Foreign Affairs ❥ lrh

Chapter Two: A Royal Encounter

Violet was long accustomed to ornate detailing and solid gold light fixtures, but there was a difference between New York old money and centuries of monarchy spoils. Even the top of the top can't meet or beat one-of-a-kind royal artifacts- including the two crowns staring back at her while she waited in the cool marble room. Her wide eyes couldn't help but hover over every jewel. Especially the small gold one, twisted around like ivy with pearls and micro diamonds.

She had gotten changed and was now dressed in what she thought to be her most refined outfit but now that she was here, she realized she hadn't done any amount of recon on the street fashion of the country, nor that of nobility. Violet's oversized white wide legged pleated dress pants Gucci belted with a baby blue silk Chanel blouse stuck out like a sore thumb among the fitted black dress pants with deep emerald green velvet suit coats that passed by her in the front hall of the palace. Being completely dressed and prepared just ten minutes early had seemed risky an hour ago- like it wouldn't be early enough, but now that she was here and had been wandering three or four steps at a time for half an hour, she came to the conclusion that no one around her was as concerned with sticking to a schedule as much as she was.

Michael stood across the room from her looking into a different glass case at centuries-old swords and shields. Violet highly suspected that he was comparing them to the ones in his favorite battle games... she couldn't recall the names of any of them and she couldn't ask him without sounding like a bad older sister who never listens to what he was talking about. It was still strange to see him dressed so formally and without a hat on. He, too, was wearing white dress pants and had paired them with a pressed, floral lilac jacket over a white collared shirt.

She turned around and paced back the way she came and looked around the now semi-familiar Ancient Tapestry Room. Out of the largest ones displayed most prominently, her favorite was of a knight on a white horse, sword in his hand with a light blue and pink sea behind them. It was a lot softer than the others. No war, no blood- just simple and elegant. Peaceful, even. It fit the architecture of this end of the palace: two story windows, marble and old brick intermixed in a way that shouldn't have looked good together but did. It felt airy and light despite none of the windows or doors being open. There was almost a breeze inside; it was magical.

In anticipation of the princes' arrival, four chairs had been set out in mirrored pairs in the center of the room. They were tall, embellished with gold and luxuriously cushioned. The entire room was drenched in different iterations of white and gold. Clean, cool and soft. To Violet, it felt like stepping out of the shower on a crisp winter morning.

When the heavy stone door covered in ivy opened, she and Michael immediately turned to face the three people entering. One of them was Bella from the carriage ride over, and the other two were the subjects of the entire trip.

The Royals.

The nervousness in Violet's throat lurched even higher and became even stronger as two princes with naturally curly hair and an air of ease around them strode through the door mid-laugh. They weren't what either of the siblings expected- no stiff funerial suits and serious expressions. Instead, the brothers were dressed in white suits with a unique cut and every hem embroidered with gold thread and lace. Tucked underneath, they had on white loose cascading ruffle blouses and matching high waisted slim silk white and gold pants. It was as if the palace walls had been reprinted onto their clothing and it was stunning. As she suspected from the photo of the royal family, Luke was indeed quite unusually tall but it was clear that Prince Ashton was the more intimidating of the two. The fact that he was also wearing a modest but noticeable crown certainly added to it.

Violet and Michael moved to stand next to each other in the middle of the room where the interview was set up to be. Their anxious demeanors didn't seem to catch either prince's attention as they strode up to them immersed in their own conversation. For a moment Violet worried that she was so nervous that her mind was unraveling to the point of not being able to understand anything they were saying but as they came closer she realized she couldn't understand because they were speaking in a different language. It wasn't Dutch or English so it had to have been Gracían.