A DINNER

It was not long before night started to loom over the kimgdom and Emerald palace began to shine in the green light of the Northern lights.

That was why it was called so one would tell because the marble walls brightly gave off a green shade that made the walls look like emerald.

The dining table in the palace was candlelit with diamond chandeliers hanging above the entire room.

The table was filled with a variety of dishes and the seats were made of solid gold with soft mink cushions.

It was shortly after the room empty as it was, the doors were opened up and the royals walked through.

The King of Endra along with his family and the noble officers of parliament walked in.

The guests who were the royal family of Scoln which comprised seven people walked in afterwards.

Everyone settled in on their seats and beside The King of Endra was his wife and older son Sian.

King Valga sat at the opposite end with his wife and second son on either side.

Conelm who was very staunch in his appearence and looked so tough sat beside his mother.

As tradition was, the best and centre of interest of the dinner came last, Soren walked through the grand golden doors of the hall as the servants present simply bowed and curtsied.

Soren came to a halt and could make out only one spot that was empty on the table and that was between his would be brother in law and another old nobly dressed woman he could guess would be the Queen mother or simply the Grandmother of Soren.

She was quite beautiful much as she looked to have been in her seventies, perhaps the good looks were hereditary in the blood because one could see that at least every Scoln royal was charming in appearence.

Soren needed no invitation to move forward, this time around, his gown was much lighter and comfortable though it still radiated his charm.

The only bad part with it was that it exposed his shoulders as the straps started from midway her shoulders and it was accompanied by a slightly heavy diamond necklace around his neck.

When Soren sat, all eyes in the hall followed him as everything had simply fallen silent letting him feel the spotlight.

There was a loud strike of a glass and everyone's attention was diverted from Soren to relieve him as his father had called for their ears.

"We may begin." King Richard said as the servants moved forward and began to serve the nobles and all the important people present.

All the utensils were made of chinaware and the chalices and glasses were made of solid gold.

The sooner everyone dived in to eat what was there before them all and it was a matter of time before everyone was full.

After the main course, the people dived in for dessert and beautiful cakes and fruits made their way in to replace the empty dishes.

As everyone simply enjoyed themselves, Soren was rather suffocated, he was never much of an eater, that was the good thing but about an hour of sitting made his skin itchy from the corset that was fastened around his body.

King Valga struck his glass and everyone turned to face him, Soren could feel that someone was looking at him and the moment that he lifted his eyes, he met the gaze of Prince Conelm, his future husband.

Those scarlet eyes fixed on his gave him an intimidating gaze that he surrendered and turned to face his future father in law like all the others.

"Tonight we celebrate as one happy family I guess and we all have a witness to the hospitality we have received in your abode Richard my good friend." King Valga said.

Soren' s father simply returned a smile but only those who knew him very well could tell that it was not a sincere one.

Violet crept her hand and rested it on her husband as she gave him a smile which quenched most of the guilt that had filled his heart.

Sian cared less about anyone on the table and gazed only at his younger brother who looked rather sad and faking everything with a slight cute smirk.

Sian unlike these others could have perhaps hated the Scolns more than anyone else in this world, one would say he was the caring brother that was not really comfortable showing it to the world.

"This union here comes to remind us that we are all people searching for a peaceful haven, kingdoms that are great together and most importantly that we are all believers in a common attribute to power inequality." King Valga added as he smiled.

That statement just made Soren feel like puking but he stayed strong and let it all slip by.

"I hereby propose a toast to a future of friendship, a peace eternal between our two great nations." King Valga said.

"A toast to the peace of Endra and of Scoln." King Richard reechoed as all the men present held up their whiskies and the ladies and acting ladies their juices.

Soren looked on dismayed but at that very point he knew that he had no choice, at the moment, the only thing he would do is obey, nothing more, nothing less.

********************

Soren simply sat in his bedroom, he felt comfort at last, he was not in a dress but his very own silk night wear.

He had a big loose robe and he wore a pair of fairly buggy trousers, it was navy blue in color and all he did was simply watch the Northern lights from his window.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his bedroom door that interfered  with his own peace of mind.

"Who could it be at this very late hour of the night, it is already past midnight?" Soren asked himself before he jumped to a conclusion.

"Mother or Rina." He could think after all they were his main late night visitors and he wondered how their timing was ever that perfect they always only turned up on nights he could not sleep.

The knock struck the door fairly quietly a second time that Soren got from his window sill and charged towards it.

Soren opened the door only to see the back of a tall cloaked human figure and wondered who it would be as his expression was that of fright.

The figure turned around but Soren couldn't clearly make out who was behind the cloak since the hallway was so dark and most of the torches were already out.

Soren withdrew as the silhoutte figure came closer towards him, he intended to move closer to his sword stand and immediately he was there, Soren unsheathed his sword as the person simply closed his bedroom door.

"If you move a step I will not hesitate to sever your head from your body." Soren loudly said but it would be almost difficult for his roar to be had as the walls to most of the royal rooms were very thick.

The tall figure did not cease to come even closer towards Soren who indeed looked to be very firm in his own speech and unwavered from his intention to protect itself from the humane person in front of him that potrayed harm.

The person stopped in his tracks as a wan beam from the moonlight struck the head of the cloak.

"Reveal yourself." Soren demanded and without any hesitation, the strange person unveiled their head to reveal a fairly long set of dark curls.

Soren nearly froze upon the sight that he beheld.

"Molken?" Soren said after studying the face that was very clear in the moonlight.

Soren knew that handsome face very well, it sure had changed much and had indeed become more handsome with time but one thing that did not change was that pair of caring and glittering green eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Soren asked the man who was only five years older than he was.

"I am here for you, Sian told me everything that I need to know." The man replied in a calm but rough voice.

"It is very risky at this point in time to be here at such a late hour of the night, how long have you been there?" Soren asked.

"About three days." Molken replied.

"But why are you here for me, what exactly is it that you need me at this particular moment, you could have turned up during the day." Soren said.

"It is a long story but in broad daylight, I simply cannot make an approach to you or your family because of the current situation." Molken replied.

"It is just a visit from a casual friend, why wouldn't my father agree to that?" Soren asked.

"I am not here to visit you." Molken said.

"So then exactly why are you here if I may ask?" Soren said as he looked directly at Molken, he sure was taller than him but atleast the difference was not greater than that of Conelm.

"I am here to rescue you and take you with me." Molken replied.