Thracian Empire

The meeting with the emperor's representative had been called rather suddenly. Theodore had assumed it would be related to the always tumultuous province of Basilei, so he was surprised when the issue was actually with Daradae. He knew that news of discontent occasionally came from the small province, but nothing as major as a potential rebellion. This fact was exceptionally troubling to Theodore because Daradae bordered Carystos; an uprising in Daradae could very easily spill into his province.

"Should I request that the emperor send legions?"

Theodore pondered it for a moment before shaking his head. "Not immediately," he replied. "I would like to take a more diplomatic approach before resorting to military force." Theodore preferred to avoid war where possible.

---

Mihael was happy to be finished with his studies for the day. His mind had kept wandering to everything except the words and numbers he was supposed to be focusing on. When he entered the front room, he was surprised to find Emmett there; that room got cleaned early in the morning so the butler was never there in the afternoon.

Emmett would soon find himself subjected to an affectionate hug. "Hi Em," Mihael greeted him cheerfully. "I didn't expect to see you here--" It was only then that Mihael noticed that his brother and stepmother were in the room as well. He fell silent, but kept his arms loosely around Emmett. It seemed like something important was going on in here.

Isabel stood in the front room where she had assembled her son and the butler for an announcement, though her attention seemed to be more on Isadore. Her hands were on her hips as she waited for his brother to show up so she could get on with it.

Mihael soon arrived and immediately hugged Emmett. "Hello, young master." The butler returned the greeting with a small smile, unfazed by the sudden affectionate gesture.

Isadore saw his mother roll her eyes at Mihael. "Mihael, stop that," he ordered, and then turned his attention her.

Isabel seemed somewhat satisfied. "I gathered you here to announce that Ms. Vandeviere will be paying us a visit shortly. I expect you both to look presentable so as to not disgrace our visitor," she said, eyeing Isadore and Mihael. "And I expect the mansion to be nothing short of spotless. We will be dining together, so the table must be set as well." She glanced at Emmett. "She will be here soon, so I suggest that you all start preparing immediately."

Isadore wasn't fond of surprises, especially when they involved his fiancee. He wasn't wearing his best clothes, so he would need to make sure they weren't wrinkled at all and combing his hair again was a necessity. "Yes, Mother," he said, taking care not to show any of his annoyance. "I will begin right away."

"Good," Isabel responded, eyeing Mihael one more time before walking away.

Emmett nodded at the woman as she passed him. Most of the rooms that the visitor would be seeing had been cleaned, so he could focus on the table settings first.

Isadore turned to his brother. "Mihael, you cannot leave your hair looking like that. You need to comb it." He knew the boy would need constant reminders or he would never get anything done.

Mihael returned Emmett's smile and then sheepishly disengaged himself from the butler when Isadore told him to stop, putting his hands behind his back. He tried to focus his attention on what his stepmother was saying. Apparently, Isadore's fiancee was coming to visit. Mihael looked rather confused; it was weird that they were only finding out about this now. Isabel was usually on top of things.

Mihael didn't get a chance to agree to start preparing, as Isabel left the room. Isadore immediately told him he had to comb his hair. "Okay," Mihael agreed, touching his hair. It didn't feel tangly. "Um... which part needs to be combed?" He then glanced at Emmett with a smile. "Oh, good luck getting everything ready."

Isadore sighed. "All of it, of course. All of your hair needs to be neat, not just one part."

This conversation between the brothers certainly wasn't unusual to Emmett; some variation happened nearly every time they were expecting visitors or had to go somewhere. He had to smile when Mihael wished him luck. "Ah, thank you. I'm sure we'll all do just fine. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Emmett headed off to the dining room and began to prepare the table for the meal.

Isadore glanced at Emmett as he went and then looked back at Mihael. "You need to change your clothes as well. Cheyenne will be here soon, so we do not have time to waste." He turned and walked away. Once Isadore arrived in his room, he started searching through his clothes.

Mihael nodded at Isadore. He thought all of his hair was neat and that there was just a messy spot or something, but he supposed his brother knew best when it came to this type of thing. He absently fiddled with the ends of it, stopping to give Emmett a thumbs up when the butler spoke. "We'll see you later!"

He followed Isadore down the hall and went into his own room. Looking in the mirror, his hair didn't look much different than it did when he had combed it that morning. Still, he ran his comb through it a few times. It didn't really make it look much different, though, so he didn't do it for long and went to his closet instead. He noticed that some clothing was slipping off the hangers so he paused to adjust those. Then he wondered if maybe he should put them on different types of hangers. He switched a few items around. A folded up piece of paper fell out of the pocket of a pair of pants, so Mihael picked it up and read it. It was a draft of something he'd written for his teacher. Isadore hadn't particularly liked it when Mihael asked him to read it over, but that had been a while ago and Mihael had forgotten what he'd said. He still needed to fix it up so he left his room and started to go to Isadore's with the paper in hand.

Halfway there, he remembered that he was supposed to change his clothes. He hurried back to his own room and quickly put on something he thought looked formal enough for Cheyenne. Then, he went to Isadore's room and let himself in. "Hey, Isa...? I just found this again, but I forgot what you said I needed to fix." He held up the piece of paper. "Oh, you look nice!"

Isadore finally decided on some clothing and after inspecting them for any imperfections, finally put them on. It was then that he noticed a loose thread on one of the sleeves. Isadore sighed and went back to his closet to search for a more suitable shirt. By the time he had decided on one and approved of it enough to put it on, Mihael came into his room. He never liked his brother barging into his room, but that was the least of the problems with the situation.

"Mihael, what are you doing?" he said with a sigh. "This isn't the time to be writing school assignments. Besides, I'm fairly certain that one is overdue." Isadore shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "And you cannot wear that to dinner. Come on, you need to change." He left his room and headed for Mihael's. Apparently the kid couldn't pick out decent clothes unless Isadore did it for him. He hoped it wouldn't take long; they probably didn't have much time and Isadore hadn't gotten to comb his hair yet.

"Overdue, really?" Mihael glanced at the paper in his hands and realized Isadore was right. "That's not good..." He blinked at what Isadore said next. "I can't...? What's wrong with it?" He followed Isadore anyway; it was easier to just change his clothes than to question his brother's judgment.

At least, he thought it would be. Isadore spent what felt like a ridiculous amount of time going through Mihael's closet. Mihael lost interest in the process when Isadore wouldn't let him help.

As this was going on, Theodore returned home from the meeting. There was a lot going on in his head but he knew that Isadore's fiancee would be arriving soon, so he had to try to devote his attention to what was going on at home. He thanked Emmett when the butler took his coat and then greeted his wife by politely kissing her hand.

Mihael perked up when he heard his father come home and darted out of his room. Emmett had barely had a chance to hang up the coat by the time the boy entered the room and happily hugged his father. "Welcome home," he said with a smile.

This was a near daily occurrence so Theodore wasn't at all caught off guard. He returned his son's hug and glanced at his wife. "When is Ms. Vandeviere due to arrive?" Mihael had yet to break the embrace, so Theodore was still absently holding onto him.

Isadore heard his father arrive and watched as Mihael ran away. "No, wait!" He groaned, wondering why the kid couldn't at least try to focus on the important things.

Isabel gave her husband a small smile when he came home, which quickly disappeared when Mihael hugged him. She shot the boy a displeased look before answering Theodore's question. "She should be here any minute now." Isabel turned to Emmett. "Have you finished setting the table yet?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied before looking at Theodore with a smile. "Welcome back, Master. Did the meeting go well?"

It was then that Isadore arrived, his expression souring at the sight of his father and Mihael hugging. "Mihael, we don't have time for this. Come back to your room so you can change your clothes."

When Mihael noticed the way Isabel was looking at him, he held onto his father a bit tighter. Theodore nodded at her response and glanced at Emmett when the butler spoke. "It certainly cleared a few things up," he replied.

Just then, Isadore arrived, looking rather unhappy. Theodore supposed that he was probably stressed over Cheyenne's visit. Before he could say anything, his oldest son reminded Mihael to get ready. Theodore gently broke the hug and nodded. "Yes, you should probably go with your brother," he agreed.

"Okay," Mihael said with a nod. He followed Isadore back to his room. Theodore watched the two leave before heading off to get ready himself.

Once the two were back in Mihael's room, he tilted his head at Isadore. "Did you find something that's okay to wear yet?" he asked. He didn't really understand why it took his brother so long just to find an outfit.

Isabel watched her husband walk off. "Butler, have you polished all the silverware?"

"Yes, ma'am," Emmett replied.

"What about the glasses?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Very well. Then go clean the sitting room." Isabel then left to finish her own preparations.

Emmett had just given it a thorough cleaning the day before, so there wasn't much to do in there. However, he knew he had to go anyway and at least try to appear to be making it look nicer. Emmett adjusted the furniture arrangement, careful not to damage anything.

Isadore continued to search through Mihael's closet. "Almost... here, take this shirt," he said, taking out a shirt and thrusting it at his brother. After a few more minutes of searching, Isadore took out the rest of the outfit. He had to rush it a little because he was worried about not getting enough time to comb his hair. "Put these on. I need to go comb my hair."

Isadore left the room and quickly went to his own. He went straight to his mirror and started to comb his hair obsessively.

Mihael accepted the outfit from his brother without question. "Oh, this looks nice," he said approvingly even though he wasn't overly concerned about what he wore. As long as it was clean and appropriate for the situation, it was fine. He shook his head when Isadore went to comb his hair; it looked perfectly fine already. He shrugged and began getting dressed.

It wasn't long after Isadore started combing his hair that Emmett would be letting Cheyenne, her mother Camilla and her bodyguard Liani into the mansion.

Cheyenne hoped this visit would go smoothly; she supposed it would all depend on her fiance's mood. She wasn't one to idly accept behaviour she disagreed with, particularly from someone she was so closely associated with.

Emmett opened the front door and held it until all three of the visitors had entered. "Welcome, everyone." He bowed politely as he greeted them. "Please, allow me to take your coats."

Isadore heard the guests arrive and tensed. He had barely fixed his hair at all, so he combed as quickly as he could. However, he didn't want to be late to receive his guests, so he had to stop before he was finished. Isadore walked briskly out of his room and to the front room, brushing his hair with his hands the whole way. "Good afternoon Cheyenne, Mrs. Vandeviere." Isadore then heard his mother approaching, so he fussed with his hair a bit.

"Hello, it is a pleasure to see you." Isabel smiled at the visitors. "May I say that you both look very nice today. Please, come with us to the sitting room while the meal is being prepared."

Isadore took Cheyenne's arm and started to walk toward the sitting room. He knew small gestures like that pleased his mother.

Cheyenne and her mother allowed Emmett to take their coats. Isadore soon approached and greeted them. Cheyenne smiled politely and offered a brief curtsy. "Good afternoon, Isadore. It's so nice to see you again."

"Yes," Camilla agreed. "It is our pleasure." Isabel then approached and Camilla smiled at the compliment. "Thank you so much, as do you."

Cheyenne echoed her mother's sentiment before letting Isadore take her arm and lead her into the room. Liani followed them wordlessly, standing next to where Cheyenne was seated with an impassive look on her face. Cheyenne knew that she was expected to enjoy the company of her fiance so she looked to Isadore. "How have you been?" she asked with a look of interest on her face.

Mihael began to grow a bit antsy when he heard the guests arrive. Events like this always made him a bit nervous, as he felt like he had to try really hard to not annoy his brother or stepmother. He waited until he heard his father go downstairs and greet the guests before leaving his room and doing the same. He wasn't quite sure where would be the most appropriate to sit so he just sat beside his father.

Isadore returned Cheyenne's interested expression with forced enthusiasm. "I have been well, thank you." He glanced at Mihael as he entered the room, satisfied with his brother for actually putting on the clothes and not making a mess of his hair. With a small smile, Isadore looked back at Cheyenne. "You are looking as lovely as ever; I trust you have been well also?"

Emmett had followed the others to the sitting room after hanging up the coats and stood in the doorway. "Would anybody like some tea?"

"No thank you," Isadore replied, glancing at Emmett.

"Yes, I would," Isabel spoke up, keeping her attention on her guests. "Do either of you want tea?"

"I am happy to hear that." Cheyenne looked down in an appropriately modest manner when Isadore complimented her. "Thank you." She lifted her gaze, hoping that it looked somewhat loving. "You look wonderful yourself. And yes, I have been very well, thank you." She nodded when Emmett appeared asking about tea. "Yes, please."

"I would like some as well, please," said Camilla. She then focused her attention on Isabel and Theodore. "My husband would like to apologize for not being able to accompany us here this time; he could not get away from his work."

Mihael found the conversation rather stuffy and had no interest in following it. He found himself looking at Liani. The bodyguard was rigid and unmoving; it was like she was part of the room. Mihael wondered if she felt left out and smiled at her. She didn't seem to notice, though.

Emmett nodded and left to make the tea. He arrived in the kitchen, where the cook was working away on the meal. "Hello, Glenn. How's it going?" he asked as he started to prepare the water.

"Hey. It's going," the cook replied, as gruff as usual. "I take it they're here? How much have they been whining for food?"

"They haven't said anything yet, actually. This all smells really good," Emmett said, getting out some cups as the water heated.

"Thanks. Heh, don't tell 'em, but I'm making a little extra. They won't want it all, so we'll get a meal," Glenn said with a grin.

Emmett smiled at the cook. "Thank you, that's very considerate."

"Hey, no reason why we shouldn't get some of this stuff, considering all we've gotta do for 'em. They don't even enjoy it half the time anyway." He stirred the contents of a pot.

"Haha, the boys do have strange eating habits, don't they?" The butler got the teabags ready and then waited for the water.

Glenn turned from his pot to face him. "Strange? Those kids are batshit nuts."

Emmett just laughed.

"Thank you, and that's great to hear. It's so good to see you... it has been a while since our last meeting." Isadore tried to sound as sincere as possible.

Isabel smiled at Camilla. "Oh, there is no need to apologize. We understand that he is very busy. My husband only just returned from a meeting, actually."

"Indeed... it's a shame, really," Cheyenne said. "What have you been doing in the meantime?"

"Thank you for your understanding. Oh, is that so?" Camilla looked to Theodore. "How was that?"

"Ah, it was interesting," he replied. "I should probably discuss it with you later, actually." He felt that the governor of Chorasmii should be made aware of the situation.

"Yes, of course," Camilla replied.

Mihael continued to watch Liani. The woman didn't even seem to be blinking. He hoped she wasn't going to pass out. "Are you okay?" he asked her. She simply nodded, her expression changing from blank to puzzled. Cheyenne raised her eyebrows, finding the whole thing rather odd.

"Oh, it has been very interesting. My father is teaching me about politics so I can I one day take over his position and work to become as successful as him." Isadore replied. He shot a quick glare at Mihael when he heard the boy talk to the bodyguard. There was really no need of it and it only made him look foolish, which was the last thing they needed.

It was then that Emmett brought out the tea on a tray. "The meal will be ready very soon, so I would suggest moving to the dining room now."

Isabel glanced at Mihael as well, but chose to say nothing in hopes that his behaviour would be overlooked. She stood up, looking at the others. "Well, shall we, then?"

The group relocated to the dining room, Isadore taking Cheyenne by the arm again. When they reached the table, he pulled out her chair for her before taking a seat next to her.

Emmett served the tea to those who had requested it. "Can I get anything else for anyone?"

"That will be all, Emmett. Please go assist the cook," Isabel said dismissively. The butler bowed and did as he was told. She then looked at Cheyenne and her mother. "So, how was the ride here? The weather has been quite pleasant, but some of those roads require a bit of attention."

"That does sound interesting," Cheyenne agreed with a smile.

Mihael wilted a bit when Isadore and his mother glared at him; he just hadn't wanted Liani to feel ignored. Luckily, Emmett showed up to announce the meal and diverted Mihael's attention from the bodyguard.

Cheyenne allowed Isadore to lead her to the table, graciously taking her seat.

"Oh, no, the ride was lovely," Camilla assured Isabel, "wasn't it, Cheyenne dear?"

Cheyenne nodded in agreement. The meal continued on in such a fashion. When the dishes had been cleared away, Theodore asked Camilla and Isabel to join him in his office in order to discuss the meeting, leaving the others to their own devices. Cheyenne glanced at Isadore. "I think the afternoon has gone well," she said. They had definitely pulled off acting attracted to each other, as far as she was concerned.

After the adults had left, Isadore was glad that he didn't have to keep up that act anymore. "Yes, I think so. They seemed satisfied enough." He ran his fingers through his hair a bit more; he had had a nagging feeling all afternoon that something was out of place.

In the kitchen, Emmett washed the dishes while Glenn dried and ate from the plate of leftovers when he got the chance. "Hey, this was a good plan. We'll eat the rest and they'll never know," the cook said.

Emmett smiled. "I wouldn't do this too often, though. They might notice something."

"It's only one plate of extra food, y'know. They don't notice what they waste. The food that this house throws away in a week could keep a couple of less fortunate families going for a week, maybe even more! Tch." Glenn shook his head.

Emmett nodded and said nothing, finishing up the dishes in silence. After everything was put away, he took a few bites from the leftovers plate. "This is delicious. Cooking really is your talent. Where did you learn, anyway?"

"You've gotta learn when you're looking after three little siblings by yourself," Glenn said bluntly.

"Oh..." Emmett knew the implications of that, so he didn't say any more.

After a couple of minutes, they had finished. "I'll get this, Emmett. They might be waiting for you to come open a door or something."

"Now, you know it's not that bad," Emmett said good-naturedly. "Anyway, thank you."

Emmett emerged from the kitchen and walked into the dining room, where Isadore, Cheyenne, Mihael, and the bodyguard still were. "How was the meal?"

"It was good." As usual, Isadore hadn't eaten too much of it, but he had enjoyed it anyway.

Cheyenne watched Isadore fiddle with his hair, looking a bit irritated. She didn't like fidgeting. "Your hair is fine," she finally said.

Meanwhile, Mihael walked over to Liani. The bodyguard hadn't said a single word during dinner. Mihael wondered if she was just shy. "Did you like the food?" he asked her. Liani nodded, but didn't say anything, so Mihael continued with an encouraging smile. "Um... what's your name?"

Cheyenne sighed as she heard Mihael trying to talk to Liani. "Her name is Liani. She cannot talk," she explained. Liani nodded to confirm it.

"Oh... I'm sorry." Luckily, Emmett emerged then. Mihael hurried over to hug him. "It was really great!" he said in response to his question. "You guys did a great job."

Isadore was going to insist that his hair needed work because he hadn't had enough time to comb it, but Mihael started talking to the bodyguard again. He shot him an unhappy look, but Cheyenne's explanation stopped the one-sided conversation. Isadore found it strange that she physically couldn't speak; he had heard of such a thing before, but it was still quite strange to him.

"I didn't really do anything to the food," Emmett said. "But I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Isadore followed Mihael over to Emmett. "Mihael, you really need to learn to behave when we have company. The job of a bodyguard is not to converse with the hosts when there are guests to talk to." He ran his fingers trough his hair a couple more times.

Mihael shrugged when Emmett said he hadn't done anything to the food. "Yeah, but still." He'd still helped, after all. Isadore then started ranting about Mihael talking to the bodyguard. Mihael bit his lip and unconsciously stepped a bit closer to Emmett. "I thought maybe she wanted to talk to someone," he said sheepishly. "Plus, she's a guest too."

Cheyenne could see this potentially escalating, as it didn't take much for Isadore to become annoyed with his brother. She put her hands on her hips. "Don't worry about it, Isadore," she said. "You are, as usual, overreacting. Liani does not seem bothered."

Isadore sighed, shaking his head at Mihael. However, Cheyenne intervened. "Well, perhaps she isn't bothered, but the problem is that he doesn't know how to act when it comes to visitors. He couldn't even put on a decent outfit before you all arrived." He folded his arms. "I had to pick it out, again." He really hoped that Mihael hadn't left a bad impression. Thinking about it, Isadore realized that he should have given Mihael some guidance; he didn't know why he expected the kid to know what he was doing. "Just be more polite when we have to speak with Mrs. Vandeviere again," he snapped at Mihael.

"He could have done much, much worse, Isadore," Emmett pointed out.

"Well... he could have done better as well," Isadore retorted.

Cheyenne sighed. While she could sometimes understand why Isadore got angry with Mihael, the boy hadn't done anything particularly out there today. It seemed strange that her fiance was getting all worked up over an outfit he didn't like and a couple of lines of conversation. "Considering what could have happened, this is really nothing to cause a scene over," she said to Isadore. It wasn't like Mihael had hugged Liani in the middle of the sitting room or something; Cheyenne would have agreed with Isadore in that case. "You're being ridiculous right now."

Mihael lowered his gaze. He didn't realize he'd done that badly today. "Okay... I will. Really. I'm sorry, I didn't even realize..." he said when Isadore snapped at him. Emmett seemed to disagree with Isadore's assessment, for which Mihael gave the butler a grateful smile.