon libraries for some type of research and that she would feel more comfortable doing so if she had obtained their permission in person.

Motioning for a servant to refresh her drink, Riannon turned her head sharply when she heard footsteps on the marble floor. Seeing that it was only her husband, Riannon smiled as she tilted her head delicately to receive her kiss on the cheek. With an amused smile, Riannon said as Aldrich took his seat, "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show for this little . . . get together."


"Nonsense," Aldrich replied promptly. "I wouldn't miss this for anything; do not forget - I do wish Sky to attach himself to this chit either. Therefore, it is mandatory that I be here to ensure that Sky behaves himself. If I see him give that girl so much as one lovey-dovey smile, I swear I'll take him over my knee and give him a lashing. He may be a man in the eyes of the law, but he's still my son and he will still do as I say-"

Cut off by the butler's entrance into the room, Aldrich raised his brow as he snapped, "What?"

The butler bowed deeply, and replied, not even phased by the king's tone, "Prince Sky and his companion have arrived. Shall I show them in?"


Sitting up, Riannon fixed her hair and smoothed her dress before she said with a grim smile, "Please do so." Under her breath, she muttered, "Let the games begin."

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine smoothed the fabric of her dress for what seemed the hundredth time that half hour and clutched her locket tighter with her left hand, a small nervous habit that she just couldn't stop. "Sky, are you sure they remember me?" she asked quietly. She hadn't seen his parents since that summer and was quite nervous about meeting them. Especially since his parents supposedly liked her but not her bloodline, which made absolutely no sense to her, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.
~
Okay, just give them nothing to nit pick and everything would be fine. Now, oh, yes. Christine dipped into a deep curtsy, keeping her gaze firmly on the floor before raising her eyes and gaze slightly. She said nothing, waiting for Sky to introduce her or for them to acknowledge her standing there. She would be the picture of a proper princess, even if she was just a half breed.

[Sky]

"You'll be fine," Sky whispered with an encouraging smile before they entered the drawing room. Inwardly, however, he wasn't so sure. When he had spoken to his mother about this dinner with Christine, she had seemed . . . too okay with it. She had just smiled and patted his arm and said that she thought it was a lovely idea. It had been too easy to obtain her consent. Too, too easy. Grimly, Sky knew that his mother was up to something. And if he knew her, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Gently detaching himself from Christine's arm, Sky moved forward and bowed to his father before he turned and pressed a kiss to his mother's cheek. Stepping back, he bowed to her as well as he said, "Mother, I pray that you are well."


Riannon smiled as he received the kiss. Patting her son's arm she said with a soft smile, "There's no need to be so formal, darling." Turning to greet Christine with a slight inclination of her head, she added, "We're all friends here."

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine rose from her curtsey and gave them a ghost of a smile. "It is an honour to meet you, Sir, Madame," she said softly. She lowered her gaze again and stood demurely. She'd be the model princess if it killed her - which, it possibly would.

[Sky]

While a smile remained on her face, inwardly Riannon felt the urge to roll her eyes or to grit her teeth. Did the girl honestly think that she didn't know that her little demure act was just that - an act? Her lips curling up wickedly, Riannon almost felt like clapping her hands with glee. When her special guest arrived, she would put Christine's manners to shame.

Turning her attention back to Sky and Christine, she asked courteously, "Would you two care for a drink? You must be dreadfully thirsty from your travel here."

Sky stared at his mother suspiciously for a moment as he tried to detect any hint of a trap. Finding none, he nodded slowly as he said, "That would be wonderful; thank you, mother."


Riannon gestured for a servant to come to her side. "Two glasses of wine for our guests, please." As the servant went to do her bidding, Riannon gestured to the sofa, "Sit, sit; we have much talking to do and I assure you, it will be much more pleasant if we do not have to remain on our feet." With a musical laugh, Riannon said, "I am afraid my age is finally catching up to me."

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine waited until Sky nodded to sit down. She sat perfectly still, her hands resting on her lap. She'd speak only when spoken to - as she had been taught to do. Half breed or not, she was a princess and did have lessons on how to behave.

[Sky]

Taking a seat beside his wife, Aldrich glanced absently around as he gestured for the servant to bring him a drink as well, and said, "So tell me, how are things at Red Fountain? Is Saladin still keeping everyone in line?"

[Sky]

Sky nodded in response as he said, "Things at Red Fountain are about the same, although, I have decided to speak to Saladin about perhaps getting a bit of a schedule change; I'd like to start taking some more practical courses - like International Relations or a foreign language. I know its a bit late in the year for it, but I think if I study hard, I'll be able to catch up."


Aldrich looked pleased to hear this bit of news as he turned to Christine and asked, "And what about you? Do you enjoy the classes you are taking?"

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine gave a small nod. "Yes," she said quietly. "And thanks to Sky, I'm not that far behind in my lessons since I missed quite a few while I was recovering from an accident." She had told Sky that she was simply going to referring to both the fight with Wolf and the dragon wrangling incident as her accident.

"I think one of my favorite classes is dragon wrangling. And Sky's an excellent tutor."

[Sky]

"Yes, well, perhaps if Sky spent more of his time on his own studies, he wouldn't be scrambling to make up the shortcomings in his education now," Aldrich replied with a bland smile.

At this Sky gave an inward sigh; of course he knew he should have expected something like that from his parents, but he had to admit, he had hopes that for once his parents would be genuinely pleasant. Obviously, that would only happen once in a blue moon. Quickly changing the subject, Sky said, "Perhaps after dinner, we can visit the libraries for a while; I believe mother has told you that Christine would like to use them this summer to conduct some research."


"I suppose that would be all right," Aldrich replied. Again turning his attention to Christine, he asked, "If I may be so curious, what type of research will you be conducting?"

[Chris Strongheart]

"Sky was telling me about some of the law books and I wanted to read a few, mainly for research as to how not to offend your people. As I am the next in line to inherit my father's throne, I want to make things a little more peaceful between our two realms," she said. So it wasn't the full truth, but it was a truth. She was tired of hearing her father bickering with Sky's father and really wanted peace between the two realms.

[Sky]

At this Aldrich roared with laughter as he replied, "You make it seem as though we Eraklyons are particularly difficult to get along with; however, I must assure you that that is far from the case - at least when it comes to foreigners. We understand that some of our laws can seem a bit silly to outsiders, but in my opinion, it is all rooted in cultural relativity. Furthermore, I do not believe that one culture has the right to try to impose its ways on another culture; my philosophy is a classic one - treat others the way you want to be treated. This is actually why Eraklyon has never been imperialistic - because I would not support outsiders coming in and trying to change my realm, I cannot see an adequate justification for how I could do such a thing to another realm. But I apologize, I must be boring you to tears."

[Chris Strongheart]

"I understand perfectly," Christine said quietly, a faint smile on her face. "We covered imperialism and its effects in one of my law and ethics classes." She tucked one lock of hair behind her ear absently. "I suppose I want to make sure that the political relationship you share with our realm isn't damaged because either my father or I did something that offended Eraklyon sensibilities."

[Sky]

With a smile, Aldrich replied, "My relationship with your father is perfectly civil; I assure you, my wife and I have not had our sensibilities offended. Isn't that right, Ria?"


Lifting a brow at Christine, Riannon said in an overly sweet tone, "Of course not, Christine; we find your realm perfectly quaint and darling. It is quite the lovely place to vacation."

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine resisted the urge to ask which realm the queen was referring to, her father's or her mother's. Instead, she simply smiled and bobbed her head slightly. "You are very kind, your majesty. My people thank you for your compliaments."