"There won't be a royal ball to welcome Thea in the capital?" Cassius asked, bewildered.
"Cassius, we nearly went to war! Most of our money is spent elsewhere," Empress Orlena told him.
"But when you came to Raylon, mother, it was just after a war! You still had a ball in your honor!" Cassius protested stubbornly.
"Yes, but I was the daughter of a local noble, not the enemy!" Empress Orlena hissed.
She took a napkin and began to clean her son's nose.
"Cassius, why do you have mud on your nose?"
"Thea and I made snow angels," Cassius's face brightened. "The snow melted underneath my fire-enchanted cape, and I got muddy. But we changed our clothes!"
Empress Orlena pulled the collar of Cassius's shirt down and saw he was muddy all over!
"Why, I'd never! Why didn't you take a bath, foolish boy?" She tugged at his ear then and led him by it towards the bathing room at the inn.
