Chapter 6: A Dinner Date
1328 Words
Warren didn’t look up from his desk when Eiley entered the room. It’s possible he didn’t notice her, since she tiptoed in and refused to have herself announced. But even when she sat down, Warren silently held up his hand, asking her to wait.
Eiley sat across the table from him, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Warren shuffled the papers in front of him and wrote some notes on the top page. Once they were all stacked, he stood and put them aside.
“Warren, I–”
“One moment,” Warren said, folding a sheet of paper. He opened the door and spoke softly to the guard outside. “Take this to Kyron, please.”
The guard nodded once and departed.
Warren turned back to Eiley and said, “Thank you for coming tonight.”
“Look, Warren, about last night–”
“Don’t worry, Eiley. It’s no concern whatever you do with your free time.”
Eiley finally looked up from her lap. “No, I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to see that.”
Warren sat down and stared into the grain of the table. “I told you, it’s no concern.”
Eiley didn’t believe him, but she didn’t want to linger on the incident with Warren last night when he caught her sneaking back into the castle after a night of drinking.
"Well, thank you for joining me for this dinner," she said, quickly.
"No, the pleasure is all mine," he said. "Can I offer you something to drink?"
"Please!" She answered, almost too quickly. "I mean, yes, I would love some wine."
He snickered, but poured her a glass all the same. "I thought this dinner could be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other," he said with a carefully measured tone.
"You know," Eiley said, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "In some cultures it would be considered improper for an unmarried man and woman to share a meal.”
Warren coughed. “We should count ourselves lucky that none of those cultures are our own.”
Eiley’s smile fell. “Yes, indeed.” She buried her face in her glass, taking a large gulp.
“I thought some time alone would help us understand each other,” Warren said as he poured himself a glass of wine.
“Yes, you mentioned,” Eiley said, with a playful smile that fell when he blushed. “Well what do you want to know about me? I love talking about myself!”
Warren gave her a faint smile, but grimaced when he sipped his wine.
“Is the wine not to your liking?” Eiley asked. “I can have a different vintage brought up.” She stood and was already walking to the door.
“No, don’t bother,” Warren said. “It’s more that all wine is not to my liking.” He laughed, uneasily clutching his glass.
“Is there something you prefer? We have a pot of tea.”
Warren shuddered visibly, but simply said, “No, I’ll make do.”
“Oh,” Eiley said. She sat up straight. “Have you enjoyed your time here?”
Warren glanced at his papers. “Oh, uh, yes. It’s been nice. Your father’s hospitality has been lovely.”
Eiley smiled, secretly sure that the more hospitable aspects had been the household staff’s doing. “Yes, he’s quite welcoming when he wants to be.” Eiley took a sip of her wine and resisted the urge to finish the glass.
Warren looked around the room, desperate for something to say. He finally settled on, “Dinner should be served shortly. Are you hungry?”
Eiley smiled out of habit. “Not terribly, but I’m looking forward to dinner.”
“Good,” Warren said.
There was a knock on the door. Warren opened the door and spoke softly with his guard standing there for a moment. The guard handed him a rolled parchment and gave Warren a stiff bow before retreating. Warren closed the door behind him and leaned his back against the wall as he unfurled the note. His eyes skimmed across the page, and his scowl deepened with every line.
“Is everything alright?” Eiley asked, quickly looking away as soon as she realized she had been staring at him.
“Hmm…? Oh yes, it’s fine.” Warren clenched his jaw and carefully folded the note.
“You can talk to me,” Eiley said. “If you want to.”
Warren considered her for a second then said, “I’ve just gotten some concerning news from the front lines.”
Eiley raised her eyebrows, trying to hide her disinterest. “What did you hear?”
Warren sighed, “You know about the war effort going on in Reslandia?”
“Yes, of course,” she answered quickly, hoping he wouldn’t ask her any more questions.
“We lost ground this week,” he said.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” Eiley said, keeping the question out of her voice.
“And it was mostly farmland. They razed the fields when they captured the land.”
Eiley smiled. “That’s excellent news! They didn’t get to the treasury, and you still have control of your mines.”
Warren’s scowl returned instantly.
“Oh,” Eiley said with confusion on her face. “Does Reslandia not have mines?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes we have mines,” Warren snapped. “I’m sure my citizens will appreciate it when I offer them a surplus of gold to eat.”
“That doesn’t sound very good for their teeth,” Eiley said, grinning.
“And having a country of dead and dying doesn’t sound very good for my regime,” Warren snapped.
Eiley opened her mouth to respond, but found that she didn’t know what to say. After a tense silent moment, she said, “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”
Warren turned to look out the window with a dismissive huff. “It’s not that you’ve offended me. It’s that you seem to have taken little interest in the world around you.”
“I’ve taken plenty of interest in the world around me!”
“Oh, yes I’m sure,” he said. “As long as that world around you is fun and reckless.”
“If you’re upset about last night, you can just say so!”
“Why should I be upset about last night! I don’t own you.” Warren sighed and dropped the paper on the table between them.
“No you don’t. So I don’t understand why you’re being so cold with me now.” Eiley crossed her arms.
Warren sat down again. “I don’t have time to explain international politics to you over dinner.”
“I didn’t ask you to teach me anything.”
“And I particularly don’t want to explain international politics when you have no interest in it.”
“Good, so we’re in agreement on one thing.”
Warren ran his hand through his hair and said, “I had hoped, when our fathers arranged this betrothal for us, that we might come to enjoy each other’s company in time.”
“We can’t expect them to get everything right,” Eiley said, rolling her eyes.
“No,” Warren said. “No we can’t.”
Eiley stood. “And I suppose that if we’re in agreement on that, we don’t need to continue this pantomime of a dinner?” Her voice was hopeful, even to her own ears.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Warren said, standing up. “You may go.”
He moved to escort her to the door, but she was already walking in front of him, and opened the door to leave without turning back.
“Good evening, Eiley,” Warren said, but she slammed the door behind her, not bothering to respond.
- Writer
