An Unlikely Pair [Private]

[kaissaj777]

He could tell that he was frustrating her, but in many ways her stubborness was having the same effect on him. "If I were King I would be taking the blame for everything." Kais said. "Even if it was not my fault. A leader must allow himself to be the target of good, and of the bad. When something goes wrong people want to blame someone, the King is the best figurehead for that. He needs to be strong enough to overcome it though." He shook his head though as she talked about losing everything. "Not having anything in your name does not mean it isn't yours. Tell my mother that and she would laugh at you. If you think the our house will not be as much yours as mine, then you are being overly pessimistic. Women may not have the name of ownership, but in many cases they are the ones more inclined to own than men. They take care of the home, raise children, take care of their husbands, women own men because we owe so much to them, so by owning us, they own everything we own."

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, keeping himself level. He was not angry at her, just wanted her to understand his mentality. He laughed as she brought up the woman of the house needing to be happy. "Yes I have heard the statement, and lived it with my mother. If she is angry, which is not often, even father hides from her wrath." He laughed thinking about the time he found his father in the stables just to get away from his mother, who was mad at Byron for getting in a fight with another man at work.

Thinking about Bryon though still tensed him up. He knew she was just trying to make it so he did not regret anything in relation to who attended the wedding. He was glad when the subject changed and they were walking toward where they would be having dinner. "I doubt your father will care how you look. For goodness sake next to me you look like a goddess." He said with a smile as they entered the dining hall.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna rolled her eyes, but still blushed a little at the compliment. She was still getting used to the fact that the handsome man beside her was her fiancee, and even more amazing was the fact that now it was by choice. He might be stubborn and hot-headed, but he was her stubborn and hot-headed fool. She just wished she could explain her reasoning better, but knew she couldn't without giving away the King's secret. By doing so, she would put Kais' life in danger and she would rather he be mad or even hate her if it would keep him safe and alive.

Her father was already waiting in the dining room when they arrived and he looked closely at their hands, which of course were connected. She grinned a large smile at her dad and dragged Kais forward. "Father, you remember my fiancee, Kais. The king just told us the wonderful news. The wedding will be the day after tomorrow. I'm very excited. We plan to have a family dinner with the King tomorrow. Everyone is required to come. I can't wait." she said, bowling her dad over with her words. It was exactly what he didn't want to hear and she had said it in a way that meant he could not only not argue with her, but was now required to even participate in this awful dinner. It was bad enough he had to have dinner with the boy himself tonight, but he wisely held his tongue, not wishing to anger his daughter.

His stood and bowed to both of them, not sure what to say or react. He wanted to drag her away, but knew he would lose her in the end. He had to force himself to accept this son of the family he hated most. "Welcome," he said as he came out of the bow. "I asked the cooks to prepare some of Arianna's favorite dishes. I hope you don't mind." her father said, looking at Kais, forcing his anger and hatred away and doing his best to accept the man.  

[kaissaj777]

He could tell he was not going to win this argument tonight, though at this point they might as well do the best they could with trying to get through the day. Tomorrow was the big day, and part of Kais was sick to the stomach with nerves about the whole situation, though he was trying not to show it.

He still had a bit of animosity toward her father, and he kept a rather neutral expression on his face as Arianna re-introduced them to each other. He was silent, only nodding to her father, and catching the look on his face that was as if he felt he was caught in a trap with the way his daughter spoke to him. He smiled a bit at her, realizing she had a way of getting men to shut up to an extent.

He sat down next to Arianna and tried to act as civil as he possibly could in the whole situation. Though his families stubbornness was continuing to show as he could not help but have a stern look at his future father in law. "Arianna shall always get what she wants with me, so you do only what i would." He said, probably sounding more cold than he planned. "And the bride chooses what she wants the day before he wedding." He said to her, smiling, tone changing as he was now addressing her.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

kaissaj777

Arianna grinned happily at him and knew that both of the men were doing their best not to anger her. She had the upper hand in this situation and she had planned to use every ounce of power she had at her disposal to make these two men she cared about come together. Arianna lightly touched Kais' arm, "Silly, the wedding is in two days. The big family dinner with the King is tomorrow." She gave him the impish grin. "Not that I mind getting what I want." she said then smiled at her father as well, including her father in their conversation.

Arianna watched as her father tried to relax and she was proud of him for trying to put the past hatred aside. She could tell that Kais was as well, and wanted to hug him. The servants started to bring out the food and she led the men in discussion, mostly pleasantries and such but she didn't want to touch on anything that could be possibly dangerous ground. This two men could both be hot-headed and if they disagreed on something, she could only imagine what would happen. She needed these two to get along before the big family dinner where her poor father would be severely outnumbered by Kais' family. She could only pray that things went well.

Frank Lovette watched his daughter as she played hostess and realized again that his Arianna really was in love with the Avalon boy. And Kais seemed to be equally besotted with Arianna and took care of her quite well. He even put up with Arianna's mischeivious antics and this made him smile and sincerely relax for the first time in Kais' presence. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to accept this match. Besides, from what the servants told him, Kais had gone crazy when the b*****d had kidnapped Arianna and hurt her. He also found out that Kais had made Jonathan pay for his crimes and that the man was in poor shape now. So long as Arianna was happy, and this man continued to care for her, Frank knew he could be content with the match, though he would still rather the boy be anything but an Avalon. Surprising all of them, Frank said, "Welcome to the family, Kais."  

[kaissaj777]

kagomehigurashi08

Kais was a little bit embarrassed by his mixing up of the days. "I guess i can only wish tomorrow was the day it would finally happen." He said with a smile, face warming with embarrassment. "And in our life together, you will get anything you want that is within my power." He said in a whisper as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Kais found himself off guard, as he looked up at his future father-in-law, and felt himself struggle to keep the befuddled look off of his face. He could not tell if the man was lying, though there was no reason for Kais to doubt his tone at the moment.

Kais stood and held a hand out to Frank, shaking it with a courtesy of respect. "And I welcome you into mine, though I know it was not easy for you to accept, I am glad we can work things out." Kais could only wonder if this was going to be easier for their parents to get along. While his parents accepted Arianna, and Her father him, would they respect each other? It is all up in the air at this point.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

kaissaj777

Arianna smiled glad the two of them were making the effort to get along. The rest of the dinner went smoothly, and she thought her father was actually warming up to Kais as the night went on and he got to know his future son-in-law. She was glad, and she was sure Kais would at least tolerate her over-protective father once he realized that her father meant no harm. Besides, her father knew she was stubborn and had chosen Kais. She was surprised herself at her decision, not because of who Kais was, but because of how quick it had happened. She would just have to hope things didn't go too wrong in the future and make them change their minds.

As the dinner came to a close, she said good night to her father, and allowed Kais to take her to her room, giving him a quick kiss before she went to bed that night. The next morning, a servant summoned her to the king's private dining room, and they had a talk about the upcoming family dinner. Both were worried that the antagonisms between the parents might be too much and decided to sit Kais' mother next to her father, and Arianna next to Kais' father, putting the men across from each other. That way there was a physical barrier between the two. The king had also sent a notice to Kais' brother to have him return in time for the dinner.

King
Arianna - Kais' Sister 1
Kais' Father - Arianna's Father
Kais - Kais' Mother
Kais' Sister 2 - Kais' Brother (asked to return by king)

She left the breakfast room full, and hoped a servant had told her that she had gone to breakfast with the king so that he didn't wait on her. Either way, she decided to go search him out and tell him what the king and she decided on the best way to deal with the parents. With Kais and Arianna surrounding Kais' father, it would make it more difficult for him to surprise them as he was going to be the most hot-headed man in the bunch. She also wanted to warn Kais that the king had demanded Kais' brother return for the dinner.  

[kaissaj777]

kagomehigurashi08

It was somewhat of a relief for Kais to get along now with Arianna's father. If both parents were now on board with the wedding, than things would be significantly better at the wedding, and at this point, Kais was focused on that being a good event. He wanted it to be a night Arianna would remember, one should would be able to smile about for the rest of their lives. This would also allow them to live their lives following the wedding, with much less challenge from their families.

After walking Arianna back to her room, he retired to his, thinking about how the meeting would go the next day. If things did not go well between his father and Arianna's father, then they may end up back to square one. This would create a huge issue and probably stress out Arianna, which in turn would anger him. It would end up being a messy chain of events that would not make the coming day a very enjoyable one.

Waking up the next morning he got ready and went to walk out of his room. He saw Arianna coming down the hallway and he smiled to her. "This is a good thing to see first thing in the morning." He said walking up and kissing her in greeting. He then realized she looked slightly concerned. "Is something wrong?" He asked suspiciously.