A Dreamer's Knight

Chapter 24 - Scaled to Size

Meals at the palace were an informal affair. There was the occasional fancy banquet, but normally food was laid out buffet-style for anyone who might wander into the dining hall. Mikaen suspected Jyle had a hand in this; in the Knights of the Star, the newest scrub ate alongside the founding knights as equals.

The banquet table was packed, save for the area around Tirinia and Teria. Mikaen feared the idestan were purposefully segregating the tigreth sisters, but soon realized that wasn't the case when Jek approached Teria. As soon as his hand touched the back of the chair next to Teria, she gave him a menacing snarl that made the idestan prince wisely reconsider his seating choice. 

Teria managed a half snarl before she recognized him. "Oh! Sorry, Mikaen. I thought you were that prat again."

"I saved you a seat." Tirinia motioned to the chair beside hers.

Mikaen gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. "Thanks, sweetie."

She rubbed his hand for a moment, affection coming off of her like a warm breeze.

"All right, you two are a thing." Teria tossed an empty plate at Mikaen. "No need to rub it in the faces of us single folk."

Tirinia made a face at her sister before leaning over and kissing Mikaen. A few idestan looked at the lovers with mild amusement before politely averting their gazes. Smiling, Teria shook her head and turned her attention back to her lunch.

"So," Teria said, "What have you two been up to all day?"

"Met the Cleftan and Wenapaj delegates." Mikaen said as he piled food onto his plate.

Teria let out a snort. "Then you met King Iniagus. I bet that was fun."

"That's one way to put it." Plate loaded, Mikaen sat back and prepared to enjoy his meal. "How about you two?"

"I went down to where Jyle trains the palace guards for a bit of sparring." Teria told him. "I'll give the Cygros some credit; they're not bad. Not great, but I worked up a sweat."

She took a bite of her sandwich before asking, "How about you, Tyr?"

"Huh?" Tirinia looked startled.

"What did you do today? Did you go with Mikaen to see King Bonkers?"

"Oh, um ... I had to go to the Center."

"Ah. Still working on that doctorate, huh?" Teria shook her head. "More power to ya. Me, I'm glad I'm done."

Tirinia didn't reply. She stared at her plate with an expression of guilt, jumping slightly as Mikaen put his hand over hers.

Teria sighed and put down her sandwich again. "Look, you might as well just tell him."

"Tell me what?" Mikaen asked curiously.

Tirinia blushed, her cheeks nearly crimson despite her white fur. Her eyes flashed to Jek, who quickly looked away.

"Ah. Later, when there's less of an audience, perhaps?"

Mikaen stared at Jek for a few moments, a smile slowly spreading across his face that was only partially from the feeling of Tirinia's gratitude spreading through his chest.

As he took a moment to spoon some mashed potatoes onto his plate, Mikaen said, "Hey, that reminds me; does the name Tyrn sound familiar to anyone?"

Jek dropped his fork. Tirinia, on the other hand, perked up considerably. "That's right! I'd almost forgotten about that! I mean, there's that Tyrn, but I seriously doubt it's him."