The air was warm from bodies packed too closely together, scented with wine, roasted meat, and expensive perfume. Every table glittered with silverware and polished goblets. Everywhere Berryanna looked, people were smiling too much, laughing too loudly, leaning just a little too close to one another. The kind of celebration that never truly relaxed, because everyone was watching everyone else.
Greyhouse rose slightly from his seat, one hand gesturing toward the high-backed chair at the center of the table. His smile was wide, practiced, the kind that never quite reached his eyes. It was the smile of a man who had learned long ago how to survive rooms like this.
"Oh princess we will love it if you happen to sit down here your status is greater than mine. I would.."
"No it's ok Greyhouse this is your estate you should be the one there, well I am just a guest" Berryanna said as she sat down by the side of the table across her was Straw and then she looked around searching for her brother and uncle not seeing them means they already left.
The seat Berryanna chose was deliberate. Not the place of honor, not the center. A quiet refusal wrapped in courtesy. The moment she sat, the entire table adjusted around her presence. Backs straightened. Voices lowered. Smiles widened. Even the servants slowed slightly, more careful now, as plates were set down and goblets refilled.
The whole family kept showing their smiling teeth trying to make Berryanna feel welcomed, nodding eagerly, murmuring soft praises, while Greyhouse Jr stood up to properly greet the princess. He moved with an urgency that bordered on reverence, stepping forward, lowering himself to one knee. He took Berryanna's hand gently and kissed it, his lips lingering just long enough to be noticed.
"I am overjoyed with this visit my princess if I had knew you were coming I would have made this feast grand one" he said as he went back to his sit.
Berryanna inclined her head in response, nothing more. No smile. No reassurance. Just acknowledgment.
Food was brought to her and also Straw, dishes arranged carefully, steam rising from spiced meats and rich sauces. The aroma filled the space between them, heavy and rich. Straw accepted the plate easily, already reaching for her utensils, her attention focused entirely on the food. She ate without hesitation, as if she were anywhere else, oblivious to the weight of the table, to the glances that flickered toward her and then quickly away.
Berryanna did not touch her food. She watched Straw instead. Every movement. The way Straw leaned forward slightly. The way she chewed, relaxed, unguarded. The way her shoulders were loose, her posture careless in a place where every other noble sat stiff and alert. Greyhouse noticed it too, his gaze shifting between the untouched plate and Berryanna's fixed stare. He cleared his throat softly, as if to remind the table of his presence.
"So the rumors were true, you and Lady Fayrouza married" He said breaking the silence.
"Yes we are married" Berryanna said.
The words were simple, flat, offering no warmth to feed on. They landed on the table like a sealed door.
"A marriage without a grand wedding that's not good for the royal family, the whole nation is meant to be aware of the union and if you had told me that you had taste for women I would have made an arrangement for that, instead of bringing you men's hand." Greyhouse said.
Berryanna's fingers tightened briefly against her lap, nails pressing into fabric. Her plate remained untouched.
"Oh my apologies I should have told you about my taste but I didn't even know that I would be married this month." Berryanna said as she hasn't touched her food.
The tension at the table thickened, subtle but undeniable. Greyhouse leaned forward slightly, concern painted across his features, though his eyes studied her too closely, sharp and calculating beneath the polite mask.
"My princess if you don't like the food maybe another should be brought to you" Greyhouse said.
"I appreciate but I am full" Berryanna said as Greyhouse nodded his head gently.
His attention shifted then, settling on Straw, who was still firmly in her own world, focused on eating. Her plate was already half empty, sauce smeared lightly at the edge. Greyhouse watched her with a measured look, as though weighing something unseen, as though measuring her place at this table.
"Lady Fayrouza, how is Eastside? I am sure your mother must be the happiest person knowing that you are married to a royal."
Straw paused mid-bite. The noise of the hall seemed to dip for just a moment.
"My mother isn't aware yet but my brother is" straw said slowly looking at Berryanna hoping for a signal or something if she was saying something meaningful because she already felt the tension in the hall while other nobles are busy with the music and jubilation they happened to be sitting down here and Diane is also not present.
She swallowed carefully, the food suddenly heavy in her mouth. Her eyes flicked back to Berryanna, searching.
"The princess and I are much in love if you ask we even.."
"How was your pilgrimages, heard you arrive months ago" Berryanna said almost immediately.
The interruption was sharp, precise. Straw froze for half a second, fingers tightening around her utensil, then lowered her gaze back to her plate. Greyhouse blinked, caught off guard, before smiling again, smooth as ever.
"Oh yes am sorry for not visiting you, my legs wouldn't but I had planned to this week but the old age really"
"You should have never come back" Berryanna said.
The air around them shifted. Conversations at nearby tables continued, laughter rising and falling, music swelling, but at this table, silence pressed in tightly, heavy and deliberate.
"Oh princess don't worry I won't trouble you I am a change man I just want to leave peacefully and die close to my family. Speaking of family Lady Fayrouza your father was a great man. I remember him like it was yesterday that Duke was always everywhere you know. Sticking his business in what doesn't concern him"
Berryanna felt it then, the familiar irritation curling in her chest, slow and hot. The man always spoke this way. Soft words hiding sharp edges. Polite insults wrapped in nostalgia. He was her biggest enemy and downfall and no matter how she tries to get rid of him he always climbed up, slipping through cracks, surviving every attempt to bury him. Her jaw tightened. She said nothing.
After the awkward meal.
"I am sorry about my father's behavior tonight my princess and also apologies for my son" Greyhouse Jr said as he approached Berryanna who was still sitting down and straw was in the main hall with Lady Diane.
The shift was subtle but unmistakable. Straw was no longer at the table. Berryanna noticed immediately, the empty seat across from her like a missing piece. The noise of the hall seemed louder now, laughter spilling in from the open space beyond, music clashing with distant voices.
"How am I to believe that you are nothing like him"
Greyhouse Jr lowered his head slightly, urgency in his eyes, desperation bleeding through his composure.
"I swear I am not, I did not follow in his footsteps. I am with you my princess till my last breath."
Berryanna did not respond. Her eyes scanned the hall, searching past dancing figures, past raised goblets and moving servants, past bodies swaying to music. Her focus was singular.
"I know your marriage to the Fayrouza was unexpected but you should learn to tame your wife before she."
Berryanna did not wait for him to finish she stood up to go find Straw so she could leave.