Madeline

Chapter 14

Another month passed and the only thing to change concerning me was an impromptu mandatory dinner this evening. I wasn't supposed to attend tonight, but late in the afternoon, Rebecca rushed to my room to inform me that there was a special guest staying at the castle and that everyone was "invited" to dinner.

I was a little curious, but I wasn't sure it would be worth spending an entire evening with all those people. In the castle, dinner was an event all on its own. The process itself was long with the many courses and conversations, but apparently there would be some kind of recognition for the special guest, and then everyone was expected to stay and mingle for a while after the meal. It would probably be around three hours before it became acceptable for me to leave.

But, since these events were my only obligation here, I didn't complain. Rebecca helped me into the blue dress that I still loved and fixed my hair beautifully as she always did. The way she was rushing, I assumed I would be running late, but I arrived in plenty of time to stand awkwardly for nearly a half hour before we were invited to the table.

As usual, I was uncomfortable around most of the people in the room. If not for the awkwardness of it all, I just would have been very bored. There were dozens of conversations across the room, all centering around topics as exciting as new styles of hats, prices of horses, and recent political developments. I suppose it was possible that some people found those things fascinating, but if that was the case, it was beyond my understanding as to why they would. Typically I consoled myself with how excellent the food was.

Tonight, however, was turning out to be more interesting than I'd anticipated. I spent the first part of the evening figuring out who the special guest was. There were so many people and with everyone mingling and moving about before we were seated, it was difficult to tell who exactly was in attendance. After we all took our places for dinner, I gathered that the man with dark hair who sat near the king and other members of the royal family must be the special guest. The king seemed to be paying him a lot of attention, but even so, he just seemed out of place. Incredibly so. His movements were awkward, and I guessed it was because he felt self conscious. He wasn't dressed nearly as formally as the other men, and the thick beard on his face wasn't really in style.

Was he from somewhere outside of the kingdom? Outside of any of the kingdoms? What would prompt the king to make him an honored guest?

For once I was glad that no one was very interested in engaging me in meaningless conversation. Being ignored left me free to puzzle over the strange man at the other end of the table.

After the servants cleared away the third course, the king stood, instantly stopping the chatter and gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Friends," he said. "Let us raise our glasses to Mr. Mitchell." Indicating the man I guessed, he held up his glass and the rest of us did the same. "A friend to our dear princess. A friend to us all." He took a drink and everyone followed his lead.

The man, Mr. Mitchell seemed even more awkward as he nodded to the room, and I found myself smiling. It was so unusual to see a man so uncomfortable in this setting. As uncomfortable as I typically felt, I realized. He was even blushing a little bit under his beard. He glanced around, probably feeling like he needed to acknowledge as many people as he could in those few seconds. Even from all the way across the very long table, I could tell he had kind eyes. I'm not sure how I knew. I couldn't even see their color from where I sat. There was just something about them.

I wish that the king had said more about him in his brief toast. But after everyone drank from their glasses, the king took his seat and conversations began again. Why was he being honored? How was he a friend to the princess? How had he even met the princess?

Those thoughts occupied my mind for most of the remainder of the meal and I actually found myself becoming annoyed when the woman beside me began a shallow conversation about her dress maker. I appreciated her effort to make me feel less invisible, but all I really wanted to talk about was the man across the room. Unfortunately it wouldn't be appropriate for me to ask about him, given my position. Even if it was, I doubt this woman knew anything to tell. Still it was a nice gesture on her part to try to include me, and since I had no idea how long I'd be staying at the castle, I couldn't afford to alienate any potentially decent person. So I chatted with her about mundane things like fabric colors, and matching shoes and hats.

When the king indicated that it was the mingling portion of the evening, I was glad that I would be able to escape my conversation with the woman. After only few minutes, I realized that she wasn't being exceptionally kind. She would apparently talk to anyone who would listen, and she did very little listening herself. She never even realized that I didn't know her name. As I escaped, I noticed her latch on to a very shy looking maid, and began to point out how the meal this evening compared with the cuisine she had on her recent vacation.

Smiling to myself I went across the room, and settled near the wall with a glass of wine. I didn't like wine but it felt comforting to have something in my hands. As I stood there, my eyes were drawn to that man again. He was speaking with the prince and princess, not very far from where I stood. I hadn't intentionally done it, but I was glad that I was now close enough to tell that his eyes were a deep brown color. I also couldn't help but notice that underneath his beard, he appeared to be very handsome.

I only realized I was staring when he glanced up and met my eyes. Feeling my face warm, I quickly looked away and took a drink from my glass, forgetting that I didn't like the beverage. I reddened even more when I involuntarily made a face at the taste, knowing that he might still be looking at me.

I was tempted to discretely run from the room, but it was still too early for me to acceptably escape. Unable to help it, I peeked back at Mr. Mitchell to see if he'd noticed. Again, my face felt warm when I saw that he, in fact, had. His lips twitched before he focused on whatever the princess was saying to him.

Feeling strangely relieved with his eyes off me, I let out a breath and looked anywhere but at him.

Why was I so nervous all of a sudden? I was typically uncomfortable around almost everyone here, but I didn't usually blush so much or feel quite so inept.

And why couldn't I keep from thinking how I wish I'd seen his full smile?

It was unusual that I thought about any one person so much, especially a man. But this man seemed so strange, and I honestly felt that he was a kind person. Aside from the prince, I'd never met a kind man before. Not really. The guards were usually cordial, but that wasn't really kindness. They were only doing their jobs.

While I stood there, I spoke briefly to a few women who were passing by. One commented about my dress, another about the temperature outside, and another about some very random things that I had a hard time understanding the connection between. All the while, my eyes kept wandering back to Mr. Mitchell.

The prince had been drawn into other discussions. If I had to guess they involved business, and I felt it was fairly rude of those men. When did the prince ever get away from all of that?

However, that left Mr. Mitchell with the princess for the remainder of the evening. A few people stopped by to say a few words, but mostly they were able to talk, just the two of them, and I wondered again at their connection. The king had said he was her friend, but I assumed it would be more of an acquaintance since people like the two of them didn't cross paths very often. But they were definitely enjoying their conversation. It looked like the kind of conversation that only two friends who were fairly close could have. Where on earth had they met?

I felt myself blushing a few more times as Mr. Mitchell caught me watching him again, and before long, people were beginning to leave. It had to be the first time I wasn't one of the first people out the door at the end of one of these gatherings. But I almost felt sad at the thought of going back to my room.

The prince rejoined the princess, said a few words to Mr. Mitchell, and then left with the princess. Mr. Mitchell watched them go for a moment before he looked directly at me. I was aware of him catching me staring a few times, but I didn't realize he would focus on me after he was done speaking with the princess. Something told me he was about to come over and speak with me and I was suddenly extremely nervous about that prospect. Feeling my face redden yet again, I handed off my glass to a nearby servant and all but ran from the room.