The Fire Inside

Amoret

Dinner was called shortly after Ivelle left. Mor wiped at her eyes again after a tearful goodbye from her friend. Ladies Evolet and Vela helped her dry her eyes and set out new clothes for her to change into, but Mor repeatedly refused to let them help her get dressed.

Her new clothes were so soft and covered her so much that Mor had never felt more comfortable. Wearing soft black tight joggers and a light gray cashmere sweater, she fiddled with the cuffs of her shirt as she followed Lady Evolet down the stairs to the dining room. Her lady-in-waiting was trying to make conversation with her, but Mor was more focused on memorizing the halls. "Ma'am," Mor murmured after Lady Evolet stopped talking for a minute. "Do you know if there's a different way to the dining hall?"

"Hey, remember you don't have to call me ma'am, call me whatever you'd like. And there are other halls, but this is the fastest route. The other ones take winding halls and different stairwells, leading to other places, but it's easiest to just walk down the stairs to the fourth floor then take the two side stairs to the main staircase where most of the important rooms are." She looked back and smiled. "Heh, sorry if that confused you any more."

"No, no it's okay. Thank you."

"Of course." Lady Evolet gracefully glided down the steps with her hand on the rail. Kova trudged along behind her. "By the way, your extended family is staying for the next couple of weeks, through new years, so they'll all be with you for dinner."

"That's a lot of people." Mor stared at her feet as she reached the bottom step.

"Twenty-six of them." Lady Evolet waited for the princess to follow her down the stairs before continuing down the three halls to the dining room. A guard opened the doors to the large room with a dark oak table in the center. Twenty-six chairs were on either side with two at the head. "Here we are, Your Highness."

Kova's family was mingling around the room or already sitting, laughing and chatting. The room was filled with sound, so loud it rang in her ears. Camille turned when she saw the door close behind Evolet. "Oh, Kova, baby." She came over and embraced her. "Are you ready for your first family dinner?"

"Yes, ma'am." Mor nodded, cautiously looking around before focusing back on the woman in front of her. "Is...there always this many people here?"

"No, no, honey. I know it's a bit overwhelming, but it's usually just you, me, Dad, and the boys. But, with Christmas coming up and your triumphant return," she laughed, "our family's sticking around for the next few weeks. But don't worry, only some of the family will be staying with us full time, so you'll have plenty of time to yourself and adjust. Okay?" She waited for Kova to nod. "Good. Now, let's have some dinner, okay? It's pasta night, and Grandma Bridgerton butted into the kitchen to make her special lasagna. We also have spaghetti, bow-tie pasta, and ravioli. I know you haven't tried any of these before, but we picked easy ones for you to try. Then, your Grandma just insisted on making her special lasagna, so I apologize for that in advance."

Mor smiled and giggled a little bit. "Is it bad?"

"No, no," she laughed too. "Not bad, but I've had it for so long it gets pretty hard to eat after a while. And your grandma's going to make sure you try some of it."

"Okay." Mor took Camille's outstretched hand and let her lead her to the table, second seat on the right. "Here we are."

Finnick pulled out the chair at the head of the table. "Everyone, please sit. Dinner will be served any minute."

People started taking seats, almost as if everyone had an assigned spot. Damien sat on Finnick's left, Dylan next to him. Camille sat on her husband's right, and Kova was right next to her. Thomas sat next to Kova, then cousins and aunts and uncles filed in down the line until Camille's father sat at the other head of the table. Finnick turned to his daughter. "So, sweetheart, we typically start dinner by giving thanks, then all the food comes at once. You can pick as much food as you want, okay?"