"No, love. That teal is amazing on you." He walked over and cupped her face with his hands. He gently kissed her lips, then stepped back. She scrunched up her nose at his lukewarm greeting.
"If I kiss you the way I want to, we won't make it to dinner."
She turned back and eyed the bed longingly.
"Come on Iz, don't tempt this poor warrior, I am only so strong."
She laughed and this time when he held out his elbow, she placed her hand on it and allowed him to escort her to dinner.
She thought they were heading to the queen's chambers, but instead, he steered her down a different hall. "Where are we going?"
"We met in mother's chambers earlier for privacy. But I can guarantee you Cord has pulled out all the stops, so we're heading to the smaller more intimate dining room."
"Smaller dining room?"
Oron grinned. "The larger one is meant for balls and can seat nearly one hundred people. The smaller dining room can seat up to fifty, but the table can be shortened by adjusting the spell."
When they walked in, every man at the table stood. Once again feeling nervous and as if she were on display, she hurried to her chair. She sat and allowed Oron to scoot her chair in.
"Izzy that color was meant for you," Amelia said by way of greeting.
Meryn looked disgruntled. "My dress still wants me in robes. I'd kill for sweatpants. I had some really cool tee shirts lined up to show Aleks too."
Izzy hid her smile, but had to admit Meryn looked stunning in her evening robes. The contrast between the deep brownish-gold and shimmery pale gold made the entire ensemble look stunning. "At least they're comfortable," she said. And they were too. Nothing chafed or was too tight.
Meryn exhaled. "True."
Aleksandra turned to her. "How did you like your excursion into the city? Did you find a lot of clothes to buy?"
Izzy looked down at her hands, then up at her new mom. "I liked the Border City; they were like normal people."
Meryn brightened. "Border City."
Izzy turned to her future cohort. "Yeah, it's next to the Dark Forest where there's brownies and goblins."
Meryn stared at her. "Wicked."
"No, Meryn," Aiden started.
Izzy gave her a serious look. "Yeah, Oron said I wasn't allowed to go there." She kept a straight face and shook her head.
Meryn met her eyes and she swore she could almost hear her agreeing to sneak off to the forest with her. Meryn looked over to Oron. "Well, if Oron said we shouldn't go, then it must be too dangerous."
Izzy nodded. "Absolutely."
Amelia didn't look convinced. "Right."
Izzy turned to Meryn desperate to change the subject. "How are Finley and Feris?"
"They're good. Aiden and I got them settled in the little room next to ours. You would have thought we'd given them the moon when we told them that it was their new room." She glanced down. "Another reason I miss my hoodies, there's no room for Felix in my robes."
Izzy looked at her questioningly.
"He rides in the boob pocket to stay warm," Meryn answered. "These robes smush everything up and together, so I don't have a pocket for him. If I had known I would be stuck in these robes for an indefinite period of time, I would've brought the scarf Aiden's mom knitted for me over the holidays, she added a pocket for Felix," she paused. "Shit! Where will Finely and Feris go? I only have so much space down my shirt."
Izzy looked around the table. She was pretty sure that conversations like this had never happened at the fae royal dining table before.
Cord walked up behind Meryn and dished out her soup. "What if you had a vest with multiple fur lined pockets? Each sprite could have his own space, then maybe have a larger pocket where all three could be together," he suggested.