<h4>Chapter 79: A most akward dinner.</h4>


    The grand dining hall of the royal castle was a breathtaking spectacle of opulence with it’s crystal chandeliers, shimmering floors, decorated walls and the long borately set table. Tension was ripe in the air as the diners took their seats, each looking uncertain, almost as if they were strangers to each other.


    King Raff sat at the head of the table, his demeanor was unreadable, his thoughts unknown. Queen Maurelia sat beside him, her icy gaze the same as ever, it was filled with disdain for the man she was being forced to sit next to. It was easy to see their marriage, a union of political necessity had long been strained by mutual resentment.


    Rnd and Sigrid sat to the right of the king, exchanging nervous nces because the the arch duke, three of his children and princess Livia were at the dinner as well.


    The second prince was next to the queen and the other princess spread out. It could not have been more clear that Rina’s children were choosing to sit as far away from the queen as possible which was not far considering that they were two or four chairs away from her.


    The only chatter in the room aside from that of the cutlery was the youthful chatter of the two youngest children, a princess and a prince. It helped in subduing the palpable tension in the room.


    "Serve the meal." The queen ordered.


    The servants got to work immediately, serving the first course and the king broke the silence.


    "It is not often wee together like this as a family, now that my eldest son is married and will soon make me a grandfather, I would like to change that tradition."


    Sigrid and Rnd shared another ufortable nce, just as they guessed, they were the protagonists of this dinner.


    "Here, here." The second prince raised his wine ss and responded, sarcastically.


    The sarcasm was not lost on anyone, it made king Raff tighten his jaw instead but he maintained hisposure and raised his ss.


    "Whatever differences we all have, we are one happy....."


    The doors were opened before the king could finish his sentence and his secondary consort Rina and the fourth princess walked in.


    "Sorry we arete, father but mother was preparing a surprise for you. You will be able to see it after dinner, it is so wonderful." Princess Thssa spoke with a lilt in her voice.


    She and Rina found seats at the table, they were unhappy because they were closer to the king’s sister princess Romilda than the king. Rina wanted to be where the queen was and Thssa wanted to be where Rnd was.


    "And now we are one happy family." the second prince downed a ss of wine in one gulp.


    His words were just as sarcastic as ever, when he was around the family. The second prince who preferred to be called Galen did not like being around his family a lot, they were rarely happy together anyway. The royal family was full of scheming unhappy wealthy, powerful people.


    "Lighten up Galen, we may not all get along but we are still family at the end of the day. A divided royal house stands to fall, we should be united more than any other family in Eldoria. Perhaps, we should put aside our differences for one night and see where things lead." Prince Benjamin suggested.


    His demeanor was calm as ever and he had a smile on his face which radiated so much positivity that Sigrid wanted to punch him in the face. What was he so happy about?


    "I agree and in the spirit of that, I would like to suggest that the crown princess apologizes to princess Livia for the matters that urred in the afternoon at the Rosewood estate." Rina shot Sigrid a provocative smile.


    Rina was beaming with pride, the king had forgiven her and the princess, they would not be going anywhere. They were staying in the capital city, as long as she had the king’s ear, she was practically the queen.


    Sigrid in turn looked at the queen, her eyes shed with restrained anger. She had set the table and made the king punish these two women in public, all the queen had to was see it through but as always, her hands were folded. If it was not in her interests, she was not going to intervene. For the queen, Rina and Thssa’s public humiliation had been enough.


    "Uncle, look at my face." Princess Livia cried out and squeezed tears out of her ears.


    Everyone that hade from the arch duke’s family looked Sigrid’s way, they were like vultures, ready to pluck her eyes out and eat them for dinner.


    King Raff did not look at Livia, he shot Rina a warning nce instead, he had asked her not to draw attention to herself or show up for the dinner but here she was, unting hismands and stirring up trouble as always.


    "Did you do that?" Galen asked Sigrid.


    She shook her head, "I did noty one finger on her."


    Galen chuckled, "Too bad, if you ever get into a fight with her I am rooting for you."


    Sigridughed softly, atst, she had met a Maximus that was her style, unafraid to say what was on his mind. He did not even care that the archduke was watching them unhappily as was the king, queen, Livia and Rina.


    Rnd frowned. "Is that an appropriate thing to say to your sister-inw, brother?"


    "She is family and I am giving her support, you should be taking lessons elder brother." Galen replied, unbothered.


    Queen Maurelia stepped in with a sharp tone, "If we could all just concentrate on our tes and avoid mentioning any minor disputes, this dinner will move along swiftly and pleasantly."


    The second course was served and more wine was poured into sses, for a while everyone ate in silence but the awkwardness in the air did not dissipate. In fact, it just thickened the more they pretended.


    "So, did you break any of Livia’s teeth or was it just ps?" Prince Galen, who liked to start trouble broke the silence this time.


    To Sigrid’s surprise, Livia broke into sobs, got up and run away. Sigrid looked around, hoping to see shock on the face of others but they were calm as if nothing had happened.


    "She does it all the time, give her a minute, she will be back." Rnd whispered to Sigrid.


    The archduke was displeased and he mmed his fist on the table and growled out feebly like an aging lion which was barely holding on, "Your highness, were we invited here to listen to more on the humiliation of my granddaughter?"


    "Take it easy, you are like ny." Sigrid blurted out.


    Someone gasped and she rolled her eyes, it was not an insult, the archduke was old, if he continued mming his fist on the table, his bones were likely to break.


    "You are impossible." The archduke spat out, looking at Sigrid with intense fury. "Don’t think that you will get away with what you did, I will make you pay, not even the crown prince or king will protect you."


    Sigrid looked down and smiled, those were just the words that she wanted the king to hear.