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Astrayl couldn't help but smile at his fiance. 'This girl, when did she learn to be seductive.' He chuckled in to himself a moment. "Yes Mrs. Drayce. I guess I am getting a bit sleepy as well." He took her hand one last time. "Good night." After kissing her hand, Astrayl left for the kitchen hoping to find something to eat.

It wasn't hard for Astrayl to get a bite to eat from the Drayce cooks. They all seemed eager to cook him a meal, but there was one issue. "Tell me, what is this?" He looked down at the large plate they set in front of him, on it was a small steak and side salad. "This looks like it could barely feed a person." One of the cook walked up to Astrayl with a smile on his face. "This is the Dragon's steak. One of our best dishes. Food in this household is meant to be enjoyed rather then simply eaten." Astrayl had a irritated look on his face as he picked up the steak with a small fork. "This won't last me five minutes." He ate the steak in one bite. When he was done chewing he looked at the chefs. "I will be right back." Without hesitation, the man leaped out of the window.

Three hours later, the chefs could hear large footsteps coming from outside the kitchen doors. "I hope you guys are ready." Kicking the doors open, on his back Astrayl had three stags, a wild cat, and a large bird. "Now it is my turn to cook." Moments later Astrayl was cutting the animals to piece and frying them in one big pan. 'Who knew the Drayce family lived off such small portions of food.' The bear clan is a clan full of warriors and workers, their calorie usage was astonishing if compared to regular people. Astrayl however was on a different level entirely. His body needed constant nourishment for two hours at a time. His portions are large and the meals he eats are usually consisting of meat, meat, and maybe some vegetables. By the time Astrayl was done cooking he had seven meat dishes prepared and a large bowl of salad on the side. He sat down at a table located in the Drayce kitchen. Then he bowed his head. "I thank you for the meal." Soon he was eating leaving all the chefs with their mouths open in horror. Astrayl ate with grace but it was the fact that he was eating such a large portion of food, one that could easily feed ten people.

An hour later he was done eating and trying to pick some of the meat between his teeth with a tooth pick. His body was still lean with muscle, he felt satisfied. "Thanks for the meal. You guys want me to do dishes." The chefs were snapped back into reality when Astrayl spoke. All of them started to help with the dishes and kept telling Astrayl it was fine that he left. Most of them just didn't want to see him start eating again. It didn't make them sick, they just didn't want to be in the presence of the bear whisperer for a long time. Astrayl nodded at them and left for his room to get a good nights sleep.

((Ooooh, a festival! Sounds like a perfect pretense to gather the Whisperers and introduce the new apprentices to everyone! *hinthintviolentshove*))

After retiring for her own rooms, and being greeted by the resident cats, Dragana didn't take long to change out of her formal clothes and into sleeping clothes. They were simple, soft wool pants and tunic, since she had long ago become irritated with the way nightgowns didn't keep her properly warm in the night and got tangled in her blankets.

The cats received their promised treats, and she was glad to find her bed properly warmed by their naps. Before falling asleep, she summoned a few small breeze dragons and set them to guard, knowing they would wake her immediately at the slightest sign of trouble. Feeling secure in that knowledge, she slept soundly.

-The Next Morning-

Two hours after sunrise, Dragana sat at the head of the long dining table, with four other place settings near her end set up. She wore an elegant red dress with stylized black dragons embroidered into it. Her parents would not be joining her and her guests, having elected to take breakfast in their rooms rather than endure the presence of several Whisperer-talented people. Their guests weren't awake yet, and probably would sleep until very late.

She waited for her fiance and his apprentice and secretary, as well as for her own apprentice, to arrive. Marnie would sit at her left, and Astrayl her right, and the other two could pick where they preferred to sit. After hearing from Jonathan about Astrayl's astonishing meal last night, she'd had the kitchens prepare many high-protein breakfast foods, mostly involving eggs, cheese, and varying types of meat, with instructions to focus on quantity. They would not be the artistic blends of flavor that normally graced the Drayce table, but more robust fare that would be delicious in their simplicity. There would be delicious pastries as well, and her favorite tiny cheese-and-spinach quiches that the cook so deftly whipped up. Hopefully, her Bear clan guests would be able to eat to their satisfaction.

Ren woke to a hot, heavy weight across her chest. Nita, her bear spirit companion, was lying against her back with her head and one paw across her chest. Ren squirmed out from beneath the young bear spirit and dressed quickly in her usual danceresque outfit and light armor. She didn't necessarily need the armor, but it had become habit to put it on, and she felt almost naked without its comforting weight. She headed to the dining hall and sat in the seat beside where she assumed the Drayce apprentice would sit, nodding in greeting to Dragana. Unlike Astrayl, Ren didn't need to eat as much in quantity as long as she balanced out what she ate and focused on protein- and vitamin-enriched foods to keep up her energy.

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~Marnie~

Marnie knew she was the last one to arrive, the couple of tempest dragons that seemed to have adopted her here at Dragana's family home had great delight in informing her of that fact.

She picked up her skirts and allowed her pace to stretch out. The dress was nice but kept her from power walking.

It was a green, cream and black creation of some odd design, the cream spilled over the dark green bodice at the scooped neckline, the green itself was pine needle dark and merged with the black border to form a tunic shape in the skirt. A cream underskirt showed through at the triangular slits on the sides and the under edges.

She was supposed to have had matching hair ribbons but the sight of the sharp comb ends at the end of those had sent her wide eyed from the room after only the first painful attachment of a cream and lace swirl.
As such she only had a small swing of hair up and to the side, but really as she was constantly surrounded by breezes that might have been best anyway.

She entered the room just ahead of her dragon possy and shot a look over her shoulder as she briefly touched the door. The look set off a whispery chuckle from the dragon who'd been around her the most. Not that slamming a door on the spirits would have stopped them, but it would have been a small move of retaliation for the mocking she'd been given about her hair. And being late.

She had to drop her skirt to pull back her chair, as she'd beaten Jonathan there by a short few steps. She smiled in thanks at him and sat pulling it in herself. They had servants at home, but after a certain age Marnie's parents cheaped out and cut back on anything but house and cleaning staff. Only guests got the royal treatment, so to speak.

Marnie set her napkin on her lap and looked to her cousin, who sat at the head of the wide table next to the Bear whipserer, the Bear apprentice sat across from her and Marnie sent a small finger wave to say good morning. Though her attention was pulled away as her dragon friends swooped a little too low.

A placating look that shot to the window sent her friends away for a break outside and left the bacon alone to cool on its own. Though Marnie would wait until Dragana started.

Shira woke that morning to the crow of a rooster. Oddly enough, although it was still early, the Wolf Whisperer was feeling quite refreshed. She looked at a painting on the mantle across the room and frowned. It was crooked. She slipped out of her bed and quickly padded to the painting so she could straighten it, feeling almost physically sick until the painting was perfectly straight. She stood there for a few minutes, the cool stone floor comfortable under her bare feet. An older wolf spirit the same deep ebony color as her hair padded up and nudged her hand with its wet nose. Shira looked down at the wolf spirit and patted its head. "Good morning, Zev," she smiled. "What do you think? Should I send an invitation to the other Whisperers and their Apprentices?" The wolf spirit barked in agreement. "All right, then, I shall." She dressed, then sat at the writing desk by her window and began to write out formal invitations to the New Moon Festival, invitations which would be sent out and should reach their destinations by midday.

(I thought it was taking too long for the others to post, so I decided to.)

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~Marnie~

Marnie reached for a few slices of bacon and a scoop of what looked like herbed scrambled eggs ( the cooks at home never thought of that kind of thing). A slice of bread with soft cheese and an apple with a big glass of milk finished off her food choices; though she didn't know if she could actually finish it all. Even if she did she might still feel tempted to go for something else as there was still so much to choose from.

Though when she looked to what whisperer Astrayl was loading his plate with she certainly felt less impressed with her own appetite.

Dragana considered Astrayl's request as she used a fork to toy with her eggs. To refuse would be a step in the wrong direction, but she couldn't imagine leaving Drayce lands for an extended amount of time. It was one thing to leave for half a day in order to meet with the other Whisperers and entirely another to go with Astrayl and spend a week or more getting to know his parents. If Marnie had more training, it wouldn't be so much of a problem, but as it was, she was very inexperienced and might not be capable of handling a crisis if it arose.

On the other hand, it would be a wonderful opportunity to see the Bear Clan dynamics in person and get to know all the people in positions of power. Knowing them personally allowed her to better predict how they would react to a given situation, and that was a most valuable tool to have.

It wouldn't have to be right away. I can stall for a little while with the wedding preparations and arrange things to be taken care of while I'm gone. Perhaps summon up some of the older, steadier dragon spirits to advise Marnie in my absence. It would be a chance for her to see how much work there is in being a Whisperer and gain some experience.

She made up her mind then. Now all that remained was to act upon her decision.

"Of course, Astrayl. I cannot leave right away, you understand. In fact, it may be a couple of weeks before I am confident that I can leave Drayce territory for the amount of time I would like to take in order to get to know your family." She flashed a little smile and added, "Of course, I would not want you to neglect your clan while the wedding preparations are being handled. That would be utterly selfish of me. I doubt the details of things like the guest list and what materials will be used for decoration are of much interest to you, and do not necessarily need your input. If you wish to return home, do not feel obligated to stay."

She tapped one slender finger against her cheek as if in thought. "In fact, I'm sure you have preparations you wish to make at home. Perhaps it would be best if I met you at your home rather than insisting that you stay here until I am ready to leave."