"Spoken like someone who embarrassed herself on her Debut," his second elder brother Calvin slyly insinuated. 
"One cannot be embarrassed if one rejects all sense of shame," Blair haughtily declared with a wink at Derbie. "That being said, try to drink slowly."
"Thank you for the advice, Blair," Derbie smiled at his adult siblings, joining their ranks tonight was an honour.
"Have fun," Alaric tried to act serious and proper, filling in for their absent parents, "and remember we are proud of you."
Derbie carried their words in with him as he entered the banquet hall and selected a seat. Both Head seats were reserved, leaving it unknown which side the Queen would claim and thus every chair had potential. Pick the right side and one would be next to the Queen but pick the wrong and be as far away as possible. And yet being as far away as possible could be a blessing as it allowed one to focus on their seatmates and form strong bonds there. And those in the middle had a balance of being close enough to engage the Queen or seatmates, allowing them to use both. And for those unable to decide, it would be a simple matter of waiting for all the seats to be selected and taking whatever was left. That had been his original plan despite Alaric's caution to be purposeful, but then Derbie noted how the others were avoiding sitting next to Lady Ban Ruma after her little display of nerves. She'd selected a middle seat, so the gaps left around her were painfully obvious. 
"Thank you for saving me such a marvellous seat Lady Ruma," Derbie sat to the Lady's right, acting as if they were more acquainted than they were. 
Only her eyes widened slightly in surprise, no other trace escaping her control despite the obvious demonstration earlier, "you're quite welcome Lord Briggs." Almost imperceptibly her lips moved and Derbie heard her whisper, "thank you."
He could only give a polite and brief nod, never having mastered the art of talking without moving his lips. And as if his eager approach had burst some barrier, the seats around Lady Ruma swiftly filled with the Ram triplets. 
"It's a pleasure to meet you, I', Bahni Ram," the eldest of the triplets was wearing earrings. "These are my sisters Chanda," she indicated the one with a necklace, "and Deepa," the last triplet wore bracelets. 
Derbie was grateful for the jewelry coded attire as the triplets were identical down to synchronized blinking. And since he had siblings a large part of Derbie suspected it was a deliberate show to play up the uniqueness of triplets. Alaric was going to foam at the mouth when he heard Derbie's summary. 
"Please rise for Her Majesty's entrance," the herald ended all the idle chatter, each seat filled but the last.
Derbie stood with Lady Ban to his left and two Baron sons on his right and across from him, the Ram sisters surrounded Lady Ban and still he felt like a rabbit before a wolf when the Queen entered. Queen Akiyama paused just inside the banquet hall, taking in their regard and seeming to size each of them up with a challenging gaze. "So, you are the future nobles who will one day serve me," she sounded doubtful of their collective ability to impress her.
The two Ducal Princesses sat across from each other, Lady Banika Hatsune blushed a pretty colour when the Queen chose to sit near them; an honour for an adopted daughter. Colena Sikali looked more unaffected, accepting the presumed favour with a perfectly executed curtsy. 
"Sit, let us all eat," the Queen sat first and only then did anyone else dare. "I will ask each of you a question and I want you to answer honestly," she commanded while the wine was being poured. "Lying to me or trying to tell me the answer you think I want to hear won't serve you, so be cautious before just spitting any answer out."