God, I had to pee. I really, really had to pee. And my butt was numb from sitting so long on this damn rock they called a throne. It had been hours since Marsden had stood with me on the dais in front of vampires, mages, witches, weres, shifters, Fey and the Press. He had then formally asked me in front of all assembled in the ballroom, if I would be true to the ideals of the office of Pythia. When I answered yes, he had proclaimed me 'Lady Cassandra, the first' and escorted me to my throne while the Press took pictures and yelled "who are you wearing?" at me. I had been sitting here ever since, acknowledging vows and good wishes from a long line of people. The war mages were the most impressive group. They had marched forward with military precision in their dress uniforms to stand in front of me, four at a time, and dropped to one knee in unison. They swore to defend me against all malefactors present and to come, in peace and in war. Pritkin had taken the oath with the first group as part of the Pythian Guard, and then had taken up his post near the dais to glower as needed. Mircea's vow was memorable. As the chief negotiator of the North American vampire senate, he was responsible for taking the oath on behalf of the senate. When Robert announced him, Mircea had stepped forward and sank to one knee, holding his hand over his Armani-clad heart. He had focused his gaze on me and with a gentle smile had vowed to abide by my word. I wondered how he was going to get around that oath in the future. I knew very well he would abide by the Consul's word, not mine. Several important vampires, themselves the heads of influential vampire families, had stepped forward and vowed to follow my word. Senior members of the Silver Circle swore allegiance to me. There was a large contingent of witches representing the various Witch Houses. Each witch that bore the title 'Mistress of the House' had stepped forward and promised to acquiesce to my word, all the while inspecting my gown with practiced eyes. They checked out Pritkin, too, standing there in his custom fitted uniform and oblivious to the appreciative glances he was getting. The Guild Masters each came forward and swore the oath. The various Were Clan Council representatives rounded out the groups taking the oath.
"Curran Lennart, Beast Lord of Atlanta," announced Robert. I perked up. I had lived in Atlanta for the last few years, until Mircea stole me away to Las Vegas. I had no idea there was a Beast Lord in Atlanta. Who knew?
"My Lady, I vow my pack will abide by your word," promised the tall grey-eyed blond man with unbelievable muscles standing before me. I inclined my head in recognition of his vow and watched as he bowed deeply from the waist. He straightened up after a moment and backed away, then worked his way through the throng of people in the ballroom and exited the room. I wondered if he was staying for the dinner…it would have been nice to talk with someone from Atlanta. Sighing, I looked back at the line to see who was next. No one was next. The Beast Lord from Atlanta had been the last in line. I stood up and stepped off the dais before anyone else tried to talk to me. Pritkin hurried over to me.
"Cassie?" he whispered. "What are you doing?"
"I need to go back to my room for a moment," I hissed at him as I moved back towards the hall. Pritkin and the vampire bodyguards fell into formation around me as we walked towards the private wing of Mircea's court. I nodded to the lone vampire guard and continued on to my room. I waited while the vampire guards inspected the rooms and gave the all clear to Pritkin. He escorted me into my suite while the vampires stayed out in the hall.
"I have to pee…and I wasn't going to announce that to a roomful of vampire ears," I told him before he asked. The corner of his mouth twitched as I headed to my bathroom. He was standing by the open drapes when I came back, staring out at the starlit night, hands held behind his back. I stood next to him and leaned on his shoulder.
"That line of dignitaries was longer than I expected. Is it always like this?" I asked tiredly.
"No. The novelty will wear off after a while and things will get back to normal at the Court." He glanced down at me. "Everyone wants to see the new Pythia, and how you interact with the vampires," he added. "There are representatives of several groups here tonight whose people have never attended the installation of the Pythia before. We were surprised when we learned that a royal princess of the light Fey would be attending. Most unusual. At least they provided their own security. I do not know how the Fey got access to bomb-sniffing hellhounds, but they ensured there were no brimstone bombs on the premises."
I shuddered. I would be happy if I never heard that word again.
"The princess…Claire…did not vow to abide by my word like most everyone else," I told him.
"That is as expected," he explained. "The Fey don't usually get involved with human activities. She does not speak for the Fey Court and was not here as a diplomat. She was here only as a gesture of courtesy. She is almost half human and can interact well with this crowd, more so than the full-blooded Fey. Did you see …" he stopped talking and tilted his head for moment. "What the hell…?" he hissed and pulled me out the door, handing me off to the vampire guards.
"Pritkin! What's the matter?" I called after his retreating form as he sprinted down the hall and out the private wing of the house.
"Follow him," I ordered my guards. They just looked at me, so I ran after Pritkin. I caught up with him in the kitchen with my vampire bodyguards in tow. Three vampires had surrounded Jeannie as she sat at a prep table eating her grilled cheese and jello.
"Look, an appetizer," purred a slight blond vampire dressed in the black and white uniform of the wait staff. He grinned at his two companions and reached for Jeannie. Without hesitating, I shifted to her side, intending to grab her and shift out of there. I couldn't grab her. Instead, I was tossed back towards the vampire trio, knocking one of them down and landing partly on top of him. Jeannie was generating such a strong shield I couldn't touch her. The vampire growled at me, showing fangs. Pritkin was cursing while he pushed his way to my side, throwing vampires right and left.
The tiny rose gold figures embroidered on my gown suddenly burst off my dress and formed into a loose cloud of fiery flying and crawling things flitting around me. A tiny gold bee flew towards the nearest vampire and landed on his shoulder, immediately setting him on fire. A miniscule snake slithered over and crawled up another vampire's ankle and disappeared into his slacks. The pants started to smolder and then burst into flames. The nearby vampire guards jumped back in alarm. The two flaming vampires had at least one buddy who ran up and tossed pitchers of ice water on them, then bravely started beating the flames out with a wet dish cloth from the wait staff. With the flames extinguished he led his smoldering friends off to recuperate, leaving a trail of wispy smoke tendrils in their wake. I don't know how much good that would do. Mircea would kill the vampire for threatening the Pythia, even if I was not the intended victim. Those were vampire rules…what mattered was the end result, not the original intent.
I picked myself up off the floor and adjusted my damp and smudged dress. The tiny flaming figures settled back unto my dress and went back to behaving like pretty embroidery. Pritkin glared at me, his mouth in a thin grim line.
"What do you think you were doing?" he demanded as he pulled me out of the kitchen. "Yet again, you have put yourself in danger for no possibly good reason."
"I was trying to rescue Jeannie," I told him in a small voice.
"The child did not need your assistance. She has learned and practiced her shielding spells, unlike you," he said in a deadly quiet voice. "She is my responsibility, not yours. I was here fast enough to remove those three miscreants, which I thought I could do because I left you safely with the other guards." He glanced at my vampire guards. "Take her to Marsden and tell him it is time to proceed to the dinner," he told them.
"Aren't you eating with us at the head table?" I asked timidly.
"No. I will take my dinner break elsewhere," he told me curtly and left for the kitchen.
I felt tears sting my eyes as my guards escorted me back to the ballroom and deposited me next to Marsden.
"My Lady, may I accompany you to dinner?" he asked politely as he offered me his arm. I camouflaged my teary eyes with a sneeze or two, then I took his arm and we headed off to the dining room. How had things gone so bad so fast?
Pritkin was wrong about one thing, though. I had practiced my shield variations. I had used them with Mircea and I had invoked the spell again tonight before the first vampire had stood before me, using a low power level the entire time. That's probably why I was so tired. I needed to eat although I suddenly did not have much of an appetite. Marsden led me to a table at one end of the dining room, set with crisp white linen and shining crystal and silverware. Everyone stood as I entered and remained standing until I sat in my chair. A salad was whisked in front of me so fast I jumped. The all-vampire wait staff deposited plates so quickly they were nothing but a blur. I munched my salad half-heartedly while I surreptitiously inspected my tablemates. Marsden sat next to me, of course, along with an ancient war mage in the formal dress uniform of the Corps. A dignified man I recognized as Sebastian, the Were Clan Council representative to MAGIC, sat on my other side. A black-haired woman I recognized as one of the 'Mistress of the House' witches and one of the Guild Masters rounded out the rest of the table.
"Where is Mage Pritkin?" asked the ancient war mage. The witch stiffened with concern, suddenly alert.
"On duty," explained Marsden. The witch visibly relaxed. There's a story there, I thought to myself, determined to get the tale out of her during dinner.
Author's Note: The character of Curran Lennart, the Beast Lord of Atlanta, belongs to Ilona Andrews. Curran just stopped by for a brief visit to this story.