by S. J. West
“You Valengard and your toys,” I joke. “Just don’t hurt my vampire too much.”
“I take offense to that,” Julian says, actually sounding somewhat insulted. “As if I would allow her to get that close.”
“Listen,” I say to the love of my life, “I have plans for that body of yours, and I would rather not see it get damaged in any way. Plus, I saw her fight you earlier. You have to admit that Nadia’s good. She got a couple of good whacks in during your match that you didn’t see coming.”
“But you warning her not to hurt me means she’ll hold back, and what fun is that for me?” Julian sulks.
I have to laugh. He’s quite adorable when he pouts.
“Okay, children, go have your fun,” I say, shooing them both out of the room with a wave of my hands. “Just don’t maim each other. That’s all I ask.”
Both Nadia and Julian smile at me before they walk out the double glass doors to the veranda.
While I continue to eat, I watch the two of them spar and ponder for a second time that day if I can learn how to fight like they do. I have to admit that it does look like fun. Nadia is definitely more than capable of handling what Julian throws at her, but I have to wonder how much of his strength Julian is holding back. If she’s ever forced into mortal combat with another vampire who doesn’t care what happens to her, will she be able to hold her own? I don’t know. Only Julian would be able to judge that, and I plan to ask him before the vampires meet for their annual conclave. I don’t want to place Nadia in a life-threatening position, but then again, even if I asked her not to come to the conclave, I doubt she would abide by my request. I worry that the two wild vampires Julian told me about will cause trouble when we inform them that there might be a cure for their curse. If they truly are insane, like Julian said, then they won’t listen to reason. I can only hope there’s enough humanity left in them to want to seek out a solution.
By the time I’m through eating, Cia, the servant who helped me get ready for the farewell ceremony, arrives to lend her assistance once again for preparations for the ball. When I tell Julian and Nadia that it’s time to get ready, they both promise to stop sparring after their current round. If my calculations are correct, Julian has won three rounds and Nadia managed at least one win. Did Julian give her a pity victory? I don’t think so. He doesn’t seem like the type of person to just let someone best him. So Nadia’s one victory seems like quite a feat to me.
Cia spends a good hour properly applying my makeup and styling my hair for the ball. Once I’m dressed in the maroon gown that was left for me to wear, Cia carefully places the crown I chose on my head. I thought she would need to pin it into place, but she ensures me that the crown will not fall off my head until I take it off myself. When I ask for an explanation, she simply says it’s a common spell that’s cast on all crowns.
Gotta love the convenience magic provides…
Once I’m properly groomed, Cia leaves my bedroom but quickly comes back in to inform me that the queen is waiting for me in the sitting room.
I rush out to see her and find Shael standing out on the veranda, gazing at the purple and pink hues of the sunset.
The queen is dressed in a champagne-colored mermaid style dress made from a delicate-looking lace fabric. The strapless gown leaves her shoulders exposed underneath a cape of long sheer fabric that is dotted and lined around the edges with the same lace as the dress. She has her lustrous blonde hair styled in a loose bun and is wearing the same crown on her head that she wore to Mira’s party, where I first saw her.
She smiles when she sees me, and I know from her feelings that she’s truly happy to be with me again. Viktor hops onto the stone railing of the veranda to listen to our conversation.
“Nadia said you wanted to tell me about something that happened to you at the academy today,” Shael says, looking curious about the tale I have to tell her.
“Yes,” I say, taking in a deep breath. “I’m not too sure how happy you’ll be about it though.”
Shael’s look of curiosity turns to one of worry. “What happened, Sarah?”
I go on to tell Shael and Viktor about my time-traveling experience.
“That,” Shael says, holding in her temper, “was completely reckless of Rhys! If anyone had found out what he did while he was still alive, your father would have immediately been put to death!”
Viktor meows loudly as if to punctuate Shael’s last two statements.
“Yes. That’s what Nadia told me,” I reply. I reach up and begin to nervously play with the moonlight stone pendant around my neck. Shael notices my nervous twitch and takes a step closer to better examine the necklace.
I let go of the pendant so she can have an unobstructed view of it.
“Do you have any idea what kind of spell he might have had it imbued with?” I ask her, desperate to know how my father intended for me to use it.
“No,” Shael replies, reaching out to pick the pendant up off my chest to study it closer. “And I would advise you not to ask any of the mages here to help you figure it out. If you do, they’ll know you’re hiding something about its origin. If anyone asks, just tell them it’s a necklace I had made for you to commemorate your first visit here and that I had a witch on Earth imbue it with a spell. I can’t say a mage in Alfheim did it, because they all know each other and would immediately deduce that we’re lying to them. They may get mad at me for entrusting someone on Earth with the responsibility, but that can’t be helped. I would rather they be angry at me for a short time than run the risk of them discovering what my brother did.”
Shael lets go of the pendant and takes a step back.
“Thank you for telling me what happened and for not trying to keep it a secret from me. I appreciate your honesty.”
“I don’t want us to ever have secrets between us,” I tell her. “You’re the only blood kin I have left. If you can’t trust your family, who can you trust?”
“Very true,” Shael agrees. “Now, I have some news of my own, but I would rather wait until Nadia and Julian join us before I say it, since it affects them as well.”
Just as Shael finishes speaking these words, the door to the sitting room opens, and Nadia walks in with Julian right behind her. I’m surprised to see Nadia wearing a long-skirted, lilac-colored gown with an illusion neckline. The embroidery work is exquisite and covers most of the dress. It’s very girly, which is not a word I would use to describe Nadia. I actually like seeing this softer side of her. Yet her outfit seems a little odd considering her function as my protector. It’s beautiful and the lilac color brings out her features, but it doesn’t seem very practical from a fighting standpoint. I decide not to question her about it though. I doubt she expects anything to happen tonight, and perhaps she’s dressed up because she knows Jhann will be present. I have to say that I’m curious to see what happens when they’re in the same room together.
I thought Julian looked dashing last night in his long coat suit, but this evening, he looks downright gorgeous. The jacket is black and similar in style to the one he wore the night before, except this one is collarless with all the edges trimmed in a dark red material. On the left side of the jacket, over his heart, he’s wearing a gold and diamond studded broach. It isn’t until he walks over to us that I notice it’s in the shape of the sun and a crescent moon.
“The broach looks very nice on you,” Shael tells Julian.
“Thank you for giving it to me,” Julian replies, bowing to Shael at the waist.
“I take it the broach isn’t just a regular piece of jewelry,” I say, sensing it has a more significant meaning.
“It symbolizes that Julian is now a full member of House Moonshade,” Shael reveals. “Julian is your companion, so he deserves to be considered as more than a mere visitor here. He now has the right to enter the breach in New Orleans anytime he wants.”
“I heard Alden call it the breach too,” I say, remembering back to when I had been poisoned and Shael’s advi
sor brought me to Alfheim. “What is it exactly?”
“It’s what connects our world to yours,” Shael tells me. “Over a thousand years ago, an alfar mage created the breach in an attempt to escape his death sentence. Unfortunately, he crossed over into your world before anyone could stop him, and no one has been able to close the breach since. So we constructed the building it’s housed in now in New Orleans to keep it safe.”
“Is that why the supernatural creatures in New Orleans are so powerful?” I ask.
“I’ve always assumed so,” Shael says, “but you must never tell any of them what I just told you. No other human knows that the breach exists.”
“You’ve done well keeping the secret for this long,” Julian praises her. “We always just assumed you used alfar magic to teleport yourselves back and forth.”
“And that’s what everyone on Earth needs to continue to believe,” Shael says. “I trust the two of you will keep our secret. If Mira ever found out that there’s a physical portal she can step through to come here, I believe she would do it without asking for my permission first, just to curb her own curiosity.”
“Unfortunately, I would have to agree with you on that,” Julian says. “My sister acts on impulse and usually only thinks about herself. You have my word that I will never mention the breach to her or anyone else on Earth.”
But can Julian promise that the spirit inside him won’t tell anyone the secret? I don’t voice my concern, because I don’t want to embarrass Julian, but I consider it a real problem. For all I know, the soul he carries might announce the existence of the breach on Facebook or, even worse, Twitter. If the supernatural creatures in New Orleans discover the existence of the breach, we could have an eruption of complete pandemonium.
I decide not to think about the what-ifs right now. All I want to do this evening is survive the ball without making a complete fool out of myself in front of the other house rulers.
“Nadia said you heard from Alden earlier,” Julian says to Shael. “What did he have to report?”
“He wrote that he has a concrete lead on the person who hired the two hitmen to kill Sarah,” Shael announces.
“Did he name this person?” Julian asks ominously, sounding ready to tear the heart out of whoever it is trying to kill me.
Shael shakes her head. “No. He wants to find proof first before he makes a formal accusation. Alden isn’t one to lay blame of a misdeed on a person without confirming their guilt or innocence first. As soon as he gathers the evidence he needs, I’m sure he’ll return to Alfheim.”
“I understand,” Julian replies, not sounding in the least bit satisfied with Shael’s answer. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait then.”
“Yes. I’m afraid we will,” Shael says with a faint smile as she studies Julian in his restrained state. “In the meantime, I believe we should begin making our way to the ballroom. Most of the guests have already arrived, and I know they’re all anxious to finally meet you, Sarah.”
Without waiting for my reply, Shael begins to walk out of the room. Julian bends his right arm at the elbow for me to take. I slip my hand through it, and we follow my aunt out of the room with Nadia staying close behind us. We all walk to the elevator down the hallway, but instead of going down this time, we travel all the way up to the top floor.
We step out into a rather large antechamber that’s empty of people except for the two male guards stationed on either side of a set of doors trimmed in gold. I can hear the notes of an orchestra playing just beyond the entrance and can only assume that the ballroom lays beyond them.
“Let me go in first,” Shael tells me. “I’ll welcome everyone who came and then announce you.”
“I don’t suppose I could just slip in through a side door instead,” I suggest, really hoping my aunt will let me but knowing in my heart that she won’t.
“Nonsense,” Shael says with a shake of her head. “You’re the next ruler of this house, and the next queen of the alfar does not skulk around in the shadows. Now, be ready to walk in when I say your name.”
Shael walks over to the doors and doesn’t even pause when she gets close to them. The guards seem to know what to do and open the doors for her to step through them, as if they had her strides perfectly timed inside their heads.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I say to Julian, feeling on the verge of fainting from nervousness. “I don’t know if I can be the future queen of the alfar.”
“You can do anything you put your mind to,” Julian tells me, patting the hand I still have resting on his crooked arm. “And I’ll be here by your side every step of the way, Sarah.”
I drag my eyes away from the doors and look into his rich hazel ones. I see a confidence there in me that I don’t quite feel in myself. I wish I could channel Julian’s feelings and use them to replace my own nervous ones, but since my empathic ability doesn’t work on him, I can’t.
Instead, I take in a deep breath to help steady my nerves. When the doors to the ballroom open, I still don’t feel ready. I can hear people inside the room clapping and know that they are waiting for me to make my grand entrance.
Basically, I have two options.
I can either turn around and run away from my responsibility, or I can face it head-on and deal with what comes next as it happens. I think about meeting the young version of my dad and how he accepted the fact that he would die an early death. He didn’t try to change his fate or run away from it. He accepted what had to be and ended up living a happy life until the night he died. Becoming queen of the alfar may not be something that I want to happen, but it’s not something I can run away from either. Before I lose my nerve, I take one step forward and then another until Julian and I are standing at the entrance to the ballroom.
I do my best to smile kindly at all the strangers staring at and judging me, and when the clapping stops, they all continue to stare as if they expect me to say a few words to them.
Crap! Was I supposed to have a speech prepared? No one told me I would be expected to say something to a room full of people!
I’ve always avoided public speaking whenever possible, but now it appears I’ll have to find a way to deal with it. I’m sure as queen I’ll end up having to make speeches to people from time to time. I guess now is as good a time as any to get used to that requirement.
I swallow hard and say, “Thank you all for coming this evening, and thank you for your warm welcome.”
I look over at Shael to indicate to her that that’s all I intend to say.
She takes over from there and encourages everyone to enjoy themselves in her home. She then lifts her hand toward the orchestra, and they begin to play some music.
Shael walks over to me and says, “I see making speeches isn’t something you’re comfortable with doing. We’ll need to work on that.”
“I didn’t know I would be expected to say anything,” I confess in a whisper.
“It’s all right, Sarah,” she says with an understanding smile. “No one here expects you to be perfect.”
As far as I can tell, that is the first lie Shael has ever told me. I can feel her disappointment in me as well as the discontent of the others present in the room. I decide to shut off my empathic ability for now. If I’m going to make it through this night with at least a small amount of pride intact, I can’t let the feelings of those here affect me. I breathe a sigh of relief as I completely cut the tie I feel with everyone else’s emotions.
“Now, let’s see,” Shael says, looking out at the sea of people as if she’s searching for someone in particular. “Hmm, that’s odd …”
“What’s wrong?” I ask as Shael’s face scrunches up into a mask of bewilderment.
“I can’t seem to find the rulers of the other houses,” she replies worriedly.
Oh great. When someone doesn’t show up to your party, that usually means you’re being snubbed by them. Are the other houses sending a message to Shael that they will refuse to accept me as their rul
er when the time comes? Will the discovery of my existence inadvertently break a one-hundred-year-old truce between all of the houses because they refuse to acknowledge me as the rightful heir to House Moonshade? Luckily, my imagination of everything that could go wrong is shut down when the double doors to the ballroom open again.
Everyone present looks toward the entrance and sees the four people standing along the threshold to the room. I hear several gasps come from the crowd, but the loudest one comes from Shael herself.
When I look at my aunt’s face, her expression isn’t the one I expected to see. I assumed I would see shock, but instead I see unmitigated fury.
“Of all the gall,” she whispers angrily through gritted teeth.
I look back at the four, who are still standing at the entryway to the room, but I don’t understand what about them is making Shael so livid.
From the brief lesson Nadia gave me this afternoon about the ruling families of the other houses, I recognize Ireen from House Draconid, Wren from House Icefall, Jhann from House Nysas, and, last but not least, Aron from House Firestorm. Strangely enough, all of the men are dressed in the same vanilla-colored long coat suit. The coat has a jacquard embroidery pattern with crystal buttons down the front and a short beaded collar. Draped around their necks are three strings of white pearls. Ireen is wearing a dress that’s the same vanilla color with a three-quarter-sleeved, crystal-beaded bodice and a gold necklace with a circular medallion in the shape of a dragon. Clasped between its teeth appears to be a moonlight stone, which seems odd to me. I was under the impression that only those in House Moonshade were allowed to have jewelry embellished with moonlight stones. I immediately assume the necklace has a double, possibly subtlety hostile, meaning.
I notice Nadia walk over and stand beside Shael to quietly ask her, “What do you want me to do?”
Shael stares at the quartet who are still standing in the entryway as she considers Nadia’s question. I know something is going on, but I don’t know what. I look over at Julian, but he simply shrugs his shoulders, indicating he’s as baffled as I am and doesn’t know what’s going on either.
