The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 32

"I'm still not convinced that the centerpiece should have only five dark red carnations while there are nine of the pink," Maria said to the event coordinator. The former Queen of Lyra and the coordinator for the Quinquennial ball had been arguing over the flower arrangements for over an hour.

Meanwhile Elysia had placed herself half-hazardly on the sofa so that her legs were propped up on the back of the furniture and her head hung over the edge, the blood rushing to her brain. She had been slowly picking the petals off of the carnations one by one while her grandmother continued to argue what the floral arrangement should look like for the centerpieces for the Quinquennial Ball.

Staying where she was, Elysia watched her grandmother, taking satisfaction in the upside-down image of her royal highness.

"You're going to asphyxiate yourself if you keep hanging upside down," Shade grumbled, sitting on the other end of the sofa. Elysia craned her neck to look up and over at his upside-down image. He looked ridiculous of course, sitting there on the rose pink sofa in his dark cloak, his hood pulled far over his head, hiding his eyes. He couldn't look more out of place if he tried.

Elysia was about to make a retort when her grandmother addressed her, "Elysia, you've been quiet over there. What do you think? Should there be more dark carnations to offset the lighter colors?"

Muttering, Elysia grumbled, "What does it matter, this whole thing is ridiculous."

Maria frowned and leaned towards the direction of Elysia, "What was that darling? I can't hear you when you mumble."

"I said there should be one dark color to every three light colors," she lied.

"Yes I agree," Maria said happily, turning her attention back to the coordinator.

After the flower arrangements were finally agreed upon and satisfactory to Maria, Elysia was given another task. She was to help her grandmother arrange the tablecloths in the magnificent ballroom located on the main level of the castle. The task was tedious as they had to ensure the tablecloths were perfectly balanced on every end of the circular tables. Then they had to smooth out any wrinkles and decide how many chiffon chairs to place at each table.

Normally kingdoms would make use of their highly competent staff to arrange the tables, chairs, and decor but Maria was too much of a perfectionist. She would rather spend an abundance of time making sure each detail was precisely how she wanted it than get it over with in a few day's time with the help of staff.

It wasn't until lunchtime that Maria finally allowed Elysia a break, though Elysia was sure they had spent more than a mere four hours working in the ballroom. She was surprised she still had half the day left.

Downstairs Elysia made her way to the kitchen where Sirey had a bowl of warm vegetable soup awaiting her. Shade sat next to Elysia as they ate and though he would never admit it, she could tell her guardian was relieved to be out of the ballroom. The task was boring enough for Elysia but she could only imagine how mindlessly bored Shade must have been merely watching the process.

Lately Elysia had found herself spending a vast amount of time thinking about how miserable a job Shade had. Following someone around all day, watching but never providing input must be torture for him. What about his own life? Didn't he have a family, parents, siblings? How could he possibly enjoy spending every waking and sleeping second by her side?

Elysia wanted to ask these questions but didn't want to point out that Shade didn't appear to have a life of his own. She didn't want to offend him but her curiosity was peaking. She wanted to know his background, where he came from, why he chose this career path.