"Well done Rory." My uncle Cassian grinned down at me as he ruffled my head of hair roughly.
I grinned back up at my uncle as he scratched the top of my head.
"Thank you, uncle." I replied.
"But I didn't really do anything, I just stood there..."
I remarked. I mean all I did was stand there and do what Lord Leopold had told me to do.
"Nevertheless, you achieved excellent results. You should take pride in your own talent Prince Torryn." At the unfamiliar voice, I turned to see a slender man behind my mom. He had the same hair and eyes as her.
I bowed my head to him.
"Thank you, Lord..." I didn't know how to finish this sentence since I didn't know his name.
The man seemed to realize what the problem was, so he finished my sentence for me.
"I am Duke Savras. The Queen's older brother." He stated.
"Since you refer to Duke Cassian as 'Uncle', you may also refer to me as Uncle." He was so stiff and awkward while he said it that it made me smile. I could sense that Uncle Savras was meant more for academic study than human interaction.
"Thank you, Uncle!" I smiled brightly back up at him. I was happy to see a small smile on his face as a reply.
I was then distracted from my family by someone clearing his throat behind me. I turned around to see three middle-aged men, each holding parcels in their hands. Then simultaneously bowed their heads to me and then stretched out their arms. The man in the middle spoke for the other two.
"We greet you, Your Highness, and hope that you will accept these gifts in good faith of our kingdoms' friendship."
"Thank you." I murmured nervously after noting the way they were staring at me a bit too intensely.
Nanny Zelda and my two maids, Flora and Tabitha stepped forth to receive the gifts for me. They neatly unfolded the silks wrapped around presents and then showed them to me.
The first present was a bundle full of shimmering pearl-like jewels. I would have thought they were pearls, but from the way they were shaped, I knew they were actually crystals.
"A bundle of Reynheart's finest Pearlquin jewels, for the young prince, which were personally picked out by the prince of Reynheart." The middle ambassador said.
These 'pearlquin' jewels were really beautiful, and their shimmering quality was insane, it almost looked as if the pearlquins were moving, but it was actually just their bodies catching the light.
The other two ambassadors proceeded to give me a beautifully handcrafted dagger, that was beautifully bejewelled with silver and pearlquin. The last gift was a pure crystal statue of Ghislaine, the god of longevity, which was given to me in hopes that I would live a good long life.
Nanny Zelda, Flora and Tabitha, we're keeping my gifts in pile for me while I accepted everyone's presents. The line of about twenty people was coming to an end and I had been given so many amazing things. From precious jewels to sacred spell books, to magical trinkets, to clothes, I was so amazed by how generous the people were.
The end of the line was finally close. I looked up to see someone my age standing before me, the first kid I had seen in the line. He had dark hair, like my fathers but with very striking red eyes.
I couldn't help but smile, thinking about the possibility of him becoming my friend. To be honest I was a little worried about making friends since I was probably going to be cooped up in the palace the entire day. It was great to get the opportunity to meet someone my age.
The kid's father was standing next to him, placing a large hand on his shoulder while the boy reached out the parcel in his hand towards me and gifted me a present.
Nanny Zelda took it from his hands and unwrapped it in front of me. Inside it was a strange-looking quill. The quill's body consisted of a thick emerald-like jewel.
"This is a soothsayers quill," the kid my age began, "It is embedded with magic that allows you to write with it without having to physically hold it. All you have to do is think about what you want to write and it will write it for you."
Excitement flooded through me instantly. This pen was so awesome, imagine being able to write something by just thinking it. I could see myself using this pen everyday.
"Thank you very much." I smiled brightly, looking at the pen. I was so going to test this out right away.
The second last person in the line was a really pretty girl who looked to be around my age. She had long blonde curls with bright green eyes. She was so beautiful that I found it hard to look away. I also noted that she had to be wealthy because the clothes she was wearing looked very decorated for a child. She must have been a very high ranked noble.
She curtseyed to me and handed me quite a large parcel. When Nanny unwrapped it for me, she revealed a large and soft looking quilt that shimmered like a pearlquin in the sunlight. I noticed that the quilt had intricate patterns all
across its surface while still having immense fluff and poof around it.
"A quilt made from unicorn hair..." Nanny Zelda whispered sucking in a breath. I could tell from her expression how impressive this gift must have been.
"Thank you." I tipped my head to the girl, and couldn't help but smile back at her when she smiled.
The last person in the line was also a girl about my age. Unlike the others, she looked so frightened as if she was about to fall off a cliff or something. Her brown eyes were downcast and her shoulders were hunched as if she was trying to escape my gaze.
Her hands were trembling as she held up a small wooden box to me. She must have been nervous. She was probably worried about giving me her gift since it probably wasn't on par with the other extraordinary gifts I had been given. Since she looked so terrified I decided I would make sure to thank her profusely and make people aware that
I loved her gift.
Nanny Zelda opened the small wooden box and revealed a small golden pin in the shape of a fluffy cloud.
I looked up to smile at her and thank her, but as soon as we made eye contact she shifted her gaze down and looked a the floor.
"I-I ah..." she spoke in such a timid quiet voice that I could barely hear her.
"I dug for that gold myself..." she whispered, losing confidence in herself even more.
Wait she dug for this herself!!
I could see her hands beginning to tremble again, so I plucked the pin out of the box and pinned it onto the lapel of my blazer and made sure to smile my biggest smile as I thanked her for her gift.
"Thank you. I love it."
Her head shot up at my words and her brown eyes went as wide as saucers, filled with happiness. For a moment it looked as if she was going to cry but then she remembered herself and politely curtseyed to me and hurried off to join the other nobles.
I was left there for a moment thinking about her big happy eyes looking up at me shyly. She was really cute.
"All are dismissed from the hall!" Boomed the announcer in his most impressively loud voice yet. So loud, that a few birds got a shock from the sudden noise and dashed off into flight.
As all the nobles left the hall, I heard my mom beckoning me over. I happily skipped up to her and rested my head on her lap. Even though I had not done much I already felt pretty exhausted.
"I see that you really liked the golden pin...?" She asked more than she stated, probably wondering why out of all the amazing presents I had made the biggest fuss over this small golden pin.
"The girl who gave it to me looked really anxious, so I just wanted to make her feel more confident and proud of her gift..." I smiled up at her.
My mother looked down at me gently and brushed one of my frosty locks away from my forehead and then reached down and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
"Such a kind boy..." she smiled down at me.
I could feel my cheeks burn up at being shown such affection. I giggled happily up at her. My mother, and felt complete joy wash over me. I hadn't lived for very long in this place but I was already happy there. Truly happy.
"Rory..." my mother said with a gentle smile on her face.
"I'm proud of you."
My cheeks got even hotter and I could only smile even more.
"And Rory..."
"Yes?" I laughed eagerly, hoping for more compliments.
"That girl who gave you the golden pin..." she paused for dramatic effect.
"Is your fiancé."
Wait what?