A/N: Sorry this took so long. RL got in the way.
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Chapter 13: A Feast Fit for a Queen
The Jester broke from the circle and headed toward one of the doors. "If the new knights will follow me back to the rooms, you can change for dinner."
Veronica wasn't expecting to be fed but the minute the Jester mentioned dinner she realized how hungry she was. She also wondered what time it was. It had been about 4:00 o'clock when the knight on horseback, who she now knew as Polo, showed up outside of her Spanish class.
The Devil walked to the other side of the stone room near where two other men were rolling large garment racks into the room, "Brothers, please hang up your masks and hoods carefully, then head to the Great Hall for dinner. Leaders leave your costumes in their bags so I can take them to the dry cleaners." After the whole medieval ritual, it seemed anachronistic to be talking about dry cleaning.
Veronica and the other newly ordained knights headed toward the rooms where their clothes were. Mac caught up to her friend, "I was really starting to hate you when somebody pulled a hood over my head. That was so not cool."
"I'm sorry."
"We warned you something like this might happen," Nish said by way of not apologizing. "It wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be."
"How do you think I felt?" Wallace interjected. "I don't know which was worse – being in my shorts with a bunch of guys or being the only guy half naked with a bunch of women."
"I know a lot of guys who would have traded places with you in a New York minute," Veronica chuckled. "I'm sure it dropped your score on the purity test." Both remembered the day Veronica got caught by his mother flashing Wallace so he could at least get a 70 rather than a score than indicated he was as pure as the driven snow.
The Jester told them all to get changed and assemble back in the corridor so he could bring them to the Great Hall where they would be having dinner.
Returned to the rooms where they had earlier disrobed all of the new knights were startled to find not only the clothes they had been wearing when they arrived but their own nice clothes, shoes and accessories so they could dress for dinner. Canvas Hearst bags were available for them to pack their casual clothes.
It took about 20 minutes for everyone to reassemble in the hallway. The guy Veronica didn't recognize, who she assumed was the Jester, introduced himself. "Hi all. Welcome. Jonathon Jerome Jacoby, but you can call me Cube inside these walls. For those of you who don't recognize me, I was the Jester tonight. Follow me."
Cube lead them back down the corridor of what looked more like a storage facility then a secret society meeting hall. A folding table had been placed in the room with a cooler containing bottles of water. All the pasta had been cleaned off the floor. There was no sign of the pillows, the costumes or the bowls. Rows of folding chairs were stacked against the walls. "Help yourselves, Ladies . . . and Trent," Cube offered. "If you don't already know each other take a minute to introduce yourselves.
The new knights took the time to greet each other. They all had some idea that their induction into the Castle was historic. Years from now they would be revered in Castle lore. For now, they simply knew they needed to stick together. At Cube's insistence they tried to call each other by their new Castle names but nicknames were so much more of a guy thing. They didn't fall into that pattern easily.
After about a half hour, another man came into the room to announce that the brothers were ready for the new Knights. Cube rounded them in size order, explaining that when they went anywhere in the Castle as a group this would be their assigned alignment. Veronica was second behind Sally and Mac was immediately behind her. Nish was third from their rear followed by Face and Dunk.
They were announced by their new names as they entered the Great Hall. The assembled brothers and alumni were milling about near the entrance. Now that she could see their faces, Veronica searched for Gory; the last thing she wanted was for him to get behind her and surprise her. She still didn't trust him.
Long tables similar to those in the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies were behind them. Twenty people could sit at each table for a total of 100 diners. The full complement of Castle Members was fifty two – thirteen members from each class – but that was only for a short time in the spring when all four classes were represented. At this time of year there were usually only 39 members because the freshman class had yet to be inducted but now there were 52. The numbers would be off for a few years while the integration of women occurred.
As each woman entered, she was handed a flute of champagne in welcome. Veronica took hers and mumbled thank you but had no intentions of drinking it because she had not seen it poured. She looked around for Jake Kane, Rodger Hearst and Mel Stolz, not that she really wanted to see any of them but she knew they were present and wanted to be prepared should any of them feel compelled to talk to her.
A bright smile crossed her face when she saw an unexpected ally and understood why even under the hood with his face hidden she had been so sure of him during the initiation. Martin Mulder, one of her instructors from the F.B.I. internship, bent to kiss her cheek in greeting. "I'm so glad you finally started to trust."
Agent Mulder had worked so hard with her over the summer. Every day they focused on the need for teamwork. To be successful in the field every agent had to be willing to put his or her hands in the lives of the other agents. The inability to rely on your team could prove fatal. It took Veronica three weeks, extra counseling with the unit psychologist and a hypnotherapy session to be able to complete the trust exercise and fall back into Agent Mulder's arms.
Blushing slightly, Veronica agreed, "Me too, Ag. . ."
Her new brother cut her off before she could call him by his real world title. "Here it's Hoover. We're all equal in the Castle, Marta."
"Hoover," she repeated feeling a little uneasy calling her boss by a silly nickname. "Do you have any idea how hard that was for me?"
"I know exactly how hard it was for you, which is why before the initiation I told the King that we were going to make you do this."
Veronica was not pleased by that revelation but her mentor continued. "I also know exactly how you got here. Despite her introduction, women coming into our ranks was your doing, not Eve's, even if she was the semi-public never to be heard from in that sense again, face of the coup." He smiled warmly to offset the venom in his words. "Women being admitted has been a long time coming and I for one am glad you're here. But, sometimes changing the old guard is tough."
Not knowing how to respond, Veronica continued to listen and Hoover continued to amaze her. "Do you honestly think that we didn't know about your little stunt last Spring?"
"We, the Castle, or we, the F.B.I.?" Veronica requested clarification.
"The Castle informed the F.B.I., or more specifically me. I told Director Freeh."
Veronica's reaction to that statement was all over the map. Before she was an intern, the Director of the F.B.I knew who she was and that she had allegedly committed a felony.
"Because we both had connections to the Castle . . . " Hoover began.
"That's right they told me the Director's son was a member."
"He is. He's not here, but I will introduce you someday. Anyway, the Director and I were both intrigued. We just knew you were going to need a refresher course on the Fourth Amendment before you come to work for us full time. If you can't manage that, we reserve the right to ship you over to the C.I.A. because in the tenth level of hell where they operate in the shadows, the Constitution is meaningless."
Relaxing a bit, Veronica let herself believe this is why she joined the Castle. She barely finished her freshman year of college but the head of the internship program was already discussing her career in the Bureau with the Director. Connections do help.
Veronica had the opportunity to meet many new people. Her knight in shining armor, Polo, whose real name was Randolph Montgomery, turned out to be the captain of polo team at the Laguna Hills Country Club. "You can call me Randy, Milady" The stallion was his prized pony, Blizzard. Veronica always wanted a pony. If she wasn't so hung up on Logan, Polo was definitely somebody she wouldn't kick out for eating crackers in bed. He was about an inch taller than Logan with a thick head of golden blonde hair and green eyes. His lean muscles indicated he was no stranger to physical activity. No matter where he went in the room, if their eyes met he'd wink at her, making her blush slightly.
Swee' Pea's father came over to introduce himself promising that defense contractors always need discrete, single-minded investigators who didn't object to getting their hands dirty when necessary.
Of course Rodger Hearst stopped by. Veronica suspected he thought that she and Nish were going to continue to cause trouble.
Brian Washington apologized if he'd hurt her while he was restraining her. "For a little bit of a thing, you are powerful. I've taken down Heisman trophy candidates who weren't a tough as you." Veronica beamed at his admission.
She spied Mel Stolz outside on a portico puffing away on a cigar chatting with Gory Sorkin. Both men glowered at her when they saw her looking. Jake didn't speak to her during the festivities, but when she'd see him across the room the expression on his face almost seemed to be fatherly pride.
After about another half hour of socializing a tuxedoed waiter came into the room clanging a small musical triangle, signaling that dinner would be served. All of the Knights were instructed to sit at their assigned places designated by place cards. For the first few weeks after a new class was initiated, the Castle would purposefully assign seats at dinner to assure that everyone had a chance to interact, rather than to only sit with people they already knew.
As the diners were finding their places, a young man moved to the front of the dining room and banged a gold scepter on the podium in the front of the dining room. Upon hearing his voice, Veronica recognized him as the King. "For those of you I didn't get a chance to meet, I'm Starman, Kyle Griffith, this year's Kind of the Castle." Veronica correctly assumed that he had some connection to the Griffith Observatory in Hollywood. He continued, "Let me welcome you. Newly admitted Knights, there will be mandatory educational meetings here on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. for the next six weeks. You are expected to attend unless excused in advance. Light refreshments – sandwiches and the like – will be served. We have dinner as a group on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. We encourage you to attend and network. This is how we get to know each other and how we build the Castle for the future. Congratulations again."
Veronica found herself seated next to Polo to her left and a brother who introduced himself as 1600. Veronica remembered him from Wallace's misadventures last year. He was the guy who had gotten a perfect score on his SATs. Hoover sat across from her.
Mel Stolz and Gory were thankfully on the far side of the room.
After introducing himself, 1600 inquired of Veronica, "How did you like our little initiation ritual?"
Glancing at Polo, Veronica flirtatiously replied, "I enjoyed my invitation and transportation."
1600 was smart enough to know he was missing something. There was no way a girl like Veronica Mars enjoyed being blindfolded and stuffed into the trunk of a car but he didn't say anything. With the Castle you were told what you needed to know.
"Anytime you want another ride, just say the word. Blizzard really likes you," Polo flirted back. The look on his handsome face said he was hoping she'd want to ride more than his horse.
Veronica knew she had to end this before it got out of control. "I liked Blizzard too, but I'm more of a one horse girl."
Hoover was growing increasing uncomfortable with the rising level of sexual tension at this table and decided to divert the conversation to a more neutral topic. "How are classes this semester, 16?"
Dinner passed relatively uneventfully. The food was sumptuous. If nothing else, Veronica could enjoy her Castle membership for the culinary delights alone. During dinner, her companions educated her about some of the perks of membership. The Castle controlled certain banking interests which would give her some low interest loans for school or any business endeavors she chose to pursue. They would help her find tutors if there were subjects where she needed assistance; the jocks found this particularly helpful. The Castle owned a private island off Catalina where members could get away. Veronica was somewhat disappointed to learn that only alumni could make reservations more than 24 hours in advance. Still, she hoped it might be some place she could eventually take Logan, assuming he'd ever want to go anywhere with her again. She sighed. At least now she could be relatively assured that he'd be safe.
At the end of the evening Starman returned to the podium. "This concludes tonight's festivities. To our distinguished alumni, it's always an honor. We wouldn't exist without your continued and generous support. I'll see you all next week when our topic for discussion will be proposals to remedy healthcare in America. Until then, be productive!"
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Walking outside with Wallace and Mac, the three friends were amused to realize that they were at a commercial storage facility called Castle Corners which was about a block off campus. It was amazing really - hiding a secret society in plain sight while making a profit as a legitimate business.
"So what do you think?" Veronica asked her weary friends.
Wallace grinned broadly holding up two tickets, "Courtside tickets to the San Diego Savages, baby! Courtesy of Sir Knight Dribble (a/k/a LeBron Bird, power forward and NBA AllStar).
Mac didn't understand. "Basketball season started already?"
Momentarily dejected Wallace admitted, "It's pre-season." Perking up again, he reiterated "Courtside seats. Who's da man?"
All three friends giggled.
When they came to Veronica's Saturn in the relatively deserted parking lot, she unlocked the SUV with her key fob and turned to her friends. "Can I drive you to your dorms?"
Both nodded climbing into the car.
'It's gonna be an interesting semester, that's for sure,' Veronica thought to herself as she started the car.
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A/N: LoVe coming soon. I promise.