by H. R. Moore
Marcus opened the wicker basket and produced two beakers and a bottle of Ginger Champagne. ‘Sorry,’ he said, expertly popping the cork and pouring generous quantities into each beaker. ‘I couldn’t find any champagne flutes that dad wouldn’t have killed me for bringing out here, and the caterers for the ball were watching theirs like hawks,’ he said, as though this were dreadfully unjust of them. He handed Anita a beaker and she giggled.
‘Thanks.’ Hearing Marcus call Austin ‘dad’ made Austin seem almost human. Anita had visions of Marcus as a small boy being chastised by his father and she found it quite endearing. ‘It’s quite some view you’ve got here,’ she said, turning to look at the landscape and taking a sip of the delicious wine, bubbles gently fizzing on her tongue.
‘I thought you’d like it,’ he replied. ‘I come out here quite a lot and just stare at the view. My mother often comes out here with me too.’
The mention of Marcus’ mother shocked Anita. She had never heard anyone talk about her and she hadn’t been at any of the events over the last couple of weeks, had she?
‘I’ll look forward to being introduced to your mother,’ said Anita, hoping he would offer up more information.
‘Well you might have to wait a while for that,’ Marcus breathed back heavily. He saw Anita’s inquisitive expression so went on tentatively, ‘my father and mother don’t exactly see eye to eye any more, on pretty much anything, so they try to lead separate lives. My mother comes out here when dad’s in Kingdom and she goes back to Kingdom when he comes out here. I go between the two, although I spend far more time with dad now, obviously.’
‘That must be hard,’ Anita mused.
‘Not especially,’ he shrugged back, indifferent. ‘You’re used to what you’re used to I suppose. Like I imagine you’re used to living with your grandmother and not seeing your parents.’
‘Well it would be tricky to see my parents given that they’re both dead,’ she said evenly.
Marcus’ eyes flew open, ‘Anita, I’m so sorry, I had no idea.’
She laughed. ‘Why would you? It’s fine. I don’t even remember my parents, so I’ve never known anything else. As you say, you’re used to what you’re used to, so living with my grandmother seems normal to me. Anything else would feel a bit odd.’
Marcus topped up her beaker. ‘So, ready for the first dance?’ he asked, the mood regaining its flirtatious edge.
‘It’s not the first dance I’m worried about,’ she smirked, ‘I’m more concerned about how everyone will react to me turning up with you. I can almost hear the ripple of whispers we’re going to cause when we go in.’
‘Ah yes, the gossip mill. It’s surprising that Cleo has managed to keep our secret and even dad hasn’t found out about you, which is pretty much a first for him.’ Anita’s guts tightened at this news. It was one thing dealing with the gossip mill, it was quite another she suspected to have to deal with Austin as well. Marcus got up and walked over to the car. ‘Anyway, I wasn’t talking about the first dance in there,’ he nodded towards the castle, ‘I meant the first dance we are about to have out here,’ he said, turning on the car radio so a vibrant, sassy, melody rippled out of the speakers. He sauntered back to Anita and roguishly held out his hand. She took it and stood up delicately.
‘I do hope you know how to lead,’ she played.
‘I’m more concerned that you might not know how to follow,’ he quipped back.
Anita smiled. ‘Touché,’ she said, raising one eyebrow. ‘I suppose we will just have to find out then won’t we.’
Marcus pulled her firmly towards him, placing his free hand on her waist. He took control and Anita let him. They danced for what seemed like forever, silently flirting, testing each other. Marcus occasionally spun Anita out before guiding her back into his hold. Not bad, thought Anita as she started to enjoy herself. Not quite as good as Bas, but the first dance would be a long way from embarrassing. As the song came to an end, Marcus bent Anita gently backwards, holding her there as the last remnants of the song floated away into the twilight. Stillness filled the air and Marcus gently pulled her back up so their faces were inches apart. They paused there, pulses racing, before Marcus leant in, his intention plain. Anita pulled away.
‘You’ll smudge my lipstick,’ she breathed seductively, her eyes throwing him a challenge. Marcus grabbed her hand as she moved away and pressed it lightly to his lips, meeting both her eyes and her challenge.
‘As you wish…,’ he purred.
*****
‘Anything new?’ Austin snapped at the man dressed head to toe in black in front of him, a guard from his security team sent to give him an update. Austin had no idea who he was and didn’t really care. He was just annoyed that Amber had not deigned to come herself and the man standing in front of him seemed as good a person as any to take that out on.
‘Well we do now know who Marcus has asked to accompany him to the ball this evening,’ the man started. He spoke with care, taking time over every word in a way that Austin found patronising and therefore intensely irritating.
‘Oh?’ replied Austin, his interest piqued, though he didn’t show it, making a mental note to get Amber to sack this dithering imbecilic.
‘Anita. The girl who won the Chase. By all accounts she is an excellent dancer, so the first dance should be quite a spectacle,’ he prattled, but he really should have stopped the moment he had uttered Anita’s name. Austin’s face was dark as night.
‘You mean to tell me that my son is bringing to a Crowning Ball some girl he has met only twice? Some low life, unorthodox girl that everyone thinks is peculiar?’ He said it in a chillingly quiet voice, but the imbecile continued confidently, seemingly oblivious to Austin’s alarming reaction to his words.
‘She seems exceptionally skilled sir,’ he said in an enthusiastic tone.
‘I know that you simpleton, that’s why I have a security detail on her. Why else do you think you currently find yourself in my employment?’ Austin’s voice was louder now as he snarled out his wolfish response.
The man tried to stutter out a reply, but a cool, enticing female voice put him out of his misery before he could dig himself into any further danger. ‘Thank you Thompson, you can go.’ The woman was around 5 foot 7, lithe, with heavy auburn hair that she wore cut short in a bob. Her skin was porcelain white and flawless, her eyes cat like and treacherous. Thompson didn’t need to be told twice and made his way swiftly past the stiff, heavy, leather drawing room furniture, past where Amber was standing seductively by the colossal, crackling fire, towards the ancient oak door. She waited for him to leave before meandering her way bewitchingly towards Austin, his face still alive with his fury. She pouted provocatively as she approached him. ‘Austin,’ she said sulkily, putting one hand on each lapel of his dinner jacket and kissing him lightly on the lips, ‘aren’t you going to tell me how enchanting I look?’ She spoke slowly, lingered over the word enchanting, stepping back and completing a slow turn as she said the words.
‘Amber, you look captivating, as you always do. But your feminine charms are not going to get you out of this one,’ he growled, perhaps not quite as aggressively as he could have done. ‘Why didn’t you know that Marcus was bringing our number one suspect to the ball?’
‘I had my suspicions,’ she started, stepping forward and playing with his bow tie as though their conversation was trivial to her, ‘but didn’t want to tell you until I was sure. And now I’m sure, so here we are. It would appear that they may have met more than twice as we previously thought, but they have only ever met briefly. It makes perfect sense. She is powerful and Marcus has always been attracted to powerful people. You can hardly blame the boy, I can only imagine how dull it is to have to spend time with all the vacuous girls he normally hangs around with and at least Anita seems to have a bit of fight in her. I would quite like her,’ she paused, pretending to consider what she had just said, before looking up through her lashes at Austin, ‘if of course she wasn’t
number one on my hit list,’ she smiled a vindictive, dangerous smile.
Amber was head of Austin’s private security and research team. They had been on constant look out for powerful girls of about Anita’s age, especially powerful people from the Body Temple, ever since Christiana had told Austin they were going to Empire to look for the girl.
‘Speaking of your hit list, have you made any progress?’ Austin inquired, seeming to have taken Amber’s bait, his thunderous mood abating a little, now absently caressing her lower back. Amber took this to be a good sign, so she arched her back to press her body forwards against his. He did always love to discuss the hit list.
‘We have one or two more to add to the list, both from the Institution, but Anita still outstrips everyone else we have,’ she said matter of factly. ‘Let’s face it; Marcus might be doing us a favour. It may mean we have the perfect opportunity to study her more closely.’
‘Which is great until he falls in love with her and she does turn out to be the one,’ he sneered.
She smiled a slow, ruthless smile. ‘Marcus is far too much like you to do something as stupid as fall in love. It’s lust and infatuation, nothing more,’ she said pulling back from him.
Austin smirked and used the hand at the base of her spine to pull her roughly back against him, their noses almost touching, ‘is that what it is?’ he mocked. She bit his lip so it was almost painful, Austin forcefully pushing her away in retaliation. ‘My adoring public awaits,’ he announced, as he made his way to the door. Amber had placated him for now, but she couldn’t help wondering for how long.
*****
Austin came out of the drawing room just as Marcus and Anita were climbing the steps through the front door and into the colossal entrance hall. They were a breath-taking couple, even Austin had to admit it. They looked positively regal as they gracefully ascended the stairs, Anita’s arm laced through Marcus’. Marcus, oblivious to Austin’s presence, turned his head to look down at Anita in a way that was half predator, half puppy dog. Anita looked up at him and rolled her eyes, shaking her head in mock contempt. Austin could feel his mood blacken once more; that had better be what lust looked like he thought, or Amber would not get off lightly this time. Anita felt a sudden shift in energy ahead and looked up to see who it belonged to. Spotting Austin, she felt wildly embarrassed and tried to pull away from Marcus, but Marcus, who had now also spotted Austin, held her resolutely in place.
‘You’re late,’ snapped Austin sharply by way of a greeting.
‘Father, you remember Anita?’ Marcus replied brightly, ignoring Austin’s terrible mood, ‘our guest of honour this evening.’
‘Anita,’ Austin nodded curtly in her direction before whirling round and striding towards the great hall, his cloak billowing out behind him.
Marcus turned to Anita and gave her an apologetic look. ‘That went well,’ Anita said sarcastically as they made their way after Austin towards the great hall.
‘Ignore him. He was obviously in a bad mood already,’ he whispered conspiratorially.
They approached the huge, studded oak doors that led into the great hall and joined Peter, Gwyn, Alexander and Austin, who were already there. Anita shot Marcus a hostile look, given the lack of dates present for the other Descendants. ‘We don’t normally process with non-Descendants,’ he murmured in her ear, ‘but seeing as you are the guest of honour, we will process in last.’
Great, thought Anita. One more thing to make them stand out, as if there wasn’t enough already, but at least Marcus and Alexander looking as dashing as ever would draw some of the female attention away from her and she definitely looked better than Gwyn, she thought cattily. Gwyn had a very impressive emerald and diamond necklace on, but the dress she was wearing seemed to somehow wear her, rather than the other way round. Her black, low cut, velvet dress, complete with a very high slit up the side, was beautiful, but she just couldn’t quite pull it off. Hopefully that would attract the attention of the bitchy girls and she might get off quite lightly.
The hum of chattering that been audible through the doors faded abruptly into silence, hauling Anita hastily back from her thoughts. The Descendants lined up ready to process, first Gwyn, then Peter, then Alexander, then Austin and then Marcus and Anita. Marcus offered Anita his arm and she begrudgingly took it; it would, she reasoned, look a bit odd if she didn’t.
They could hear the muffled sound of a Councillor instructing everyone to stand for the procession and the scrape of chairs as everyone obliged, followed by the announcement of their arrival. As soon as the Councillor had finished, the thick doors swung easily open and Gwyn immediately and confidently led the way through them. There was absolute silence for a few moments as all eyes tracked the procession, before, just as Anita and Marcus reached the entrance, the band started to play. Anita could not have been more appreciative of the music and from the moment it began, the whole experience felt abstract, almost dream like. She felt she was floating through the hall, in her own little bubble of a world, making it surprisingly easy to block out the indelicate eyes that followed her.
The hall had three enormous banqueting tables set up, one down each side and a third across the top to form a horse shoe. They were heading for the top table where the dates of the other Descendants, along with some of the most senior Councillors were waiting. They processed past the rest of the guests, who were already at their seats in front of an impressive array of silver and glassware, all eyes fixed intently on the small group in front of them. They passed underneath many spectacular crystal chandeliers and Anita noticed several mesmerising works of art hanging on the walls behind the banquet tables. They were modern pieces, depicting energy waves in abstract ways, yet oddly were somehow perfect for the grand, old environment and gave it a contemporary feel, devoid of any of the stuffiness that you might expect. As they were nearing the top table, Anita noticed Cleo, already looking bored, next to Henry who was positively beaming. That’s going as expected then, thought Anita, spotting Bas sitting next to a girl she could only assume was Missy. She looked quite nice, although very plain, and she needed someone like Cleo to take her shopping, as her dress was extremely conservative. Anita felt Bas’ energy pick up as she went past and she shot him a warm smile. Alistair was sitting the other side of Missy, but looked preoccupied with something; he seemed to barely notice the procession. Anita wondered what it could be, realising just in time that they had reached the top table, where they had to split from the others to get to the far side. Anita, Marcus and Alexander went to the right and Austin, Peter and Gwyn went to the left.
Austin sat in the middle of the top table, which Anita thought was reasonable, it was his castle after all, with Anita to his left as the guest of honour and Gwyn to his right. Marcus was on Anita’s other side and he had some Councillor’s daughter, then Alexander and then Helena to his left. Gwyn was sitting next to her date, someone else Anita didn’t recognise, but who was presumably from a Council family, then Peter, then several other Councillors to her right. Peter’s wife and Gwyn’s mother Olivia, Anita had learned from Marcus, had died during child birth and Peter had never had another relationship. She hadn’t yet spoken to Peter, but he seemed to keep himself to himself and she imagined him to be quite shy. Anita resolved to speak with him later to see what he was like.
Everyone sat down except Austin, who remained standing to make the opening speech, his voice creamy as ever. ‘Descendants, Councillors, Children of the Temples of the Mind, Body and Spirit. I welcome you to my home for the celebration of a truly significant moment in our history, the Crowning of not one, but two Descendants. Tonight we bring to a close the Crowning traditions, having had a fantastic Chase and a poignant Crowning ceremony, both with record turnouts. We shall of course look forward to seeing our Chase Champion and tonight’s guest of honour, Anita, lead this evening’s dancing after dinner, but first, let us toast our new Descendants, Peter, son of Christiana and Alexander, son of Anthony.’ Austin picked up his Ginger Ch
ampagne saying, ‘to Peter and Alexander,’ as he lifted his glass in the air.
The rest of the hall mirrored his actions, standing up and lifting their champagne echoing, ‘to Peter and Alexander,’ enthusiastically as one.
Austin finished his uncharacteristically short speech with, ‘I look forward to seeing you all dancing after dinner, bon appetit.’ Austin sat down and the gaggle of gossip started, with many very obviously looking and pointing at the top table.
‘Just as I thought,’ Anita turned and said to Marcus incisively, as a mountain of food was placed in the middle of the table in front of them.
Anita managed to make it through dinner without enraging Austin. He asked her a series of probing question, such as how Alexander had managed to run so fast at the Chase when he had never previously displayed Body skills quite like it. Anita’s reply had been that maybe it was just that she had had to slow down to Alexander’s speed as her energy meter was broken, although this was definitely a lie. He asked about Anita’s family life and her parents in a way that made Anita suspect he already knew the answers. He asked why Marcus had kept it a secret that he was bringing Anita, to which she replied that she didn’t know. But most oddly, he seemed very interested in her relationship with Helena and why, given her considerable Body skills, Anita had chosen not to become an academic. Anita told him the truth, that she had wanted to study the energy and Alistair had given her a job at the Observatory around the same time, but he didn’t seem very satisfied with her answer. Luckily, at that point Gwyn interrupted with some inane comment, shooting Anita a deathly glare and drawing Austin into a conversation with her. Anita couldn’t have been more pleased and turned towards Marcus, to make sure by the time Austin turned back to her, she would be engaged in another conversation.
