Editing The Lioness (Warhammer High) (section)

===Initial thoughts===
Several minutes later, the duo arrived to their destination: The Golden Grail. The restaurant was well known among the terran nobles for its exceptional cuisine and in house entertainment, including shows and music. One of the most famous of restaurants in the hive, particularly for it being regularly visited by some of the Primarchs.

“Have you ever been here?” Felix asked her as they approached the grand entrance from the parking lot.

She nodded at him. “Plenty of times. My father brought me as a child for dinner and the shows. Although I haven’t been here in a while.”

“It’s amazing, really. Great food and keeps the unwanted out.”

She looked at him strangely at that. “Unwanted?”

“The riff raff” he said casually, thinking that should be enough to explain what he meant but left Lyra with more questions. She was going to ask him further, but as they walked into the building someone had already recognized her.

“Lady Lyra!” a voice exclaimed. At first she thought it was the paparazzi and anger already began to boil through her. They did not want to ruin her evening tonight, not unless they wanted a to spend the night in a prison.

She turned to the voice, stone faced and ready for a picture flash when she suddenly noticed it was an middle aged man smiling at her. It took a second to recognize him, mainly because she hadn’t seen him in years, but a smile did appear on her face.

“Mr. Porteau, its been too long.” He was a short black haired man, balding near the back of his head. A thick moustache covered his entire upper lip and he had very small glasses on the ridge of his nose. Somewhat rotund around the stomach, he wore a white suit tailor made for him. “Felix, this is Mr. Porteau, owner of The Golden Grail.”

“You know the owner?” he said, a bit shocked by the whole event.

“I told you I came here as a kid. Mr. Porteau, this is Felix Severus, my date for the evening.”

“Pleased to meet you young man. Table for two?” the large man asked her. She nodded.

“Yes, in a private location I hope. Don’t want the buzzers to intrude.” Porteau gave her a face that made it seemed that she had almost insulted him by having to ask.

“Of course. I never have those vultures in my restaurant Madame. Although I take it you won’t be able to entertain us tonight with your elegant voice?”

“Not tonight. Maybe some other time, Mr. Porteau” she responded. He personally led them past the main entrance to the ground floor where most of the diners were and instead went to a side door with a large staircase upwards. He led them up to a enclosed balcony area that seemed mainly to be used by private parties. There was a glass wall that looked down to the main room, but it must have been one way as no one seemed to look up as the trio walked above. As always, Mr. Porteau delivered. A table for two was immediately set for the them and as they took their seats, the owner bowed and left the two to themselves.

“Amazing. You have quite the connections” Felix remarked to her.

“Mr. Porteau is more than that. He is a good family friend. My father helped him by funding this restaurant when I was born and since then he has never disappointed in his services or his friendship.”

“Nor should he forget to do so. He understand that without people like you, he is nothing.”

“I guess” she said, not thinking much of it. He was technically right, even if it was a bit simple minded.

“So what did he mean when he said ‘entertain us’?” Felix asked as he looked over the menu.

“Oh. As I said, he feels forever indebted to us. When I started to sing, he gave me the chance to do it in front of the crowd. Even if I wasn’t good at it, he still gave me a shot. Of course, most places would love to have the royal family singing for their customers, but Porteau did it because he wanted me to embrace my talent, not for personal gain on his part.”

“I can’t believe it” Felix said, a bit astonished.

“As I said, Porteau is a good friend.”

“Not that. I don’t get how you can be so generous to these people most of the time. You perform for them when all they do is take from you and your family. It must be tough being in your position, when the mass majority of people you know only want from you and never return the favor.”

“Uh, I...” Lyra stuttered, unsure of how to respond to him. It didn’t matter as he went back to the menu, deep in thought about the choices presented to him. However, Lyra seemed a bit shocked. Did Felix really believe that the majority of people she knew were out to use her? There were always the occasional bad cases that did, but for the most part people treated them fairly and never asked too much, already grateful for what her father, uncles and grandfather had done for the Imperium.

She began to feel the same doubt that had plagued her earlier reappear, reminding her how wrong she was initially about Felix. She must have been over thinking this as well.

“Would you want wine to start?” he asked her and she took a moment before answering. The doubts lingered and she would need something stronger to remove them from her mind.

“No, make it a glass of whiskey on the rocks for me.”