"Tea? With the queen?" Sansa questioned, there was a shocked look on her face as she couldn't help but stare at the maid who had come to give them the news. She turned to look at Santana who didn't look surprised, "Did you run into the Queen and forget to share that with us?"
Santana glanced at the invitation that had her name written elegantly on it and took it from the maid and opens it, scanning over the contents before smirking at Sansa. "Of course not, that is certainly something I'd share with you. What does one wear to tea with the queen?"
"You mean, what does one wear, when you are meeting the parents of your mate. This particular mate happens to be the leader of her clan, and she has the power to make your life very difficult. You want her to like you," Matt insists immediately. This wasn't a game, and they needed to respect the customs of the Agron Kingdom, this wasn't like back home where challenging the mother of your mate and laying claim was far too common amongst the cat clan.
"Why are we even entertaining this," Drogo speaks up the annoyance evident in his voice as he stands to his full height. "We did not travel all this way for a match between the two kingdoms, we came to demand retribution for a fallen prime. We are not here to become their pets."
Santana immediately snarled at the characterization, she wasn't anyone's pet. "In case you haven't realized, diplomacy is our only path forward. They aren't the Holy Empire, they have made sure that we've been treated well, and treated as honored guests. But they certainly have the power to treat us like the Holy Empire would, a proper pact with the Agron Kingdom will keep the Holy Empire off our backs. There are benefits to our people if this mating is to go through, if we were to fight then our people will suffer, all because one dumb bear prime managed to get himself caught."
Drogo immediately snarled at her, "You dare—"
"She's right Drogo, as much as I'm loath to admit it. If a fight were to break out between our people would be decimated, and by the very nature of them being human the Holy Empire would back them, our people would be enslaved if we weren't simply wiped out," Sansa stated looking at Santana. "This isn't a game, she is a princess and quite frankly the only one that has been patient with us during talks and the least insulting, you would do well to keep your mate happy. Where is she?"
"If I knew that I wouldn't be here at this moment," Santana's ear flicked over to the door as another maid knocked on the door, which was quickly opened. Her eyes widen at the army of them carrying various dresses and she immediately takes a step back.
"The queen wasn't certain that you had a dress prepared for such an event, so she insisted that we bring you an entire wardrobe to see if you'll find something that you'll like," One of the maids speaks up.
"Is there a dress code?" Sansa questions immediately.
"No, her majesty has insisted that anything will do as this is very last minute, usually one has time to prepare for an invitation, but this is the usually family gathering."
Santana's eyes widened, then this was an important event. This was meeting her mates' family, she needed to make a good impression if she planned to have an easy life. Family was important for beastkin, and from what she had seen her mate was at least close with her mother, and her siblings. This was probably some test to see how she could get along with her mate's family, and how they got along with her. Charlie wasn't a beastkin, the mating bond didn't mean anything to someone like the Queen. And if the Queen insisted that Charlie end their relationship before they could mate, then she'd be alone for the rest of her life. "What type of clothing does the Queen prefer."
"The queen prefers conservative clothing, but that is a personal choice—"
Santana paused, the clothing that she'd seen at the ball had been rather ugly and tacky, even Sansa had looked silly. They were beastkin, and even if she was joining the family, she was always going to be who she was. "I have a dress that will do."
"Are you certain?" Sansa and Matt say immediately.
"I am proud of my culture and my heritage, and my mate likes me just the way I am. I would like to think that the Queen is just as open minded as my mate, and if I'm lacking I hope that her majesty will help me be someone who can stand proudly by her daughter."
The maid smiled, "We shall inform her majesty and we look forward to serving you at the tea later today."
Santana nodded, and took a breath. Perhaps there was some benefit to learning more about her mate, and maybe she could find out why her mate had a core of some sort. Her new family had secrets and she wanted to find out more.
~ O ~
Mike's ears twitched and he turned his head to look at his mother-in-law, he remembered their first meeting. "Still trying to put the fear of God into those who are attempting to enter the family."
Judy smiled over the top of her teacup as she took a slow sip savoring her tea as she looked at the people her children had chosen to spend the rest of their lives with, "It wouldn't be fair otherwise," she had done the exact same for each of her children's partners. She did need to let them know exactly who was in charge here. She was the queen after all, and those were her children.
"Are you sure that this invitation is wise?" Rachel questions, when Judy shoots her a look she doesn't back down. "This is Charlie, and we all know her history when it comes to women, especially beautiful ones."
Judy tilted her head, Rachel did have a point as much as it pained her to admit it. Her youngest had her moments but seemed both uninterested and unable to hold a long term relationship. "Perhaps, but Charlie has never once spent most of the night dancing with anyone. She actually looked—competent. She looked sure of herself, and she attracted the attention of all the nobles who had scoffed at her skills. At this point Rachel, we need to make certain that Charlie manages to get to the altar with this one. I doubt very much that we'll find anyone who is as capable."
Joe clears his throat, Frannie had wanted him to press this issue, "We should still be concerned, beastkin don't generally mate with other species because of their mate bond. So either Charlie is this beastkin's mate, which doesn't make sense for multiple reasons, or her mate died and she was sent to seduce Charlie."
Judy looked over at Frannie's husband for a moment and smiled, "Joe, we both know that any beautiful woman who shows the slightest bit of skin would be able to seduce Charlie. It's not exactly difficult. We should be far more interested in making sure that she actually manages to get to the altar. I'm far more concerned that Charlie will do or say something offensive. I don't even know where she is right now." Judy complained. There used to be a time, where Charlie would alert people to her comings and goings, but that had been years ago.
~ O ~
The one thing about the Draconic Kingdom and its territories, was that the strong survived. This held true for the plants, to the scorching desserts. Everything in the Draconic Kingdom was meant to be lethal, food, the animals here were far bigger and stronger than anything the badlands had to offer. And then if you were unlucky you'd run into a High Dragon, magical beings. Running into one of those was a death sentence, if you were lucky a quick painless death.
Charlie wished she was as lucky as that, as her back slams against a large rock formation, knocking the wind from her lungs as she slides down onto her ass. She can taste the bitter iron from the blood that is leaking from her lips, she wasn't sure what she had hurt. But her lungs felt heavy, and breathing was becoming more and more labored. She had only come to the draconic kingdom to kill some crystal scorpions as a present for Santana, she didn't actually expect to accidentally enter a dragon's territory. Perhaps she should have gone to see her grandmother who lived near the border between the draconic kingdom and the Holy Empire.
She attempts to let out a whistle to call for Hiccup, but she can barely make the sound. Instead all she can do is push her head back from where she is currently seated as the dragon's chest lights up as it begins to prepare its breath weapon. She was going to die. The realization hits her quickly, she can't really feel her legs at this point. What was most disappointing about what was soon to be her death was that she was going to die a virgin. She could already hear Kara's laughter ringing in her ears as the magically enhanced flames hit and her mind went blank from the pain.