Golden

Chapter Three: Face-To-Face

The trip to the Royal Court wasn't fun. It was a very long carriage ride, and as I'd figured, the court wasn't even anywhere inside the castle grounds. I sat silently staring out the window, my brother next to me humming a tune I recognized as the 1812 Overture. My parents sat across from us, my father appearing asleep as his eyes were closed, and my mother focusing on her beading of the shawl she'd been making for herself. I watched trees, people, carriages, and everything else fly past the window of the carriage, and frowned when we finally pulled to a stop. The scenery seemed to freeze, and my head pounded with dizziness at the sudden stop in motion. We were outside Wangshi De Hall, the hall of the Royal Court. The doors were opened by a strange looking man, troll-like in appearance but human sized. Hobgoblin? Human/troll hybrid? Whatever he's freaky.... We all got out and saw my uncle Geo standing on the steps waiting for us. He grinned and ran over. Kai was a lot like him, uncle Geo was very energetic and carefree. Usually he always wore a smile. He waved at us as he jogged up, and threw his arm around Kai's shoulders. He patted me on the back.

"Hey! What brings you here? Well met, Alois. Do I get an explanation for seeing you kiddos?"Geo laughed cheerfully at us. His laugh always amazed me, it was big and booming. Something you might think an old man with a big round belly would laugh like, but Uncle Geo was nothing like that. Geo and Kai shared the same looks, they were both very similar. The shaggy black hair that was kept unruly, the dark jeans, the classic rock band t-shirts, usually AC/DC or Guns N' Roses. They were both so alike it was almost easy to say Geo was really Kai's father. But, Geo also shared the same looks as my father in the face, with the sharp jawline and the bushy eyebrows. Kai was fortunate to not have either trait, and looked boyish, though he was buff in size. On the other hand....I didn't look like my father at all.

It was odd, in fact, I should at least have ONE attribute of my father's. I didn't. I was actually more like Geo than I was like Father. I looked like a cross between Geo and my mother. I'd always felt like something about that was....off. It never really made sense.

"Well met, Geo. It's a matter of great importance.....uh, Geo?" My father answered, and then blinked when he realized that Geo had turned his gaze onto my mother and was smiling, like some little lost puppy or a kid in a candy store.

"Well met, Minerva. Fairing well?"Uncle Geo asked her. His voice was a strange octave, and in his eyes you could see something barely identifiable. Every time uncle Geo and mom saw each other...it was awkward. They were dating at the time of Geo's match and coming of age...so it was hard. My mom doesn't really love my father, in fact, she's only with him because of the duty she has to him and the fact that she was matched to him. Geo was paired with the King's Concubine....whom he also doesn't love. This was partially why I'm scared of meeting the prince...I don't want us to not love each other. And regardless of what Kai said...it could happen. Even if the two of us wanted to be together as children. That being said....my father knows how awkward it was for them, my mother and Geo. He'd been in love with someone else entirely, so he understood...but then when he was paired with his brothers girlfriend, he had felt awful. My mother kept a stony gaze, attempting to steel herself against Geo and her feelings that were definitely stirring.

"Well met, Geo. Yes. I am fairing fine,"My mother answered. She bowed her head in respect to him. Which was normal, of course, he was a court official. And for public purposes...she had to make it seem like she didn't still love him. I glanced between the two. Geo's arm had gone stiff around my shoulders, and his body was rigid. I nudged him a bit and he snapped out of it.

"That's good. Come inside to my office, we can all talk there,"Geo spoke quickly, replacing the sadly forlorn look on his face with a goofy grin and warm eyes. I walked beside him, matching his speedy pace accurately. I wondered what the prince looked like...and how tall he was. I was fairly short, compared to most of my family. When we reached his office, he closed the door behind us. I sat in a chair near his desk and Geo sat behind the desk. My father leaned over the desk.