Remember... Ch. 08

Mari blinked. "I just saw you yesterday. Nothing's really changed since then," she shrugged. "I woke up at like eight this morning to get ready for today? That's pretty much it."

"Ah. Right."

She sighed. Had she had known that Andrew would be delayed, she could have slept for a little longer. That, and she arrived way too early as well. Definitely an extra hour or so of sleep. Or maybe she could have-

"It's usually not so bad, you know," Jaraad said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"The wait. Usually Andrew's really punctual about these things. But this is a pretty important one. He's meeting with the elven princess about something. You can probably ask him what it's about after he gets out."

"Elven princess?" Mari perked up. "Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that. Princess Allura, was it? Have you met her?"

"Yeah, only once, though. She doesn't interact with us that often."

"What's she like?"

"Well spoken, beautiful voice. She's like your height. Brunette. Pale. Nice skin. Wears a mask. That's about all I could tell, really."

"I wonder what she's doing here," Mari mused out loud.

"Dunno. Maybe just to say hi. She's been keeping to herself mostly during her stay here. I think Mark's been trying to keep tabs on her since he got back, but I'm not sure how much he knows either. Who knows, maybe she's here to seduce Andrew."

Mari scowled. "Hey!"

"Just saying," Jaraad laughed. "Political marriages aren't unusual, though I guess it's never happened between us and the elves before."

Mari looked away in thought.

"Um. I was just kidding about that," Jaraad coughed. "I didn't mean-"

"I know. But I was just thinking: Is Andrew just seeing me because our fathers planned it? For political reasons?"

"I... I'm sure he's fond of you."

"But is that the main reason?"

Jaraad sighed. "We've all asked Andrew that at some point, and he always kinda dodges the question, so I don't know. But one thing's for certain: he doesn't know whether you're doing this because your father wants you to, or because you want to."

"Of course I want to-"

"Do you, though?" He frowned. "Your father pressures you to do a lot of things, everyone- everyone that matters knows that. I know you, Mari. If you wanted to see Andrew, you'd make much more of an effort yourself."

"No, it's not that simple, Jaraad! It's not like when we were kids anymore. I don't have as much time for these things. I barely have any free time for myself right now. My father makes me do a bunch of things at the Society, and..." she scowled when Jaraad made a face at her own admittance of her father's influence, but continued. "And in my own time, there are other things that I'm interested in that I want to do too. Also, I'm helping that girl that Mark was seeing from before with magic training and... it's hard, ok? Andrew's busy too, and our schedules don't match up often and-"

"Ok, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to doubt you." Jaraad said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I just wanted to say that you should do what you want to do, without pressure from your father."

Mari said nothing, but nodded.

At that moment, the door to the meeting room opened.

A small crowd of elves walked out. One amongst them stood out. A masked elven woman with long brown hair, dressed in a regal dark blue dress walked in the middle of the crowd, followed by her three masked handmaidens. The jeweled golden tiara on her head clearly marked her status among the others. She glanced at Mari and Jaraad, acknowledging them with a nod as she walked by.

"Was that Princess Allura?" Mari asked quietly after the crowd had passed.

"Yep."

"I wonder what she looks like under that mask," she muttered.

"You and me both," he replied as he stepped into the meeting room, leading Mari inside.

A small group of clerks and ministers bowed to Jaraad as they took their leave, closing the door behind them with a loud thud.

"What was that all about?" Jaraad asked with a look behind him.

"Hello, Mari," Andrew stood up from his large velvet chair, and greeted her with a smile.

"Hey Andrew," she smiled in return.

"Jaraad," Andrew nodded to his brother. "That was, amongst a few other things, the elven princess personally inviting me to her twenty second birthday celebrations next month."

Jaraad raised an eyebrow. "Oh? But it's already the end of May. When exactly 'next month' are we talking about here?"

"In like two and a half weeks."

"Woah. Wait, didn't Locke invite you to another thing next month too?"

"Yeah. Not the same date, thank the spirits."

"Well. Hm. Have fun with scheduling all that," Jaraad laughed.

"Yeah, seriously," he ran a hand through his hair. "But don't think you're off the hook. You're coming too, you know? To Princess Allura's birthday."

"I am? Why?"

"Really? You have to ask? Alexandre's probably going to get super offended if I didn't bring like half the court to his daughter's birthday celebrations. And don't give me that look. I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of elf chicks there for you to get acquainted with."

"Ah crap. Alright, alright. And you know I don't go for elves. Anyway, I gotta run. Let's talk about this later," Jaraad sighed as he turned to leave. "See ya, Mari. Have fun today."

"Yeah, thanks. Bye, Jaraad."

With the room now empty except for the two of them, Andrew stepped forward to take her hand, and brought it to his lips. "How have you been, Mari?"

"Busy," she shrugged with a smile. "How about you?"

"Busy, and a bit stressed," he said as he led her through a different door, and arrived in a small dining room. "But better now that you're here."

As Andrew pulled out the chair for her, Mari glanced at him with amusement. "Thank you. To what do I owe this honor of being attended to by your Majesty?" She asked jokingly.

Andrew returned to his seat while servants entered from an adjacent room, bringing in plates of food. "Yeah, laugh it up," he laughed, "but I actually do want to ask you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Do you want to come to an event with me?"

"Are you talking about Princess Allura's birthday? If you tell me the date, I can probably clear it up."

A funny look crossed Andrew's face. "Well. Yes. That too. Allura's birthday celebration is going to be on the seventeenth, starting at three in the afternoon, and going until eleven at night," he paused, and looked around, waiting until all the servants have left the room again before continuing. "Actually, I wanted to ask you about something else."

Mari blinked.

"Magistrate Locke- you remember Magistrate Locke, right?" He waited for her nod before continuing. "So Magistrate Locke invited me to another one of his events again."

Mari bit her bottom lip as memories from months ago bubbled up from her mind. "Is it... is it going to be something like last time?" She asked after some hesitation.

"Yeah, just like that." He paused. "Uh. Though this time there's probably going to be more people there, what with the lack of a freak snowstorm and all," he laughed nervously. "Seriously, when was the last time you remembered having a snowstorm in October? But uh. So. Would you like to accompany me to it again?"

"Yes," she answered almost immediately. "Um. I mean, I would love to accompany you."

"Great!" He smiled as he released a held breath. "It'll be held in the evening of the last Friday of next month."

Mari nodded. "I'll keep the date free," she said. A sudden realization sent a tingling along her spine. "Would you like me to bring a change of clothes? As I recall from last time, most people had something different to wear once they were inside."

"Ah. Right. Well, if you have something appropriate, I wouldn't say no," he suggested. "In fact, I'd look forward to seeing it."

"I'll try not to disappoint you, then," she laughed with timid, giddy energy.

"Oh, you would never."

"Aww, thank you," Mari smiled. "So, how about Princess Allura's celebrations? What did they tell you?"

"Well, she's turning twenty two this year. She's going to have family here to attend her celebration: probably her brothers. King Alexandre and Queen Leila won't be able to come, obviously, so we don't have to do the whole formal reception thing for them. Depending on how her siblings might want to arrive, we'll have to arrange for that, though unless the Crown Prince comes, I don't think they care for formalities either. They'll probably enter incognito, and then give us a heads up after.

"Then, for the party itself, which will be at the embassy, they've asked us to help with the security in the neighborhood; they'll handle the actual embassy premises themselves. I'll have to talk to Jaraad and Mark about that later. And then- Err. I don't know why I'm rambling to you about this. That part isn't really important at all," Andrew laughed.

"Well, I did ask you what they told you," she shrugged, an amused grin on her face.

"Anyway, the short of it is that you'll have to put on a nice fancy dress, smile and greet a lot at people you've probably never met, and then eat some cake."

"I think I'll just skip straight to the last bit, if it's all the same to you."

"How about the first and last bit? I want some eye candy too, you know?"

"Oh as if there wouldn't be better eye candy there already. I'm sure there's going to be plenty of hot elf chicks there. Maybe drow too?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm sure they'll be there. Probably all the ambassadors are invited," he nodded. "Doesn't mean you wouldn't look just as beautiful."

"How do you know that? You've only seen me super dressed up like once, at Locke's event last year."

"Hey, give yourself some credit. You looked great last time. Definitely the best dressed one there."

"Yeah, only because no one else there was dressed in much of anything" she narrowed her eyes at the man across the table as her mouth curled into a playful smile. "You didn't tell me what that party was, so how was I to know what I was supposed to wear? Or that I should've brought a change of clothes?"

"Eh, I was actually just testing the waters with you and really hoping that you wouldn't freak out and turn me into a frog or something," he laughed. "Since that experiment was successful, we can move on to the change-of-clothes part this time around."

"Seriously? Why didn't you just tell me last time?" Mari raised an eyebrow with amusement. "What, you thought I'd say no?"

"Well..." he shrugged.

"Weren't you afraid that once I was there, I might have freaked out and set the place on fire?"

"It was a stone manor. I'm sure it would've been fine."

"I dunno. I can conjure up some pretty hot fires."

Andrew laughed. "You can have another chance to freak out and commit some acts of arson next month. Anyway, less talking, more eating! We don't want our food to get cold, do we?"

Mari blinked and looked down. "Err. What? This is a salad."

Hours later, after card games and music and even a puppet show, Andrew led her into a room that she has only been inside once before. Mark was already waiting there.

"Hey, you let a girl into our changing room," Chris complained as he materialized next to Andrew and took off his helmet. "I feel violated."

"Oh shush, you," Mari laughed and threw a balled up pair of socks into his face.

"Oh great, now she's throwing things at me and telling me to shut up! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" He flailed about.

"Yeah, Andrew," Mark sighed. "Now a girl has seen Chris change. You have defiled his purity. How will he ever face that new drow girl at the treasury now? Or that cute redhead who works at that bakery who he's been sleeping with? Or that tall blonde maid? Or arrange that threesome between her and the short little elven secretary down at the courthouse? Or-"

"Hey! That's totally beside the point. Though how did you find out about the drow? She's only been there for like three days."

Mark only gave him a smug look.

"Well, did you know I stayed over at her place last night?"

Mark raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't. Grats."

"Thanks! I fucking love drows," he smiled as his eyes became distant, remembering the events of the previous night. "Also, I love fucking drows."

"We know, Chris," Mari facepalmed. "That habit's gonna get you killed one of these days. If you ever meet a psycho one that can also produce toxins, you're so boned."

"Don't worry, I'm careful with my selection, so in the meantime, I'll just keep boning them."

"Sure, sure," Andrew laughed. "Hurry up. You have that appointment with that Weldi finance delegate. What was his name again?"

"I know I know. His name is... Karlic Humit... Humat? Something like that. I wish Jaraad could go in my place. At least he'd enjoy drinking the dwarven crap they call beer."

"Get your aide Vincent to do it for you, then."

"I already do, but I don't want to kill the poor guy, so I have to help. This is when I wish I could bring one of my elven or drow chicks along with me. At least they can process endless amounts of that stuff without dying."

"Why don't you? It's not like the dwarves don't know about you. Having a drow or an elf hanging off your arm probably wouldn't even faze them."

"Andrew. Hell, no. I'm not going to let any of my girls touch that crap they drink. It tastes like... fermented horse piss. So, no," Chris paused for a moment, and looked at Mari. "And you better not let Mari touch that either."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about that. I'm not that much of a sadist."

"You bunch of wimps," Mark shook his head. "Weldi beer tastes... fine."

"You either have no taste, or no sense of taste," Chris sighed as he opened the door leading into the hidden hallway. "See ya guys later. Send help if I'm not back by nine."

As the door closed, Mark continued to don his armor.

Moments passed.

"So what did you guys do today?"

"We had lunch-" Andrew began, but was almost immediately cut off.

"Don't you know everything?" Mari teased.

Mark shrugged. "I was just making polite conversation while you guys watch me change. In silence. 'Cus that's not awkward at all."

Andrew laughed while Mari rolled her eyes. "How about you? What were you doing today, then?"

"Important things," he smirked. "Secret things. Hey Andrew, you know that thing we were talking about that time? With that guy and-"

Andrew blinked. "Oh! Yeah, that thing with the person down at the place, right?"

"Yeah, that thing. We are totally going to need more of the other thing-"

"You guys are jerks," Mari huffed.

Mark laughed, "Jokes aside, Mari, I don't know if you've heard yet, but the elven princess sent invitations for her birthday celebrations to the Society earlier today. I'm pretty sure you're amongst the invited."

Andrew nodded, "Yeah, she mentioned that she had sent out invitations to many of the larger institutions in the city. It's going to be a pretty big gathering."

Mari frowned. "Oh huh, ok. I guess I won't be going with you to the party, then. My father will want me with him to represent the Society."

"Hmm, I suppose. I will still see you there though, right?"

"Of course," she smiled. "Though knowing him, he'll probably want me to buy a new dress for this thing. Bleh. When am I going to have time for that? Didn't you say it was in like two or three weeks?"

"Why not today?" Andrew suggested. "We can go do that now if you want. I didn't really have anything planned this evening."

"Really? But I'm so over-dressed for that," she looked down at her long dress.

"Jump home, change, and then we'll meet you somewhere."

Mari thought for a moment. "Yeah, alright. You sure that you guys don't mind? I've heard shopping with women is not one of the more fun things to do," She looked at the two men with a thankful smile.

"We'll be fine," Andrew laughed. "As long as I get to help you pick!"

-+-+-+-+-+

"Mari!"

Amaranth hair spun in the air as the sorceress turned to face the voice.

The last of Mari's students had barely left the classroom before Amanda came bursting in, skidding to a stop by her table.

"Hey Amanda! What's the rush?" She grinned at the elf's unrestrained excitement. "That eager to learn today?"

"We're not doing this tonight," she stated as she took the sorceress's hand, and proceeded to drag her out of the room.

"We're not?"

"My brother Alan just arrived earlier today! I want you to meet him, and he said that he wants to meet you too."

"Oh! Oh. Ok? But where are we going?" Mari asked, being pulled along at a brisk pace. She barely had time to wave hello to Amanda's guardians before being dragged away down the hall.

"He got hungry, so we went to a restaurant before I came here. He should still be there waiting for us. It's not far. The Happy Goat, have you heard of it?"

"Yeah, sure," Mari nodded, recalling the place. She used to go there with friends quite a lot back when she was a full time student. "It's got nice drink specials and it's close to quite a few of the girls' dormitories."

Amanda laughed. "Ha! I knew it! I knew he chose that place for a reason!"

"Huh?"

"Alan's got a bit of reputation back home as a man-slut," she explained. "He's always trying to pick up some girl, wherever he goes. I already told him to not try anything with you, and I'll whack him if he gets out of line, but he usually goes and does what he wants anyway, so don't let your guard down."

"I'll be fine. My friend Chris is like that too, so don't worry," Mari laughed. "And besides, I can always turn him into a frog or something."

"Ok. Please do that. He's such a dog, maybe being a frog would be a good change for him. I mean, I love him, but he's so infuriating sometimes. Did you know he's tried to seduce some of my guardians in the past? I've told him not to do it. My parents have told him not to do it. But he does it anyway."

"Unrepentant man-whore, huh?"

"Unrepentant man-whore doesn't even begin to describe him. He tells me about all his conquests, sometimes in lurid detail. I think he just likes to tease me 'cus he still thinks that I'm his innocent little sister." Amanda rolled her eyes with animated exasperation. "He over-shares a lot, especially when it's with more than one partner at a time."

"He sounds like Chris's long lost twin. Chris does the same to me, I think for the same reason. Just a few days ago, he came here to give me a book he borrowed. I saw him for all of five minutes, and he spent most of that time telling me how he managed to turn a threesome into a four-some. He almost forgot to give me the book because I was trying to get him to stop and go away."

"Oh goddess, I hope those two never meet."

As soon as they stepped into the busy establishment, Mari spotted him. Towards the back of the crowded restaurant, he sat on a cushioned bench facing the door, his arms around the waist of the two girls sitting to either side of him. The trio was laughing at some unheard joke when he met her eyes. He whispered something to the girls, sharing a conspiratorial look with them before the two stood up and sauntered over to the bar. The elven man himself then stood up, greeting them with a friendly smile.

"Your new friends?" Amanda asked with a teasing tone as she hugged him.

"Very friendly girls," he replied. "They wanted to learn about some Mass Conversion magic. We've arranged a private lesson later."

"Mm-hmm. I'm sure. So, Mari, this is my brother Alan. Alan, Mari Izer."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mari" Alan smiled, extending a hand. "I've heard so much about you, even while in Luminare. It's an honor."

"Hi Alan," Mari placed her hand in his, which he kissed. His smile seemed genuine, without lecherous intent, she decided. "Amanda has been very excited for your visit."