To Make a Kinder Children's Tale

22: King's Dinner and Title: Round Two

The king's dinner had the great hall's tables maybe half-full, as this was still the season when many of the Aelfine would be in their own households ruling their little worlds.

So, overwhelmingly, these were more families of the king's line, sons, grandsons, great-grandsons-many of them long-ago married. In fact, Althalos had been one of the few who had been available only a stretch of days ago, so Esme was the one receiving the looks of jealousy as he escorted her to a seat by his side-in a ridiculously roundabout manner. Only a handful of these looks relaxed into something more akin to pity when their bond was announced. Any which way, these women-a dozen offhand-announced themselves as rivals for the very man she couldn't function without. Adversaries, the whole lot, and the Prince didn't even seem to notice them. Apparently women didn't frighten off him as much as he claimed.

They had come in before the king-most everyone had-which afforded her the long walk to greet much of the room before he finally found their seat. Many of the names were familiar to his mother's cramming session the previous day. It was pleasant to almost feel as if she knew these strangers-pleasant, but not comfortable.

The last person she was introduced to before being forced to sit in the king's presence was an uncle-one of the much younger ones which put Althalos as fairly close in age. His name was Theremond, and he was the most real person she met out of all the Aelfine. As they sat close, the pleasantness shifted to a feeling of disquiet. It left her distracted enough to miss out on the King's announcing them formally to the dining throng, although she stood when prompted. It lasted even as she made more rounds after dinner, adding to the claustrophobia of having the remainder showing too much curiosity about the new face in their midst.

A few of the Aelfine began making the usual jokes about distracted bondmates before Althalos noticed that Esme wasn't very attentive to the crowds around them. He decided to use the obvious excuse to get her back to their rooms. Given what she put him through already, he suspected that it wasn't a want of him that had changed her behavior.

In fact her silence and withdrawal from him during their walk to the deep recesses of the living wing concerned him more than he wanted to admit--even though the bond was on an even keel. But he waited to sate his curiosity until he had her seated in their somewhat cramped living space. He reached out to lazily touch her collarbone, to trace it with his finger in the way the bond assured him that she liked it, but she jerked away, even swatted at his hand-although she still didn't acknowledge him. "Care to tell me what is distracting you?"

"Hrm." The former thief barely grunted out a response, she was so inside her own head.

"Esme!" He barked the name out with the years of practice he had in reaching just as distracted young men. Of course, out of sheer reaction, the woman stilled and threw back her head a hair-almost an imperceptible move, but it spoke to a level of training for something like that to happen. Although what it served baffled the man all the more.

She startled out of even that posture to calmly look at him. "Please don't yell at me like that."

"Why? What harm does it do?"

"The common punishment for inattentiveness is to be forced to pay attention, often violently. My master's method was to lift us by the neck and dangle us in front of his face."

Althalos had been close to laughing-he usually did as he found her delightfully strange. But this was not funny to him. "That is a dangerous practice."

"It was until our master had our collars reinforced to withstand it." A moue of distaste crossed her features-one she wasn't aware she made. "Still, not pleasant, and I'd prefer to not be reminded of it."

He dipped his head deferentially then took her hand in his. "I will try to remember." As he rubbed the back of her hand, he thought about how this custom was one of reassurance between the Aelfine, but he couldn't fathom what it would possibly mean to her-not after this confession.