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Chapter Nineteen
Thy petticoat of silken white; with gold embroidered gorgeously
Wherein our heroes play dress up and have dinner with a King
After a long and through session of drying each other off, she wrapped a towel around herself and wandered out into the bedroom. Frowning she noticed their clothes, that had been lying on the floor, were gone. She hitched the towel up a little more and glanced around the room, her gaze falling on the bed where two sets of clothes now rested.
Smiling she practically skipped over; gazing at the richly appointed clothes she decided she could get used to living in a castle. The dress was cream coloured with an empire waist wrapped in gold braiding. The braiding was also wrapped in an ‘X’ across the brocade of the chest, continuing up to trim the edge of the neckline. The sleeves were attached to the shoulders by several ties, leaving small openings for skin to peek through, they had a tight fit down to the elbows where they flared out with a sweeping expanse of material. The skirt would flow elegantly to her ankles in soft folds. All the necessary accessories, undergarments and such were also provided, including a pair of white, kitten-heeled shoes and a small tiara/headband.
She was just finishing her perusal of her clothes when Julian walked up behind her, a hand sliding between the folds of the towel to rest on her stomach as he lightly kissed her shoulder.
She tilted her head, “Look, new clothes.”
Julian’s suit was a charcoal pinstripe with a black shirt and tie and a dark charcoal waistcoat.
“It appears men’s fashions here are similar to home,” he rested his chin on her shoulder while eyeing both their outfits.
She shrugged one shoulder, “I guess a suit’s a suit.”
He pulled back from her, “Sydney I’m… I’m appalled!”
She swatted at him, “We better get dressed, it must be near dinner time by now,” she glanced out the windows at the purpling sky.
Standing in front of a full length mirror she adjusted her tiara then ran a hand over the front of the dress, it was a little bit snug but wearable, as long as she didn’t eat too much. Glimpsing Julian behind her she spun around and simpered at him, “How do I look?”
He looked her over, pretending to give the question serious thought, “Like a princess.”
“I do don’t I?” she smiled imperiously and glanced over her shoulder at her reflection in the mirror.
Julian chuckled and walked over to her, she waited until he was almost to her before she turned back around to wrap her arms around his neck.
He slid his hand around her waist and pulled her close. After staring at each other for a moment he moved his head that much closer and their lips touched in a long, languid kiss. Parting for air he rested his forehead against hers and she played with the curls at the back of his neck, “Two months tops. Plus we’ll be back sometime in the next month for pay for the house and we can meet other times too.”
“We probably shouldn’t, meet I mean, it would only increase the odds of us getting caught,” he ran a hand up and down her back.
She pouted, “We’re very good at what we do, I’m sure we can be careful,” she broke out her best pleading eyes and ran a hand through his hair.
A tiny smile graced his lips, “We are so good aren’t we?”
She laughed and kissed him quick before pulling on his hand, heading for the door, “We should see if Dad and Marshall are ready.”
Her dad and Marshall, in a dark brown suit and a navy suit respectively, were in fact waiting in the common sitting room. Marshall gaped at her while her dad’s lips twitched into a small smile, “You look lovely Sydney.”
“Thanks, you don’t look to bad yourself, you too Marshall,” she smiled at the other man.
There timing was excellent as the promised man knocked on their door to lead them to the informal dinning room. They passed several elegantly dressed persons who all nodded politely to them, several clerks with arms full of assorted papers also hurried along the hallways. The guide bowed them into a room where Virginia, baby against her shoulder, Wolf and another dark haired man where waiting.
“Wow, I feel underdressed,” Virginia used her free hand to tug at the hem of her skirt.
Sydney smiled at her, “No, you look nice.”
“Thanks, I think Lord Rupert was in charge of arranging you your clothes, he overdoes it sometimes,” she smiled and turned towards the other man, “This is my dad Tony. Dad this is Sydney, Julian, Marshall and Sydney’s dad Jack.”
There was a round of hand shaking and general conversation as several servants quietly slipped into and out of the room, setting the dinning table. As the final servant was unobtrusively exiting the room a harried, young, blonde man entered from the other side of the room.
He glanced at the table, “Excellent. I hope I have kept you waiting.”
“Not at all Your High—”
“Majesty,” Julian hissed in her ear.
“Your Majesty,” Sydney smoothly covered.
The King smiled congenially at her, “Considering you’re not from this world, please call me Wendell.”
Virginia went through introductions again, introducing the king as King Wendell Winston Walter White to which he rolled his eyes good naturally at her, and she finished the introductions by informing the King that Sydney and Julian would be taking up residence in his kingdom.
“Really? Splendid. What don’t we all sit down before the food becomes cold,” Wendell waved at the food and sat down at the head of the table. Everyone else followed suit and soon food was being passed around the table and small talk was being made.
While Tony and Marshall engaged in a conversation discussing what kinds of ‘technology’ this side of the mirror had, the rest of the table discussed the fours recent adventures along with Sydney and Julian’s plans to move to the 4th Kingdom.
Wendell gravely contemplated his dessert after everything had been relayed, “I hadn’t heard of a mirror being in the 10th Kingdom and the fact that it opens into the Troll Kingdom is troublesome.”
“Is there any way to change the location where the mirror opens to?” Jack questioned.
Wendell furrowed his brow, “I’ve never heard of it being done, but that’s not to say it hasn’t. I’ll send an inquiry to the Dwarves at Dragon Mountain.”
“They make all the magic mirrors,” Virginia informed them.
“I’ll be happy to allow you access to the mirror I have here,” Wendell assured them.
Sydney smiled gratefully at him, “Thank you. I assure you we won’t be bothersome in its use.”
“We now have the other mirror in our possession and I can either store it away or destroy it if its exit point can’t be changed,” Jack solemnly assured.
Wendell glanced at him startled, “Destroy it?”
“Only as a last resort,” Sydney hastily assured him.
Wendell nodded, “I’d rather it wasn’t destroyed of course, but it would be something of a diplomatic mess if people kept popping up in the Troll Kingdom. Our relations with them are politely hostile at best, they might see the sudden appearance of people in the midst of their Kingdom as act of aggression.”
Jack assured the younger man, “I’ll make certain it’s well hidden away and under the best security.”
Wendell seemed relived at the solemn statement, “I believe Virginia invited you to stay the evening,” he shot her a mock chastising look to which she just smiled brightly back.
“If that’s alright with you,” Sydney politely asked.
“That’s fine of course,” Wendell looked down the table, “Who wants more dessert?”
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