One hundred and three: Invite a lady and not tell her it's a formal dinner

Iain and I dropped off my many shopping bags in the apartment back in the Compound. I kicked off my shoes, flopping on the bed and rubbing my sore feet. The bruise from yesterday was a lovely purple colour and walking on it all day had been painful. It seemed that I wasn't used to wearing shoes anymore either. My toes had felt squished, despite being the right size. I preferred to go barefoot.

"My lady," Iain said, "This concludes my shift with you. Roberts will be replacing me and he will wait outside to escort you to dinner when you are ready. Have a pleasant evening. I will see you tomorrow."

"Thank you for your help today, Iain," I said in all earnestness. "I wouldn't have been able to carry all those bags back otherwise. I'm sorry if I was any trouble."

"No trouble, my lady," Iain gave a small grin. "Part of the job. Just give me a bit more warning if you can, the next time you decide to go shopping. I might make sure we have a car ready."

"Good idea. Say," I asked, walking him to the front door, "what sort of dinner is this? Do I dress up?"

"I'm sorry, my lady," Iain shrugged, palms up. "I wasn't informed. Shall I ask for you?"

"Yes, please."

"One moment," he said, making a phone call. After a brief explanation, he nodded and hung up. "Kiran says to come as you wish and that he'll meet you in two hours time."

"That's not helpful at all," I pouted. "Thanks, anyway. Have a good evening yourself, Iain."

~~~

Sorting through my new clothes, I looked down and figured what I was wearing would do. Eleanor had made me get changed as soon as possible into something more normal. My new haircut was a bit short, but it looked fine. We hadn't bought anything fancy anyway, because nothing quite fitted me properly for some reason. I might have to learn to adjust my own clothes to fit me. After I had put everything away, I brushed my hair, readjusted my clothes and headed out. I wasn't used to wearing undergarments, shoes and these types of clothes anymore. Everything felt so foreign and uncomfortable.

A man stepped out to meet me at the bottom of the steps and brushed his lips against the back of my hand.

"My lady, Roberts at your service."

"Roberts, this lady is also at your service," I bounced a little curtsy in my new dress. "I hope we manage to keep me from getting into any trouble."

"I hope so too," the man's eyes grew just a little wider at my statement.

"I'm very good at getting in trouble," I said, watching him out the corner of my eye to see whether I would scare him any or not. "Even when I'm trying not to."

"As long as you're not as bad a walking disaster as my younger sister," Roberts said politely, "I'm sure we'll be fine. My sister has a habit of spreading her misfortunes upon those around us and I had to get used to pre-empting any natural disasters that might head my way when I am around her."

"Whoa," I exclaimed. "I don't think I'm as bad as that, so we should be relatively safe."

"We ought to be," Roberts agreed. "After all, we're not leaving the Compound."

"So where are we going to dinner?"

"One of the private dining rooms reserved for officers and very important people like yourself, my lady. Kiran is having a dinner with the various officers guarding the border."

"He could have warned me," I fidgeted with my dress. "He said to just wear whatever, so I assumed it was just the two of us."

"I think you look fine, my lady."

"Thanks, Roberts. Do you mind if you just call me Jean? Everyone 'my lady'-ing me doesn't feel right. I'm just an ordinary girl, you know."

"Not anymore," Roberts grinned and his teeth gleamed in the gathering dark. "Maybe in private, but out here and especially in the Compound, I have to call you 'my lady'. Kiran's orders."

"Technically you should all call him Chief-in-Waiting then," I countered. "Not by his name."

"Ah, but he is the Chief-in-Waiting and he ordered us to forego the mouthful and just call him by his name. We're not allowed to do the same thing for you without his say so."

"Looks like I'll need to have a talk with him sometime. Hopefully. Somehow. When he's free, not busy and not asleep."

Roberts chuckled.

~~~

The other officers had already been seated when I arrived and they all stood at my hesitant entry into the room.

Kiran in his immaculate dress uniform looked me up and down and then spun me around.

"Very nice, my lady," he murmured. "You look better than I have seen you for years."

"And whose fault is that?" I asked, while he led me to my seat and the other officers chuckled, suppressing their laughter and replacing them with straight faces the moment Kiran glared at them.

"Making fun of me in front of my officers, my lady? That's a bold move," Kiran said, pulling my seat out. He leant down to whisper in my ear while he pushed my seat in. "You can take off those shoes if they're hurting."

I nodded.