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Gauson passed a final smile Belinda's way as she left the library before letting his gaze fall back on Adalia and the cage she wrought. His brows lofted high when she said that it was she who had wrought the splendid thing, and he let his eyes trace its intricate curls once again. "To be quite frank, my lady, this entire situation we find ourselves in is a little unconventional. But t'is these sorts of events that let us evolve as people, I believe. Not everything can remain mired in old traditions!"

He glanced down at the ties in the woman's hand, then back up to her face. "Ah, my apologies, my lady! I do ramble on at times. You said you wanted to see to some business in the library, did you not? Please, by all means--I will have a servant guide you to the dining hall when you are ready." The lord smiled and hefted the cage. "Thank you again for this wonderful gift. I will see you at dinner."

With that, he turned and left the library. He'd bring the cage to his room--there wasn't enough time to properly hang it in his son's room, for he still had to wash up for dinner.

***

The dining room was a long and spacious area with one entire wall occupied by tall windows, letting in a copious amount of evening light as well as granting a view to another gardened courtyard. The Beauvraldi people were clearly fond of their gardens. The dining table itself was long and crafted from mahogany wood, its thick sides decorated with intricate carvings of roses and vines. At the head of the table in a padded chair sat Lord Nolarth Laudessagne, the master of Narnondeau Hall and all of Upper Sueldey. Next to him were his wife and children, all save Adelbard. Normally Adelbard was higher up the table, but his place this time would be sandwiched between two of his suitresses and across from the third. Most of the spots at the table were filled now with other members of the household who had titles deserving of a seat--the master of the hunt, the master of arms, the head librarian, and others.

As Sirina and Bedelia arrived, a man in a crisp doublet at the door called out their names to the people already gathered at the table. "Lady Bedelia Starsa!" he cried, his sharp voice rising above the murmur of conversation. "Lady Sirina Zelenthia!" Two servants led them to their seats. The table was laden with silver dishes, all still covered, and every place was set with plates, silverware, and fancy cloth napkins.

"My dear ladies," called Lord Nolarth in a rich rumbling voice, smiling beneath his curled mustachios. "T'is simply splendid to make your acquaintances. How are your quarters? I hope you find them suitable."

***

Meanwhile, Adelbard awaited in an adjacent corridor, waiting to reveal himself once the final suitress had arrived. His manservant, Lierney, kept adjusting the bows and toggles on his doublet. "By the gods, Lierney, how does my father expect me to eat anything at this dinner? My stomach's tied up tight as a sailing knot ..."

Belinda knew that her name was to be called but did the manservant have to 'boom' it out so that all would hear who she was? She was sure that all eyes were on her for she was the poor relation of baron and that her parents died in the tragic fire which consumed the small farmstead of Sir Starsa of the Lower Court Knights. She held her head high as she walked, her stomach started to do a number somersaults which resulted in tying itself into knots as she looked at the name cards on the table. She nearly collapsed into her chair and could only hope that Lady Sirina was being watched since her name was called out so shortly after her own.

Suddenly Belinda was being addressed with Lady Sirina about their rooms. She turned slightly pink but somehow spoke clearly in her soft gentle voice

"My room is excellent, Lord Nolarth. It is exquisitely decorated in the most beautiful colors of dusty rose and muted cornflower blue. Thank you for such a lovely bedroom."

Belinda sat there with her hands in her lap and her fingers were flexing then unflexing as if she was a cat. It did soothe her nerves some until she thought about who she was sitting next to.... then her stomach would do it's somersaulting again which made the knots in her stomach grow larger. Her eyes took in all of the faces f the people she barely knew. She would need to begin making quick sketches of various faces then add the person's name on the page. She wished that she start the sketches now.

"Thank you for your time, Lord Gauson." She smiled at the leaving man and bowed. He really was splendid, his thoughts she had confirmed were more or less the same with Francis'. He was going to become a great man someday, greater than his is now unless he suffers a downfall, but that would only be a challenge, another hill to climb. The strong do not fall easily.

Adalia turned around to address the woman that had entered, smiling at her placidly. "Come, what's your name?" She asked gently in hopes that the person would not find her rude. As she said those words, she drifted off to one of the tables and brought out her writing materials. "Could you braid my hair while I write?" She requested, placing the ties on the table for easy access and started writing the last lines to her letter.


As she wrote the last letter and signed it, she smiled. She was sincere with her feelings and hoped that her mother wouldn't take some of her letter as her usual sarcastic response. Lady Calida could take a hint afterall, so she was in good hands.

Sirina felt she had barely been seated, when she was addressed and asked how her rooms suited her. This time she remembered her manners and dipped her head in a gracious nod, lowering her eyes for a brief moment before offering a smile to the man she supposed must be Lord Nolarth.

Having just registered Lady Belinda's own response to the question she realized she hadn't really even observed much of her own room - her attention had been drawn instead to the beautiful gardens just beyond her window. "My Lord, the room is exquisit, and the view even more so. You have my gratitude for placing me in a room so near to the splendor of your gardens." Her voice was, she hoped, confidant, the tones soft, yet slightly melodic.

As she fell silent, her eye caught sight of the namecard for who would he seated between herself and Lady Belinda. So, Adelbard had been demoted from the head of the table, to sot betwixt a few ladies... she mused on this, interested to see how Adelbard would handle the situation. Though more than likely, he would already be aware of seating arrangements.

She took a quiet yet deep breath, reminding herself why she was here. Just some friendly conversation... that's all this evening requires. And of course, she could handle that. Absentmindedly she bit on her lower lip, a habit she had when her thoughts were occupied elsewhere.

She braided the women's hair.My name is blackarrow" she said. "What is your name my lady" she said she thought she sounded quite nice.

"Blackarrow." She muttered, trying to memorize her name for later use. She could feel the woman's fingers lace through her hair and felt a sense of comfort as she did so. Hardly anyone had touched her hair other than Francis, Cecilio, and Alix back on the ship, and it always felt nice to know that someone's braiding your hair, turning individual strands into a work of art. Though that may just be her own opinion, Cecilio hated it when his hair got long and she decided to braid it.

When she asked a question, Adalia snapped out of her reminiscing to answer her. "My name is Adalia Sutcliffe." She answered, unable to help but smile in amusement. She'd been using her mother's last name when she referring to herself for a month already so it felt quite odd to go back to the Sutcliffe name.
"You can call me Adalia but I suggest to add 'Lady' before it when we're with other people. Nobles especially." She added in as a note. It would pain her for someone to lose their job just for calling her Adalia; she knew that the Laudessagne family were not like the other families she had met before, but she'd rather not take any chances.

When she was done brainding her hair, Adalia stood up from her seat and plucked her letter from the table.
She turned around to adress the woman that had helped her and smiled.
"After dinner please meet me in front of my room." She said and with that she was off, walking fast but not so much that it could be considered running. Occassionally she would stop to ask questions on where to go but then she'd be off the second it was answered. She said her thanks of course, it would've been rather rude if she hadn't.

When she reached her room, she opened her door to see Cecilio sitting on her bed with her shoes in hand. He nodded at her and looked away, polishing her shoes while she changed her clothes. Once the two were out after a few changes to her hair by Cecil, they walked towards the dinning room in speed despite one of them wearing heels.


When they reached the dining room, a man announced their names upon entering. The fact that his voice was so loud didn't bother her, it comforted her actually. The loudness reminded her of how Francis shouted orders whenever pirates tried to invade the ship.
Slowing their pace, the two descended the stairs and walked towards their seats, bowing in respect to the others before sitting down.

Adalia looked in front of her, she'd be sitting across from Lord Adelbard, it seemed. It was the perfect position to watch his movements, and the fact that Cecilio sat beside her made it easier to silently reprimand him. She couldn't help but inwardly thank the heavens for putting her there.
She shifted her gaze to look at Lady Belinda, she'd seen her back at the library and found the fact that she left in the middle of two people talking quite rude, but perhaps she was just nervous, everyone felt at least a bit nervous whenever they were in foreign land. Even people like her and Cecilio who were often in different kingdoms every month. The person that sat to the left of Lord Adelbard was Lady Sirina, she hadn't met the Lady yet, but hoped that they could talk soon.
Absent mindedly she shifted her gaze to look at Cecilio who was currently looking at a low-ranking handsome man. She couldn't help but curse inwardly.Who was the one who said not to flirt with the servants, again?
She dug her heel into his foot which caught his attention. Upon the shock of pain he felt from his foot, Cecilio looked her way only for her to glare at him, an action he responded with an eyeroll but getting the message, stopped looking at the man.(Not before winking at him after he'd gotten his attention though.)