"I apologize Your Highness, I've should have realized how it would make you look," she said to him.
Tanya internally berated herself, realizing she was messing things up. 'I'll fall out of his favour even more at this rate.' She thought to herself in a panic.
"Then make sure you behave for the rest of the afternoon," Malek spat out at her.
"Yes, Your Highness," she responded.
They then went inside the lounge and went to join Zayer and Mera who were already seated with refreshments and snacks being brought by servants to the seating area.
"The place has been decorated well, I feel like I'm at home away from home," Zayer commented. "I suppose I have you to thank for that."
Tanya's eyes widened "Th-thank your, Hi—" Tanya started before she was cut-off.
"--She only did what I told her to do," Malek shut the compliment down, interrupting Tanya.
Zayer reminded Tanya of Hardik, his words were kind, but his overall demeanour was intimidating. Zayer was worse though, as he looked more terrifying and his striking snakelike eyes seemed to stare into your soul.
They then began a light conversation about Zayer's journey to Kajar and how it was.
There also seemed to be unspoken tension in the room between the two princes. Both were being formal and polite as they spoke to each other, but their eyes said something else. Zayer in particular, his eyes moved around quite a looking and observing everything. To Tanya he appeared to be a very observant person. It made you wonder what he was thinking. Knowing all the rumours about Asyire and that Zayer he was at the centre of them, Tanya understood the tension probably had to do with that.
"Might I interest you in playing a game?" Malek then offered the Asyire prince. "I've heard you enjoy playing Roku."
Tanya's interest sparked up at the mention of Roku.
"Yes, I do. you know how to play well, Your Highness?" Zayer asked him.
"I don't play it well but I'm sure I can give you a challenge," he responded.
"Very well, I'm keen to see how well you play," Zayer responded.
Servants brought the Roku game set and set up the pieces on the board.
Tanya and Mera were quiet as they sat on either side if the men and watched the two men begin the game. Tanya knew Malek played fairly well but he wasn't interested in Roku. T
Tanya watched the game and immediately caught interest in the Prince Zayer's playing technique and strategy. She could see he was a very skilled player. As he moved his pieces he was strategic and aggressively attacked. Malek was completely taken aback as Zayer continued to eat his pieaces.
His playing style reminded her of how her late father played. Whom had taught her how to play roku.
It was no surprise when Zayer ended up winning the match having successfully eaten all of Maleks pieces.
"You're as skilled as they say your Highness," Malek complimented. "Would you care for a rematch?" he asked.
"Mmm…perhaps a change in opponent to keep things interesting," Zayer said
"Whom would you want to play with?" Malek asked surprised by this.
Zayer's gaze then shifted to Tanya. "I was considering Lady Tanya."
Tanya's eyes widened in shock.
"I've heard you're a skilled Roku player," he said to Tanya.
"No, not at all," Tanya said nervously wondering how the prince of another Empire would know something like that. Why would he pick her especially when women typically didn't play Roku.
"There aren't many women that play Roku due it being a 'masculine' sport and so I'm curious to see how you play." Zayer said if he's read her mind.
Malek looked at Tanya for moment and his eyes narrowed as he glared at her.
"If you insist, then please do go ahead," Malek finally agreed but he didn't look happy.
Malek continued to glare at Tanya. She took that as a warning to behave as she played with him. His reprimanding from earlier was still fresh in her mind. As avid player of the game she was quite skilled herself.
As Zayer and Tanya began to play almost immediately Tanya noticed she would be able to beat him in the game. With every move he made she knew the best move to make to put her at an advantage. At first he was going easy on her as he promised before he suddenly and strangely increased
But she couldn't let that happen, she couldn't win against a prince. She might offend Zayer and also get in trouble with Malek for disrespecting a royal guest as well.
Lady Tanya did her best to slow down her play style and put pieces in the wrong areas.
Zayer then made the last move that finally ended the game.
"You've won, your highness," Malek said to him.
A stunned expression was on Zayer's face as he studied the board before him, before sloly shifting his gaze to Tanya.
"It appears I have," Zayer finally responded. What's with that look Tanya thought to herself did he notice something?
"Perhaps you can take Lady Mera to another and have a chat we have more pressing issues to discuss now," Malek told her.
"Yes, Your Highness," Tanya accepted the order. She then stood up and left with Mera. She took her to another wing in the guest palace. From the training she'd received as the former Crown Princess of how to entertain guests she kept Mera company.
"Wow, you speak my language very well," she complimented Tanya.
Tanya smiled at her. "Thank you," she accepted the completed.
Tanya was a quick learner especially when it came to languages. Despite not having a lot to work with in order to learn Mera's dialect she was able to learn how to speak it because it had a set of rules it followed. Most languages and dialects had a set of strict rules they followed, so as long as you knew those rules you could more or less speak the language. Mera's dialect was similar to the official Asyire language but had a different set of strict rules in terms of pronunciation of words and grammar syntax. With the knowledge of these rules, Tanya was able to restructure the Asyire language and figure out how it was spoken.
The two ladies were able to have a pleasant afternoon together. Tanya asked Mera talk about herself and where she was from in Asyire.