[b][center]Holy Palace of the Gu'Shedal, Capital District, Manram[/center][/b]

Despite the festivities going on, and the primarily joyful air of the gathering Suthra was not enjoying himself. These types of meetings weren't really his style, and the fact that he towered above the crowd made him stand out. He was even taller than the massive royal guards the Gu'Shedal employed, and he hadn't known how to properly react when they'd given him a slightly different greeting than most other guests. He hoped nobody else had noticed, it just drew more attention to Suthra and he didn't do anything to deserve it. He was barely even royalty; Suthra would've much rather stayed back in Ulzschath, even if it meant staying around his father's family.

Currently Suthra was standing off to the side, having no desire to engage in the festivities. He knew he had to properly represent his father here, but that didn't mean he had to initiate conversation with anyone. He was already wearing a far more ornate outfit than he was used to, a robe of fine black silk trimmed with silver and a cloak of soft, silver fur in addition to a necklace and several bangles of jeweled silver, and Suthra worried about standing out even more thanks to it. But he was the son of the Grand Prince, and while that meant far less to the hanarth than to most other cultures, Napizzi didn't wish for his son to appear in just a simple robe before the nobles and royals assembled for the festivities.

Suthra's cousins, however, had no such qualms and were around and socializing with the many people assembled. Both of them were dressed in clothes as ornate as Suthra's, though theirs were more colourful than the simple black and silver of Suthra's outfit. In addition, both of them had disregarded the Gu'Shedal's suggestion that they come unarmed. Instead, Alurar wore a pair of short swords at his hip while Asurar had a greatsword strapped across his back.

Suthra didn't even notice the girl bump into the Gu'Shedal, to busy trying to not be noticed. He only realized it when he heard the response of the people assembled, and followed their gaze to where the young girl sat on the steps. At least the Gu'Shedal didn't appear angry about it, which was good.

"Oh, that's not good," Asurar said with a laugh, appearing behind Suthra and startling his cousin into a coughing fit.

"You okay?" Asurar asked once Suthra's coughing had subsided.

Suthra nodded his head, then looked up to where the Gu'Shedal and the girl were still talking, "It does not look like he's angry, though."

"The Estron may not be angry, but it still looks bad for the girl's family," Asurar said with a shrug, "How would it look if one of the governor's children bumped into your father?"

Suthra thought for a moment, before nodding his head in agreement, "True. But it could be worse."

"That means absolutely nothing, you know. It can always be worse," Asurar said, grinning again, "Anyway, you need to go out and talk to some of these people. What would my Uncle say if he found out you spent the entire visit standing in a corner?"

"He'd forgive me. He always does," Suthra replied simply, "Besides, I don't feel well."

"You never feel well," Asurar pointed out, "You live with it perfectly well, and you're much better than you were on the ship. Thank the Gods."

Suthra grimaced at the memory; it wasn't seasickness that made him ill, but rather the fact that he had caught a chill from a storm their boat had been caught in. He'd spent most of the voyage to Manram bedridden, but he'd recovered in time for the festival. Were it not for how horrible he'd felt, Suthra would've wished he could've stayed sick in bed rather than attend this party. "I know, but still..." he said, trailing off.

"But what?"

"Er..."

"Exactly," Asurar said with a smug grin, though his words were light-hearted, "Just introduce yourself to the Gu'Shedal at least."

"I will," Suthra said, "Eventually."

"And if someone talks to you, talk back to them."

Suthra gave his cousin an unamused look, "I was planning on it. Just hoping nobody bothered to talk to me."

"Suthra, let's face it. You're pretty much the tallest person I've seen so far, and everyone here's important," Asurar said, "Somebody is going to come over and talk to you. Now I'm going to go talk to someone else, so please try and enjoy yourself."

And with that Asurar wandered off in the direction of the serving table; he planned on sampling the local drink as well as mingling with those assembled. However, he didn't hear Suthra mumble under his breath "Not everyone here's important".