Who is HE?
He was tall, with dark black hair and broad shoulders. He was in great shape, Serena noted, and he was very hot. *Who is this?* Serena contemplated.
In the dim lighting of the hallway, she felt a general air of romance, and she smiled him, feeling very romantic and beautiful. She then turned and walked away, knowing, she’d meet him later.
His mouth was twisted in a slight smile, and his face though strongly and handsomely carved, displaying slight confusion.
*Who is SHE?* Darien Dredsdale stood, looking after the blond with the gorgeous blue eyes.
He’d been sleeping the better part of the afternoon after talking on the phone with Washington this morning and finding out that his presence was not needed. Between structuring curriculum for Johns Hopskins, and correcting his final essays, he slept some more…being a surgeon, and professor he normally didn’t get much sleep. He’d been sleeping when he heard the dinner bell. He was slightly annoyed, for he was very tired, and wanted to sleep a little more. He quickly checked his slightly sleep-ruffled hair, and quickly went to the closet to grab his navy blue shirt. He changed his sweatpants into khakis and put on a nice silk tie to finish it off.
And he had stepped out to find a young woman backing into his arms.
As she turned and apologized, Darien’s still slightly asleep mind was trying to register where he’d seen her before.
She was beautiful, in the dim light, all her features were soft and pleasing, especially in that nice outfit. Her hair was adorably put up, and it reminded him a little of the pictures of Serena Larynce…but then again, all the Larynces looked pretty much the same, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
It was then when he saw her eyes glow as she smiled, and saw her turn and walk down the hall. He stood there a little while more, trying to place the face, but still failing miserably. She was either a Larynce or a distant Dredsdale. Who knew which. He didn’t know his family. He’d been ten when he first came to America. He was twenty-nine now. He didn’t have the time to get to know everyone in his family, with all his studying.
Darien, however handsome he was, was not as charming as all the Larynce girls thought. His looks had slightly clouded their minds, for Darien Dredsdale was actually a distant, emotionless young man. And he saw no reason to marry, though he’d heard rumors of his marrying one of the Larynce princesses.
He prided himself on proving them absolutely wrong.
*Where did she come from?* he looked around the hall. There were a few rooms everywhere, but he had no idea which on she had come out of. As he looked around, his gaze fixed upon one name plaque which slightly interested him.
*I didn’t know I was staying next door to the Ice Queen!*
As he puzzled over the fact that he had not yet seen Serena Larynce, he heard some people coming out of the room two doors down. Ken and Lita Larynce stepped out of the room, and smiled to Darien.
“Hey Darien! What are you looking at?” Lita asked nicely.
“Serena Larynce is next door to me,” Darien pointed to the plaque.
“You met her? She FINALLY got in about twenty minutes ago. There was this huge show in the foyer.”
“I didn’t see her. I was asleep, I think.”
“Well then, that’s your fault. Serena’s a very sweet girl.”
“The ice queen?” he said, questioningly.
“I resent that,” Ken shook his head. “I thought I chose an open-minded surgeon general.”
“The press are all in fear of her. There is plenty of reason to call her that.”
“That’s because they never tried to understand her…” Lita started, in defense for her friend.
“But did she ever try to let herself be understood?” Darien asked back.
Lita was silent. Darien had a point. Serena Larynce never triend to let the press think otherwise about her.
“She’s actually very sweet, Darien, and I know you’ll like her,” Ken looked at Lita and they decided not to tell him that she’d be his colleague when Ken became president.
“Well, let’s get to dinner,” Lita said. “We don’t want to miss anything!”
Serena sat at a round table with Amy on her left, Mina on her right. She sat back and looked about her, scanning the room for her mother and father and Sam.
Mother and father sat with Uncle William and Aunt Hilary, the Clintons. The former president’s grandmother was a Larynce. It appeared that they were discussing White House life. It was sweet.
And Sam was over in another corner, talking with Bill Gates, one of the more popular Dredsdales…his mother was a Dredsdale. Sam was a computer engineer, and was very enthusiastic about it. Mika, as Serena had found out was in computer graphics.
The dinner was held in the grand dining room, which was only used on very formal occasions. It was the second largest room in the Castle, and just as beautiful as the Throne room. The floor was dark green marble, with obsidian swirled into it, and the room was dimly lit by chandeliers at the high ceiling. The walls were lined halfway up with wooden paneling, and the rest was white, with portraits of Larynces…lining all the way. Also, every once in a while, there was a lamp on the wall, with a green lamp shade.
Serena smiled as she focused on the doorway. Ken and Lita entered the room, and smiled and waved at her. She smiled, stood and pointed to the last few seats left at the table. She then frowned as she noticed that there was another person walking with them, and that man was the one she had met in the hall.
Ken and Lita made their way to the table, and Serena went forward to hug Lita. “I didn’t see YOU running to me when I got in!”
“I was trying to get Kevin to take a bath.”
“Did you?”
“After almost knocking him out, yes.”
Serena smiled. “Nice to see you, Lita.”
She then turned to Ken, “Ken! I’m so happy to see you, after just talking with you on the phone yesterday.”
“Well, you know talking isn’t the same as seeing.”
“Yeah, I’ve missed you. I miss having mud in my face.”
“It was your fault if you decided to come out and play football with all of us last year!”
“Yeah, can you imagine! Me, the ice queen, playing football on the lawns of Larynce Manor, on the day after Christmas, and then being tackled the president elect of the United States of America.”
She had noticed then that the young man previously with Lita and Ken was now up at the table with Gertrude, and taking a seat with her. *So he’s tight with the matriarch.*
They talked on, and as they listened to Gail and Gertrude toast the Christmas dinner, they smiled and clinked champagne glasses.
Serena ate dinner to her heart’s content, and after dessert, sat back, smiling at the others. Chad and Raye came and talked with them a while, and the dinner was generally very fun and heartwarming.
Her eyes, however, always strayed to a faraway table, where a man sat, facing her. She discovered that he was looking at her as much as she was looking at him.
Catching his eyes made her whole being shake. She’d lower her eyes, or look away, and be extremely distracted. The others at the table noticed, but did not know the reason for her distraction. Raye Larynce, however, noticed, but kept the knowledge to herself.
As dinner finished, Serena got up and walked out early, and into the throne room by herself, looking at the brightly lit Christmas tree, surrounded by darkness at the moment.
The throne room was the largest in the Castle. On ordinary days, the room would be empty, its velvet curtains drawn back on the whole west and east walls, letting sunlight pour in. The room’s chandeliers were crystal, and hung from the ceiling. The floor was gold and white marble, as Serena remembered, and there was a gold carpet running the length of entrance to throne. The throne was a simple elegance. Sitting on a platform of gold velvet carpeting, it was gold with slight carving, and white velvet cushion. Nothing more.
On social evenings, the carpet strip was removed, but the platform and the throne stayed. There were sometimes tables set up for fancy banquets, or an orchestra was set up in front of the throne, for a night of ballroom dancing. The chandeliers were lit, and the gold and white velvet curtains were sometimes drawn and sometimes not.
It was Serena’s favorite room. She loved the whole royalty of it. She like elegance and style. She had remembered, that for her sixteenth birthday, Gram let her sit on the throne for the first time, and Serena was absolutely thrilled.
Now, since it was Christmastime, there were golden ornaments, and red ribbons, and red satin Christmas balls. The tree stood where the throne normally was, so it was large and very intimidating to any child, being a whole twenty-five feet tall.
The star at the top was made out of pure gold, and was glittering beautifully in the light of the candles which were lit around the room. Serena’s eyes shined as she looked around the ballroom, to see the garlands everywhere, with holly and mistletoe at the doorways, even the ones that led out to the east and west gardens, which were on the opposite window sides. It was beautiful, and she spun around and around, imagining the balls to be held by her grandmother for Christmas and New Year’s. The Throne room would comfortably fit more than a thousand people…dancing! At Christmas time, Serena’s grandmother held the most exclusive, glamorous ball of the rich American social calendar, and she invited people all over the country.
The Christmas Masquerade was the most famous of Larynce traditions. Everyone in Larynce Port would be invited, the population being a number of successful businessmen, and others. There were also guests from elsewhere, from around the country. There were only 150 to 200 Larynces, after all, and there was room for a thousand guests! There was fun and excitement everywhere, and at the end of the evening, the unmasking occurred. Each person unmasked his/her partner, and if you were under the golden mistletoe, come next year, you’d be engaged!
Serena never really stayed around to actually get caught. She had always gotten away with no man ever desiring her company, and she always whisked off early, without anyone noticing and came back at midnight just to see who the destined couple was this year.
It was so much fun to see the surprised expressions on the faces of the dancers as they found out the identity of their partners, and even more fun to see their reaction when they were found under the mistletoe, because it was all so romantic.
She finally turned and walked to the door, and walked out, wanting to go up to her room and read. 
