ayzrules

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

Mai had to smile at the sight of Liviana interacting with her sparrows, watching as Liviana procured a handful of birdseed and fed it to them. How sweet, thought Mai idly, and she listened to Liviana's explanation of sparrows in the Lusitanian Empire. I suppose that explains why she has sparrows in the first place! Mai said to herself, laughing silently. Mai noted Liviana's awkward, choppy speech with interest. English does not come naturally to her. I suppose that can be said of all of us here, although it seems like Fareeha and I are much more fluent than Liviana is. I do wonder why; a princess of the Lusitanian Empire should be just as fluent as a princess of Liang or a princess of Mamlakat Alssahra, considering its standing and political clout in the world. Liviana seems intelligent enough, from what I know, so it is surely not because she lacks the ability to learn. Perhaps it is because she was not taught as well as one would expect. In any case, Mai could only speculate. She did not think that she would be privy to the true reason behind Liviana's awkward speech any time soon. She duly noted how Liviana's hand went to touch something that hung from her neck-a pendant, maybe, or a locket?-filing it away for future reference.

Liviana then turned to Mai. “Princess Mai, you always move so gracefully in those heels… I have never been able to even keep my balance, never-mind move in them, and I was wondering if, if it were convenient for you, you might give me a few tips, at some point during this stay?” she asked rather timidly.

Mai smiled softly. "Of course, Princess Liviana. It would be my pleasure. I'm sure that you'll find that heels are not too terribly difficult to walk in-you just have to get used to them." Here, Mai looked down at Fareeha, who was crouching beside Liv, and her lipstick-coated lips curled up into a teasingly sly smile, as if Fareeha was a boy whom Mai was playing hard to get with. "I'm sure that you'll find that high heels have other uses as well," she continued softly, her eyes flitting back to Liviana.

"Now, you yourself will have to show me, well, your entire wardrobe one of these days, of course. I do very much adore the loose style of the Lusitanian Empire. There's something very...free-spirited about it all. Your wrap from the welcoming ceremony yesterday was to die for," Mai giggled, though the mirth didn't quite reach her eyes.

Mai sighed and sat down on the ground, her legs bent and resting to her side. She glanced at Fareeha. "So, Princess Fareeha Amari," Mai began pleasantly. "Would you care to tell us more about the snakes that you know how to handle so well, since Princess Liviana here has enlightened us with her sparrows?" Mai asked in a light voice, cocking her head to the side and letting her chocolate-brown eyes find Fareeha's.

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

At Fareeha’s comment about the sparrows Liv flashed a small smile. But at the jostling shoulder, though it was light and jesting, Rhea and Silvus took to the air with an alarmed cry. Liv calmly reached into a small pocket hidden in the folds of her dress, withdrawing a small handful of seeds which she lifted upwards. She lightly clicked her tongue, then rolled it over her palate, mimicking the cooing sounds that sparrows made to each other. Within a few moments the birds had come down to rest on her hand, and after devouring the seed, hopped into the air for a moment before settling on her narrow shoulders again.

Finally she looked back at Fareeha, brows again slightly crinkling as she constructed the words to reply. “Taming them was not my task… In Lusitania sparrows are as common to keep as dogs or cats are, in the rest of the world. There are sellers, running shops all over the big cities. So many sparrows- big ones, little ones, in as many colors as you could ask. Perfumed oils to keep them smelling sweet while they are with you. Trainers and… lessons- obedience lessons? Though I trained these four myself. They are given as gifts, by those without the financial means to give more exotic creatures to their lovers, or parents wanting to teach their children responsibility without risk of much loss.” She made no further comment, though her hand went for a moment to the gold locket that hung against her heart, then back up to pet the sparrows after an insistent peck.

She then scrambled for something else to say, and finally remembered the whole, er, dancing topic. So Fareeha had learned all this in the special forces? That was terribly… interesting. Liv’s mental assessment of Fareeha’s formidableness went up by a solid two hundred percent. Probably best to not refuse the offer. “And, as regarding the dancing, I would love to learn at some time.”

After that exchange the small princess turned to look again at Mai, who had been silent for some time now. Scrambling for a topic, she finally picked the most obvious thing about Mai’s physical appearance- at least, the most obvious trait through the eyes of a short, awkward girl. “Princess Mai, you always move so gracefully in those heels… I have never been able to even keep my balance, never-mind move in them, and I was wondering if, if it were convenient for you, you might give me a few tips, at some point during this stay?” She bit her tongue, cursing her meandering thoughts and habit of rambling- subconsciously trying to obfuscate her sentence structure and make the grammatical snaggles less apparent.

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

Mai listened to the other princesses' exchange about dancing, making no comment herself. Mai had learned Western-style ballroom dancing after her uncle took the throne, and she'd had a couple of years of training in terms of traditional Chinese dance before...well, everything, but that was about it. There hadn't been time for dancing lessons while Mai was pretending to be some farmer's daughter or some wealthy landowner's niece during the time that her uncle was trying to take back the throne.

Mai watched Liviana and Fareeha's exchange, noting the way that Liviana looked away as she talked about her own experience in dancing. Poor girl. Tenth child, mmm? I can't imagine that she got as much attention as her siblings, growing up. Why, I don't even think she arrived with an escort to the palace!

Fareeha then told Liviana how she had learned dancing, and again, Mai made no comment. She smiled politely, of course, and kept an expression of mild interest on her face, though she was picking apart Fareeha's each and every word in her head.

In any case, Liviana seemed to be appreciating the attention, from the piano playing to the dancing, though Mai could see that she was slightly flustered. Mai didn't mind watching the other two interact; it gave her plenty of opportunities to subtly learn more.

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

Fareeha Amari grinned even wider at Liviana for a long moment, before leaning back slightly, and barking out in a hearty, lively laugh.

"If you must know, Princess, I learned while I was training to be one of Mamlakat Alssahra's finest special forces operatives. You'd be surprised what some of the toughest, strongest, most badass men know. In my people's case, it's how to dance in the finest of occasions. I had always danced, and I had learned a bit of ballroom dancing from a couple tutors when I was younger, but it would be after running through an obstacle course a dozen times, after putting a thousand rounds in the firing range, that's when I learned how to dance. How to flow, and not to just move."

She gave the youngest of princesses a smile.

"I'll teach you if you want me to. I think it'd be fun, and you're just going to have to tell me how to managed to tame birds enough to have them perch on you. I can do snakes or lions, but the winged are beyond even my charm."

Playfully, Fareeha gently bumped Liv's shoulders- hard enough to be felt, soft enough to prevent accidentally pushing her.

"Whaddaya say, Livvy?"

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

At the sudden tension in the air with Fareeha's comment Liv looked up in alarm, her fingers striking the keys mildly harder than she had intended. With a mumbled apology she looked back down, focusing on the page of music without reading it, though her ears- rather than being focused on her work- were trained on the two older princesses. It seemed Mai had the situation well in hand, deflecting the comment about snakes with a comment about the zodiac, and rats, instead. Liv grinned to herself- her birth year, 2000, made her a dragon by the zodiac. She'd looked it up in a book on Liang, one day when she'd been bored, and had found it one of the most inspiring things she'd ever read about herself.

If Liv was startled by the way Fareeha moved to speak to her, she managed to conceal it. She blushed faintly at the praise, taking her hands from the keys to cover her mouth, her cheeks flushing the barest pink- her equivalent of turning beet-red. At the question about dancing the girl frowned, her eyebrows knitting together slightly as she pieced her reply together. She was silent for a moment before carefully articulating, "My parents thought it decent for my sisters and I to be instructed in dancing. I suppose I'm adequate at it, though not by any means the most graceful. But my instruction was not begun until I was nearly thirteen, so I suppose I can excuse it as inexperience." She swallowed the lump in her throat, looking away for a moment as she remembered when she had been small, asking why her sisters were getting taught to dance and she wasn't. And she'd taken the reply in the simple, thoughtless way that most children do...

It's hard to dance with a boy when he's in a wheelchair, isn't it? Don't worry, little sparrow, you'll learn someday.

She shook the thought away, glancing back to Fareeha with an apologetic smile. She did her best to change the topic away from herself, asking, "You dance very gracefully, Princess Fareeha. Where did you learn?"

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

Fareeha let out an exasperated sigh, exaggerating it a little obviously. She went back to eyes-closed swift-feet, mumbling a short, "I'ma getcha to dance someday." She kept dancing, but this time, she started edging over to where Liviana was playing the piano- rather involved, she was, in her work. As smoothly and as naturally are rain, Fareeha came alongside the playing princess with another one of her grins.

Spinning around once, she suddenly paused her activity to drop into a feline crouch next to the girl.

"And what of you, Liviana? You play fantastically, and you don't even really need the book. Can you dance as well as you play the grand instrument? I could teach you, if you don't, you know."

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

Fareeha continued to dance. Mai watched her, making no comment.

Then, Fareeha looked up, a sly expression on her face. Her wild, untamed eyes met Mai's guardedly polite ones. "The Princess of Serpents bid you and Princess Liviana a greeting, and a good morning." A pause. "And remember, Mai Mei, I always know a snake when I see one-and how to handle them."

Mai resisted the urge to roll her eyes, though the expression on her face didn't change. It's this kind of unnecessary talk that gets people killed, she thought. If I had been Casimir or Zhou, it would've been war, right here and right now. Thank goodness I'm not, though. Courtesy is a lady's armor-and her weapon, if need be.

"Oh, I'm sure you do, Princess Fareeha," replied Mai in an amused voice. "Especially the type with fangs." She laughed lightly, shifting her weight on her spiky high heels. "But I'm afraid you are mistaken, my friend. I am a rat, according to my country's zodiac-I was born in 1996. I am not sure how familiar you are with zodiac signs, nor am I very sure how interested you are in them, so I shall refrain from boring you with a retelling of how the zodiac signs got their placement."

Princess Fareeha danced away and then back again, reaching a hand out to Mai. "Come on, missy. Surely you know how to dance," she said.

Mai grinned despite herself. "Princess Liviana here is playing a waltz, if my knowledge of Western music is up-to-date. Perhaps you should ask Elizaveta Romonova to dance with you. I hear that she is quite the accomplished ballroom dancer," answered Mai in a lightly teasing voice.

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

The Princess of Mamlakat Alssahra gave Liviana a wide grin as she began playing a new tune for her. She finished the mental tune of her own, letting the verse of the song she was on play out, before switching almost seamlessly to the new cadence, always smooth and flowing in her movements. After spinning around just after falling into step with Liviana, she lifted her eyes from her dancing feet and locked onto Mai's.

With an ever-widening grin, she proclaimed, "The Princess of the Serpents bid you and Princess Liviana a greeting, and a good morning." After some moments, her expression turned slightly coy, slightly challenging, as she continued on. "And remember, Mai Mei, I always know a snake when I see one- and how to handle them."

She dropped her gaze and continued her dance, closing her eyes as she let the dance and the music take over. After several moments, she slipped her way closer to Mai, and reached out a hand to her- directly at her, despite having had her eyes closed and dancing around in circles several times.

"Come on, missy. Surely you know how to dance."

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

Princess Liviana looked up at Mai's words. Before she could reply, Princess Fareeha Amari burst into the room, and began...dancing? Mai was not quite sure until Liviana started playing again.

Mai wasn't sure how she felt about the princess from Mamlakat Alssahra. The reports had mostly talked about her time in the Special Forces of her nation and her affinity for snakes, but Mai had seen pictures and she had seen the way she'd acted at the welcoming ceremony the previous day. She's very confident, and not in the way that Princess Caterina Versini of Svearike is. Caterina has a flirtatious sort of confidence. She enjoys being in the limelight, or so I presume based off of what I've seen. If the circumstances were different, I feel that Caterina would be the type of girl to lead other boys on and break their hearts into pieces just for the fun of it. Fareeha has more of a...how would you say this in English? The way she walks with her head held high has a certain quality to it. It is not a swagger, I would say, but more of the way one would walk if they were on top of the world and they knew it. There's even a touch of arrogance in the way she holds herself-not enough to be very noticeable, but it is definitely there. I am sure she has her reasons for behaving in this manner, given her background and upbringing, but I would be careful, if I were her. Arrogance, even the tiniest hint of it, is a dangerous trait.

Fareeha seemed sane enough, though, which was a start. And Mai could appreciate her liveliness and spontaneity, although it was rather improper. Nobody would ever say a thing about it to her face, Mai thought wryly. They'd just come off as horribly prissy.

Mai watched the other princess dance, her expression carefully arranged in one of light amusement mixed with a hint of curiosity. Mai raised her eyebrows and parted her lips ever-so-slightly, tilting her head to the side. She giggled. "Oh my!" she exclaimed to herself, her eyes following the erratic movements of the copper-skinned princess.

The Royal Potato (aka When Royalty Collides but not really)

Liv looked up slowly from her sheet music at the soft sound from the doorway, and half-turned on the piano bench to see Mai, as graceful as ever, step into the room. As ever the other princess wore a designer dress, a bold shade of red that flared prettily out from the waist, high heels that could kill, and perfect, glossy-red lipstick. She was just so... pretty. And perfect. Liv brought her hand to her shoulder, self-consciously smoothing the pale pink chiffon that comprised the top layer of her dress, and getting lightly pecked by a sparrow for her efforts.

"You play very well." The other princess said with a smile. Gods, even her /words/ were eloquent.

Liv hesitated for a moment, forming a sentence in her head. English grammar was just so strange. In Latin you could have the words anywhere, though convention said the verb had to go last. But people would still figure out what you meant whether you had it first, last, or in the middle, and the nouns could be in any order. It made the careful- but at times contradictory- nature of English syntax nearly impossible for poor Liv, who spent about five seconds forming the words and had just given herself enough tentative confidence to speak them when she was interrupted by a louder voice from the door.

Fareeha Amari danced through the door, shoeless- wait, no, those were.... riding boots? by the door. And a pair of fancier flats in her hand. Her hair was mussed, bare skin flushed, presumedly from exertion. She spoke loudly- aaand then she burst into a dance of her own. Liv tried to read her lips but found she didn't know what the song was... but Fareeha had requested another song... so Liv picked a dance, at random, one that had a tempo vaguely in time with Fareeha's steps. Of course it happened to be a waltz so the cadence was ever so slightly off, the emphasis being on every third, rather than every fourth, step, but it still was a decent enough song for an impromptu dance party. Hopefully.