Eden at Yuletide // Lindensea 4

V. Quaint, Funny, Little, Old

All at once the room seemed to be filled with people. Dorothea came back from the dining room, just as Eden's father arrived, laughing and talking with King Bernard, and another person with raven-black hair, very much like Eden's own.

"I do apologise, Meriadoc," Bernard was saying. "It's this blessed rush to get all business finished before Yuletide. We had the final meetings for the year with the City Council, the Merchant's Guild, and the Board of Guardians today."

"My dear Bernard, I was having a perfectly nice time in your entrance hall," Meriadoc told him. "Someone brought me sherry, and a cup of tea, and I slowly thawed myself out in front of the fire."

"Meriadoc, may I present my stepmother, the Dowager Queen Dorothea of Lindensea?" Eden heard Bernard say. "And Dorothea, I present to you our guest, King Meriadoc of Westmoreland."

Otto and Sebastian were introduced as well, and after the obligatory curtsying, bowing, and hand kissing, Eden and Lucy went over to stand by their respective parents. Eden curtsied to Bernard with a murmured, "Your Majesty."

"Eden, I'm so glad you were able to come. Lucy has been looking forward to your visit for months," Bernard said. "May I present my consort, King Philip?" His voice sounded as if he was trying not to burst with suppressed pride.

"It's wonderful to meet you at last, Eden," smiled Philip, as he took her hand to shake it. "Lucy has told us so much about you, I feel as if I know you already. And please, just call me Pip."

"Oh hello, er ... Pip," Eden said with a little stammer. "Nice to meet you too."

She stared at him curiously. Her first thought was that Pip was rather strange looking – thin and pale with a long crooked nose and eyes too large for his pointed face. Her second thought was that he was quite beautiful; if his eyes were too large, they were the colour of a summer sky, and looked at you properly, as if you really mattered. He smiled easily and warmly, and exuded elegance from the top of his glossy black hair to the tips of his red velvet boots.

The two thoughts never cancelled each other out, so that he remained in her mind as someone for whom the elements of their face didn't add up to beauty individually, but did in combination. She knew Pip had been married to Bernard for twenty years, and couldn't have been much younger than the king, but there was an ageless quality to him, so that Eden felt as if he was a boy hardly older than she.

"All these royal titles and introductions will be gone by tomorrow night," Pip said, as if guessing how Eden felt. "In Lindensea, it is a tradition at Yuletide that each is equal to another."

"At Yuletide, we say no man is a king and no man a beggar," Bernard said, turning to his guests. "I'm quite looking forward to being able to take off my crown and fine robes, and simply be Bernard."

"My wife, Lady Sybil, would usually be here to welcome you as well," Dorothea said to Meriadoc. "She is spending Yuletide in Everwick with our daughter Clarissa, who is betrothed to Prince Henry."

"Oh, congratulations to the happy couple," said Meriadoc. "We just came from Everwick Castle, and Roland never mentioned that."

"He's never said anything, but I get the feeling Uncle Roland is ... still getting used to the idea," said Bernard, with a sideways glance at Dorothea.

That lady gave a sniff of displeasure, and said, "If everyone would like to come through to the dining room, I have arranged a hot dinner to be served. I thought our guests may prefer to eat in our private apartments tonight, rather than the court dining rooms."

"Oh yes, we're a bit too travel stained for public scrutiny," Meriadoc said gratefully. "You'd rather do that, wouldn't you Eden?"

"If we went and cleaned ourselves up first, we'd be very late or keep people waiting," Eden said.