[h3][center][color=7ea7d8]Liviana Traianus[/color] and [color=f49ac2]Aelia Hadrianus[/color][/center][/h3]
[i]“Greetings, Columba.[/i] The words made her blush. Did he… how… How did… For a second she was too flustered to respond, though she did ultimately succeed in forcing the emotion off of her face as she looked steadily up at Niklas. [color=7ea7d8]“What did you just call me?”[/color] she asked him softly.

His repetition of the word, of his too-charming tone, made a flash of irritation go through her mind, though she again masked it. He was a foreigner. He couldn’t understand that to call one a “dove” was to imply an emotional attachment… could he? After all… the dove was the favorite pet of none other than the goddess of love…

A roar and a wave of heat on her face, and Liv was startled out of her thoughts. She jumped back in shock as a man seemingly decided to turn himself into a human dragon. As reckless as the behavior was, she had to admire the man for trying to make an impression. Gods above, she wished she had the ability to do something of the sort without lighting her eyebrows on fire.

A creeping feeling up the back of her neck distracted her, and she instinctively turned back to face the arriving nobles. Ah, the delegation from Verenoblitus. The one she assumed to be the bodyguard…and also her betrothed… turned and gave her an empty, blank stare. Liv returned the expression exactly, holding her gray eyes wide and unblinking and empty, though she managed it for only a moment before someone else intervened… Niklas.

[i] "Greetings, Karma Kennen. You'll have to show me what you know, in some sparring, later, if you'd allow me. I wouldn't mind it, if you won't. Though I understand if your... duties require you elsewhere. I'm sure Delia appreciates your… companionship. I certainly would, if I had it.”[/i]

Liv could not resist the slightest snicker. Oh, goodness, but this boy knew how to stir the flames. An implication of a morally-backwards, incestuous relationship… oh that was good. The tall youth glanced back at her once more with a friendly nod, and Liv slightly inclined her head to him and gave him a tiny smile. Then she focused again on the crowd of other young heirs, watching, as she often found herself doing.

The princess of Aciras spoke to everyone, though Liv did not hear exactly what was said. However she got the gist of it as people began flooding down a hallway. She saw around her, the various princes and princesses linking arms or hands and heading what she assumed was the banquet hall. She internally wilted. Of course, they’d be ignoring her. At least no one had tried to escort Aelia… yet. 

[color=f49ac2]“Well, we could always walk together.”[/color] Aelia murmured. Though it would be imperceptible to others, she could see the flicker of doubt in Liv’s eyes. [color=f49ac2]“Better that way for both of us.”[/color]

The small girl brightened at the suggestion, and the two linked arms and traversed rather uneventfully almost all the way to the banquet hall… at which point the doors slammed open and both girls jumped to the sides, Liv narrowly missing being tackled by a… howling hyena monkey dragon… thing… in the form of an enraged, cursing Zhou. She looked at Aelia, mouthing [i]What now?[/i] the maidservant shrugged, and went to open the door for Liv, only to again need to jump backwards as someone dressed in a similar style to the hyena dragon prince burst through the door. A muffled exchange in some foreign language as again the girls hurriedly exchanged looks. They made it approximately halfway into the room, in full view of everyone, and then said hyena dragon prince and his dragon-tamer of a butler…? Came storming back in, the butler pushing through servingfolk and nobles alike, sending poor Liv sprawling. As luck would have it, she landed on the stairs from the dais, and, stepping on her dress, tumbled, head over heels, backwards down them. To add insult to injury, as she rolled to a stop, she crashed into the knees of a servant who was carrying a cheese tray, causing the other girl to fall and cheese to go flying.

Aelia, by some work of seeming magic, jumped down the few stairs and caught the tray, saving the vast majority of the cheese. Panting slightly, the girl held the tray in one hand and helped the serving girl to her feet with the other. Also during that exchange, Aelia slipped the girl a silver coin, and mumbled, [color=f49ac2]“Apologies, fair maiden. I try to train her to not go tumbling but it never seems to work.” [/color]Which earned a shaky smile from the girl.

Then she turned to Liv, who still remained on the floor, shaking. Aelia reached down and with one hand lifted the princess to her feet. The tiny girl was bright red from a combination of fury and mortification, trembling with rage, angry tears in her eyes. She marched over to the table of heirs, Aelia following close behind, and for a long minute stared Zhou down, her mouth open like she was about to curse at him, but she didn’t. Instead she took a deep breath and sat down beside the unruly prince, saying in a casual, if forced, tone, [color=7ea7d8]“If your butler is going to so ungraciously send me for tumbling practice, the least you can do is be my dinner partner.”[/color] The girl, as she lowered herself into the seat, muttered, [i][color=7ea7d8]”ingratus suus.”[/color][/i]

[hider=summary]
Liv returns Karma's stare, misinterprets Niklas's comment.
Aelia comforts Liv as all the men seem to forget about her.
They walk into the hall, constantly dodging the hyena dragon prince Zhou and his butler, and then the butler inadvertently sends Liv tumbling down the stairs and into a serving girl, who also goes tumbling and drops her cheese tray.
Aelia exercises her acrobatic lady-in-waiting skills to save the flying cheese tray. Again.
Liv is furious at Zhou but instead decides to sit next to him, while quietly fuming inside.
[/hider]