[Kettle of fish]

***** Dale *****

Rubin slipped into the hall after Girion and hung towards the back, as was expected of him. He could tell by Girion's stiff posture that he was expecting a berating from his father. He himself couldn't think of any occurances that the king could be aware of. There HAD been that brawl last month, but he was sure that he had taken care of it fairly competently.

He glanced at his father, the king's attendant, who was watching the exchange between Girion and his father. He then fixed his eyes upon his father's hands, which where clasped in front of him, fingers twitching slightly.

Ahh... so it was a journey to...Rubin did not have time to decipher the last word when King Brand burst out laughing.

With a silent gesture of thanks, he turned his attention upon Girion, and then swept his eyes around the room - mentally cursing himself for not doing this first.

His father had continally drilled it into him that it was necessary to always look for possible harm that could come to the royal line. Rubin smiled to himself that so far, most of the possible harm had been self-induced. He was sure his father had noticed his mistake of not checking the surrounding environment first and grinned apologetically. He would have to be much more vigilant, especially now that they were leaving Dale.

By now, Girion had turned to leave. Rubin watched as the young man who would one day be king of Dale strode towards the door, the approving eyes of his father following him.

As Girion passed him, he stepped into line behind him, controlling himself from asking immediately what the letter had contained.

[ September 25, 2002: Message edited by: Kettle of fish ]