Snippet #1899855

Relos Zaiphar

"I can't believe you did that!"

Relos could only attempt to hid his grin at Lilla’s obvious distress. The combination of her utterly shocked (and wet) face and exasperated tone left him reeling with silent laughter. He held it in for courtesy’s sake, and so that she didn’t strike out at him for finding the situation humorous (which it truly, truly was). Yet, Relos is not one who is experienced in holding laughter in, as there is nothing normally stopping him from doing so. Therefore, it was still fairly obvious how the prince felt about the scene before him, what with the twitching corners of his mouth as he tried to hold a straight face and the slight rocking of his shoulders as his chest vibrated with contained mirth.

She started prodding his chest, putting him down as if he was a misbehaving puppy or mischievous child; yet, humor had crept into her voice as well, and it eased any sharpness it would have had otherwise. Relos didn’t say anything, not trusting himself too, simply arching one eyebrow at her as if to say ‘and, you’re surprised because?..’

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you," she said finally, with another sigh, and gave reprimanding him up as a lost cause. She went behind him then, and started pushing him into the room. He complied, moving along with her, but not before he considered planting himself there and having Lilla struggle to move him, as if he was an immobile boulder. Still, he couldn’t be too cruel to her, so he decided against it.

They entered the room, but Lilla didn’t stop, heading for her adjoining one. She turned back to him and said, still with the same mixture of sentiments as outside, "I need to change, seeing as I've got freezing water down my dress now. I'll let you come help in a minute or two."

Oh, snarky, he thought with a laugh as she disappeared behind her door. She’d let him come in, would she? Wisely deciding to remain holding his tongue, Relos just sat down on his bed, letting his back fall down onto the supporting softness.

If only his entire stay in Shigan could be as pleasant as this: not too much to worry about, someone to keep him company and amuse him, decent weather. Sadly, he knew that wasn’t the case. The start of the difficulties lay directly ahead of him, hidden within the lunch meeting with the emperor. Sooner or later, Lilla would either prove to be a friend of another hurdle to jump over. And it would most likely rain again during his stay.

For now, though: things are okay, he thought with another glance at Lilla’s door. He had to take it as it came, and if he had any feel for the emperor’s plans, it was going to come gradually, borderline slowly.

“Bah, I’m being all doomy and gloomy over just the thought of lunch with him…the emperor sure knows how to build suspense…”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

After a few moments, the door to Lilla’s room opened and she appeared again, beckoning him inside. Upon seeing her, he shook his head a bit to clear the sudden heavy thoughts, and focused once again on her. Smiling a bit, he got up from the bed and over to her.

After she shook her head at his antics a bit, she turned her attention back to the room and took stock of what needed to be done. "I don't really have much to put away...I just have to fold them and find a proper place to put them..."

He nodded, and leaned against her bedpost, trying to stand out of her way. He assisted when she called on him, moving empty cases out of the way, placing clothing in places that he was closer to than she was; but otherwise, he leaned in his spot and chatted with her, much as they had been all morning. That was the easiest thing to do with Lilla, Relos mused. She was the kind of person that you could simply talk to; you start on one thing, and naturally move onto another until you’ve talked a little about everything you could think of. And yet, it never got boring.

He was glad for the chance to talk freely this morning, for he knew that in just a short while, he would finally be put face to face with the emperor, and perhaps even the princesses. He knew that then, freely was the least manner in which he would be talking. He would have to be as guarded and precise as a military strategist, thinking over every word, weighing the impact of the things he wanted to say versus the things he should say.

At least he could get that out of his system now, with Lilla’s help.