People arrived pretty much all at once, so soon enough the courtyard was filled with bustling guests who did their best to mingle. I kept my eye out for people I knew and noticed that Cami was absent, which I expected, though once I spotted Hayley and the wolves, I was quick to move towards them. Jackson and Oliver greeted me heartily with compliments to my dress from Jackson and blatant flirtations from Oliver which I brushed off with good humour. It wasn't long before the first sparks of contention began to show, one of the vampires that used to follow Marcel, Diego, making it known that he did not have any intentions of being friendly with wolves as he purposefully knocked shoulders against Jackson.
The move made my peace symbol flare slightly but since nothing followed, it settled again as I eyeballed Diego whilst Jackson calmed down Oliver, keeping his pack member in line before he could do something stupid. "I'll warn you guys now. I've already placed wards around this place that forbids violence and aggression. If anyone does anything, then they'll get a pretty nasty headache, okay?" I said to Jackson and the rest of the pack members who had come with them, along with Hayley who nodded her head.
"We won't start anything, but if someone comes at us…"
"They won't." I promised her. "They won't be able to, and if they try, they'll soon regret it. So everybody just chow down, grab some beers, and have some fun. Make sure to drink my share of the booze too. If I can't have it, someone might as well." Hayley smiled at me then with a little laugh before electing to grab two glasses of champagne, one of which she saluted to me before downing both one after the other. "That's my girl. Holler if you guys need anything. I sense some tension over there so I'm going to go deal with whatever's occurring." Turns out to be some witches and vampires, so I settled the dispute by threatening to tip the punch bowl over the both of them before sending them off in the opposite direction. "Little one, as much as I care about you, I cannot wait for you to be born so I can have a damn drink. What I wouldn't give for some bourbon or something about now."
After that I circled for a while, keeping an eye on things until I eventually spotted Davina, standing on her own by the wall so I moved to make my way over to her to keep her company and talk, though as I approached, so did Oliver who proceeded to talk to her. As I got closer I could hear more of the conversation and hung back for a moment, as Davina was finally smiling at having someone to talk to. "Hey. You look, um…"
"Nervous? Out of place? Short in this dress?"
"I was gonna say pretty. I'm Oliver. So, what's the name of the girl I'm about to ask to dance?" I smiled to myself, debating inwardly over whether or not I should interrupt. On the one hand, Davina was way too young for a guy like Oliver, on the other hand, Davina was finally smiling and even blushing a little from someone talking to her. A dance couldn't hurt, right? Though as it turned out, I needn't worried about interrupting, since another of the Harvest Girls did it for me.
"Monique. Her name is Monique." With a callous smirk towards Davina, the young girl turned and walked away whilst visibly upset whilst Oliver floundered in confusion. Alright then. The gloves are coming off.
"Oliver." Speaking firmly and with authority as I breezed over, I clicked my tongue and wagged a finger at him warningly. "Too young, and too psycho for you. Trust me." Then I turned to Monique and, with the same callous smirk she had given Davina, snapped my fingers. A downpour of constant water crashed over her head and quickly swallowed her, making Monique shriek and Davina look back in alarm as Monique became soaked through in an instant. Still smiling darkly at her, I snapped my fingers again to make it stop, then reached out to grasp hold of Monique's chin to force her to look at me. "No one likes a stuck up bitch, so why don't you check that attitude of yours or I'll be forced to teach you some manners your ancestors clearly forgot to instil whilst you were buried. Perhaps I'll even put you back under for good this time."
Visibly shaken, Monique quickly fled from the party, not even thinking to use magic to dry herself off as I sighed and stretched my back a little, feeling awkward and tense. Apologising to Oliver for the display, I then waved Davina back over where she crept slowly back into the light. "You shouldn't have done that. Now the witches will turn against you too."
"I'm not so worried about a couple of witches and their brooms. I can take them." I shrugged easily as I slung my arm across Davina's shoulders. "You look absolutely gorgeous, by the way. How about I introduce you to some nice people and maybe I'll even sneak you a little drink of something since it's a special occasion. Just a little one, mind. I'm irresponsible, not completely senseless." Now perking up, I brought Davina back into the party where I ignored the powerful glares of the witches and soon had her chatting away to a couple of younger werewolf boys who were immediately smitten with her, and I stepped back to let her enjoy their company and the attention since she deserved to let loose.
"You know, fostering peace does not usually involve drenching one of the most important girls in the witch community with water." Elijah said to me, suddenly appearing by my side as I sipped at some juice.
"She was lucky I only drenched her with water. I could have chosen something much worse to shower her with. Besides, she had it coming. A girl like that with that kind of power? She needs to be reined in, but none of the witches seem to have any inclination to teach those other girls restraint, and they're ostracising Davina. She deserves way better." Turning around in order to look at Elijah directly, my expression alone was enough to tell him not to push the argument with me. "I know what I'm doing. Trust me." And so he left it at that, nodding his head and brushing his hand against my sleeve, complimented my appearance before then leaving me to my own devices.
Davina did not stay very long after that, sharing a dance or two before then deciding that she wanted to go home so I insisted on calling a cab for her and paying the fare. "We'll talk soon okay? If it gets too much, you can always just come and live with me. I know the compound isn't the greatest of places, but after the baby is born, I don't mind taking you away from here." I promised her, reaching to brush aside her hair. "Just hold on a little longer, okay?"
"Thank you, for everything. Especially that thing with Monique, I'll never forget the look on her face." Grinning broadly her, I told her that it was my pleasure before sending her off and returning to the party only to find that my peace symbol had ignited and the two people who had started to fight, Oliver and Diego, were being held down by Elijah and Jackson respectively. With the activation of my symbol, all four of them hissed and shuddered as they were seized by my magic so I quickly called it off, since they appeared to be in a stalemate.
"What's stopping you?" Hayley's voice carried as she called out from the stairs as she addressed Elijah with a fiery look in her eyes that I had come to admire and respect. "Kill him. Go ahead, Elijah. Do it. I mean, it's not like he doesn't deserve to die." From where I was standing, both my hands were raised in readiness to act with my magic to stop anything from happening whilst the peace symbol pulsed with a glowing light on the floor. "I mean, it was Oliver who handed Rebekah over to the witches so they could torture her. But, then again, wasn't it Diego who led a werewolf massacre last month? And the witches cursed the wolves, while the humans stood back and let it all happen. So, when you think about it, everyone here deserves to die." Elijah jerked with annoyance, his voice carrying a bitter anger in his tone.
"Are approaching a point?"
"My point, Elijah, is this…if we can't all learn to get along, if our families can't create some sort of community, then what's the point? Kill each other and get it all over with." And that is why Hayley was always meant to be a queen. Between her and Nik, who fancied himself a king, I can only imagine what their daughter was going to be like. I dared anyone to try and hurt their little princess. At the reason and logic to Hayley's words, both Elijah and Jackson let their captives go, whereby I chose that moment to sweep forwards with a glorious ripple of my dress whilst clapping my hands.
"Alright, if you boys have got that out of your systems, how about we get back to a more civilised evening? Music, please." At my command, the music struck up again and people went back to their conversations, thought the wolves and vampires were fractious with one another for a while after that. I made sure the wolves were alright, then went back to simply observing the party, choosing a higher vantage point on the balcony to see things more clearly, though I was soon growing bored. A party was just no fun without alcohol, and I couldn't dance at all whilst this pregnant. Even the smell of the blood for the vampires was starting to make me feel nauseous, so after holding out for as long as I could, I finally decided to just give in and returned to my room.
It was quieter there and the smell no longer bothered me, so I could relax in my favourite chair and either stretch out or curl up as I pleased, feeling inexplicably sleepy. It wasn't long before I heard a knock on my door so I grunted to say whoever it was could come in, and I could tell from their footsteps that it was Nik. "I saw you leave the festivities early. Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine Nik, just tired, and the noise and smells were starting to bother me." I mumbled into my pillow, wondering if I should make the effort to take off my dress and go to bed, but I couldn't be bothered to move. "Can you undo my zipper for me?"
"I know we're rather close, love, but I think you're moving things a little fast for my tastes." The natural comeback earned a wry glare in his direction as Nik smirked but complied, reaching over in order to pull down the zipper of my dress all the way down so that it felt nice and loose. Not caring that he was still there, I got up and let the dress drop to the ground so that I was in nothing but my underwear as I went to my dresser to search for my clothes. "I see you have been working on your paintings. You show great skill, Ophelia, you should have practiced sooner."
"Well, I had a pretty decent teacher." I answered after pulling on a long shirt which covered everything necessary, the hem gracing my thighs as I then unclasped my bra and pulled it off from underneath the shirt. "Elijah thinks I should try sculpture next."
"I never found much enjoyment in sculpture. Capturing the essence of life on a canvas always seemed more of a challenge rather than merely replicating something three-dimensional." Nik said as I turned to see him. I noted how he had purposefully turned his back to me whilst I had changed, ever the gentleman that he was deep down. I had a feeling that his apparent indifference towards the movement for peace between the faction was only a front and that he had some kind of scheme in mind, I just couldn't guess what. "As always your attention to detail is impressive." Nik suddenly announced, and for a heart stopping moment I thought he had read my mind until I realised he was talking about one of my paintings. A street view of New Orleans, where the street performers usually played. "And your use of colour is exquisite. I can almost hear the music through the tones."
"You painted most of this, so really you're only flattering yourself here." I reminded him, going over and naturally lacing my fingers together over his shoulder in order to look at the several canvas paintings which adorned my room. Some of my earlier works were terrible compared to my usual standard, but I was improving steadily and some of these works Nik and I had painted together. My favourite was this jazz band piece he was looking at, it always made me smile whenever I saw it. You could see our different styles but they blended together quite well, and some of the areas had been made with Nik guiding my hand, which somehow made this canvas all the more precious to me. "I can see why you love this city so much, Nik. I'm just worried."
"Worried about what, sweetheart?"
"That between all the people wanting to control it, it'll get destroyed in the process." A heavy silence then hung between us, whereby I knew that Nik had understood my insinuation that I knew he was up to something. "Just be careful, Nik. The little one is due very soon. Don't turn this city into a warzone just as she arrives in it."
"I will ensure that this kingdom is fit for my daughter long before she is born, sweet Ophelia. She will have everything that she deserves and more."
"But all she'll need is her father, her mother, and her family around her. Trust me. That's more than enough to live happily." Resting so close to him, I could feel every breath Nik took as well as the light brush of his hair against my skin, the warmth that surrounded him wrapping itself around me as I felt my eyes naturally droop in tiredness. Sensing me beginning to wilt, Nik turned slightly towards me, a hand going to my side and I could feel his eyes watching me so I lifted my head to meet his gaze, where our faces became rather intimately close. The nearness sparked a stirring of passion, and I could feel the sense of want and need in Nik beginning to rise to surface but at the moment his lips almost came into contact with mine, I found myself speaking. "How was Genevieve this evening?"
And the connection was gone, the spark vanished and I was left with nothing but a cold, stale air between us. I had put up my boundaries and formed a line which Nik could not cross by bringing up Genevieve, though he was hesitant to let her go. "She means nothing to me, sweet Ophelia. A mere fling."
"All the same, you are involved." Lifting my hands away from Nik, I took a step back in order to open the distance between us once more and cut off the close familiarity that we shared with one another, as I felt it was the only thing I could do given the situation. If Nik had chosen not to respond to my expression of feelings when I had kissed him in the past, then that was his decision. If he wanted to sleep with every other girl under the sun, then that was also his choice, but I was not going to let myself become a foolish, love-struck idiot just to grow apart later. I'd rather keep things the way they were, with our close bond and understanding of one another, our shared love of art and culture, rather than ruin it all by overstepping the boundary again. It was the only way, the only way that I could protect myself, and I had a feeling that Nik knew it too. "I'm tired, Nik. I think I'll go to sleep now."
"Of course. Sweet dreams, my Ophelia." Forcing myself to laugh and roll my eyes as if despairingly at his possessiveness, I climbed into bed and snuggled in, making myself as comfortable as possible by stuffing a pillow between my legs and wriggling until I was satisfied before Nik turned off my lights and left, allowing me to finally rest with my own thoughts. All things considered, tonight went rather well, though I doubt it'll do much to improve the relationship between the people individually, perhaps now they might be more inclined to sign Elijah's treaty.