A Servant Lost (Alys Book #1)

Chapter 17

Half way through the week, a messenger came to inform Alys that she was invited by the king to a farewell dinner later in the evening. Dreading this, Alys reluctantly put on the dress that was sent to her, and got ready to sit through a very uncomfortable meal.
Maybe if she pleaded sickness, she could leave early.

The dinner was extremely awkward. A long table was set up in a garden for the meal. King Dastrehan was sitting at the head of the table on one side, and King Lief was at the other side. Princess Jocelynn was sitting to Dastrehan's right, where Alys had sat before. Alys kept her eyes on the table and moved into the seat next to the second princess. No one acknowledged her, except that Dastrehan had made eye contact with her when she had first arrived.

Alys had no idea why she was even here.

It was hot, and the sun kept getting in Alys's eyes. She tried to force down her meal while royalty talked amongst each other about topics she could not have even tried to offer comment too if she had wanted to. Jocelynn laughed her flirtatious laugh constantly, reaching a hand now and again to rest on Dastrehan's as if they were already married.

Determined not to let this bug her, Alys kept her eyes on her plate, all the while ignoring the stare she could feel from Marniac's young prince.

The topic at the table turned from light hearted to more serious matters. It was apparent that the two kings would rather talk about such things as war and politics than other subjects. It was now mainly just the two men talking, but every few minutes, Jocelynn would cut in to the conversation and offer some useless remark. Dastrehan would just quickly smile and nod, then continue on with the conversation.

Balear came into the conversation, and shortly after Jocelynn announced "I was supposed to Marry Prince Zaiden. But thankfully, that fell through because he's second in line for his family throne."

An uncomfortable silence rested on the table. What a horrible thing to say. Everyone present, including guards nearby, knew the reason that the deal "fell through" was because the young prince had disappeared, and might possibly be dead. And to top it off, Princess Jocelynn had made a statement showing that her attachments were to power, not honour or responsibility. Marniac's Queen pushed food around on her plate, as if she were about to take a bite. A servant stepped forward to offer more wine. Jocelynn moved her cup for the servant to fill, seeming unaffected by the mood at the table.

King Lief cleared his throat, "Hopefully everything in Balear will clear up soon."

Dastrehan nodded, along with the queen and the Princess Yasmine.

Clearly, Princess Jocelynn had no shame. She just shrugged and took another swig of wine.

When the meal was over, the servants cleared the table and the two kings got back into more serious conversation. Alys excused herself, and not ready to go back into her dark room, decided to go for a walk in the neighboring gardens. Her guards fell into step some ways behind her, but Rohan remained closer to her. The two of them talked about the new baby, and how Dimia and Esme were coping. The baby was much too young to spend too much time away from Esme, so arrangements had been made for Esme to live in a room next to Rohan and Dimia's. Esme was recovering nicely, according to the healers, which was a relief for everyone involved.

The sun was still warm, so Alys headed towards a group of large willow trees in search of shade.

Not long after, Princess Jocelynn and Princess Yasmine entered the same garden area the Alys and her guards were in. Alys groaned, irritated that she could never seem to escape. As soon as Jocelynn spotted her, she turned to move in Alys's direction. Yasmine followed behind her sister. Jocelynn's gown was a soft blue with lots of cream coloured ribbons on it. It was gorgeous. It made the blonde hair wound up on her head look even more striking.