It was decidedly rare, in any sense, that the Monarch so found himself away from his husband on any given evening and yet, tonight, Sebastian had gone to meet with several off the shareholders in his mining company. A meeting Dorian had been content to admit that he himself was likely to find distinctly outside his realm of expertise and that he could surely use the evening to further his own paperwork and oversee those new laws Parliament had proposed in regards to several Social Services, a tax on imported goods and those ongoing trade negotiations with Azerbaijan. Yet how terribly out of sorts he was given to feel without Sebastian at home! Foolish though the notion surely was. Both of them would have been required to do little other then work tonight and yet the Fae King took a contentment of sorts in the simple knowledge his husband was home. The occasional phone calls the other man took in his office, his near hourly wandering to the kitchen in pursuit of more tea, even the simple sound of Sebastian moving about had become so decidedly normal for him he found the silence off his own office to be almost overly oppressive. Still, he supposed, those papers would not sign themselves and he had several meetings off his own to attend to tonight. The first of which was due within the hour. Dorian having done no more then glance at that list earlier this evening without paying very much attention to just whom was upon it.

His silver gaze glanced briefly up at the clock upon the wall before his pen returned to the paper before him to add his rather long signature into the required space below. That flowing, elaborate style of writing hardly having faded from the Fae despite how long he had now lived in that far more modern world. The sudden, soft buzzing off that golden coloured cell phone beside him readily prompted his attention then. Dorian taping softly at that screen. That message from his brother readily appearing before him then, Dorian unable to hide that ready grin receiving a message from Aiden prompted upon his features. The Monarch distinctly fond of that younger brother he had only just come to discover he had those past few weeks ago and yet- the pair of men had, slowly, come to find each other's company companionable. Dorian distinctly looking forward to that trip Aiden and himself were set to take in the coming weeks. That text message however, was nothing short of baffling. His roomate had returned? How readily that frown of confusion tugged at his features now. Dorian texting that very query back. His finger having only just sent that message when Charles appeared within his doorway.

Dorian glancing upward at the sound of that polite knock, the manservant informing him his first appointment for the evening was already waiting downstairs and that she had so requested he be informed that the Queen of Narnia was awaiting him. Dorian so momentarily blinking toward Charles in clear bafflement. Surely someone would have informed him had he been meeting fellow Royalty this evening! Heavens but he was hardly dressed appropriately for that! Sebastian was not home and he was quite certain only light refreshments had been prepared for this evening, let alone the notion he had not been present to greet them upon arrival as was customary between Royals. He really need-.

"Charles, did you say Narina?"

That very name at last seemed to permeate the veritable rush of thoughts the title of 'Queen' had so prompted within him. The manservant nodding then before holding out that appointment sheet with those more pertinent details of their guest. Dorian's gaze readily frowning at the name printed neatly upon the sheet. Samantha. Surely.....it could not be the Samantha his mind was so first inclined to consider. The very woman he had, so very long ago, once lived with. The woman he had once owed so very much too and been so terribly fond off. The woman whom had simply abandoned him. The very hurt her leaving had caused him seeming to make itself known once more in those moments like a sudden pang. The sound off his phone and Aiden's reply once more prompted his gaze downward again to see that name again repeated upon his screen. Samantha. How very conflicting those emotions that so accosted him! Dorian handing back that sheet to Charles then with the insistence he would be down momentarily. His toned figure leaning back agianst the desk then with a ready sigh. He had not seen Samantha in....years. Not since she had simply disappeared. Her grief over the death off her boyfriend at the time having been to much for her it seemed. Even if that boyfriend, his own Aiden no less, was still very much alive. How readily he understood the concept of grief and yet too, how very much her abandonment had hurt him in turn. Her perhaps equally poor relationship with Sebastian having so resulted in Samantha having simply become a topic neither man sought to mention.

How many things he had to say to her and yet undecided about his own feelings he remained! Dorian inclined to find himself both curious and apprehensive and pleased and displeased and conflicted all at once. He pushed easily away from that desk then. Good manners, it seemed, overriding any such hesitations. The Monarch holding no desire to keep her waiting all the same as he strode from his office. Those jeans and simple white shirt he wore distinctly casual and yet he had long since ceased to fret over his clothing. He descended that marble staircase readily, crossing through the foyer with its gleaming chandelier to head into the parlour. His arrival prompting that announcement from Charles all the same. The manservant gesturing for Samantha to stand as protocol so dictated. "His Royal Majesty, Dorian Ellington-Aragona."

"Thank you Charles and it's quite alright, she does not have to stand."

His hand waved readily towards Samantha then in that simple gesture that she was welcome to remain seated. Charles offering Dorian that warm grin before the man descended into the house with the assurance Elizabeth would arrive with refreshments shortly. The pair of Fae so readily left alone in that room then. That very silence seeming distinctly....heavy. Dorian near quote unable to believe his own eyes all the same. It truly was Samantha. The woman appearing just as he remembered her. A part of him so readily desiring to embrace her and yet- that stronger part, perhaps, assured he remained where he was. It was, simply, not within his nature to be angry. Dorian, even now, unable to summon any true disdain for the woman and yet that veritable hurt had not healed, those questions he had over her very disappearance once more driven to the forefront of his mind. How much he desired to say and yet how few words so managed to find him.

"Samantha. It has been....a very long time."

The silver off his gaze so readily found her own once more. Those words neither overly friendly nor distinctly unfriendly in any sense. That very sentence a veritable statement and little else. One lacking any truly discernable emotion at all.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

How readily it seemed to occur to him in that moment that the woman had, perhaps, simply returned because she desired something from him. From them. Sebastian and himself. Some sort of assistance perhaps? Dorian not at all the sort of man inclined to turn her away even after all they had been through and yet those veritable shields remained firmly in place all at once. Dorian, it seemed, inclined to default to simple politeness when unable to decide just which emotion he truly wished to display. How much he desired to say and yet, until he had deduced the nature of this visit he was distinctly not inclined to allow himself to feel any of those conflicting emotions that lingered beneath the surface.