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Jacinthe smiled proudly. "Thank you," she said warmly. "They say the same about you."

"On that note," Jeremiah spoke up, glancing down at his son, who was shuffling his feet, his hands behind his back, "Jess ..."

Now it was Jess's turn to blush. He glanced at River, then looked back at his feet. He thrust his hands out at her, a large stuffed leather bag in his hands.

"This - this is for you," he blurted, his face red right to the tips of his pointed ears.

River blinked in surprise, and she reached out hesitantly to take the bag from him. "Thanks," she said, turning it over in her hands to examine it. It was a lovely bag, soft and supple leather, with her name embossed in the leather of the bag's flap. She opened it and reached inside to see what was in it. She pulled out a leather ball just like the one that Jess always brought to the game field to play football. For once, she didn't have anything to say, stunned into silence.

Jasta giggled as she watched her. "I think she likes it," she grinned at her brother.

Jess was grinning widely, though his face was still quite red.

Jess cleared his throat and mumbled something incoherent, and River leaned forward slightly.

"Pardon?" she asked, her voice little more than a squeak.

Jess's blush grew darker, and he shook his head. Jeremiah laughed softly. "He made them himself, specially for you. It took him every day since we were invited here, and he finished them just this afternoon. And it's every bit as good as my own work, I'm proud to say."

River swallowed hard. She was very deeply touched. "Wow ... thank you so much, Jess."

She put the ball back into the bag and slung the bag over her shoulder, then looked at Jess hesitantly. Jess raised his eyes to meet her gaze and smiled timidly. Then, without speaking, he held one hand out to her. River giggled and took his hand, then turned and started to lead everyone down the hall.

"This way," she said brightly to the others.

Jasta was quite happy to walk with Miyuki. While it was clear that Jess had a preference for which of their new friends he liked better, Jasta liked both of the girls the same - which was a lot, either way.

"I like your dress," she said brightly as they walked. "Yellow is such a nice colour on you. But I've never seen a style like that before, what's it called?"

Jasta looked down at her bright clothes. "It's called a salwar," she explained with a smile. "Mama makes our clothes herself. She says when she was little she went traveling somewhere, I don't remember where, and this was the kind of clothes they wore there, and she liked it so much that she spent a whole bunch of years teaching herself how to make them when she grew up. I'm glad, too, it's nice and cool to wear on the hot days."

She giggled and flicked the end of her scarf playfully at Miyuki. "And it's a lot more comfortable than regular clothes, too!"

As they approached the banquet hall up ahead, music began to reach their ears: soft notes from a harp, accompanied with a gentle flute.

"It is, very comfortable," Jasta agreed cheerfully.

When they entered the banquet hall, the guests looked around, their eyes filled with awe at the decorations that covered the walls and the comfort of the room. Jasta smiled appreciatively at the musicians who had taken their places on the stage and were playing gentle but happy melodies.

River took a moment to introduce everyone to their friends, and their friends to everyone, and then Amalirahc came over to join them.

"Hey River, where did you get the bag?" he asked curiously, poking the bag to see how soft it was.

Jess and River's faces were equal shades of red, but the wideness of their grins matched, too.

Amalirahc didn't even notice that, though: he was still looking at and touching the bag.

"Seriously?!" he exclaimed incredulously. "I thought Master Jeremiah must have made it, it's so good!"

Jess's face turned even redder. "Papa helped me a bit," he admitted, "and I've been learning from him for as long as I can remember."

River squeezed his hand. "It really is amazing work," she said warmly.

"Hey, does it matter where we sit at a banquet like this?" Amalirahc asked suddenly, looking around. "Maybe we can all sit together ..."

It was only then that he noticed how red River and Jess's faces were, and he giggled at the two of them. Before he could say anything, however, Jasta spoke up.

"I think we should ask right away, then," she said quickly, cutting Amalirahc off. "I think we're supposed to find our seats quickly."

Earendil was sitting and chatting with Lin, Leyenda and Kelirahc, holding the fidgety Andarien in his lap. He looked up and smiled as the children approached, and held one hand out to Miyuki invitingly.

"What brings all of you over here?" he asked them brightly.

"We were wondering where we're supposed to sit," Amalirahc spoke up. "Because we want to sit together but we don't know if we can or where we're supposed to sit or if it even matters."

Earendil's smile faded, and he looked at the children uncomfortably. "Well ... usually at a banquet like this, we're supposed to sit in order of rank," he said hesitantly. "So Amalirahc and Miyuki would have to sit up here with us, but River would be free to sit with the others ... but it's not like this is a formal dinner of dignitaries ..."

Leyenda raised one eyebrow. "What would you call it then?" she asked him, and with good reason. With the king, queen and princess of the Westland, two princes and princesses of the Southland, and their children, plus Luk, a senator of another country, Emile representing his own country (in a way) ...

"You know what I mean," Earendil replied evenly. "It's not a formal assembly for that reason. So it's possible that we won't have to sit by rank ..."

He looked up as out of the corner of his eye, he spotted movement by the door. Wren had just entered the hall and had paused to speak with Jeremiah and Jacinthe.

Like the others, she had also dressed up for the occasion: her ash blond hair had been freshly washed, which meant that her curls were tighter than usual, making her hair appear even shorter than usual; and she wore a pale blue dress that set off the blue of her eyes. It had a corset-style top, glittering with sequins, and on the skirt, the same glittering sequins sparkled in the shapes of vines of ivy twisting around her.

Earendil nodded in her direction. "Princess Wren is the one you should really be asking, she would know best," he told the children. "And you might want to do so quickly, if she's here already then her grandparents won't be far behind."