Now this was more like it. Hal whirled through the crowd, dancing and joking and putting in a smile and laugh with everyone he came across. As he moved through the crowd he came across more than one girl making eyes at him. He danced from one to the other, growing bored and moving on when another caught his eye. He could feel the buzz of alcohol working it's charms, and was thoroughly enjoying himself. He quite liked the little game of dancing from girl to girl, and he was rarely ever turned down. It wasn't that any of them really grabbed his attention, no, they were all too easy. Far too willing to fall into his arms, though they barely knew him. Besides, most of them were true women of the court. Beautiful, but little more than a pretty face. Well, a beautiful body too. Can't forget that. But outside of the bedroom, they would hold little interest to Hal. Of course, there were always the devious, user bitches as well. Snakes, wanting to ensnare him only for his wealth and status. Because of this, he kept it all friendly. He never got too close, never made any suggestive moves. Just danced, and entertained.
Unfortunately, the party was suddenly interrupted by a minor hitch. Some indignant woman had slapped a now equally indignant lord.
Good of her to stand up for herself, Hal thought. Some of the lords could be real asses.
Not that I would ever let any of them think I hold such an opinion of them. Such would be bad politics.Then Arabella ran over to him, insisting he go speak to Rivera about what happened.
Wait, Rivera? Was that her? Dammit! Hal's party mood was forced aside, irritation and tiredness taking it's place. He was low on sleep, and had been looking forward to this party. A chance to relax, not to think about any of his worries. The past week, he'd been spending far too long sorting out everything to ensure James's coronation went smoothly. Sure, the housecarl's could take care of the arrangements for the parties, but it was Hal that had to work the political circuits, smoothing tempers and easing worried minds to make sure no Lord was in opposition to James. At least, not openly.
Not as if James would know anything about that, Hal thought bitterly.
But of course, father's wisdom, as always, is infallible. Clearly, there must be some higher meaning to crowning the son that had done nothing but desert his duties since birth, the one that knows nothing of running a kingdom. Hal stopped that thought before it went any further, clearing his mind. Sarcasm would help nothing.
Hal strode towards the balcony Rivera had run to, keeping a warm, genuine smile plastered across his face, unfazeable as always. As soon as he was out of the ballroom, onto the balcony, the smile slipped.
Thank the lord that this balcony has a door. I don't know if I could keep this damned smile plastered across my face through this. He walked over and leant on the balcony next to Rivera, not bothering to mask the tiredness from his eyes. For a while, he said nothing, nor made any move to comfort her. He looked across at her, saw that she was near tears. For a moment, he softened, angry at the man for what he did to upset her. But then irritation won out, and, as much as he wanted to sympathize for Rivera, he knew that he couldn't let her get away with such an outburst. He sighed, a deep exhalation of air, then spoke. Quietly at first, but increasingly revealing of the anger and stress he felt, little of which was actually towards Rivera.
"Rivera, what happened back there? How many times have I spoken to you about this kind of thing? Whenever we force you into a dress and you so much as sip at a glass of wine, you end up yelling at some overly forward man. Once even, a woman you deemed to touchy. You know that there are already those that question your place as my bodyguard. Ridiculous, true, but all you do is give them further cause to deride you. So what was it this time?" Hal's words were whispered, but harsher than he intended. But that was the alcohol talking, and the stress and tiredness did nothing to help.