Family Dinner

When Mireanda and I entered the dining room, everyone else had already taken their seats. Mireanda's father, King Thameos, sat at the head of the table as expected, his wife at his left side. Next to her sat a little girl, obviously her daughter and the youngest of Mireanda's sisters, followed by her other two little sisters, who were ten and twelve. On the King's right side I saw Nicoleas and his wife, but the seat to his immediate right, presumably the Crown Prince's usual place was empty.

Mireanda took the seat next to her sister-in-law as Thameos invited me to take the place to his right. By every rule of the lupean court, it was the only proper place for a visiting King like me, but I couldn't think of a worse place to be at this table. Still, I smiled graciously and took a seat between my two least favourite people in the room.

"Nice of you to grace us with your presence." Thameos opened, obviously very much not amused by the fact that I'd let him wait just now.

"Pardon the delay." I replied politely, "I'm somewhat less quick on my feet than usual these days. Thank you for the invitation."

"Well, you're an honoured guest in my house, it would have been highly inappropriate not to invite you to dinner." Thameos responded in a friendly tone that sounded less than genuine.

"And it would have been even more inappropriate for me to refuse." I said. Thameos forced a smile, then he gestured for the servants to bring the food. Moments later, the table was decked with a variety of foods. For a while, we ate in uncomfortable silence. I wouldn't have known what to talk about, and apparently neither did anyone else. I, for one, had no issue with the silence. After a while, Nicoleas leaned over to me.

"You're sitting in my seat, and you're wearing my jacket." he pointed out. He was right, though I had chosen neither the seat nor the jacket. When my guards and I had arrived earlier today, we'd been soaking wet from the heavy rain outside, and our clothes were still drying, so someone had picked out some of Nicoleas's clothes for me. The jacket was emerald green and skillfully embroidered, but it was slightly to large for me.

"Not my decision." I replied. Nicoleas looked annoyed.

"Just so you know, I will not call you my brother, just because you're engaged to my sister." he informed me.

"I really don't care what you think of me." I said, "And maybe you should get over your issues with me. It's not like I'm going to take your title, and once this war is over, we won't ever have to see each other. I'd be more than allright with that arrangement."

"That's not what this is about." Nicoleas said, "I just don't like how you're enabling my sister's unacceptable behaviour. Three months with you and those wenches have turned her into an insubordinate little slob."

"I heard that." Mireanda joined our conversation, "And the three of them just helped me become who I am. Ionathar knows me better after three months than you ever have."

"See? Inappropriate." Nicoleas said to me, without even looking at his sister.

"You should probably take a hard look at yourself before you try to tell others about appropriate behaviour." Mireanda continued. That had Nicoleas finally look at her.

"Says the one who takes inspiration from his sister." he said, pointing at me, "The damn girl threatened to chop off my balls!"

"After you had the absolutely brilliant idea to try to get up the skirts of the Crown Princess of Eleonis." Mireanda shot back. Nicoleas looked enraged.

"I didn't know who she was." he protested.

"That shouldn't matter." I noted, "For one thing, you're married. Besides, you touched her in a way that isn't appropriate in any situation and refused to leave her alone. Especially a Crown Prince should know better, and the warning you got was well-deserved. You can count yourself lucky that you survived our time together this summer without a scratch. The day you tried to strangle me could have easily not have ended well for you."

"Is it possible that you left out a few key details in your recount of your travels, son?" Thameos butted in. Nicoleas scoffed incredulously.

"I was provoked!" he complained.

"That's no excuse for trying to kill someone." Mireanda said.

"I can't argue with that." Thameos agreed with her.

"Father!" Nicoleas exclaimed, "He lied to all of us, and you're taking his side?"

"As I've told you repeatedly, I didn't lie to anyone. Everyone either already knew me or figured it out, except you, and it's not my fault that you were too godsdamned stupid to figure it out yourself." I replied, disregarding the fact that it was quite risky to insult him this openly here.

"Careful, Pretty Boy." Nicoleas warned me.

"Maybe you should be careful about what tone you use when speaking to your future brother-in-law." Thameos suggested. Nicoleas opened his mouth to protest, but one pointed glance from his father had him crumple back into his chair.