Marriage of Wits - Sherlock Holmes

What a Mother Wants

Around over a dozen guests all sat at a rather large dining table, chatting loudly and having dinner. At the head of the table sat Mr Kamar beside his wife. The two of them were laughing together, both adorned in the finest of silks. Beside the happy couple sat Mayra and Nyra. The two were talking amongst themselves but every so often Nyra's gaze would flicker to the man sitting across from her. These 'longing' looks didn't go unnoticed by Mrs Kamar who quietly cleared her throat before addressing the man who seemed to be stealing all her daughter's attention.
"I'm glad you could join us Mr Holmes. I know your job can be taxing. I'm sure you had better things to do," Mrs Kamar was a woman with a kind looking face, she was polite and elegant. Her hair was done up in a neat bun and she wore light pastels on her dress. Nyra was the spitting image of her mother. Same brown eyes, same shaped nose, same heart racing smile.
"Not at all. I'm more than honoured to be invited here," Sherlock replied. It was the weekend before Mr Kamar's birthday and as Nyra had said she was able to get Sherlock an invite to the festivities in their countryside mansion. If all went well here the two of them would be leaving this weekend as an engaged couple.
Mr Kamar raised his glass towards Sherlock before taking a sip. "And we are glad that you accepted our invite," Mr Kamar despite his age still seemed to have a boyish sort of charm to his face. He had a big smile and talked with great sense of valour. An attentive man who enjoyed making others laugh. Ever since Sherlock had arrived at the mansion, apart from a brief introduction, he hadn't had a chance to speak with the man alone, but Mr Kamar had ensured that Sherlock had found good company. Many of the other guests here were scholars, inventors, doctors, an interesting mix of people who were all good friends of the Kamar's. Even though Mr Kamar spent quite a while entertaining guests he always would run back to attending to his wife and the two girls.
"Nyra seems to be the most excited," Mayra spoke with a smirk on her face. Mayra had a more obvious type of mischief to her appearance. The girl was more open and extroverted than Nyra. Sherlock had noted that Nyra always seemed to be quite observant, calculating but showed an occasional amount of stubbornness. Now meeting Mayra and Alia Kamar Sherlock knew she was a mix of the two. It puzzled Sherlock slightly. Nyra had grown up clearly very close to all her family but despite it all ended up being so secretive. How did she end up working in such a dangerous occupation when she could of lived a simple and happy life like the rest of her family?
Nyra glanced over at Sherlock, letting her eyes wander up and down him before she took a sip of her drink. "Let's just say I'm quite fond of Mr Holmes," It was almost impressive how good of an actress she was but then again it was part of her profession. Everyone had been buying their little act of being in love. The two had spent around a day preparing for this. They shot questions back and forth and corroborated stories to convince others that they had been together for a while.
"I believe you helped out with a case involving Nyra's friend," Mrs Kamar said. Ever since dinner had begun, he could feel her observing the two. Sherlock recalled Nyra's warning of her mother. If Sherlock messed up and done anything to make Mrs Kamar dislike him, then their planned arrangement would be an automatic no from both parents despite whatever Mr Kamar's own opinion was. As long as he was polite and not too bold, he would be fine avoiding that.
"Of course. I was more than happy to help although it was Nyra at the end who did the most to catch the criminal,"
Nyra faked a blush as she glanced down shyly at her food. "Nonsense. I only tripped him at the end. You did all of the hard work,"
"I've told you before your far too humble," Sherlock replied charmingly.
Nyra giggled. "Yes, you have,"
The Kamar's eyes darted back and forth between the two until finally Mr Kamar spoke up, interrupting them. "When did you two first meet?" He asked cutting into his steak.
"A few months ago. I bumped into him while he was on a case and we started talking," Nyra said recalling the fake story they had come up with. They had decided to keep it simple to help make it more believable.
"I recall you being quite weary of me at first," Sherlock had been doing quite well in this ruse so far. He had decided from the start to not go overboard with anything not only because that would be too much but to save him the uncomfortableness. This whole event was just something Sherlock would never do but here he was. Luckily so far it hadn't been too bad.
"Would you blame me? You have quite the reputation," Nyra batted her long eyelashes at him.
"So do you," Sherlock replied.
"Do you meet often?" Mr Kamar questioned.
Nyra eyed her food as she nodded. "Yes, I guess so,"
"It's rare seeing Nyra so interested in someone. She usually gets bored of them," Mayra spoke with a smirk before she winced and looked over at Nyra who was playing innocent.
"Well hopefully I haven't bored her yet," Sherlock glanced back over to Nyra who had a sort of twinkle in her eyes. One of the other guests began to converse with her. She politely talked to them, nodding along to whatever she was saying. Everyone else occupied themselves elsewhere as they eat. Sherlock even had a rather engaging conversation with a scientist about forensics.