A new chapter! Woot!

Warnings: none

Disclaimer: first chapter

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Chapter 10: The Banquet

Just as Heero was finishing his warning to Odin he heard a knock on the door to his room. He thought it to early to be dinner time, so when he opened the door to find a woman servant standing at the door he wasn't much surprised. However, what he was surprised to see was what she has carrying.

"My Lord has asked me to bring you these things. They are for you to wear tonight to dinner so that you match all the guests"

"Guests? Is there something special happening tonight?" Heero asked the woman.

"Master Quatre is holding a master Banquet tonight. Nobles from all over will be attending."

Heero moved aside to let her into the room. She walked over to the bed and put the clothes down onto it, neatly spreading them out over one side of the bed.

"I'll be back in half an hour to check up on you and make sure everything fits and is on correctly. Rashid will be by shortly after to take you to the banquet."

"Thank you" he said as she walked to the door and quietly closed the door behind her.

On the bed lay the most beautiful suit Heero had ever laid eyes on; black silk with silver embroidery along the cuffs of the sleeves and along the edges of the jacket, the collar of the jacket went up to go about ¾ around the next leaving the throat open. A white silk button down shirt was placed next to the jacket. Finally there were two silk socks and a pair of black dress shoes.

Heero decided to get a shower before putting on clothes as beautiful as these. Walked over to his own personal bathroom he noticed that a large shaggy towel was hanging on the rack all ready to be used by him, as well as shampoo and conditioner in the shower. He stripped down and turned the water on. It was already warm so he switched the lever to turn the shower on. The warm water sprinkled calmly and smoothly down his well defined body. After using both the flowery smelling shampoo and conditioner and scrubbing himself down with soap he turned the shower off and reached for the towel. It was soft and warm. After drying off he wrapped it around his waist and went back over to the bed to start getting dressed.

He had just finished getting dressed and was admiring himself in his full length mirror when he heard a knock on the door. He walked over to let the person in. It was the same woman from before, as she had promised. Before Heero could even let her into the room she walked up to him and reached her arms to the buttons of the jacket, which Heero had left undone.

"All buttons must be buttoned. After dinner it is proper to unbutton to show respect for the food, but it is uncommon for someone of your standing to do so."

"My standing?" Heero gave her a questioning look, which the woman easily ignored to continue on with her buttoning, "What's my standing?"

Now she looked up at him for her turn to give him a questioning look, "You are the son of the greatest wizard ever. Aside from The king and Odin, you will have the highest standing there." Heero looked at her shocked and almost forgot to breath.

Finally he chocked out, "Is that so?" and as to not draw any suspicions from her he added, "the third highest standing? I had no idea I'd be that important!" he let off a little laugh to hide his nervousness. The woman smiled at him, obviously convinced of his little performance.

/The son! Odin! He's here! Why didn't Quatre say anything to me about it? Is Odin coming on his own free will or is he captured? Is this going to be a surprise reunion between the two of us so that Quatre can see first hand if we make any sort of twitch at seeing each other? What is going on/ Heero's mind was racing will all sorts of questions and now he was getting nervous about this possible meeting with his former master and teacher. /Quatre must have just told that to his servants, there is no way he could possibly believe that, no one has ever suspected Odin to have a child. Even it Quatre does believe that I am Odin's son, I will act as if this is the first time I've ever seen him before/. He knew that he would be able to hold back any signs of shock when being introduced to Odin because he was now expecting the reunion and he knew that he would not be able to recognize the face Odin hid behind tonight. However, although he knew Odin was good at hiding what he felt he had no idea how Odin would react when seeing him again. He just hoped that Odin was able to pick up where his warning had been sent from so he could at least be a little prepared for seeing Heero again.

As the woman was buttoning the last button on the jacket which was the button right before the collar, Rashid walked up to the door.

"Dressing him in the hall Miriam?"

"Oh hush, its just buttons, I don't need to be behind closed doors to do that," she said as she finished with the button and then running her hands quickly over the jacket to smooth out any rinkles, "ok, he's all yours!"

Rashid was a big man with pointy little eyes and a mustache. He was not the type of man you'd want to get into a fight with, though from his attitude towards Miriam, he seemed like he could be a nice bloke once you got to know him. However Heero was hoping he wouldn't have to be here long enough to get to know anyone.

Rashid led him down the hall to the stairs and then down another hall to the ballroom where the banquet was being held.

"Follow me, I will show you to your seat. You will be sitting at a table with Master Quatre, the King's advisor and General of the Army Zechs, His majesties second advisor Treize, His majesties diplomatic advisor Relena, and of course Odin Lowe, as well as a few other people."

When they walked into the banquet hall from a side door Heero could see the main entrance of the hall which lead out to the driveway being used very well by people entering for the party. The table Heero was being lead to was a long rectangular one sitting five steps higher than the rest. All the seats were taken except one. Quatre was in the middle, followed by Zechs on his left, and Treize next to him. To the right of Quatre was Odin and next to him was an empty seat. As Rashid had mentioned there were a few other people at the table of whom Heero had no idea who they were. Rashid brought Heero to the front of the table where he bowed low in front of Quatre who then rose and gave a small bow of acknowledgment before turning his attention to Heero.

"Heero! You look splendid!" he said, raising his arms out in front of him to show excitement. "Come up here and let me introduce you to everyone." He waved Heero up.

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At the mention of Heero's name Odin didn't move a muscle. He had been looking up and the newcomer to the table and had recognized him immediately. He had indeed checked to see where the warning had been coming from and was expecting to see him tonight. This helped his rescue mission of Heero as well as hindered it. He now knew where Heero was, but was as yet unsure how to get Heero without raising any suspicions that it was him to sprung him from the castle.

When Quatre introduced Heero to Odin, he was surprised and pleased to find how well Heero hid any hint of ever having had a relationship with the great wizard.

"It's a pleasure" Heero had said to Odin shaking his hand.

"Likewise" Odin replied.

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Quatre's brow's had furrowed for a brief instant but the look was gone as quickly as it had shown up. After being introduced to everyone else at the table Heero was lead back to the empty seat next to Odin, which he took and looked out over the banquet hall.

It was almost completely full now. A few people were still trickling in, but other than that, it looked like dinner would be served soon.

As the last few people settled into their seats Quatre stood and spread his arms out to address all the people sitting at the tables on the floor.

"My fellow countrymen and women, Welcome!" He paused for the applause, "I thank you all for coming tonight to help me honor the greatest wizard to ever live! I have tried time and again to convince him to come to Queedmore, but alas he has declined every time. However, he has honored me with his acceptance of this feast tonight!" he pauses again for more applause, "He is actually here more for diplomatic purposes. Queedmore and Glembogle have started a partnership together!" Quartre's beaming face was only more encouragement for the roar of applause that time. "This partnership will strengthen both our armies, imports and exports between the two countries will be cheaper and shipped faster." More applause again, "I look forward to all the benefits that will come from this partnership, as I'm sure all of you do too," a few chuckles, "and now let me be the first to say…On with the feast!" The end of Quatre's speech was met with applause and shouting, as well as the startup of music from the small orchestra in the corner. Servants carried plates of food out to the tables.

It was like a buffet without having to get up. Big platters of salad, chicken, beef, vegetables and bread were placed on each table. Heero was a big beef fan and had no problem loading his plate with the succulent meat, while Odin was a chicken fan and picked out a piece of tender breast meat to place on his plate. The two made small talk with each other, to seem polite. Neither asking anything terrible important or interesting, though they did somehow find themselves on the topic of the conditions the farmers faced in the surrounding countries. Which turned into the main topic of discussion at the head table and even raised a heated debate between Zechs and one of the people Heero didn't know. To calms the nerves of the two men Quatre signaled for dessert to be brought in. The almost empty platters were replaced with big platters of different kinds of fruits and cakes.

After Dessert there were fireworks to watch. Everyone went out into the cool night air to watch the beautiful display of colors in the night sky. A chorus of "ooohs" and "aaahs" could be heard with each new firework.

As the show ended some people decided it was time to leave while others decided to dance a while longer and the hardwood dance floor in the ballroom.

During the fireworks, Heero and Odin had been able to slip out of sight into the labyrinth of bushes in the yard.

In a quite whisper that Heero could barely hear Odin asked, "How have you been, boy?"

In the same quiet tone Heero answered, "Fine, but its been crazy. Was that you doing all of that in Berkinshire?"

Odin laughed, "ah yes, yes, that was me. I couldn't resist. I needed to let you know I had found you, and I was so upset with your banishment I had to cheer myself up somehow. But as I was trying to figure out how one man would get you out. I played those pranks so you'd know I hadn't forgotten about you and so that the people there would never know what to expect. Plus I like seeing Trowa try and handle my spells. He did quite a good job. He tried to get into one of my lectures once. I wanted him to come, but at that point he wasn't strong enough. I met him for a cup of coffee, though he doesn't realize it was me. He's a smart one he is. With the right trainer he could be so powerful." Odin looked down with a sorrowful look.

"You saying you want to take him on as a pupil?" Heero asked amazed, Odin hadn't even wanted to train him; it was all an accident for how he became his pupil.

"No, I don't want to train him. I'm not a trainer. I lecture. You were my one and only true pupil. But I taught you by doing my own thing. You learned by watching and copying and by me sometimes helping you specifically. But I can't do that for everyone. That method of teaching requires a lot of time and I don't want to deal with that anymore. But I wish I had been able to help him when he was younger. He had such spirit; just like you did." Odin took a moment to reflect before continuing, "But anyway, we are not here to talk about Trowa. We have more important matters at hand." Odin stopped walking and turned to look at Heero, "We have to figure out how to get you out of here. It won't be easy since they suspect a connection between us. I won't be able to take you with me when I go. And I think it would be dangerous to get you out of here while I'm still here. So I think you may be stuck here a little longer, unless you can figure a way out without needing my help."

Heero shook his head, "Not without getting a good layout and feel of the place and that could take awhile, and then I'd need to learn all the magical capabilities of all the guards and spells here. And with not having used any magic in a while I'm a little rusty on some of the more powerful spells I may need."

"Yes I thought that might be a problem." Odin sighed. "We should go back before they suspect anything. I will be here for a few days, we will talk later about what we will do."

"Right. I'll stay in the maze so that we don't leave at the same time."

"Sounds good." Odin looked up into the sky just as another firework exploded, "The fireworks are still going, hopefully no one has noticed our absence."

Heero stood in the spot they had been talking and watched Odin's retreating back until he was too far gone and it was too dark to see him anymore. Heero wandered around the maze a little more until he felt enough time had passed and then made his way out of the maze. The fireworks were over so he slowly made his way back to the banquet hall where there was still music and dancing going on.

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ok….another chapter…not sure I like it much….let me know what you thought!