Beneath Arenor's courtly words and the masks of ancestry he wore, the close-knit gathering of family left him tense beneath his apparent calm. Only his posture betrayed him. He sat ramrod straight in his volcanic finery while Violet and Nikolas and the twins seemed quite at ease, as much so as any gathering of a farmer and his kin might be. Arenor's kind words to Violet were a last message of love carried across decades and across the split fork of two lives, but what he could not convey was the near lifelong rift between himself and Jessamine. Despite his sense of loyalty and duty and balance, and despite the rift beneath that, he knew his mother's ghost would be as ill-at-ease in this room as himself. She might see the life lost to her. Rather, Arenor saw what he might have been. The weight of history and bitterness lay upon him as he watched his new companions. He felt as awkward among them as a long shadow at midday.<br/><br/>Even so, Violet's demeanor coaxed warmth into his voice. "No doubt Alain will prefer your company to mine after a single day, Lady Violet" he said, turning toward the noblewoman. "He is young and yet almost a man in some senses. Our travels were…most difficult at times. I'll be grateful if you coax him back to childhood, for every boy and girl ought to have one." In truth, he thought, Alain was a mixture of too-childlike and too-adult, with burning eyes which had seen far too much for a 9-year-old. These red-haired imps across the table looked merry enough to alter this for him, much to Arenor's relief.<br/><br/>Alain froze at Violet's words and his eyes widened like an owl's. He latched onto his father's cloak with a rictus grip.  Though his fingers shook, his voice was steady and with an un-childlike intensity and fear. "You're coming back after."<br/><br/>"Yes, of course." Arenor covered the child's hand with his own to hide the trembling for him, but kept his own voice light to coax him. "We must all forge new friendships now."  Despite himself, Arenor flashed as much of a smile as he could manage to Nikolas, as if to illustrate the beginning of such a friendship, and perhaps a premature gesture, although he thought the respect between he and Nikolas might lead to such a thing if he allowed it. "Lady Violet and the young Lord and Lady have much to teach you -- and you to teach them, Alain. I will do the same."<br/><br/>This time his glance to Nikolas held a bit of a challenge in it, for the prince, though he wore his origins upon his body today, would not become merely an avatar of Lysandria. He meant to teach as well as learn, change as well as absorb. Fate led him here, but it had also led him through the dark and complex paths of his history and not without reason.<br/><br/>Alain released his grip and muttered assent into his plate. He wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. After a moment the child picked up knife and fork and went at the food with intensity as if eating would help him forget his discomfort and fear. Indeed, the child had few table manners to him, Arenor's own fault, he acknowledged. Alain could use the silverware but attacked his food as if it were foes on the field of battle.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Arenor ate more like a general than a prince. Jessamine had imposed etiquette in his younger years, but he had long since distanced himself from most pleasures. Even if he hadn't, their road fare often left much to be desired. He barely tasted the quite-good breakfast as he ate it with methodical precision. Rather, he leant his attention to Nikolas as the fae-eyed lord described their itinerary. "That is acceptable to me. I am curious --" The prince hesitated and let his fork rest against the plate for a moment. "Is one of the councilmen a red-haired gentleman, bearded just so?" Arenor had not forgotten the man who oversaw his and Alain's entry into the palace, nor the man's smile, which he had not liked. Arenor trusted his instincts, and if this person was a person of power, he would rather know it beforehand.<br/><br/>Alain's eyes widened again and he looked up, for he had caught Arenor's words. He remembered that man too, though he'd been too exhausted to notice anything sinister about him. Before he could bury himself in his plate again, the child shot a glance at the two other young ones. They seemed…all right. Between the food and their friendly smiles, Alain's fear ebbed, though he still didn't know what to say to either of them.