Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
As time wore on, I noted a certain someone hadn’t gone through the receiving line.
This being Arnaud.
But sadly, only a few minutes after Aleksei bent to me and whispered in my ear, “Only ten more minutes of this, love,” she hit the line.
I felt her the minute she did.
She wore a gold and ivory feathered mask tied to her golden-haired head with ivory satin ribbons (her ensemble was dove themed, and it might be petty, but her coming from the Dayrise house, I thought that wasn’t very inspired). This mask matched her gold and ivory gown that was a miracle of feathers which also highlighted her every curve, and significantly highlighted her cleavage (and okay, so her gown was inspired).
Even through her mask, I knew her eyes were blazing hatred at me.
Princess Anna.
Behind her were King Dagsbrun and Queen Delanta.
Aleksei noted her too, I knew this when his lips came back to my ear.
“Remember, you outrank her. She curtsies to you. You do not do the same.”
I was sure that would go over well.
“And your status means you do not offer a formal curtsy to Dag and Delanta,” he concluded.
I nodded.
Timothee, standing at my other side, glanced across me to his brother.
Aleksei nodded to him.
When the royal family of Dawn’s Break arrived at him, he bowed to the king and queen, then left the line and took Anna’s hand.
Anna’s perfectly formed lips curled in a butter-didn’t-melt smile, her chin dipped, but her eyes floated from Timothee to Aleksei to gauge his reaction.
Behind my mask, I rolled my own.
I saw Errol, who was on the other side of Timothee, jerk in response to this.
So he didn’t know some of Timothee’s tomfooleries either.
This made me happy.
But then she was standing before me.
She stared at me.
I glanced at her, looked to her parents and dropped a bob to them.
Both inclined their heads, Dagsbrun curiously, Delanta dismissively.
Anna didn’t curtsy to me, but instead, kept staring at me like she was expecting it from me.
It was Timothee, not Aleksei, who intervened.
He muttered loudly, “Anna, Laura is the True Bride.”
Anna’s face took on another mask, one of outrage, before she bobbed the quickest curtsy known to beingkind.
Aleksei’s silk flowed through us. “Laura, meet Princess Anna, King Dagsbrun and Queen Delanta of Dawn’s Break.”
“My pleasure,” I said for the five hundredth time (literally).
“Mistress Laura,” King Dagsbrun replied.
He was the only one who did. Delanta was also staring daggers at me.
Suddenly, Bainon was there.
“Mother. Father,” he greeted. “Anna,” he said, not hiding the disapproval in his tone as he took in how his sister was grasping Timothee’s arm.
By the by, Bainon’s mask was a take on the wings of a body glider.
And it was mega.
“Son,” Dagsbrun replied.
“Dagsbrun, Delanta, Anna, so lovely you came,” Queen Calisa called from Aleksei’s other side in a manner that stated they were holding up the line and they needed to get a move on.
I didn’t know how she managed to state that without actually stating it, but she did.
I took note of how she did that too.
Dagsbrun, Bainon and Timothee moved their party along.
Errol shifted closer to me to fill the gap left by Timothee.
I tensed.
Aleksei put his hand to the small of my back and pressed in briefly, but reassuringly.
I relaxed.
Five minutes later, the rest of the guests were directed away from the receiving line and into the Palace, and we were given the notice to disperse.
Thank Hecate.
Aleksei tucked my hand in his elbow and led me down the hall.
“Arnaud didn’t show,” I said under my breath.
“He registered in the king’s suite at the Imperial this morning at eleven seventeen,” Aleksei muttered back. “He’ll be here.”
He guided us into one of the Palace’s three ballrooms.
All three were in use that night.
The largest had a live band and open space for dancing. The second largest had extravagant buffets down the middle and on tables set up around the sides, along with four bars. The last was set up with tables and chairs for people to sit and eat, another two bars, and sofas and armchairs arranged in seating areas, giving beings the opportunity to sit and chat.
Each ballroom fed into the other, with small antechambers here and there. All the antechambers were regularly set in seating areas.
And yes, my heels were already killing me, my gown was gorgeous, but I made note of its weight for future consideration, so I was delighted to know there would be plenty of places to sit down.
Of course, along with a plethora of the most amazing flower bouquets and installations, Queen Calisa had settled on dragons to denote the soaring theme in the décor.
As such, there were massive, elaborate dragons made of silk and streamers hanging sinuously from the ceilings. Down the middle of the center buffet table, a dragon’s head rose, then the arch of its back could be seen arising from the middle, with its tail flashing at the end. Dragon heads and necks taller than two men were affixed to the sides of the doorways between ballrooms, their jeweled eyes facing each other, one side the dragon was dark and male, the other was light and female.