195: A Company of Fools: Royal Dinner I

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Jurirai yelled while trying to shake the Pharaoh awake. I opened my eyes and stretched. One by one, everyone else did the same except.

"Well, that was exhausting…" I said.

"Tell me about it! More than eighty percent of my mana is gone now!" Bo grumbled.

"We're all low Bo, Chase drained our mana like a mosquito." Iris said.

"That was a thoroughly exciting experience." Viola said, then looked up at Jurirai and Ultia, who both looked completely confused about what was going on.

Turak'Kahn suddenly burst into laughter, a loud drawn out almost maniacal sounding. He grabbed his face and threw his head back and kept laughing. Everyone turned to look at the Pharaoh, only slightly concerned.

"Ummm…Turry? Are you okay?" Viola asked.

"Oh, course! Why wouldn't I be okay?!" Turak'Kahn replied, then cackled. "That was utterly incredible, taking us into your farm crystal, restructuring the body of an evo suffering from mana flux syndrome, even taking and storing all of his memories! It sounds like the stuff of fairy tales. Inhuman feats that no one should be capable of and yet you are!"

I looked at Iris and Viola with slight concern, then looked back Turak'Kahn. He laughed for a few seconds more, then let out a long exaggerated sigh and looked up a Jurirai like he hadn't just gone through a near mental breakdown.

"You were trying to get my attention, Jurirai?" Turak'Kahn asked.

"Yes, dinner is ready to be served whenever you and her majesty are ready." Jurirai replied without skipping a beat. Turak'Kahn stood and walked over to Viola and helped her to her feet.

"Good! Inform everyone that dinner is to be served in thirty minutes and that attendance is mandatory." Turak'Kahn said.

Jurirai nodded and followed behind Turak'Kahn and Viola as they left the room. Ultia stayed behind and eyed Iris for several seconds.

"Iris, walk with me…" She said, then turned and headed out the door. Iris quickly jumped to her feet and rushed after her mother, leaving Bo and I alone in our room.

"Coming Mother!" Iris exclaimed as she left the room to follow her.

***

"Right this way….master Kingston…" Rowad, the captain of the royal guard, said as he escorted Bo and I through the palace corridors towards the dining hall, with a small contingent of guards. I pretended not to notice the pause he took when saying 'Master Kingston' or the sound of revulsion in his voice when he said it.

"Thanks…" I said half-heartedly. Thanks to Bone-lasher, I knew that dining hall was on the other side of the palace. Not a short walk either, though I could see that Turak'Kahn, Viola, Ultia, and Jurirai were already there.

"You think Jane's taking getting beat pretty hard?" Bo asked me. I chuffed and shook my head.

"You kidding? It's Jane. In case you haven't noticed, our pampered princess doesn't take defeat pretty well." I said. Bo chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, she can act like a brat at times. And that's coming from a ten and a half year old." Bo said. I heard one of the guards behind Bo, and I growl under his breath at our comments.

"She has bigger problems though…" I said, then glanced down at my farm crystal.

"Jingles…." Bo breathed and shook his head. "…Are you going to let her keep Ayia'liah?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I shouldn't but at the same time Ayia'liah is a shaped evo, the chances of her ending up as injured as Jingles is a lot lower…" I paused and contemplated whether I should say what was on my mind but Bo finished the thought for me.

"…but you're worried if she'll treat an evo that she spliced herself like disposable trash, then she'll definitely do the same to one you shaped." Bo said.

"Yep…" I sighed.

"Master Kingston, if you could refrain from talking about Princess Jane in our presence, it would be greatly appreciated." Rowad growled through gritted teeth. I didn't reply but instead gave Bo a sideways look.

"Oh fuck off and drown in a lake you creepy simp brained fucktard." I said switching Torapos. Bo bit his lip and covered his mouth to keep from laughing. Over the last month Bo has also gotten lessons in Torapos along with the girls. He was a lot more fluent than the girls were however.

"What was that?" Rowad asked, curling his lip at me as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Not for your ears." I said switching back to universal standard.

"He's funny when he's mad, keep it up!" Bo said switching to Torapos. Rowad gritted his teeth and I heard a couple of growls coming from behind us but nobody said anything.

Our little procession turned a corner in the hallway and almost as if ordained by the gods Jane and Iris walked around the opposite corner heading towards the dining hall. Jane was dressed in a very elegant looking blue dinner gown, with Iris dressed in a dark grey pant suit. Jane of course stopped when she saw Bo and I.

"Chase…Bo…" She said softly. Her tone was kind of cold and off putting. I wasn't expecting her to be all happy to see me but I at least expected some sort of inquiry into Jingles' health. The expression on Bo's face told me he thought the same.

"Jane." We both said blankly then looked to Iris.

"Hey Tri-clops." I said.

"Hey Star Child." Iris replied then looked me up and down. "That's what you're wearing for a dinner with a Pharaoh?"

I looked down at myself and frowned.

"These are my best jeans and shirt!" I exclaimed. Iris groaned and shook her head.

"We need to take you clothes shopping when we get back to Andromeda city."

"Hey you haven't said anything about Bo's clothes. He's still wearing the same outfit from this morning." I defended.

"Hey this is all I have!" Bo griped in response.

"And whose fault is that?" Iris asked. Bo looked away and coughed.

"Oh gods! Allergies!" He exclaimed and pretended to have a coughing fit. Iris and I rolled our eyes then looked to Jane. Jane seemed despondent and just sighed and continued on towards the dining hall. Iris quickly followed after her and Rowad and the guards seemed only too happy to follow Jane.

We reached the doors to the dining hall pretty quickly after that. The two guards that stood on either side of the massive wooden doors quickly moved to open the doors when they saw Jane.

The dining hall was smaller than I imagined. A intimate dining room would have been a better term for it. There was just enough room for the long dining room table that ran the length of the room with enough space for staff to maneuver around. The room was decorated with classy yet subtle décor. It was obvious that this room was not designed to show off the wealth of the kingdom but rather for the family to gather and share a meal.

Turak'Kahn sat at the head of the dining table with a stern look on his face. Viola sat directly across from him at the other end. Jurirai and Ultia against the wall at a vantage point where they could easily see the comings and going of everyone in the room.

"Jane, Chase, Bo! Glad you could all didn't get lost. Come sit!" Turak'Kahn said motioning to the empty seats around the table.

Jane walked over to the furthest seat from both her mother and father which was directly in the middle of the table. Bo and I sat closer to her mother than her father, though for me it was only because I didn't have to walk that far. Iris walked over to where her parents stood and took up a vigil like them.

"Iris you aren't going to eat with us?" Bo asked. That question earned a snicker from Rowad and a couple of the guards that escorted us here. That snicker was silenced by a glare from Ultia.

"Iris is Jane's guardian, Bo. While she might our friend back at the college and able to eat with us there, here she can't do that." I explained. Bo frowned and crossed his arm as he looked up at me.

"Seriously?! That's dumb!" He exclaimed.

"It's my job Bo. It's fine, I'll share some dessert with you later." Iris said. Bo still frowned but he uncrowded his arms.

"A big bowl of ice cream." He said. Iris chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Of course." She replied.

The doors to the dining hall suddenly opened again and a young man with a girl, that looked a lot like Iris, walking behind him walked in.

"Leon!" Turak'Kahn exclaimed loudly. Leon looked like the spitting image of Turak'Kahn minus his hair. He had the slight reddish brown hair that Jane and Viola had and his was styled in long locks that stopped just below his shoulders.

"Father." Leon replied coldly then sat down across from Jane. The girl that looked like Iris walked over to where Iris and her parents were waiting and stood vigil. Turak'Kahn arched a brow at his son

"Something you want to say Leon?" He asked.

"Not at all father, you made it perfectly clear that my curiosity and opinions don't mean much." Leon said. Jane rolled her eyes at Leon.

"Oh by the gods stop being so dramatic Leon!" Jane groaned. "Father can't tell you what happened because it's currently a nation secret!"

"I'm not being dramatic! I'm the prince! I should be kept in the loop about anything that happens in the palace, especially when I'm dragged from my lessons because of it!" Leon exclaimed. He looked over at Bo and I then pointed at us. "I suppose this beggar and brat knows what happens while I was kept in the dark."

"Brat?" Bo grumbled through gritted teeth.

"Beggar?" I grumbled mimicking Bo's expression.

"Uh-oh…" Jane and Iris said in unison.

"They are esteemed guests of mine Leon!" Turak'Kahn said in a low and menacing tone, the gaze he leveled Leon with made the rebellious teen stiffen. He tjen looked to Bo and I, his expression a lot more relaxed.

"Apologies for his rude comments. That is my son, Leonard Solomon. Leon, these are Jane's classmates, Bo Kestrel and Chase Kingston."

"Classmates…" Leon breathed then immediately looked at Bo. "…but he's only a child! No older than six!"

"I'm ten and a half!" Bo snapped, jumping from hos seat and slamming his hands on the table.

"TEN!" Leon exclaimed then looked to Jane for conformation.

"Lady Baset personally invited him into the class once she learned that he first spliced a tier three evo at the age of seven." Jane confirmed.

"That's a insane amount of talent…." Leon said then his eyes darted to my right hand. "…A star crystal bearer!"

"Yeah…one that doesn't like being called a beggar…" I said menacingly as I held my right hand up and changed burn attribute mana into that hand. Leon's eyes bulged as flames engulfed my hand without a spell sigil.

"A spell? Without a spell sigil?" Leon exclaimed.

"My, my, my, it seems this mysterious star farm crystal bearer is full of surprises." A mysterious voice said. The sound came from behind me, towards the servants entrance.

Everyone turned and saw a tall and curvy woman who looked like the female version of Turak'Kahn. She stood against the archway that lead to the servants kitchen with her eyes locked solely on me that reminded me of Bone-lasher when looking at a plate of meat.

"Aziza. You didn't come in through the main doors." Turak'Kahn said.

"I wanted to observe our guests before making a entrance Father." Aziza replied flashing him a coy smile.

[Boss she's been here for a while now. Nobody noticed.] Bone-lasher informed me.

"That's quite a invisibility spell, if it hadn't been for my evos I wouldn't have known you were there." I said. Aziza arched a brow at my comment while everyone else looked surprised or enraged in Jane's case.

"Well, the fact your evo could notice me while inside your crystal and tell you about it says another about your connection to your evos." Aziza said. She walked over to my seat and held a hand out daintily for me to shake.i heard Jane groan aloud at the display. "Aziza Isorzia, first born daughter of Turak'Kahn. Charmed I'm sure."

"Oh, you're Jane's older sister." I said as I shook her hand for the sake of politeness.

"Chase Kingston, second born son of a two-faced bastard."

Bo laughed and covered his mouth while Jane snickered and shot me a look.

"That's not a nice way to refer to your father." Aziza said.

"If you met him, you'd understand." I sighed.

[Boss…! ] Bone-lasher snarled. My vision blurred as he shared his with me. I saw another figure creeping up on my left side, opposite the one that Aziza was on. This person was male and from the look of his features was another one of Iris' siblings.

"Iris stop your brother before Bone-lasher jumps out my crystal and kills him." I said motioning to his general direction.

Iris, her sister, mother and father all looked in that general direction. I heard a loud chuff before a man suddenly materialized a few feet away from me.

"Yurkid!" Jurirai snapped then stomped over to the young man and grabbed him by the ear and dragged him over to where the rest of the family was standing. "Apologies master Kingston, I will educate my oldest son on proper manners on dealing with royal guests later!"

"You did that same thing when I arrived." I said narrowing my eyes at Jurirai.

"I was following the Pharaoh's orders." He said unabashedly.

"Don't be too hard on him Jurirai, I'm sure he was only following my daughter's orders as well." Turak'Kahn said. Jurirai nodded slightly.

"As you wish sir." He added.

"Aziza take your seat so we can begin dinner. AftKahtje day I've had I'm starving." Turak'Kahn said.

"Of course father." Aziza said then pulled out the seat next to mine. Seeing this made Jane groan. Which Aziza picked up quickly.

"Problem, sister?" Aziza asked innocently.

"Not at all…" Jane replied, her voice obviously strained.

"Jurirai have them bring in the first course." Turak'Kahn told his guardian.

"Right away."