Jared meets King Marton

[palace-jared.livejournal.com]

Marton watched with relief as the Councilors left his office and leaned back in his chair, running his fingers through his hair. Thank God that was over for another week; the tedious meetings to report minor changes in law and policy were necessary, but no one had ever managed to make one interesting. Time for coffee, he figured, checking his watch. And he had another appointment, didn't he? Ah, yes. Jared, Anna's young man. Perfect. He buzzed Lucius and, while he waited, got up and started making coffee. There was a knock at the door and he called out, "Come in."

Jared rubbed his hands on his pants before reaching for the door knob. Trying to forget that the last time he had worn these clothes were for his parents's funeral, and really hoping that wasn't an omen, he took a deep breath and entered the office. "Your Majesty." He bowed, glad that he had managed to do that right at least.

"Morning Jared." Marton said cheerfully. "Fancy a cup of coffee?" He waved Lucius out and the door quietly closed as the smell of fresh-brewed coffee wafted to his nostrils and he inhaled with a contented sigh. "Have a seat." He indicated the couch.

"Morning, Your Majesty. I would like a cup, thank you Your Majesty." 'Okay, could have probably done without saying that twice.' Jared sat down on the couch, trying to look around the room without making it obvious that he was.

"How do you have it?" Marton asked without turning around, giving the obviously nervous young man time to settle.

"What? Oh, cream no sugar. Sorry. Thank you." Jared took another breath, forcing himself to calm down. 'Just meeting a girl's father. You've done that before. Yeah, but not Anna's father who if he wanted to could make you not be able to see her.' He sighed, hand starting to stray to his coat pocket before moving back to his knee.

Marton added a small jug of cream to the tray and carried it across to the small coffee table in front of the couch. Taking the seat at the opposite end of the couch, he picked up his own cup and added milk, watching out of the corner of his eye as Jared added his cream. Not shaking too bad, Marton thought with an internal grin, that was a good sign. There was nothing he could do to ease nerves, they had to go on their own, being pleasant and as unthreatening as possible was the best he could do. A sip of coffee later and he sat back at his ease, crossing one leg over the other and giving Jared an encouraging smile. "So Jared, what can I do for you?"

Jared took a bigger than usual drink of the coffee, whether for his nerves or to give him more time to think he couldn't say. He waited til he had set the cup back onto the tray before answering. "Your Majesty, it's about Anna. I mean your daughter. I mean, Her Highness."

"Anna is fine." Marton told him. "What about her?" He could sense nerves certainly, but also a little confidence, so whatever it was, it wasn't bad.

Jared took another deep breath. "I wanted to know, to ask you, Your Majesty, about the possibility...or rather permission...I mean..." 'Okay, just get this over with before you make more of a fool of yourself than you have already.' He stood up, looking at His Majesty. "I would like to ask, formally, your permission to ask Anna if she would consider going out with me."

Ahh. Marton was surprised but impressed by the lad's good manners, this kind of etiquette having mostly fallen by the wayside in all but the most formal of circles. He liked it though, as it showed respect for the family in general and, in this case, for the girl. "Please." he said "Sit down." Jared sat again and looked at him apprehensively. "I thank you for asking." he told him "And, if Anna is agreeable and I sense she is, then the answer is 'yes'."

Jared let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you." He leaned over the table, vigourously shaking His Majesty's hand. "I promise I'll take care of her, the best I'm able to. Just...thank you." He couldn't have wiped the smile off his face if he had tried.

Marton shook Jared's hand and said, "I'm certain you will." but he was unable to resist a cheeky, "Not as bad as you thought, was it?" tacked on the end.

Jared blushed. "It seems I've being expecting the worse everytime I met a member of your family. Prince Christian and Prince Orlando were both nice. Prince Craig actually came closest to making it as hard as I expected. I'm just glad I've met all of yours approval. It means a lot to me that her brothers and you are alright with me being with her, Your Majesty."

"Oh, you've already run the gauntlet then?" Marton chuckled. "Damn! And to think I missed it!" He leaned over and patted Jared on the shoulder, pretending to check for injuries. "And without a scratch, too. I'll have to have a word with them, they're losing their touch!" A tad more seriously, he added. "If Anna likes you, that's half the battle won. We're not half as frightening as she can be. And if you tell her I said that, I'll kill you."

Jared looked at His Majesty for a moment, as if gauging how serious he was, before smiling. "If it wasn't for this coat, Your Majesty, you would see one helluva bruise that's just now fading that I got from her. I know how she can be. Between her punching and her-" He stopped.

Marton raised an eyebrow, "Fireballs?" He wiggled his fingers. "Well, as it seems you already know, then I'm assuming you also know it's a secret and that it's safe with you. Otherwise I'd have already heard reports about Christian pinning you to the nearest wall with his Talent." He smiled.

Jared ducked his head, nodding. "I know to keep it secret. She didn't mean for me to know, Your Majesty. It just happened when we were k-" He suddenly picked up his cup, taking a large drink.

Now Marton laughed outright. "Can I get you a shovel?" he asked, eyes twinkling. "Or are you alright with digging that hole yourself?" He put his cup down before he dropped it and held up his hands for silence when Jared opened his mouth to explain. "I don't want to know." he told him, getting to his feet. "I base that on not knowing meaning I can't incriminate myself when Anna interrogates me later."

Jared smiled sheepishly as he stood too. "I'm usually much better than this. Honest. I just," he bit his lip, "I didn't want to blow this. Anna means a lot to me and I didn't want for you to not like me." His hand played with the small case in his pocket. "She's amazing, you know that?" He said quietly.

"I do." Marton replied equally as quietly. "But then, I'm biased." He walked with Jared toward the door, impressed by the young man. "I do approve and I do like you." he said, offering his hand once more. "Now, go find your girlfriend and give her whatever it is you have in your pocket there with my blessing."

Jared looked at His Majesty in surprise, not realizing he had been broadcasting the fact he had something. "It's a ring." He took it out to show him. "It's her birthstone. Do you think she'll like it?"

Marton opened the tiny box and a silver ring with a glittering stone in the centre twinkled and shone in the office lights. "It's lovely." he said honestly. "She's sure to think so too." Closing the lid carefully, he handed it back and opened the office door. "Come for dinner one night?" he invited. "I'll tell Anna to make sure to invite you. Was a pleasure meeting you properly, Jared."

"It was a pleasure for me too, Your Majesty." Jared bowed. "And thank you again for saying yes. I'm going to do right by her. I promise."

"I believe you will." Marton smiled and closed the door.

Jared walked out of the office, smiling at the dark haired assistant who was giving him the thumbs up. He leaned against the outer door, holding tight to the ring. Than he frowned. "Christian's Gift? Mental note, ask Anna about it. Soon."

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[angie-palace.livejournal.com]

Well, that wasn't so bad, was it? [grin] Marton's a cool guy, and Jared's really nice and it shows, so the hard part is over and all that remains is Anna. Which, come to think of it, won't exactly be easy for someone like Jared, but at least he's used to talking about her.

Oh, and this: "Christian's Gift? Mental note, ask Anna about it. Soon." [snicker] This brings to mind all sorts of fun scene possibilities. :D

Angie

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[darknightjess.livejournal.com]

Jared did great! Excellent job of showing his nervousness without making him comical..
And Marton is such a gentleman!! hehe!