Falik had let go of Katherines arm before they walked through in to the dining room. He was concerned about what was "proper" for pages, especially under the watchful eye of Lord Genlith. He was very traditional and very strict about how the male and female pages and squires conducted themselves in his presence.

Falik grabbed a tray and passed one to Katherine, wrinkling his nose as he looked at the food.

"It looks like sludge for dinner again!"

Katherine let go of Falik's arm as they were about to enter the dining hall. She walked in and followed Falik towards the food line. She accepted her tray from him and smiled back at him.

"This does look like sludge...I hope it at least taste better then what we had yesterday..."

Alexander spotted Falik and Katherine enter together and as they grabbed their food he signaled them. He had saved three seats and had been playing with his food for some time. This was unusual because normally he would be waiting on Sir Genlith for many humorous and not so humorous reasons.

Katherine had her tray in her hands and started looking for a seat. She saw a boy waving at both her and Falik. she walked over to the table and sat down. "Hello Alexander..." She said looking at him. She realized that he wasn't his cheerful self.

"Falik..."Katherine whispered to him. "Is he alright?"

"hmm. It's hard to tell these days. Alexander's usually pretty chirpy but just lately he's been a bit up and down. I'll talk to him later."

He shoved his tray down on to the table and dropped down on to the bench.

"Evening!" he said to Alexander. "Surely the food can' have put you in that bad a mood?" He grinned. "Is your little sister going to sit with us tonight, I haven't seen her in a while?" He looked around the dining room at the few other pages that were there already.

Gwynn spotted Alexander, Falik, and Katherine, but mostly her eyes were pin-pointed on Alexander. The page's heart seemed to lift in her chest, and she put a hand to her copper hair, brushing it down. Straightening her emerald green dress, Gwynn headed towards her fellow pages.

There're only three seats, Gwynn thought with a frown. Perhaps Alexander doesn't mean to eat with me. Looking closer the Rosewood page, Gwynn studied him. Now, Alexander doesn't look hiself. I wonder if I could help. Or I wonder what it is that's bothering him?

Gwynn walked towards the table, she would have to get a seat somewhere else, and get some food.

"Hello," Gwynn smiled at the three other pages, Yamani mask covering her worry for Alexander. "Katherine, Falik, Alexander," the page nodded, her voice lingering on Alexander's name.

Katherine looked up at Gwynn. "Hello Gwynn. I was waiting for you to come..." She got up and moved her chair toward Gwynn. "Here you can use this one. I'll get another one."

She walked over to the other table. "Um, Excuse me, may I borrow one of these chairs?" The page nodded. "Thank-you." She brought it back over to the table they were sitting at.

After the chair was placed in it's spot. Katherine walked over to Gwynn. "May I talk to you..." she asked. "It's about Alexander..." she whispered. She motioned towards the food line. They could talk there while Gwynn grabed her food.

Gwynn smiled at Katherine, and took the seat she had offered. Listening to her fellow third-year, Gwynn's face grew worried. Her hazel eyes twinkled in anxiety. Was something wrong with Alexander?

Gulping her fear, Gwynn faced Katherine.

"Yes, what is it?"

Katherine fixed her skirts. She looked at Gwynn, "Is it just me or does something look wrong with Alexander..." She looked back at the table. "What ever it is Gwynn you have to find out what it is..."

She started walking back to the table then turned back and looked at Gwynn. She turned back, and arrived at the table. She sat back down in her chair next to Falik, and waited for Lord Genlith to arrive.

Eliana skipped into the dining room, directed by the Duke. She had put on her third fanciest dress, and obviously looked out of place. Gulping nervously, she put on smiling face as she went toward the line of hungry pages. The second she saw the food, Eliana gasped.

"Is this what they serve you people? It looks like sludge!" she shrieked in horror. But, seeing everyone stare at her, Eliana simply took her food and left. Looking for a place to eat, she wandered aimlessly until finding a table of happy and normal pages. She quickly sat down, not knowing what they thought of her.

"Hullo! I'm Eliana, and I'm new around here..."

OOC: Do the pages and squires eat together? Or at the same time?

OOC: Yes they do. Usually they sit apart from one another but not all the time.

IC: Katherine looked at the girl you sat next to her. "Hello Eliana. I'm Katherine of Blackwater. Nice to meet you." She bowed her head slightly. "These are my friends Falik Al Basiri, Alexander of Rosewood, and Gwynn of Northwatch." She said indroducing everyone to the new page. "I hope you find it most comfortable here..."

Gwynn nodded slowly, she had noticed Alexander's . . . well, whatever was wrong with Alexander had been noticed. The page's hazel eyes were worried, and her lips were drawn tighter than usual.

"Yes, I'll do that." Gwynn walked over to Alexander, and sat down in a seat beside him, scooting the chair closer to the Rosewood page.

"Say, Alexander," she whispered, "do you think you could talk to me after dinner?" the page hoped she hadn't placed this responsibility to hard on Alexander.

"Hello, Eliana," Gwynn greeted absently, "nice to meet you." Her mind was still on Alexander.

Alexander became very confused very quickly. He had specifically saved a set for Gwynn and everything seemed to get all jumbled up. If he would have paid attention to the things around him he would have heard Falik ask if his sister was going to eat with them, which she was not, and could have said he was saving the seat for Gwynn. In the end he still ended up sitting next to Gwynn and got over his gloomy mood.

Alexander turned his head towards Gwynn as she asked him a question and replied “Sure we can talk whenever.”

“Hello Eliana.” Alexander said with some enthusiasm but not with all of his attention.

Gwynn smiled broadly. So thaat's what was wrong, the page concluded, brushing back her copper hair. She leaned in closer to Alexander. The clues definately went together. Alexander had been looking moody, but as soon as Gwynn had come, he had cheered up. He really wants to be with me! Gwynn's heart fluttered, and she felt faint for a second. Then the page looked up again, her hazel eyes bursting with adoration for Alexander.

"Yes, of course," Gwynn smiled at the Rosewood page. Now she would have to think of something to do this evening. After all she had asked Alexander to talk, and figured out what had been going on, so she really didn't need to talk to him. Well, I'm sure I can figure out what to do with that time. Gwynn realized she was really quite glad she had the chance to be with Alexander . . . alone.

"Hi, guys." Eliana said.

"So, is this page thing hard? I mean, do we have to get all sweaty and everything?" she asked, shivering a the thought of sweat. "Daddy made me come here for life expierience or some nonsense like that."

Falik waved at Eliana and smiled. Mentally he took note of her very fancy dress. Thats going to go down well with some! He thought to himself, and then couldn't stop a grin when he thought of Lord Genlith dealing with this girl, or not as the case may be.

"How long have you been at the palace Eliana?" He asked.

Katherine smiled at Eliana. "It's not as hard as everyone makes it seem." Katherine giggled at Eliana's remark about getting sweaty. "But it does take some getting use to. And we do get sweaty most of the time..." Katherine smiled.

Katherine watched as Gwynn sat down next to Alexander. She watched as his worries went away.

She leaned toward Falik. "I think I just figued out why Alexander was not himself." She whispered in his ear.

"oh yes?" muttered Falik quietly, "I think I can make an educated guess myself!" He nodded subtley in the direction of Gwynn.

He held back laughter as he heard Eliana talking about her father.

Eliana seemed nervous. She might have to actually work with things...it would be horrid, surely. But she put on a brave face and began telling her favorite tale, the one of her parents. At least Falik seemed amused.

"And then he changed our family name, because he thought my mother was so charming. 'Tis romantic, is it not?" she recalled happily. Then she looked at the setting sun and sighed. "It was nice meeting you all, but I must be off. Got to get some sleep for the first day of classes tomorrow!" she said as she jetted off.

Falik's jaw dropped open as the girl waltzed off.

"Where's she going! Lord Genlith hasn't even said grace yet! She's going to get punishment duties for the next century if she's not careful!"

He wasn't sure whether to run after her, or to stay put. He looked at the others and raised his eyebrows.

Katherine got up and ran after the girl. She caught up with her and placed her hand on her shoulder. "You can't leave yet...Not until Lord Genlith says grace. Please come back and sit down before he comes in..."
She walked back to the table hoping that Eliana would follow.

She looked at Falik as she sat down. "I don't like people getting in trouble..." she whispered as everyone was staring at her.

Falik smiled fondly at Katherine. She was very much like him in many ways, always trying to do the right thing for people and trying to avoid trouble.

"Well, you tried at least!" He replied.

Looking round at everyone he said,"I do believe His Lordship is late! How unusual."

Gwynn frowned. Lord Genlith was late. The page's frown soon dispersed into a smile. More time to socialize! The normally shy trainee was feeling more out-going today.

"What," Gwynn whispered, bending her head closer to Falik and Alexander, "was that girl thinking? Sweaty? Leaving the table? I mean, no offense, but how far d'you think she'll make it into knight-training?"

OOC- Please, Eliana, don't feel offended, just my charrie, she's not mean or anything, but you know.....do you know? Do you know the muffin man? The muffin man? The muffin man? Do you know the muffin man? Who lives on something-or-other lane? Yeah, I'm done now....

And does someone RP Genlith? I'm confused....

OOC: Not offended at all, Gwynn! My character is an idiot as a page, if I do say so myself!

Eliana was shocked. "OhmyGoddess! I'm so sorry! I would've gotten in trouble, surely..." As she trailed off, Eliana looked at Katherine. "Thank you so much for coming after me. I'll do better next time! Sorry, all." Then she sat there quietly, thinking about how she needed to shape up.

Damien walked into the mess hall, his stomach growled with the want of food, "Hold on I'm working on it," he mumbled as he glanced down at his stomach, still muddering under his breath, "you fouget to eat breakfast and lunch and your stomach is out for mutiny." He grabbed his food and placed it at a semi-empty squires table. From the corner of his eye he saw a girl leave the mess hall and Katherine go after her, shacking his head he thought of something he wanted to talk to Falik about.

He walked over to Falik's table with Gwynn and Alexander at it, "Well hello pages of Tortall," giving an elegant bow he smiled, "how do we all do on this wonderious day with todays fod suprise?"

Alexander looked at Gwynn doubtfully. Then he said with earnest “You never know, I guess we will see. Either way it will be very entertaining to see Master of Latetyness, Lord Genlith, entertain her.” Then Alexander looked up at Damien as he walked over and replied with amusement “Why master Damien do you mean to jest that the food would be anything but fresh pig slop? And I know not of how the other pages are, but I for one am famished and am absolutely astounded that our dear Lord would be late.” After saying all that with an almost straight face Alexander beamed with slight tears in his eyes.

Falik grinned up at Damien. "Good evening!" he called out to the squire. "at least it's not moving....I think." He prodded the food with a fork. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company down the lowly pages end of the hall?"



((OOC: I don't mind writing in Lord Genlith. I actually thought that maybe I'll see if Realm would let me play him. I can do mean authority figure well being one myself, hehe.))

"Good evening, sir, I'm Eliana," she said happily to the boy in squire's livery. Then she smiled. "Pig slop it may be, but it's the best pig slop a page could ever get!"

"True enough! Wait until you see the food on camp, especially when it's certain peoples turns to cook. You learn the taste of evil then." Falik laughed. It was one of the worst duties if you were no good at cooking helping make the daily meals. People got grouchy when they hadn't eaten well!

"and don't call Damien sir, he'll get high ideas!"

"Yeah defiantly not Sir . We don't want to have to nail his feet to the ground. And you know we would have to, Lord Genlith would have a fit and a half if he saw the squires start floating around."

Eliana laughed. "Alright then, I shall call him Pig Slop then, after the lovely food we're eating." She winked. "That'll sure keep off airs," she said cheerfully.

Damien burst out laughing, "I am not feeling any of the love i deserve,and i like floating, it make Sir Genlith annoyed that I do it with such flair" calming down he finished, "I can't be called Pig Slop, I have already informed everyone of Rean's nickname she gave me," with a dramatic pause only a player could do he finished, "Introducing the Master of Love," smiling elegantly he finished quickly, "no puns no jokes and no overplay of the name. I'm rather fond of it, and i had to work hard to get it!" nodding his head and with a trial of quick change of subject he pointed at Faliks food, "I think it moved."

Falik pulled a disgusted face and prodded his food with a fork. "I may have to take this to the university for study. They'd be interested in life-forms from another realm. So," he said to Damien, "to what do we owe this pleasure oh Master of Love?"

Damien leaned against the table, "I guess me and Sir James are going down for a bit to visit the Bazhir, wanted to know if you want me to take anything to your family?"

ooc: sorry short, at the radio station working

Falik's eyes lit up and he felt a pang of jelousy that Damien was going to see his homeland and his family.

"Really? How fantastic. I have a few letters for my Mother and Father and my sister and some scrolls my father asked me to collect for him, if you're sure you don't mind?"

He thought for a second.

"And tell them...tell them I'm doing well." He forced a smile.

Damien smiled, "I don't mind, if I minded I wouldn't of asked you if you wanted me to take anything down for you," Damien pointed out, "oh don't worry I'll tell your family your doing great! I'll be like 'oh Falik is great he flirts with all the ladies, and they just swoon at his every word! Oh he's there to be a knight, gee could of fooled me, he sneaks out all the time and comes back drunk, ect.ect.'" Damien smiled teasingly.

"I'm just kidding, I swear I will only tell the truth." Smiling he looked around the group, "anyone else need anything to go down to Bazhir?"

"Humm, i wonder if Rean is going to the desert too, I hear Sir James and I aren't the only ones going down there."

Falik laughed outright at that. "My mother would skin me alive! She's not someone you want to upset, believe me." He shuddered. His mother had a sharp tongue and the best line of disapproving looks he'd seen on anyone.

"I haven't seen Rean for a bit, but she never mentioned going away."

Evvard of Genlith strode briskly in to the dining hall. He deplored lateness and he was quietly angry that a small group of court officals had kept him back signing documents and listening to them bellyaching about the female pages once again.

As he passed through the door he passed a sharp eye around the room seeing the pages and squires visibly stiffen as the influence of his appearance swept across the room.

Although he was a man of few words, and physically he was not overly impressive being of average height and build, he had piercing ice blue eyes which were in stark contrast to his crow black hair and he gave off an aura that was commanding and which made his presence felt.

He saw that all was in order except one person. "Seajen." His deep clear voice rang out through the silent hall. "You appear to have got lost on the way to the squires tables. Move. Now."

He continued his passage to the dais with the table where he dined.

Gwynn looked up, startled to see Genlith. The page knew he had been late, and had almost forgot about him in general, being so wrapped up in the conversation.

"His Latetyness is here at last," Gwynn whispered grimly, bending her head down so her friends could here. Waves of copper locks caressed the table, and the page brushed them back. Hearing Genlith's comment, Gwynn stifled a giggle, and placed a placid Yamani-mask over a broad grin.