That evening, everyone was invited to the Great Dining Hall. The Queen dressed in a dazzling lavender 2 piece suit to match the color of her eyes. She could hear the laughter from the hall. 'Good,' she thought. 'They're enjoying it. I don't want to scare my guests away too quickly.' She went to her make-up room to put on some finishing touches.
Meanwhile, the guards escorted the U.S. ambassadors and Nick to their rooms in the palace. The halls were magnificent. A whole dazzling collection of diamonds and other jewels covered the walls and columns of the palace. Everything was tall and magnificent. It seemed that the corridors of the palace had no end.
Then something caught Nick's eye. Among the beautiful jewels were a set of human teeth, polished and white.
The Cartasian guards noticed Nick's attention on the teeth and explained, "Those belonged to one of her majesty's suitors."
Nick raised his eyebrows.
"He talked too much."
"Oh," Nick did not inquire about the pair of eyeballs hanging on one of the other walls.
Once they got to their room, Nick had one hour before the feast began. 'Relax,' he tried to calm himself down.
The Feast When they were cleaned up, the ambassadors and Nick walked to the Great Dining Hall. To his dismay, Nick found many of the other ambassadors and suitors to be arrogant and hostile. The U.S. ambassadors quickly found their seats and urged Nick to sit down between them. Since he didn't feel like talking with any of the other guests, Nick obediently sat down, minding his own business. He casted quick glances at the suitors and noticed that they were riled up for something, for some duel.
Just when Nick started to lose his calm, a very handsome man stepped into the Great Dining Hall. Nick guessed him to be in his late twenties, but for someone so young, he carried a very confident and regal air to him. Quickly, the man surveyed the Hall and strode towards his seat. Everyone paused in their conversation to admire this man, who passed Nick without a second glance in his direction. Nick felt like he didn't even exist.
Nick watched as the man's servants helped him into his chair. Soon, many of the other guests came up to him to greet him and express their admiration. Nick thought he heard the other guests call him Finor. Was this the same Finor known worldwide? The son of the King of Orgia, a strong nation second in power only to Cartasia? Nick had heard stories of this amazing rocketeer who had conducted many adventures into space to discover and claim new planets, but to be in his presence was captivating.
Nick felt an urge to go up to the man and express his admiration as well, but one look from the two U.S. ambassadors stopped him. Then the U.S. ambassador to his left got up to greet Finor. Now there's someone the Queen wouldn't mind marrying, he thought worriedly. What if he wasn't good enough? What if the Queen wouldn't accept him and immediately execute him? Nick began to feel knots in his stomach. He wasn't a warrior. He couldn't compare to any of these other strong, heroic individuals. He was only a boy who had a passion for music and art.
The sound of horns interrupted his thoughts. Soon, all the guests were in their seats. The Queen came out in a dazzling lavender suit. Everyone immediately stood up to greet her, including himself. She walked with such arrogance and elegance, Nick thought. But she looked frightening in a way, as if she was not afraid of anything. And she was so young!
He had never known what she looked like before today. Even though everyone knew her to be the Queen, photos of her had never been released to the countries, as if Cartasia feared that she would be recognized and tracked down. But Nick had heard stories about her ravishing beauty. Like him, everyone else stared in awe at her beauty and air. She then signaled everyone to sit down. Nick noticed that she directed her eyes to Finor immediately when she began her speech. He gulped. He didn't want to be compared to Finor, because obviously, they weren't in the same league. Finor was a dashing, powerful warrior whereas Nick was only an entertainer. Nick didn't possess the same charisma that Finor had. He sighed. Now surely, the Queen would have him executed before the night ended, Nick thought worriedly.
Before he had time to worry further, the Queen welcomed her guests: "Fellow ambassadors, suitors, and other guests, I would like to welcome you to Cartasia. My 20th birthday party will be dictated by excitement, joy and victory. I have planned many activities for the next 3 days and it shall only get more exciting from now on. I wish that your stay here be pleasant and exciting, and that you forget all your worries for one moment to enjoy with me this special occasion.
As you probably have already known, I plan to choose a special talented suitor from amongst you noble bachelors to award a rank in my palace. And should I feel content, I will consider marriage so that a king may take his place on the throne next to me. All right, enough talking. Let us feast and began our festivities.
Tonight is the night where the suitors get to demonstrate their strength and courage in many sword duels. Each suitor will fight his rival and the one that comes out alive wins." The Queen nodded to one of her warriors, who began reciting a list of the suitors' names. After reading the list of about 100 or so names, the duels began.
Contented, the Queen sat back to enjoy the food and the view. She watched as the first duel began. 'Corsak vs. Laoi.' She wasn't interested in the people, just in the duels. The 2 suitors drew out their laser swords and fought viciously. The ambassadors watched in awe at this shocking show of aggression. Other suitors, however, stared at the duel in amusement, believing that they could do much better. Finor smirked, feeling most superior of all the suitors.
As the duel continued, the Queen began to look around and really observe her guests. All the ambassadors acted as expected. They talked and laughed, showing off their etiquette skills shamelessly. Her eyes scanned the whole room and at first, rested on Finor. He was a vision, but his air was somewhat annoying. She examined him closely until he noticed her eyes on him. He stared at her and she smiled at nodded at him, giving him a false sense of hope.
The Queen did not rest her eyes on Finor for long. She continued scanning the room until she came across something else- a very young boy who had to be a few years younger than her. He did not bear the air of many of the suitors and ambassadors in this Hall, but rather, he looked inexperienced, raw and naïve although not unwholesome. He was dressed in black, which highlighted his blond hair even more.
The boy seemed out of place with her guests. He looked rather gentle, not like the brutes that called themselves the suitors. He looked dazed and sad, like he didn't want to be at this feast. His eyes, however, were focused on the duel. 'He's fearful,' she thought. She had a talent for reading people's thoughts, especially by looking at their eyes. She continued staring at his cool blue eyes and realized that he was a complex person, filled with conflicting emotions and an overwhelming sadness.
Why was he here? He was too young to be an ambassador. He didn't have the look of aggression that were plastered on so many of her suitors' faces. Rather, he had a calm, quiet serenity to his demeanor.
She didn't know how long she was staring when the boy suddenly turned to face her, as if he sensed that she was looking at him. Queen Feya didn't respond. She continued staring at him, daring him to continue to look in her direction. But as soon as he faced her, he just as quickly looked away. Queen Feya laughed and continued observing the rest of her guests.
Soon, the night was gone. The duels had halved her suitor population as expected. The day had been quiet, but amusing due to the fleeting encounter with the boy. And as she went to bed that night, she dreamed of him as her guardian angel, sent to protect her from the evil suitors. And he looked like an angel with his golden tufts of hair and nice blue eyes. It was, for her, a restful and comforting night.