"Thank the Darkness that this is almost over," Jared sighed as he set a large tray of goodies in the middle of the table. "I am getting tired of the tears."
"You and I both," Yarek sighed.
"At least Lady Katrina is happy with her partner," Luc said as he took a sip from the flask that Lord Andrew gave him before they came down while watching Katrina talking quietly with the male that bonded with her. It was smooth, rich, and had enough bite that it helped fuzz his nerves from all the disappointment that he had seen tonight. It also helped that most of the men who were looking at him with apprehension would not be there after tonight. They would be secluded from the other women and their escorts so they could not tell the rest of the people staying what rank and caste the males were.
"They are about to start again," Jared said, nodding to the stage where an official was sticking her hand in the jar of names. After much complaining about the order of which the Ladies were supposed to be Presented by a few people, and he could make a pretty good guess on at least one of the people complained, the officials decided that the drawing of names was the only fair way for the Ladies to be presented. He couldn't help but take a petty satisfaction in seeing Jolin growing more upset with each name that was drawn that wasn't hers. Over the last couple of days he had to field many a male's polite inquires about his relationship with Lady Mirana and her companions. He should have known that Jolin wouldn't give up easily.
"Lady Bianca," the official said with the same fake smile that she had been giving for every non-aristo that was presented. Luc was one step away from going up to the bitch and slapping her silly. Many of the girls who weren't aristo were already nervous enough because of the social differences, but the girls also knew that they didn't have the protection from the possible unsavory males in the crowd. As extensive as the background checks on the males were, he knew a few bad apples could always make it in when enough money changed hands. He watched as the pretty but extremely young, almost too young to be presented from what he could tell even if she was of the long lived races or a mix, woman in a worn but clean looking gown took the stage with her brown hair pulled back into a braid and blue eyes filled with fear. The official shuffled papers and gave the crowd another fake smile as she spoke to them. "This young lady is a hardworking and smart eighty seven year old individual according to her reports from her school, and isn't afraid of knuckling down to get jobs done. Her father is in the Eight Circle of Lady Yelena's court and her mother works in the soap factory that made the lovely soaps in your rooms. She is the oldest of seven children, so what little spare time she has outside of her studies and helping care for them is spent doing odd jobs to help make ends meet. Lady Bianca, please break your pendant, and Present yourself." Her hands shook as she removed the necklace that held the charm and set it on the table that all the other girls had, then picked up the large rock. He felt the sharp ping as soon as she smashed it on the charm like all of the others, effectively breaking the spell and showing them who she really was. The girl stood proud, her eyes growing watery as her psychic scent filled his senses as well as the others. What he felt made him want to find the girl's father and strangle him.
Her psychic scent was clearly that of the virgin, lacking the scent of a mature witch who had been through her Virgin Night. She was only a Purple Dusk healer-in-training, which meant that even if she were in danger she wouldn't fight back. He had knowing too many Healers in his life to not know what they were like in temperament, his aunt being the main one. He watched as she shifted from one foot to the other, giving the charm the full two minutes they said that it would take for the charm to fully wear off before stepping forward. "Are there any men in the audience willing to serve?" her clear high soprano voice said to the males. Luc watched as a few of the older men, the ones with only lust in their eyes at the prospect of having such a young thing under their control, and almost stood up to offer himself even if it was just for protection. He was shocked to find he didn't have to as he watched Jared stand, straighten his jacket, and walk calmly to the stage with confidence. The looks on the other males were amusing as Jared strode right past them to the stage and offered his hand to Lady Bianca, saying a few quiet words to her. Her relieved look soothed his anger at her father a bit as she took Jared's hand, and let him lead her back to the table. Yarek and Luc stood when they approached as the audience applauded, Yarek holding out a chair for her. She gave him a smile before sitting down, letting Yarek push the chair in and set a clean plate in front of her. The three males sat as the official reached in the bowl for another name, but Luc ignored the name as he focused on the young girl. She was obviously frightened at being at the same table as three powerful males, but he could also feel the relief of being off the stage.
"Would you like some coffee, Lady?" Yarek offered.
"Yes, thank you," she replied.
"Have you been enjoying your stay here?" Luc asked politely as he started setting an array of treats in front of her.
"You don't have to be so nice to me," she told Luc with a watery smile. He blinked, watching her turn to Jared and give him a grateful smile. "I know you just want to serve a Healer for the prestige of it. Father told me that men only wanted to be around a woman who has a caste for the status it gives them. I am grateful you saved me from having to insult some of the older males in the event but my father said someone would try to take me away from my siblings for no reason other than to move himself up in society. I won't tell anyone, promise. I will just go home and-"
"Your father has no idea how things really work," Jared said, his entire body shaking with rage that Luc could feel rolling off him in waves. "You have no idea how things really work. A real male, a good male only serves who he wants, not because of a caste. And you…you…" Luc watched as Jared scooted his chair as close as he possibly could get to Bianca, and buried his face in her hair while murmuring softly. Her eyes went wide with shock, but didn't move. Yarek raised an eyebrow and looked at Luc, who was trying to not lose his mind. Jared has never shown interest in the opposite sex, ever. Yarek at least acknowledged that women were attractive and that he did enjoy their company in bed, the few he did take to bed to curb the sexual need all males had overwhelmingly at times. This was new territory for both of them.
"Lady Bianca, they said you are the oldest of seven?" Yarek asked, signaling to a passing waiter by holding up the now empty pot of coffee.
"Yes, I have four sisters and two brothers," she replied, her hand now in Jared's as he back away enough to let her have space to nibble.
"What are they like?" Luc asked as another round of applause rang through the ballroom.
"Noisy," she laughed, visibly relaxing as she started to tell them about her family. Luc sat back as he watched Jared interact with her, and planned out a conversation he knew he was going to have to have with the young man later.
Jolin sat on the stage, watching as woman after woman was called before her. Most of the girls that she made friends with over the last couple of days loved the idea that they would now draw names instead of going by a roster. It probably had something to do with the fact that most of the girls she met were on the bottom of the roster. She herself was near the top, right where she didn't want to be if she wanted Prince Grayhaven to really see her. He would have no chance to see how the other girls did not compare to what she was and could be to him. It was most unfortunate that she wasn't called near the middle, but being called near the end would be just as good, possibly better since he would have a chance to see almost all the woman. The downside was most of the other males she had been eyeing for her Court has been claimed by the seven other Queens that were present. All of them were minor Queens, no real aristo or social status and none of them had a Jewel darker than a Summer-Sky. She was also highly upset that the working class healer-in-training was picked up by one of Prince Grayhaven's men. It was highly unlikely that she would have normally let someone like her in her court, but she knew that if she wanted Luc to be with her she would have to take his friends in the court as well, at least for the first few years.
"Lady Theresa," the official called. Jolin gave a half-hearted clap as the girl walked to the stage, only leaving her sitting there. She watched as the young woman broke her charm and a handsome young Warlord Prince that she had seen at parties on occasion claim her before walking off the stage. The official gave her a smile, nodding to the place where all the other girls stood before her. Jolin put on her best smile as she stood and strode to the stage, deliberately standing further forward than everyone else. She heard the official rustling some papers as she cleared her throat. "Ahem, Lady Jolin. Her father is a Purple Dusk Warlord in Lady Beyna's Fifth Circle and her mother is sadly passed on. She has one sibling, and has attended the finest schools in the area. Lady Jolin, please break your pendant and Present yourself." Jolin tried to not show disappointment at such a short description when everyone else had one with much more detail as she stepped back to the table and placed her pendant on the table with flourish. She brought the rock down onto the pendant with such force it made the official flinch. As she looked up at the crowd, watching all the men absorb who she was and what she was, then gave her best smile before stepping forward. Her gaze briefly flicked over Prince Grayhaven as she gazed across the room to see if any males would be willing to serve her. She felt her anger rise when she noticed he was too busy talking with that untrained bitch and not taking notice of her. He should be feeling something by now, the charm was wearing off. It made things worse that every male that stepped forward was as old as her father, most of them she could feel that connection, that she held the leash for them as they took step after trembling step forward. She tried to keep her smile filled with pleasure as eight men stood in front of her, none of them younger than her father and one as old as her grandfather would be if he was still alive. It was the oldest that came forward, a Purple Dusk Warlord, and offered his hand to her.
"It would please me to serve you Lady," he said.
"As it would please me," she replied, taking his offered hand and using craft to float off the stage. She kept a discreet eye on the Prince Grayhaven as all the males circled her as they lead her out of the room, and couldn't mask the disappointment that he was watching as the men left with her without getting up to follow her as well.
Jared watched Lady Bianca chat with the other women in Mirana's sitting rooms later that evening with barely contained desire. This woman, this lovely young women who pulled at his inner being so, was fitting in with the women that he was coming to care for as the days grew on very well. He was severely disappointed that she was going to have to go back to her family tomorrow instead of staying with the rest of them. The officials said that she could come back with the others at the end of the month to witness their Sisters being Presented, so he had that to look forward to as well as the visits he was allowed to make in his free time. Explaining to Luc what he felt for the girl was more amusing and eye opening that it should have been, but he understood where his friend's doubts came from.
It wasn't easy being best friends with two strong males with strong castes and ties to the first Queen directly. Every female they met looked at the two of them, not even noticing Jared was there. The few females who did interest him never looked past Luc or Yarek to see him anyway, so he let everyone believe that he wasn't interested in females. It made seeing everything so easy, being dismissed as a male when everyone believed that he preferred men to women. He and his mother had a good laugh about it when they first found out about the rumor, but they didn't deny it. It was safer for a male that wasn't a target for the few bad women who turned up over the years in Shalador Nehele when he was younger, but it was entertaining to no end to find ways to turn down the other male who felt the way everyone assumed he did.
His mother and father came from Dena Nehele, aristos who were tired of being in the city and wanted to move to a more country area. They settled in Eyota because his mother thought it was quaint that there were Landens living so close to the city. They bought a parcel of land as close to the Landen settlement as the Blood were allowed, and built one of the largest houses that the people of Eyota had seen at the time. People in both of the village were afraid of his parents, all of the people growing up hearing the tales of how the aristos in Dena Nehele were so cruel and demanding of people not in their social class even after the Rose Queen came into everyone's life. It took his mother's cheerful personality to break that ice with just one shopping visit with the Landens. His father often told Jared the story of her first visit into the Landen settlement. His mother was determined to find some handmade items for the home, and the Landens of Eyota were the best in both Territories for things like that. So, she took her bag full of marks and walked right into the settlement on the day that she heard people put out their wares for sale. Everyone was so wary of her that it took her hours to find a shop that was open, a weaving store called The Sheep's Clothing. Ursuna, the old woman that owns the shop watched his mother wander around the shop aimlessly for at least half an hour before approaching her and asking if his mother needed any help.
"Oh, pardon me," his mother laughed with her infectious smile. "I told my husband that I was not coming home without bags full of purchases that would make our house look less like a museum and more like a home. Unfortunately, you seem to be the only shop open, so I thought to kill some time perhaps finding something to do in here. It seems that was a poor idea because I have no idea how to use any of this." His mother waved her hand at the wall of various weaving tools, still smiling. "I would love to learn though. Could you point me in the direction of someone who would be willing to teach me, or perhaps another shop that might be open this early?" Ursuna told him that the look of his mother was so upbeat and optimistic that she found her liking his mother immediately. The two women walked from shop to shop the entire day, making friends with the Landens, who saw her with Ursuna and opened their doors to her. That afternoon showed them that his parents were not the normal aristos. He was born a few years later, and by then his parents were so integrated in the community no one would have ever thought they had lived anywhere else.
He just knew Bianca would fit in as well. It would take some convincing to get her to go, and he would even take her family with them if they would fit well with his community. His parents would love to have little ones running around the house again, not being blessed with more than just one son. It wouldn't take much convincing, he was sure of it.
"I am supposed to go back to my rooms now," Bianca said, rising from her seat. "My curfew is soon and I need to make sure that my things are packed for the morning."
"It would please me to escort you to your home in the morning after breakfast," Jared said, holding out his hand to her.
"As it would be mine, Lady Bianca," Luc said as she took Jared's hand. It surprised him that she was shaking and her cheeks were red.
"I suppose that it will be all right," she said.
"Then it is settled," Jared told her as he lead her out of the room, hoping that her shaking was from the thought of going home period, not from having two very strong males escorting her because she had something to hide.
"Can't you get this coach to go any faster?" Marilyn screamed up to Yarek and her father, who were sitting in the driver's compartment of the coach that Prince Niall was speeding toward Paulina's mother's shop.
"We are trying, Lady," Prince Niall said calmly.
"Well try harder!" she screamed before slamming the window between the two compartments shut.
"Whoever said Healers were gentle creatures were lying, profusely," Prince Niall sighed.
"My mother is a Healer," Yarek told him with a sympathetic grimace. "I understand how you feel."
"I am grateful that you are not reporting this to the officials," Niall said. "My daughter would be removed from the program and her social standing, despite that she doesn't give a damn about it, would be ruined. I want the best for my daughter, and I hope that she finds it at the Presentation."
"I hope for that as well," Yarek told the man, and really meant it. Lady Marilyn was one of the few women at the event that he could see finding good strong males to serve her. She was friendly, personable, and seemed to not care what her standing in society seemed to be when asked why she wasn't with the Ladies that suited where her father stood in court. She was perfectly happy with the group that seemed to have formed around Lady Mirana over the last week. He never would have thought her as a Healer till Luc contacted him that morning, his psychic thread filled with rage as he asked if Yarek could find a place for them to bring Lady Bianca's siblings and a Healer. His polite inquiry to the Lady's turned into the entire entourage piling into a coach and speeding towards Lady Paulina's shop with a very angry Healer breathing down his neck. It was luck that Lady Marilyn was a Healer and Paulina said her mother would more than happily take in the children till other arrangements could be made.
"We are almost there gentlemen," Zachary said, coming in the driver's compartment by using Craft to pass through the wall and sitting next to Yarek. "Go ahead and land on the roof of the building right there. We share that landing pad with a couple of other shops so that some of the more secretive members of the Blood society can come visit their favorite places without having people notice."
"Handy," Prince Niall said as he guided the coach over the tops of other buildings. Luc was standing at the top of one of the stairs that lead down to what Yarek assumed was the shop when Prince Niall landed the coach. It was barely on top of the building when Lady Marilyn jumped out of the coach and ran towards Luc, who she followed down the stairs just as Yarek was getting out of the coach. Once all of them were out of the coach, everyone followed Zachary down to the door on the top floor of the building. Yarek was one of the last ones in, and he was shocked at what he saw. Five children, three girls, a young boy, and an infant, were all sitting in the chairs, the girls being identical triplets. All of the children were wearing clothing so ratty that they shouldn't have even been called clothes at this point. His nose twitched at the smell of the children and he swore he could see the bones in the holes of the young boy's shirt that stood when he saw all of the people in the room, putting himself between the other children and the adults. He could feel the anger coming from Prince Niall as he went over and started speaking softly to the young boy. After a few moments, the young boy collapsed into Prince Niall's arms, sobbing with what Yarek guessed as relief. Everyone sprang into action, the spell broken. Yarek watched as Zachary and Lady Coren started bustling around the kitchen to make food, Lady Mirana and Lord Andrew started to talk with the other children, and Lady Paulina and Prince Alec went down the hallway next to a staircase that Yarek assumed lead downstairs to the shop. He followed the two down the hallway, not wanting more people than the children could possibly handle fussing over them, and walked into the room at the end of the hallway with them.
"Mother Night," Prince Alec murmured, and Yarek silently agreed with them. Jared was standing next to Lady Bianca was rocking a young girl who was crying and barely wearing a ripped dress on the bed. Yarek went to stand next to Luc, who was leaning against the wall the furthest away from the bed. He could tell that Luc was barely containing his rage as he leaned next to his friend, and watched as Lady Marilyn removed her charm and revealed to them that she was Gray-Jeweled Healer as she talked softly to the girl.
"What happened?" Yarek asked.
"We walked into the house to see four of the six other children in the kitchen, the mother nowhere to be found, and screaming coming from one of the rooms in the back," Luc told him, turning to show Yarek that his eyes still held a chilling edge before turning back to watch Lady Marilyn work. "I told Lady Bianca and Jared to get the children in the coach, because I was not about to leave them in that environment one way or another. I went to the back room to see the young girl cowering at the top of the bed while the young boy out there was to the point of breaking himself back to Basic Craft because he was trying to hold a Green shield over the both of them and a bed with a pantless, full grown Tigers-Eye Warlord beating on the shield, screaming that he was going to kill them both. I snapped a Black shield around the Warlord and held it till Lady Bianca could convince the child to drop the shield to get them both into the coach. Then I Red-Locked the room and left him there with his pants around his ankles."
"Is the girl…?"
"The young Queen is fine," Luc said. Yarek blinked, feeling queasy.
"A Queen," he hissed softly.
"Summer-Sky," Luc said, nodding toward the girl. "He was trying to break her because she just got a letter to invite her to formally train in a court. The young boy came in just as his father was trying to catch her feet to hold them apart. He blasted the man back just enough to get the shield around him. The boy was hoping to hold the shield long enough for his mother to get home, but he didn't have the formal training to space it out enough to last longer than a few moments, especially after a blast that strong for someone his age. I must say I am proud of the boyo."
"We got her here and the boy insisted that stay with the Queen until the Healer got here," Luc said. "I had to explain that the other children needed him to protect them till my friends got here, and Lady Bianca telling him that if he left she would make his favorite cakes as soon as they figured out where they were going to stay if he would leave the room."
"Sounds like a good bribe," Yarek replied.
"It took his Queen telling him that he was to go with the little ones," Luc told him with a smile. "It was probably hard to tell with all the charms and other psychic scents around, but he is a Warlord Prince. A Green Birthright Warlord Prince."
"Shit," Yarek said as he turned to watch the Healer work. A young man with that kind of power if not trained correctly could do some harm to the people around him. If he followed in his father's footsteps it would take a disastrous turn for the youngster. It was breaking his heart to think of what would have happened if all of the children were left in that environment, especially the girls.
"Ladies, if you are hungry there is a tray of nibbles that has just been prepared," Prince Niall said, standing just outside the now closed door.
"Are you hungry?" Marilyn asked the young girl, who nodded eagerly. Marilyn smiled and held out her hand to the girl. "Then I think this is just the medicine that you need. Let's get you a nice bath and new dress before you start to eat though. Nothing feels better than a bath." The door opened, Prince Niall walking in the room as all of the Ladies left the room with Jared, who closed the door behind him.
"I have contacted the Master of the Guard," Prince Niall said. "He is furious that this happened, and had no idea that people still did this in Hayll. Lady Jordyn has been informed and both of the parents are being taken in for questioning."
"Thank you," Prince Alec said.
"The triplets are all Birthright Opals. No caste, but dark Opals. The infant is a Warlord as far as I can tell with everything around us, but I could be wrong. I have never seen a Blood family with so many children, even triplets at that," Prince Niall sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Lady Coren has contacted her man of business, who is coming to town with his wife and they are going to get a place that will keep all of them till we can figure something out. Lord Jared said he is making arrangements for them in Shalador Nehele, but we need a final plan before the Queen will terminate the parental rights."
"We will make sure that things are taken care of," Luc said, pushing off the wall. "I am going to make sure that we have enough food to at least stave off the hunger pains, then I am going to get a list from Lady Bianca of things they need before going into town."
"That sounds like a good idea," Prince Niall said, opening the door to the room. "I will have letters in the afternoon from Queen Jordyn to make purchases for the young ones on her behalf, so I can go with you to help."
"And I will stay and help with the little ones," Prince Alec said.
"As will I," Yarek said, nodding to the Warlord Princes.
"Then let's go help our Ladies before the children overwhelm them," Prince Niall chuckled. Yarek took a couple of steps and froze when he saw a table against one of the walls out of the corner of his eye. He waited till the other gentlemen in the room left before walking over to it, his heart in his throat as his eyes ran over the entire area. His friends hadn't been in Janelle's work room, so he wasn't surprised that neither one of them noticed what was hanging on the wall and on the table. The frames that held tangled webs and the table filled with Black Widow materials could easily be mistaken for a Healer's at a passing glance. He honestly wouldn't have been able to tell the difference if he hadn't spent hours watching Janelle spin the webs herself, making sure she didn't go so far into herself that she was lost to everyone in her life.
"So now you know," he heard Paulina say from behind him. He turned to face her, seeing the charm on the table near the door and her Red Jewel in its place. Her mouth was set in a watery smile as she shrugged and came over to him, stroking one of her frames lovingly. "Not many people know, and the ones who do want nothing to do with me once they find out. I stopped trying to make friends when my last lover told me that I would be better off getting broken because I would never find a male to warm my bed willingly once they knew who I was."
"I see," Yarek said, taking his charm off and setting it on the table before calling in his Jewel to put it on.
"With how I look and my caste, the Presentation was my last hope," Paulina continued. Yarek felt her psychic sent envelope him, wrapping around him like a comforting blanket while she spoke. "I was hoping to find a male who would serve me, who would be comfortable around women like me who are part of a caste who are just starting to become trusted again. If I was a lighter Jewel with a smaller body I suppose that it would be easier to find someone who would want to be around me besides my brother, but with the Presentation I might find a male who doesn't care about all that and-" Yarek put his mouth against hers to stop her talking, threading one of his hands in her hair while pulling her body against his with the other. He waited till she relaxed before pulling his head back just enough to look into her startled eyes.
"Your former lover is an idiot," he murmured before kissing her again and forgetting what was on the other side of the now Sapphire Locked door to spend the next hour convincing her that he meant to spend the rest of his life with her.
"A Red Jewel," Jolin screeched as she saw her brother walk into the sitting room with his new pendant. Her father said that Teral had his Offering while she was gone, saying that her brother felt it was time and couldn't wait for his sister to return in order to have it. She was very put out about it, thinking of the party that she must have missed that would have her mingling with the best of her social circle because her brother made his Offering. The whole way home she thought of what she would say to her brother, the sympathy she would give him because he probably walked away with the same Jewel as his Birthright. Now, all she felt was anger because he was not only a darker Jewel, but one of the Dark Jewels that were one of the most smiled upon when Queens looked for people to serve in the Upper Circles. "How in the Hell did you get a Red Jewel?"
"By taking what was Offered to me," Teral said told her before walking up to one of the men that offered to serve her and introducing himself. Jolin tried to be happy for her brother, but she just felt disappointment over everything that happened to her this week. It didn't help the whole way home she had tried to make conversation with the men in the group to find that all of them but Lord Unther, the older Purple Dusk Warlord who offered his hand to her, were happily married men. She would have to work hard in order to seduce the younger, if you could call them younger, men in her unofficial First Circle as she viewed it. Her father was so happy that all of the men were working class males who knew how to work hard for the money they earned and kept telling her that she was lucky to have them. She was just upset that she couldn't ask them about the newest plays or what happened at the parties that they could have attended had they been aristos. All the talked about with each other is livestock and what days they all went to market.
It was luck that all of them were from a town that was just on the border of Shalador Nehele that needed a Queen to watch over the District now that their Queen was stepping down. She would still have the chance to seduce Prince Grayhaven once she was settled into her court. If she signed a one-year contract with these men, stating that she wanted to make sure that she was the Queen that they wanted to serve and watch over their people, it would give her the chance to prove to Prince Grayhaven that she was a good Queen. All she had to do was make sure that her rule had a positive influence on her people and word of the good things she did made it to his ears. She just had to be patient and wait out this horrible experience to get what she deserved as a Queen that would hold the leash of the most powerful man in Terrielle once he finally met her without any Craft getting in the way.
"Lady Jolin, are you all right?" Lord Unther asked, concern in his eyes as he kneeled in front of her.
"I am just tired after such a long journey," she told him, trying to look her sweetest while trying to look as tired as possible. "I had not expected this past week to be so tiring or stressful."
"I would be happy to escort you to your room Lady," Lord Unther said, standing and offering his hand to her.
"Thank you, Lord Unther," she said, taking his hand and apologizing to the other men in the room for having to leave so early. When she and Lord Unther reached her room, he grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "How dare you handle me like this!" she hissed, but he didn't let go as he stared her hard in the eyes.
"The others aren't old enough to understand how you are acting, but I am you little bitch," he whispered as he gave her one hard shake. Jolin felt her eyes go wide as his face grew hard. "I know what you are thinking, I see the calculations in your eyes. Now, I cannot help that you hold my leash, but I will be damned if I lived through the Purge just to serve a Queen just like the ones that were destroyed when Witch released her power. My heart is crying out to lay my life at your feet, but you and I both know you are going to just try to use me as a stepping stool to get more power."
"You are out of line!"
"But I am right," he hissed, pushing her slightly when he let her go. "I know you are disappointed with who chose to serve you, but this is what you have. We are good men, solid men who will do right by the people you chose to serve and we hope you are willing to do our people justice. However, if you are not what we were hoping for, and what I believe I can see in you, I will not hesitate to destroy you along with the other men in the room downstairs. Am I am making myself clear Lady?"
"Perfectly," she whispered. He gave her a curt nod before turning on his heel and walking down the stairs. She fumbled with her doorknob, not taking her eyes off his retreating back till she was in her room with her back pressed against the door and her hand on her chest. There must have been someone else in those charms the Black Widows gave her, some sort of side effect, because she refused to believe that she was feeling lust for a man who was as old as her grandfather who just threatened her life.
"How are the children doing?" Mirana asked Lord Luc as he walked into the sitting room of the townhouse that Coren was renting for the children to stay until Lord Jared would be able to take them to Shalador Nehele. Lord Richard and his wife were shocked to see the state of the children, but with Coren's basically unlimited funds the children were now clothed, fed, and housed the best they have been their entire lives. Mirana was shocked to learn exactly how rich Coren was now. Coren thought her funds were nothing much, but after the conversation that Alec had with her Coren realized that she was probably the richest women in Hayll, if not Terrielle thanks to Lord Richard's smart investments. It was amusing to see her trying to make the children dinner after all that was dropped on her.
"They are all tucked in, Lady Bianca is sleeping with her sister since the young girl is too scared to be alone at this point, and it took me four times of catching Prince Scott sneaking out of his rooms to sleep in front of their door before he finally settled down in the room with his little brother," Lord Luc sighed as he sat across from her. "How are you holding up in all this?"
"I am trying very hard to hold myself together," Mirana admitted, leaning her head back to rest it on the back of the chair. "The rest of this month is going to be hard for me to get through."
"Well, if it helps, I didn't even want to come here," Lord Luc told her with a smile.
"I didn't even want people to know who I was," Mirana grumbled without thinking, causing her to blush and Lord Luc to raise an eyebrow. She bit her lower lip and shrugged. "I like my privacy."
"I feel the same way," Lord Luc laughed.
"Well, the parents' parental rights have been terminated and handed over to Lord Richard and his wife temporarily," Prince Niall said. "Marilyn made some sedatives for the girl, but we need to get back to the estate for the formal dinner or all of us will be in trouble."
"Right," Mirana sighed as she pushed up from the chair. "At least we got Paulina and Lord Yarek separated long enough to get their charms back on them. Now we just have to get them to pretend that they haven't been bonded yet." Which was going to take a lot on both of their parts. Yarek kept his eyes on the Black Widow at all times, and she blushed every time she noticed him watching her. The officials said physical relationships weren't permitted, and the fact that the two spent a long time in her room alone, it wasn't exactly a secret what happened. Zachary was teasing her about it the whole way to the townhouse, much to everyone but the couples' amusement.
"May I be your escort for this evening's formal dinner?" Luc asked her. She looked at the man, and wondered what his motives were in asking her. He was far more handsome that a male should be, his clothing spoke of wealth, and how he acted clearly made him the dominant male of he and his two friends. She knew that she wasn't stunningly beautiful, her first and only bed partner telling her that he was doing her a kindness in not staying with her beyond his obligated night because there was no way his friends would understand him being with a woman like her. She later found out that he boasted to his friends that he kept it up longer than any of them possibly could without being drugged by imagining that she was the Lady in the circle that he later married. It was a comfort to know that he cared enough to get her through her Virgin Night without breaking her, being the only Red Jeweled male in the area that was trusted to be with the women with dark Jewels like herself. Perhaps that was the reason she was so wary of any males attentions after that. But, despite her misgivings, she sensed Luc was just asking her because he truly wanted to spend time with her.
"I would be glad to have you as my escort," she said.
"Thank you Lady," Luc said, standing with a grin. "Now, let's see if we can get everyone back to the estates in time for us to put on a show for the officials to make them believe we are still just acquaintances."
"Oh joy," Mirana muttered as she headed for the front door with Prince Niall laughing as he followed behind her.
Author's Note: Sooooo yea sorry it took me a couple of days to get these up. It has been stressful and I haven't had the chance to really work on these as much as I should. I hope they meet up to your expectations.