[center][h2][color=FF0000] Mai Mei of Liang [/color][/h2][/center]

Mai laughed softly at Zhou's remark about acupuncture. "I'm [i]older[/i] than you," she reminded him in a lightly teasing voice. A minute later, a small girl with brown hair accompanied by her maidservant marched over rather angrily. Mai raised an eyebrow. [i]Liviana Traianus of the Lusitanian Empire. I wonder what she wants,[/i] she mused to herself. Mai noted how the princess was glaring at Zhou. [i]Dammit, what did he do[/i] now[i]?[/i] Mai took in the younger girl's appearance, letting herself get distracted for a moment by the pretty purple wrap that she wore. If Mai was to be completely honest, the girl who accompanied the princess looked more, well, [i]royal[/i] than Liviana herself, despite the fact that her clothing was simpler and she wore less make-up. 

"If your butler is going to so ungraciously send me for tumbling practice, the least you can do is be my dinner partner," Liviana Traianus of the Lusitanian Empire said in a strained tone, taking a seat beside Zhou and muttering something under her breath. Mai opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by Zhou.

Zhou stood up confidently. "Greetings princess! You too are quite the [i]ingratus suus[/i]! How are you?" Mai internally groaned. She was tempted to stab Zhou again, although she kept her expression carefully arranged in one of mild interest. 

[i]She obviously wasn't complimenting you, you dumbass,[/i] Mai seethed silently, eyeing the exchange. The tiny princess was reported to be somewhat stubborn and very intelligent, though not physically strong. Because of that, it seemed like she was consistently de-valued by her own family. Mai thought that the emperor and empress of the Lusitanian Empire were making a grave mistake in doing so. The smartest people were always the most dangerous, or so her uncle had told her. Indeed, that had proven itself true many, many times in the past. Liviana Traianus did not look like much, but Mai was not a fool enough to underestimate her like the rest of her family did. And she certainly did not want the Lusitanian Empire as an enemy, which was why Mai decided to intervene before Zhou further insulted Liviana. 

"What Zhou means to say," Mai interjected in a wry voice laced with a slight hint of mirth, "is that he is terribly sorry for what happened and that both he and I would love to have dinner with you," Mai said smoothly, flashing the princess from the Lusitanian Empire a semi-sheepish smile, glancing pointedly at Zhou. "To be truthful, I am glad that you decided to confront Zhou. I've been dying to ask you about that gorgeous wrap all day," Mai continued, motioning to the purple silk. That part, at least, was genuine. 

[i]There, that wasn't so bad, was it?[/i] she thought. [i]If I can pretend that I don't know what the nobles at court back at home say about Uncle, Zhou, and I when we're not in the room, then I can certainly pretend that I don't want to smack Zhou right now.[/i] Liang was currently in a rather unstable situation, to say the least. There were still people who didn't want Ming Mei in power, although he was doing everything he could to improve the country in every way possible. When Zhou first barged into her life-quite literally, actually, by kicking down the door-Mai knew at once that he would despise the nobles and their conniving schemes. He was too genuine, too completely and utterly [i]honest[/i] to accept anything less from other people. She deduced that much by watching him flat-out ask her uncle what the hell was going on. [i]Anyone else would have tried to work their way into his good graces and find solid evidence to their claims before bringing it up, but not Zhou. Zhou would never be so subtle.[/i] She supposed that was one of the reasons why Ming was so fond of him. Ming Mei himself was just as blunt as Zhou, though he didn't always say the first thing that came to his mind like Zhou did. And he had years upon years of experience in dealing with the complexities of court life, something that Zhou sorely lacked.

As for Mai herself...Mai thought back to her early teens, when Ming would tell her to go by a fake name for months at a time. Mai soon lost count of all the people she'd pretended to be. She'd been Yin, the orphaned daughter of a powerful landlord, she'd been Xing Xing, a poor peasant girl, she'd been Yue, a skilled art student...the list went on. But through it all, Mai never forgot who she [i]really[/i] was. She was Mai Mei, the heir to the throne and the daughter of arguably the worst rulers that Liang ever had. Mai was no stranger to lying, but she refused to lie to herself. She knew that her parents were horribly inefficient and wasteful, and it only strengthened her resolve to not make the same mistakes when it was her turn to wear the crown. When she was traveling with Ming Mei around Liang in order to bolster support for his cause, Mai Mei was always who she was in her heart, if not officially. Mai Mei was real. Mai Mei was who she really was.

Nowadays, though, even Mai Mei was starting to become a lie. Every day for the past six or seven years, Mai had donned a mask of charm and etiquette and reticence, behaving like a proper lady should. She never directly spoke her mind; that freedom had disappeared long before Ming Mei had taken the throne, when Mai was to hold her tongue in front of invading soldiers and her uncle's enemies, keeping her head down and staying under the radar. She was to pretend that she was Yin or Xing Xing or Yue or whichever name she had taken. Reavling her true identity would have been suicide, Mai knew, but some part of her ached to scream that she was Mai Mei for the world to hear, consequences be damned. And now that was exactly what Mai did-everybody knew who she was, everybody knew that she was not Yin or Xing Xing or Yue. She was Mai, and the whole world knew. It should have been a relief, all things considered, but if anything, it just brought more pressure. Pressure to hide her feelings behind chocolate-brown eyes twinkling with mirth and rosebud lips curved up into a coy smile, pressure to always keep her expression neutral or pleasant, pressure to respond politely to thinly veiled insults and pressure to remain calm and pressure to keep her mouth shut. One step out from behind the curtain, and everything that Ming Mei had worked for could come crashing down. Mai hid her true emotions so frequently that it was now second nature. She didn't even have to think. The mask she wore was starting to become the real thing, the real Mai. Only Zhou and his ridiculousness seemed to be able to bring back the Mai that Mai wanted to be; the Mai who wasn't afraid to stab somebody if they did something stupid, the Mai who wasn't constantly watching the other people in the room, the Mai that wasn't forced to hide her true abilities with bladed weapons under long silk skirts and deep red lipstick.

The sound of Raven Aster Willow, or the princess of Aciras, speaking caught Mai's attention. She snapped herself out of her reverie and focused on the dark-haired princess. [i]What the hell are you doing, daydreaming like that? Focus,[/i] she chided herself silently. "Everyone, may I have your attention please," Raven began. The room quieted as the other princes and princesses looked at Raven and fell silent in order to hear what she had to say. "I.. I have another important announcement. The betrothals have been changed. I don't know how it happened, but it did and now here is the list." Mai felt shock and surprise flicker through her mind, but she didn't have a chance to fully process the gravity of Raven's words before the princess began listing the new betrothals. "Niklas and Mai are still paired as they were originally. Meenakshi Banerjee and Akamatsu Hiko. Amunemhet Sipar and Alva Weston. Lucian Kernaghan and Amberlyn Manera. Alexander Belmont and Julieta Aragon. Liviana Traianus and Lenwood Heath. Cara O'Brien and Zhou Xianshi. Edwin Drakewine and Elizaveta Romanova. Raven Willow and Karma Kennen. Delia Oblitus-Veren and Henry Peterson. I don't believe that the Weston Twins have arrived yet. If you have any questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability. That is all." Raven sat down again, and the room was immediately abuzz with confusion. Mai herself was at a loss. Why would the betrothals be changed so suddenly? And who in the world would do something as...as [i]irrational[/i] as that? 

There was also the nagging question of why she and Niklas remained betrothed. Mai supposed that it didn't matter. Nothing had changed, at least for her. She was still to marry the soldier prince, whatever that entailed. As for Zhou...she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. So. He was to marry Cara "chloroplast" O'Brien. Mai had absolutely no idea if Zhou had done any research at all on the other royalty, but she decided that it would be the safest to assume that he did not even know most of their names. From what Mai had read, Cara was an intelligent princess of humble origins, with a sarcastic sense of humor and a fiery temper. [i]She and Zhou are either going to get along dangerously well or end up killing each other,[/i] Mai thought dryly to herself. Speaking of Cara, Mai had yet to formally introduce herself to Niklas. She wondered if the report given to the prince of Königreich der Welten mentioned anything about her past, about how she'd been all over the country and seen things that she would have given anything to be able to un-see. Mai didn't think that it was very likely, considering the fact that she'd taken on false identities for safety reasons, but she couldn't be one hundred percent sure. Königreich der Welten was a major world power; they were bound to have sources of information about the nation where their heir's bride was from. 

Mai nudged Zhou gently. "Both of the people we are betrothed to are over there," she said quietly, gesturing in the direction of where Niklas König of Königreich der Welten and Cara O'Brien of the Celtic Consortium were currently seated. "Should we go introduce ourselves?" Mai glanced at Liviana Traianus; she supposed that it would be rude to leave the princess here by herself, so she turned and asked Liviana if she would like to come along with them.

[hider=Summary] -Mai interrupts Zhou before he can insult Liviana TOO much
-She thinks about some stuff that is 2deep4me
-Expresses surprise about the change in betrothals and acknowledges that Cara and Zhou are either going to get along dangerously well or end up killing each other
-Asks Zhou and Liviana if they wanna go over to Cara and Niklas, 'cause you know, Zhou and Mai are betrothed to them [/hider]