Chapter 39 – Nevaeh de Montignac

The last week before the party could have been resumed in only one word: chaos. But Nevaeh was prepared, and she could have tackled it alone, if only the families hadn't all arrived at the same moment, on Thursday.

But before that, Nevaeh had to oversee the room preparations for the new guests. The party was completely up to the girls, by now, and she knew she could trust them. She still made sure at the end of every day that they were on schedule, but other than that? She let them do this on their own. It was a private party, anyway, so if it wasn't 110% perfect, it didn't matter too much.

The girls who weren't participating actively in the planning of the party were helping out here and there if needed, but their primary preoccupation was welcoming the families and making sure their costumes were ready for Friday.

Odessa had already started decorating the halls and the large sitting room and dining room where the main parts of the party would take place with pumpkins, orange flowers, branches, and whatnot, with Sydney's help, and some other Palace staff. Gail, Ximena, and Jenissa were the main brains of the party, bossing around each other and the rest of the girls who were willing to get involved. Ashia, Dyani, and Malia were working under Nevaeh's orders to have everything ready for the families. Pallas and Eve couldn't really abandon their study books, so they stayed with Val. The only free ladies who helped wherever they could, were Emelda, Morrigan, and Laelia, and for now, they were all helping Odessa set out the table decorations in the dining room.

And from what Nevaeh had counted, at least 31 new guests would fill the palace over the end of the week, and all through the weekend. She, with the help of the 3 Selected plus some palace staff, had moved all the remaining girls to the same wing of the palace, leaving as many rooms free for the families, all grouped in one place.

It was not easy work, but it had to be done. The only family that would be staying as very special guests were her family, being royalty themselves, and would stay on the third floor, with the royal family. Yes, they had some special unused rooms up there, for occasions such as these.

"Nevaeh, ma Chérie!" a very familiar voice called her across the Hall. The Duchess whirled around and grinned.

"Maman!" She fast-walked down the hall and hugged her mother fiercely. "Tu m'as manqué," she said in her mother's neck. She breathed in the princess' perfume and smiled. "How was your trip?" she asked in French. "Wait. Weren't you supposed to arrive tomorrow?"

"Yes," Sybil de Montignac said. "But the flight company called us, saying someone had canceled, they had 3 spots on the flight for us."

Nevaeh chuckled. "You flew in economy?"

"Of course, not. First-class." Her mother smirked and Nevaeh was glad to have her here.

"Is dad here as well? And Henri?"

"Yes, they're both smoking outside. You know how they are." She smoothed down Nevaeh's shoulders. "I needed to see my baby right away."

"Mom," Nevaeh said, rolling her eyes, but smiling. She hoped the other girls hadn't heard that specific comment. "You know where your suite is, right?" she asked. "Or do you need someone to remind you?"

Sybil laughed at her daughter's teasing. It was true she hadn't set foot in Illéa in years. "I think I can find my way around, thank you very much."

"Good." Nevaeh looked around, making sure there was no one close enough to hear what she was about to say. "You, uhm, may want to go see your mother," she said.

Sybil frowned, worried at Nevaeh's sudden tone in her voice. "What's wrong, Nev?"

"Just– Just go see her." She smiled at her mother, kissed her cheek, and was quickly on her way back to the rooms she was preparing with the others, leaving her mother to wonder in the middle of the hall what that was about.

"Who was that?" Emelda asked.

"My mother." She paused. "My whole family arrived a day early, so it's good we already finished their suite this morning."

The three girls nodded and continued on with their work.

"Hey, uhm, when you say your whole family," Laelia pipped up. "Do you have siblings?"

"A brother, yes. Why?"

Emelda and Morrigan looked at each other and giggled like teenage girls.

"What?" Nevaeh said, completely missing the reason for their laugh. Laelia turned a shade of red but quickly pushed it down. "Oooh… I see," Nevaeh said. "Well, I wouldn't get my hopes up too much. Henri is a lighter version of Nathan."

"Lighter?" Emelda said. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that Nathan looked up to his cousin a lot, but pushed it to the extreme." She paused. "Henri is a partier, and he can't keep a girlfriend for more than a month or two, which is better than Nathan."

The four girls laughed.

"Someone called me?" Nathan said, appearing at the door, smirking. He leaned on the doorpost, his arms crossed over his chest.

"No," Nevaeh said. "But if you don't have anything to do, we could use another pair of hands."

"No thanks," Nathan said. "But why did you say my name? I don't like it when people talk behind my back." He narrowed his eyes at his cousin, who ignored the look.

"I was just comparing you with Henri, that's all."

"Henri? He's here?" Nathan said, straightening up. "I thought he was supposed to come tomorrow with your parents?"

"They did, but they're here. He's outside smoking a–"

"Thanks! See you guys later!" Nathan said, fleeing the group of girls working.

"See?" Nevaeh said, sighing. "What did I say?"

"How many years apart are they?" Laelia asked.

"Well, Henri is 26, and Nathan just turned 25. Like, a year and a half." Nevaeh took her clipboard and drew a tick on the list. "Okay, next room, people." She guided the three girls to the next room and they started again with the maids: changing bedsheets, airing the room, emptying the drawers of whatever the previous owners left, and so on. They had to be pristine. The girls weren't doing the actual work, but they oversaw the rehabilitation of the rooms.

Laelia and the others asked questions about Nevaeh's family, but mostly about her brother. Laelia was the most curious of them about him.

"Henri majored in civil engineering two years ago, but now he's just living off our dad's fortune, traveling Europe and the rest of the world, and finding his way into the most prestigious parties he can." She paused. "He's a socialite, I guess, and he's not doing anything with his life at the moment. I hope this dissuades you into pursuing him this weekend," she added, looking especially at Laelia.

She pinched her lips and shook her head. "Of course," the writer said. "I'm in the Selection anyway."

"M-hm," Nevaeh said, but she wasn't quite convinced about Laelia's answer. Oh, well. She was a grown-up woman; she could do whatever she wanted.

They continued chatting while working when it suddenly came back to Nevaeh that Halloween was just around the corner. "So, have you three figured out your costume, for tomorrow evening?"

"Yes," Morrigan said. "I'm going as Rosa."

"The Vampire?" Nevaeh said. "I mean, the one you play in that TV show?"

"Yeah!" she replied, smiling. It was such a sweet smile, warm and soft, that Nevaeh couldn't quite believe that the woman in front of her was the same one playing that horrid sexy vampire in that show. Yes, she had watched a few episodes recently, just to see what all this hype was about, but it wasn't really her thing.

"How about you two?" Nevaeh asked the others.

"It's a surprise," Emelda said, smirking. "But it's going to be amazing."

"Yeah, same for me," Laelia said. "I'd rather keep it a surprise for tomorrow." she paused. "What about you, Nev?"

"I'm still hesitating between two costumes." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "But I'm not going to say either."

"Hey, that's not fair," Morrigan said. "I told you what I was going to be!"

"You didn't have to!" Emelda said. "But I hear Xi and Silas are doing a matching costume."

Nevaeh burst out laughing. "Now I'd want to see that," she said. "I've never seen Silas actually take part in the Halloween costume tradition, around here. At least not after he turned 10 years old."

"Aw! A baby Silas in a costume!" Emelda said grinning, putting her hands on her cheeks. "That must have been so cute!"

"Do you have pictures?" Laelia asked.

"That was more than 15 years ago," Nevaeh said. "And even if I did, it's not my business to show them around. You would have to ask Silas."

"Pfff. As if he's going to show them," Morrigan said, huffing.

"But…" Nevaeh continued with a slight smirk on her face, "I'm sure my grandmother has some pictures lying around she'd be willing to show us…"

"Oh yes! Let's go see Marmee!" Emelda said. "I just love her so much!"

Nevaeh laughed softly. "Let's finish our work first," she said, "and maybe we can go later on. She probably already has some visitors right now, anyway." They worked for a few more minutes before Nevaeh said: "But I can already tell you there's a picture of the three boys dressed as Star Wars characters when they were kids!"

Laelia laughed. "Of course! What else?"

"What characters are they dressed as?" Morrigan asked, curious.

"Valerian was around 3 years old, and he was an Ewok," Nevaeh said, remembering that photo with a fond smile. "Nathan was Darth Vader, of course, and Silas… I think he was a stormtrooper, but I'm not sure. We will have to check this out later!"

The three Selected exchanged excited looks and they went on working faster so they could see Marmee as soon as possible.

-o-0-o-

On the 30th of October, a day before Halloween, Nevaeh had scheduled for all the parents to arrive during the day, starting in the morning for the ones closest to Angeles and in the late afternoon for the others. The whole Palace was buzzing with excitement as the girls waited for their parents to come. Most of them had sent out invitations, though there were one or two who had preferred not to have their families around.

And one of these people was Morrigan Ventura. She had blanched when Nevaeh announced the families would be invited for Halloween, and Neveah had quickly said that it was optional, of course. To Morrigan's relief.

Right now, Morrigan was sitting on a windowsill on the second floor, watching as the limousines came in one after the other during the day, spilling out moms and dads, and brothers and sisters. Nevaeh found her between two arrivals, at the beginning of the afternoon. She was drinking from a glass water bottle, one little sip at a time.

"Hey," Nevaeh said, coming over. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Morrigan said, offering her a smile, before looking outside again.

Nevaeh gave her a little black box that had a red ribbon on it. "I didn't forget," she said. "Happy Birthday."

"Oh!" Morrigan said, surprised. It was probably the last thing she had expected. "Thank you!" She opened the box and in it was a silver chain with an orange rose mounted with orange Swarovski stones. "Oh, my God! It's beautiful!" she said, grinning. "Thank you!"

Nevaeh smiled, too. She always prided herself in finding the perfect present or organizing the perfect party for someone. She never aimed at less than perfection, anyway. "Along with your birthday, I also wanted to congratulate you on staying strong with Nathan…" she trailed off. And when Morrigan made a confused face, Nevaeh explained: "What I mean is that Nathan can be very persistent, but I think you're one of the few ones who's been refusing his advances since the start!"

Morrigan blushed a deep red and tucked some hair behind her hair before looking away. "I- yeah… I'll accept his advances the day we get married," she said softly, just above a whisper. "Not before."

"And I applaud you for it." Nevaeh sat on the other side of the windowsill. "And just between you and me, I think you two would make a great couple. You'd balance each other, you know?"

Morrigan obviously couldn't stop the grin blooming on her face. "Really?"

"Yes." She paused. "Oh, and for your costume, tomorrow, I wouldn't put it past Nathan to make even more insistent advances: he's been a huge fan of Rosalind Dawson for some time, and you coming as her might… wake things up in him."

Morrigan laughed, but the red hue of her face didn't go away. If anything, it got stronger. "I'll remember that." The actress looked up at Nevaeh. "Thank you, really," she said, motioning at her gift. "I really didn't think anyone would remember today, especially with all the families coming over and all…" she trailed off. "And since my family isn't here, I'm glad to have you. I know we're not related and all, but… yeah."

Nevaeh took Morrigan's hand in hers. "I'm glad to be here too," she said. Then she chuckled softly. "You know, when all this started, I referred to the Selected as 'Savages'– please don't tell the others."

Morrigan laughed.

"But now? You're all like little sisters to me. And each time one goes home, I'm sad. It's like I'm losing a family member every time."

"Well, you were a little bit terrifying at the beginning," Morrigan admitted, which made Nevaeh laugh.

"Everyone says that." She shrugged. "But I've grown fond of each of you, and that's the truth." She offered the younger woman a smile, then saw the next limousine coming into the palace ground. She sighed. "I have to go, the next ones are coming." She started to walk away but then stopped. "I think Odessa's in her room if you both want to sit this day out, at least until dinner…"

Morrigan nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I think I'm going to go see where she is."

Nevaeh then walked back downstairs to welcome the next family. She honestly felt bad for Mor and Essie: both refused to invite their parents or siblings. So at least they could stay together and ignore everyone else.

When she arrived in the main entrance hall, there were lots of staff members ready to take care of suitcases and coats, but there was also a hyper-excited Malia who was practically jumping everywhere at the moment.

"Malia, calm down," she said, chuckling softly. She shared a glance with Ashia and Dyani who were also on the welcoming team, but they just laughed.

"I can't!" Malia said. "My parents are the next ones to arrive!"

"Oh."

A minute later, two footmen opened the door for the couple who walked in. He was ginormous, bald, with a black turtleneck and a Jean jacket. His smile was broad, grinning at his daughter who dwarfed next to him. The woman was much smaller than her husband but slightly taller than Malia. She had long, dark hair like her daughter, and was very thin.

"Aloha, Mom!" Malia said, hugging her mother and forgetting all she had learned in the past three months. But Nevaeh gave her some slack: this was the first time since the beginning of the Selection that the girls were seeing their parents so they were excited. Nevaeh was excited to see her family, so why not the Selected, as well?

"My sweet baby girl!" the woman said, taking her daughter's head in her face and looking her over. "You look well! I'm happy you look happy!"

"I am!" Malia said. "It's so amazing! And Dad? You should try out that burger place I sent you the picture of, you remember?"

Her dad chuckled softly, though his voice was deep and rumbling in his huge body. "I remember, sweetheart," he said, pulling her into a hug. Nevaeh was almost jealous of that sweet reunion, but she kept her usual poker face. Not all the families were so sweet and caring, but Malia seemed to come from a good one.

"Your Highness," her mother said, only noticing Nevaeh now. She curtsied gracefully as if she had done that all her life. She was probably a dancer, Nevaeh thought.

"Mom, she's not a 'highness,'" Malia whispered. "It's 'Your Grace' actually."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the woman said. "Your Grace."

Nevaeh smiled. "It's okay, I get that a lot." She paused. "Welcome to the palace. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Ka'aukai," she continued. "I am Nevaeh de Montignac, and you can come to me if you need anything during your stay. Or you can ask Malia or any staff member." She smiled at Malia. "Malia will show you to your room."

The Hawaiian couple thanked her and followed Malia up the stairs, leaving Nevaeh alone with Dyani and Ashia.

"Have your families arrived yet?" Nevaeh asked.

"No," Dyani replied. She checked the tablet with the list of hours of arrivals. "They should be arriving soon, though."

-o-0-o-

The dining room was full and loud. With almost thirty people added to the remaining Selected and the royal family, that was a total of fifty people eating in the small dining room, since the big one was all ready and decorated for the Halloween party, the next day.

Nevaeh was sitting between her mother and her brother, and her father – Duke Jean-Charles de Montignac – was on her brother's other side. The further her parents were, the better it was for everyone. So she and Henri usually worked as walls between them. Her father had come only because she had personally asked all of them to come, otherwise, he wouldn't have come.

"So," Henri said. "Are any of the girls available?" He sipped on his wine and smirked.

"Henri, you know very well they're not for you." She paused and narrowed her eyes at him. "They're participating in your cousins' Selection if you hadn't noticed."

"Oh, yeah, I noticed," he replied. "But don't tell me Nate will be mad at me for looking at his girls." He rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't mind looking at others, and if others look at them." He toasted to his cousin on the other side of the table. "Am I right cuz?"

Nathan chuckled. "I have no idea what you just said, but I'll say yes!" the prince laughed and toasted his drink to Henri as well.

"See? He agrees with me."

Nevaeh sighed. "You can look at them. But for the love of God, please don't do anything else."

Henri forked some meat and put it in his mouth. "Hasn't one of the Selected hooked up with Silas' bodyguard? The tiny cop or something?" he asked, his mouth still full.

"Don't ever call her tiny," Nathan said, having heard that conversation. "She'll flip you on your butt."

Henri laughed. "Did you learn that the hard way?"

"He did," Valerian piped in. "If you haven't seen the footage, just ask Jesse to show you. It's pretty funny." He smirked and Nathan would have swatted him behind the head if he had been sitting next to him.

"I see these two didn't change," Sybil de Montignac said. "It's good to be back home."

"You should come more often, mom," Nevaeh said, sipping on her wine. "I'm sure Marmee would be happy to have you around." She paused. "Have you been to visit with her, earlier?" she asked, her voice low. Marmee was at one end of the Royal table, too far to hear Nevaeh, but close to her daughters and grandchildren as well. This felt like a Christmas family table.

"Yes," Sybil said. "We'll talk about it later."

Nevaeh nodded and turned to her brother. "Have you found a real job, now? Or are you still traipsing around the world, mingling with 'High Society'?"

"That's a job in itself," Henri said. "You have no idea the strings I have to pull to get into those parties. But it's beneficial since I have contacts pretty much everywhere in the world now." He laughed. "You want to go to Japan? I've got friends there. Swendway? There, too. Egypt? Yup."

"Where have you not been, then?" she asked.

"Here and there," Henri said. "I'm still trying to find a way to get into the Brazilian high society, but I don't know anyone there, so it's a little bit harder."

"I see…" But Nevaeh didn't see. She didn't understand his choice of life. He could be doing so much more with his civil engineering degree, building things and working on his creativity and his 'art', rather than wasting his time getting wasted, laid, and served by everyone on a silver platter. He was not stupid, that much she knew. No, Henri was too smart for his own good, but he didn't want to seem smart. He was one of the rich kids, one who had everything he ever wanted in life.

True, Nevaeh had the same privileges as him, but at least she did something with her life, like organizing events, and making sure her cousins found love. One down, two more to go.

Nevaeh chatted with her mother and her aunt, while the men were deep into their own conversation. Nathan and Henri talked about the girls and tried to get Val to talk about his Elite, but he refused to get into their game. They also tried to get Silas and Ximena to talk, but they were busy chatting with Xi's mother, who was also at the Royal table. From what Nevaeh could see, she was really trying to make it look like she was comfortable, but she wasn't. It would take some time. Nevaeh could imagine what it would be like to drop into the Royal family like that…

After dinner, each family went to the women's room who had now been turned into the 'Family Room' for the next few days. The girls each introduced their Selected friends to their parents, and Nathan and Valerian quickly toured the families as well.

Nevaeh noticed that Morrigan and Odessa stayed together, on the side of the room, chatting softly. They didn't usually hang out together – being on different lists and all – but they had found one common point…

"Hey," Val said, finally coming over. "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah!" Odessa said, sitting up straighter on the couch. "You?"

"Yeah, fine," he said, sitting next to them. "Hey, uhm, why didn't your families come?" He asked.

Odessa and Morrigan exchanged a look. "We didn't invite them," Morrigan said. "Nevaeh said it was okay."

Valerian nodded. "Too bad," he said to Odessa. "I would've wanted to meet your parents, too…"

Odessa shrugged. "Some other time, maybe," she said. "I've really felt free without them, you know?" She paused. "And I told you how I ended up in Yukon…"

"Right." Valerian chuckled softly. "I guess I'll have to find another way to meet them, then!" He offered her a smile then looked at Morrigan. "How about you? Free without your parents, too?"

"Something like that," Morrigan replied. "My father died when I was four years old."

"Oh. I'm… so sorry to hear that."

"It's okay, but thanks." She paused. "And my mother is a fire-breathing dragon who's always trying to control what I do so being here is a real respite from 'family life'…"

"I can totally understand that," Valerian said. "Hey, would you two ladies want to go out for a walk? It's getting stuffy in here, and the others are just catching up with their family members…"

"I'd love to!" Odessa said. "I'll go grab my coat."

"Great! Morrigan?"

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to go to bed…" She trailed off, looking around the room. "Besides, I'm not even on your list."

"So? I don't want you to be all alone, especially today." He smirked. "I heard it's your birthday, right?"

Morrigan giggled lightly. "Yeah! It is! But still. Go take a walk with Essie, I think she needs it more than I do."

"Okay." Valerian took her hand and his, kissed the back of it, and wished her a Happy Birthday before walking away. He, too, had a coat to grab before going out.

Nevaeh had overheard the whole conversation, and it was now time to have the cake come in before Morrigan retired to her room. "You might want to stay a little longer, Morrigan," Nevaeh said with a mischievous smile.

"Oh? Why?"

"You'll see…"

Five minutes later, a beautiful chocolate ice cream cake arrived, covered with twenty-four candles and some tiny sprinkles. There were also orange sprinkles and the whole room sang the usual Happy Birthday song and ate the cake. Right after they had their slice, Valerian and Odessa discreetly slipped out of the room to go outside. Nevaeh didn't want to be the annoying cousin, but she texted Jesse and Sydney so they could at least get a few shots and maybe some drone footage of the couple?


Heyyy! I hope you enjoyed this chapter where we started meeting some of the families, but also Nevaeh's family and brother! We'll see more of Henri in the future hehe^^

Let me know what you thought of Nevaeh in this chapter. Isn't she cute with the girls, now? From Savages, they became little sisters... How soft is that!? anyway...

Thanks for reading and reviewing, and I'll see you on Saturday for the actual Halloween Party! Byyeee!


Translation:

Ma chérie = my darling

Tu m'as manqué = I missed you