Chrysocolla by B. Kristin McMichael Page B

the tingles as Seth came near to the doorway. His father finally stopped and realized I wasn’t beside him anymore.
    “Father,” Seth said, loud enough for me to hear over the music.
    “And you took care of the business you needed to do?” the general asked in reply.
    “Yes, Father.” Seth bowed his head. The general nodded back to me.
    “Then you may escort the princess to her seat beside her parents,” the general replied. He stood and watched us. I was still unsure what to make of his gaze. He didn’t seem like the type to believe in time travel.
    I nervously tugged at the light linen back to my dress. It wrapped around my arms almost like a cape and was something to distract me. The soft linen was almost see-through to show off the elaborately embroidered dress I wore underneath. I rubbed my fingers over the soft fabric, hoping to calm my nerves.
    Seth bowed to me after he passed his father.
    “Princess, may I escort you to your seat?”
    Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I wasn’t sure what was going on with Seth. He was very formal when he asked me. There wasn’t even a hint of a real smile at the corners of his lips. I had to look away.
    I nodded as I looked back at Kye and Ty. They didn’t make a move to follow, and that made my heart speed up. They were leaving me to face the mass of guests alone.
    “We will find our own way in,” Kye told me. The general stood not too far away and nodded to Kye. Kye moved to walk past me with Ty behind him.
    He was abandoning me. I tried not to pout. Seth was acting strange, and my two best friends were running off to the party without me. Kye paused near me and leaned in close.
    “You’ll be fine,” Kye whispered to me.
    Before I could even protest, Kye was gone. Not fair!
    Seth was still waiting beside me with his hand held out for me. I tentatively took it. Was he still mad? I couldn’t tell, and it was killing me. He led us to the open doorway, and the music grew louder. There was no time to back out. It was now or never.
    Seth didn’t wait and walked me into the room. I was surprised to see all the people standing and sitting around as they ate and talked amongst themselves. Off to one side, a few people were even dancing next to the musicians. Seth led me through the guests. No one stopped their conversation, but I did see several eyes turn to my entrance. It was a little nerve-wracking, but I kept my concentrating on the floor so that I wouldn’t step on my long dress. When we finally stopped, I was happy to see empty seats waiting for us.
    Seth led me to the seat beside his father, who had reached his spot only moments before us. Seth sat on the other side of his father, and I was left beside the general and two empty seats. I sat down and took a deep breath. I could do this.
    “Mari, my son has told me a lot about you,” the general spoke as food was brought to us.
    “He has?” I tried to look around him, but Seth was avoiding my glance.
    “He said if you had grown up here you would have been bored. That in your time you learned a lot and had a more active life than that of a typical princess,” he continued, dipping his fingers into water first before reaching for the food in front of him.
    I followed suit and dipped my fingers in the water, not that I had the stomach to eat anything. My nerves were all over the place. First, I had been thrown into a different time and place again where everything was strange, then Seth was avoiding me, and now I had to sit and talk with his father, my future father-in-law, and one of the most intimidating people I had ever met. It was all a bit overwhelming.
    “I’m not sure what the life of a princess is like here,” I replied honestly.
    Honesty is the best policy, right? Or at least when you’re sitting next to a guy that has lived his life fighting wars and was still alive to tell about it.
    “Learning to play music, dance, play games, that sort of thing,” the general responded before plopping the