Itana Royal Palace, Tirisano
August 18th, 2014
The royal garden party to celebrate Tirisano's Independence Day was proving to be a success, even without the presence of the Princess Royale. Despite his misgivings about what had occurred in the stables, Prince Julius was a gracious host, enjoying conversing with everyone from an artisan baker to his closest friend. By the time Dru's absence was being noted, Duke Oliver Stuart had already made his way over to where his sons were politely declining the flirtations of various hopeful young women. He lowered his voice as he told them what had happened to delay the princess, hiding his lips behind his wine glass. "Don't react openly," he warned his youngest son quietly. "She'll be here in a few minutes, you can satisfy yourself as to her safety then."
Josh's reaction was more obvious than his brother's, who not only was a little older and wiser and had learned to take things in stride, but who also wasn't romantically entangled with the Princess. James was, in fact, not romantically entangled with anyone at the moment, though his father kept reminding him that it was high time he got serious and settled down. The truth of the matter wasn't so much about sowing his oats but about finding the right woman to settle down with. A hopeless romantic, he wanted to marry for love and had resisted all attempts at an obviously pre-planned and arranged coupling.
"She'll be fine," James, the elder son, assured his younger brother with a touch to his shoulder. He nodded politely to one of many young ladies who tried to catch his eye as she walked by. Though he had yet to settle down, he was not opposed to a little flirtation here and there. He was, after all, the country's most eligible and probably most sought after bachelor.
Despite his abilities as an actor, Josh was obviously having a hard time hiding his worries about Dru. He'd been worried about her all day and only when they finally thought the danger had passed, did it rear its ugly head. Thankfully, she was safe, but he'd been on pins and needles all day and he couldn't see her again soon enough to make sure she was truly all right. "How am I supposed to react, Dad?" Josh countered. He thought he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.
"When the romance is outed, you're allowed to show concern openly," the duke told him, every word delivered from between lips that weren't moving. He'd had a lot of practice avoiding lip-readers in his lifetime. "For now, you need to hold it in a little. I have no doubt that time has already been set aside for you to spend alone with the princess after the party is over." He glanced to his elder son. "James, do try not to make every woman here swoon at the thought of a smile from you," he suggested with wry amusement. "You should already have children, you know. Your mother, gods rest her, would have made certain of it by now."
"It's rather fun making women swoon, Father," Jamie, as he was called by his closest friends and family, remarked with a smirk and a sly wink at a passing beauty. His name had been linked to several eligible and respectable young women in recent months, and yet, nothing serious had come of any of them. "There's plenty of time for marriage and children. I just need to find the right woman."
Josh had grown quiet, obviously worried about Dru, though he had not yet taken to hand wringing or pacing the floor.
James bumped his shoulder and nodded over at a particularly pretty redhead who was eying them both. "That's Lady Katherine. She's been asking about you. If you weren't already attached, I'd introduce you. Perhaps I should just go and entertain her myself."
"Or you could follow through on a promise you've been making for months and talk to the museum representatives here about loaning some of our portraits to their gallery for an exhibition," their father pointed out, quite happy to curtail Jamie's philandering out of sheer fun. His hand gently squeezed Josh's shoulder, his head jerking toward the gravel path from the palace, down which a certain princess was advancing with her aide and bodyguard, moving to greet her uncle and apologize for her lateness.
"Such dull work," Jamie replied with a long-suffering sigh. It wasn't that he didn't take his duties seriously - he did - but it was a party and he was looking forward to having a little fun. "Very well, Father," he agreed reluctantly. Though he would have rather spent time with Lady Katherine, he was at least an obedient son who always did what his father asked. "Poor Lady Katherine will just have to wait," he remarked. He flashed a grin as he saw Drusilla approaching. "There, brother," he leaned in to whisper, keeping his voice down so no one caught his words but Josh and possibly their father. "Your lady love has arrived, unharmed." He patted his brother on the shoulder. "Try not to drool," he warned with a wink, and then he was heading off to find the museum representatives his father so wanted him to chat with.
Of course, when Jamie realized that one of those representatives was a lady herself, he might swallow his words somewhat, but until then, Duke Oliver was amused by the fact that his eldest son seemed to think these negotiations were going to be held with the elderly couple who managed the museum themselves. He glanced toward the Prince and his heir, reassuring himself that Dru had come to no harm, fully expecting either Josh to work his way toward her, or for her to come toward them. He didn't have to wait long to find out which - after greeting her uncle and speaking briefly with those he was talking to, Dru claimed a glass of wine and began her first circuit of the guests, slowly but surely making her way toward them.
Josh knew the princess well enough to know she'd been shaken by the day's events, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. The clues were so slight that he doubted anyone would notice them but himself and her uncle. It took all his self-control to remain patiently rooted to the place and not to stare as she wound her way through the crowd toward them, greeting guests and making everyone feel welcome. Josh was trying hard not to betray his true feelings, but the set of his jaw and the frown on his face indicated, at least to her, how worried he'd been.
As Dru reached then, the duke stepped to the side to greet her with a smile and a courteous incline of his head. "A day of triumphs, it would seem, your highness," he said calmly. "Your studies abroad suit you well, I think. You are every bit as lovely as you've been promising to be for years now."
Dru blushed at the overflow of charm from the duke, laughing a little of her tension out as she took a sip of her wine. "And you, your grace, are as much a rogue as your eldest son," she countered his compliments, drawing a loud laugh from the older man. Under cover of the duke's laughter, her eyes turned to Josh, trying to reassure him without words that she was all right, on the whole.
Thankfully, it was Josh who had won the princess' heart, not his fickle older brother with the roving eye. The elder brother's name might have been suggested by some who liked to play at making matches, but for all of Jamie's fondness for women, he took his duties as heir to the Duchy of Roslae seriously. "Greetings, highness," Josh offered a small formal bow, as was expected of him, reaching for her hand to bring it to his lips, well aware of the body language that was trying to reassure him.
The royal garden party to celebrate Tirisano's Independence Day was proving to be a success, even without the presence of the Princess Royale. Despite his misgivings about what had occurred in the stables, Prince Julius was a gracious host, enjoying conversing with everyone from an artisan baker to his closest friend. By the time Dru's absence was being noted, Duke Oliver Stuart had already made his way over to where his sons were politely declining the flirtations of various hopeful young women. He lowered his voice as he told them what had happened to delay the princess, hiding his lips behind his wine glass. "Don't react openly," he warned his youngest son quietly. "She'll be here in a few minutes, you can satisfy yourself as to her safety then."
Josh's reaction was more obvious than his brother's, who not only was a little older and wiser and had learned to take things in stride, but who also wasn't romantically entangled with the Princess. James was, in fact, not romantically entangled with anyone at the moment, though his father kept reminding him that it was high time he got serious and settled down. The truth of the matter wasn't so much about sowing his oats but about finding the right woman to settle down with. A hopeless romantic, he wanted to marry for love and had resisted all attempts at an obviously pre-planned and arranged coupling.
"She'll be fine," James, the elder son, assured his younger brother with a touch to his shoulder. He nodded politely to one of many young ladies who tried to catch his eye as she walked by. Though he had yet to settle down, he was not opposed to a little flirtation here and there. He was, after all, the country's most eligible and probably most sought after bachelor.
Despite his abilities as an actor, Josh was obviously having a hard time hiding his worries about Dru. He'd been worried about her all day and only when they finally thought the danger had passed, did it rear its ugly head. Thankfully, she was safe, but he'd been on pins and needles all day and he couldn't see her again soon enough to make sure she was truly all right. "How am I supposed to react, Dad?" Josh countered. He thought he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.
"When the romance is outed, you're allowed to show concern openly," the duke told him, every word delivered from between lips that weren't moving. He'd had a lot of practice avoiding lip-readers in his lifetime. "For now, you need to hold it in a little. I have no doubt that time has already been set aside for you to spend alone with the princess after the party is over." He glanced to his elder son. "James, do try not to make every woman here swoon at the thought of a smile from you," he suggested with wry amusement. "You should already have children, you know. Your mother, gods rest her, would have made certain of it by now."
"It's rather fun making women swoon, Father," Jamie, as he was called by his closest friends and family, remarked with a smirk and a sly wink at a passing beauty. His name had been linked to several eligible and respectable young women in recent months, and yet, nothing serious had come of any of them. "There's plenty of time for marriage and children. I just need to find the right woman."
Josh had grown quiet, obviously worried about Dru, though he had not yet taken to hand wringing or pacing the floor.
James bumped his shoulder and nodded over at a particularly pretty redhead who was eying them both. "That's Lady Katherine. She's been asking about you. If you weren't already attached, I'd introduce you. Perhaps I should just go and entertain her myself."
"Or you could follow through on a promise you've been making for months and talk to the museum representatives here about loaning some of our portraits to their gallery for an exhibition," their father pointed out, quite happy to curtail Jamie's philandering out of sheer fun. His hand gently squeezed Josh's shoulder, his head jerking toward the gravel path from the palace, down which a certain princess was advancing with her aide and bodyguard, moving to greet her uncle and apologize for her lateness.
"Such dull work," Jamie replied with a long-suffering sigh. It wasn't that he didn't take his duties seriously - he did - but it was a party and he was looking forward to having a little fun. "Very well, Father," he agreed reluctantly. Though he would have rather spent time with Lady Katherine, he was at least an obedient son who always did what his father asked. "Poor Lady Katherine will just have to wait," he remarked. He flashed a grin as he saw Drusilla approaching. "There, brother," he leaned in to whisper, keeping his voice down so no one caught his words but Josh and possibly their father. "Your lady love has arrived, unharmed." He patted his brother on the shoulder. "Try not to drool," he warned with a wink, and then he was heading off to find the museum representatives his father so wanted him to chat with.
Of course, when Jamie realized that one of those representatives was a lady herself, he might swallow his words somewhat, but until then, Duke Oliver was amused by the fact that his eldest son seemed to think these negotiations were going to be held with the elderly couple who managed the museum themselves. He glanced toward the Prince and his heir, reassuring himself that Dru had come to no harm, fully expecting either Josh to work his way toward her, or for her to come toward them. He didn't have to wait long to find out which - after greeting her uncle and speaking briefly with those he was talking to, Dru claimed a glass of wine and began her first circuit of the guests, slowly but surely making her way toward them.
Josh knew the princess well enough to know she'd been shaken by the day's events, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. The clues were so slight that he doubted anyone would notice them but himself and her uncle. It took all his self-control to remain patiently rooted to the place and not to stare as she wound her way through the crowd toward them, greeting guests and making everyone feel welcome. Josh was trying hard not to betray his true feelings, but the set of his jaw and the frown on his face indicated, at least to her, how worried he'd been.
As Dru reached then, the duke stepped to the side to greet her with a smile and a courteous incline of his head. "A day of triumphs, it would seem, your highness," he said calmly. "Your studies abroad suit you well, I think. You are every bit as lovely as you've been promising to be for years now."
Dru blushed at the overflow of charm from the duke, laughing a little of her tension out as she took a sip of her wine. "And you, your grace, are as much a rogue as your eldest son," she countered his compliments, drawing a loud laugh from the older man. Under cover of the duke's laughter, her eyes turned to Josh, trying to reassure him without words that she was all right, on the whole.
Thankfully, it was Josh who had won the princess' heart, not his fickle older brother with the roving eye. The elder brother's name might have been suggested by some who liked to play at making matches, but for all of Jamie's fondness for women, he took his duties as heir to the Duchy of Roslae seriously. "Greetings, highness," Josh offered a small formal bow, as was expected of him, reaching for her hand to bring it to his lips, well aware of the body language that was trying to reassure him.