Ladies, Lords, & Liars

Chapter Eleven: She Seems to Be Missing

   It was the same room with the same long table and the same roaring fire, chairs lined up on either side for the night's diners, only this time, the long table would actually be full. He couldn't see anyone sitting down yet, but from the looks of things, there were more than enough people to fill the table, and it seemed as though they were all talking. Every last one of them.

   Thankfully, no one loudly announced his name like Camen had for the king and queen, so there wasn't a great deal of attention on him as he entered. And he hoped it would stay that way for the rest of the night.

   He tried to slip his way into the crowd of people, and maybe just blend in with the throng. Everyone was probably already engaged in conversation, so it couldn't be too hard.

   But almost as soon as he'd managed to find a nice quiet spot between the cliques of nobles, everyone started to head towards the table at the same time, as if they all knew exactly what they had to do and exactly when they had to do it.

   He followed along, taking the first available seat he could and hoping it wasn't a mistake to sit there. He couldn't help but think again how strange everything was compared to the idea he'd had of what the palace would be like. It seemed like there was no rhyme or reason to anything any of them did, but at the same time, everyone knew exactly how to perform their singular role among the oddness. There had to be some sort of system that he was missing.

   He just didn't understand why he didn't see it.

   His thoughts were cut short when Camen once again loudly announced the arrival of the king and queen, just as he had at the last dinner. Only this time, the high volume of his announcement was actually warranted due to the crowd.

   The queen seemed to float in, as if she had wheels under her skirt that she was using instead of her legs. The king followed behind, his stride equally smooth and practiced.

   Almost immediately, the queen started greeting people with an enthusiasm unlike any other. She hardly got a response from her first victim before she moved on to the next, often parting with a quick kiss on the cheek.

   The king only greeted two people that Aeric noticed. A man that looked older than dirt and a much younger man sitting right next to him. And after greeting them, he went straight to his seat at the head of the table and sat down.

   The queen was much slower in getting to her seat, and she must have given a cheery hello and a kiss on the cheek to everyone in the room—including Aeric himself—before she sat next to her husband.

   Her enthusiasm was so great that he couldn't help but suspect that it was faked. There was no way that someone could live the life of a queen and continue day after day and year after year with such a demeanor. Yet when he looked at her, she seemed nothing but genuine. Her eyes were always glittering with happiness and her smile was always brightly shining.

  If it was a façade, it was flawless.

   Then it struck him how different the king was just as the servants began to bring out the many different platters of food. He didn't smile, and he said very few words, even when the two people closest to him looked to be the biggest chatterboxes at the table.

   But then a few of the platters of food were set down near Aeric's own plate, and he realized that he was starving. He'd been skipping meals and not eating much of anything at all since he'd arrived. He abandoned his watch of the royals and served himself a rather large helping of food. He might not even be able to eat it all, but he would certainly give a good effort.

   "A boy who knows how to eat, wonderful!" the large voice right next to his ear could have startled him to death. Especially with the state of his nerves.

   He looked over to see a man with a large body to match the largeness of his voice.

   "I'm glad the princess rejected those other princes. They ate like birds. It was pathetic, really. I heard that one of them tried a quail for the first time and threw up immediately after." He shook his head with a laugh.

    "Well, there's no reason to starve for appearance's sake." He took a wild stab in the dark with his reply, hoping it would hit well with his neighbor.

   "That's what I always say." he nodded, leaning forward to spoon another helping onto his plate.

   Aeric nodded as well, unsure what to say next.

   "So, what was your name again? I thought it was a girl's name when first I heard it, truth be told." He chuckled, taking an enormous bite of food and then chuckling again despite his mouth being full. The corners of his eyes crinkled up when he laughed, and he squinted so much that the brown of his irises was almost lost entirely.

   "Uh, Kellen." He tried a smile to match the mood of the conversation, but he wasn't sure it worked very well.

   "I think I once had a great aunt or second cousin by that name; someone I only met once or twice." he squinted as if he could see into the past like that, and nodded yet again.

   "I think I would have picked a different name myself, but I hardly had any say in the matter." He tried again with the smile, hoping to do it better this time.

   "Quite so!" he boomed out and started laughing far too loudly for the semi-joke to warrant.

   Aeric's return of the laugh was more of a nervous chuckle, from what he heard of it.

   "You're a fine boy. I think the princess should warm up to you before she's stuck with a little pest of a husband who pukes after eating a harmless quail." He jabbed at the air with his fork to accentuate his words, his chest still shaking very slightly with silent laughter.

   He could feel his face getting warm at the implications of his words, but he tried to hide it by taking a bite of food. He hoped that taking a bite nearly too big to fit in his mouth would put him even further into the good graces of the man beside him.

   And it worked almost too well. "That's what eating is supposed to look like!" he seemed ready to break down in chuckles at any time during the sentence, and the last word was almost swallowed along with a new bit of food.

   Aeric nodded as he struggled to chew, faking another smile.

   "But speaking of the princess," he paused to swallow a bite that Aeric had hardly seen him consume. "She seems to be missing again."

   "I actually haven't officially met her yet." He said, leaning forward to look towards the head of the table. Just like the man had said, the princess was again absent from the dinner.

   "Oh! Speaking of meeting, my boy!" he laughed. "I never told you my name!"

   He dropped his fork onto his plate and stuck a beefy hand towards Aeric. "Lord Handel, but you needn't add the lord part."

   Aeric grabbed the awkwardly angled hand and gave it a shake. "Pleased to meet you."

   "And the same to you." He nodded, snatching up his fork again and attacking his food with a renewed vigor.

   Aeric had no particular need to continue the conversation, and Handel seemed more interested in his food at the moment anyway. Rather than try to talk with the lord or spy on the royals any more, he decided to listen to his growling stomach and turn his attention to his plate.

   Half the stuff in front of him, he didn't recognize in the least. But the food was food, and he was hungry.