Page 83 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

Fireworks

O ne could say, over the last month, I’d learned a good deal about what my life would be as Night’s Fall’s next queen.

And most of that was awesome.

But some of it wasn’t all that great.

And the worst of it, I found that next evening, was having to stand in a receiving line.

Okay, meeting the royalty of the realms from all the other continents who’d flown in for this fête, after seeing them in pics and on tapes for decades, I’ll admit, I was starstruck.

And since I was a homebody and didn’t get out that much at night, I’d never had the opportunity to hobnob with many vampires, but everybody knew, they were the glam of the glam .

Done up for the Masque , they took your breath away.

All the rest?

Good gods, it was horrible.

Standing there, in heels, wearing a heavy gown, a perfect smile pinned to your face, having people bob and bow and blather and slaver. The speculative looks. The constant attention.

Totally the worst.

Fortunately, there were staff to keep the line moving along so we could get through as many guests as the hour we were to stand in that receiving line would allow before we joined the rest in the Masque . Therefore , it wasn’t like I was forced into seven hundred conversations.

It still sucked.

What didn’t suck was that we wore our masks through it, considering there was a big ta-do later when everyone would be taking them off, which meant I had a modicum of protection against the attention.

What sucked a whole lot less was Aleksei’s mask.

He wore a black, silver and purple dragon mask that had a long, proud nose that covered his own as well as part of his mouth, horns shot up from the top and curled spikes came out of the sides.

I didn’t care how kinky it made me, I wanted him to fuck me while wearing that mask.

Seriously.

This was such a good thought, it got me through the first fifteen minutes of the receiving line.

The rest was mostly torture, but outside the glitzy vampires and toney royalty, there were a few bright spots.

The first was the parade of all the masks and gowns others wore, some of them slinky, some of them inspired, some of them miracles of construction, all of them fanciful.

This was due not only to an extreme level of one-up-beingship, but also the many photographers who would broadcast each to every corner of the planet.

They’d been given access to the proceedings, their flashes constant outside the Palace and along the receiving line, as the trail of crafts cruised down to let the noblebeings, aristocrats, diplomats, dignitaries, businessbeings and celebrities onto the silver-dusted black carpet that looked like a welcome of stars.

The second was Madam Garwah coming through the line.

I’d missed spending time with her, of course.

But also, she was wearing this swan getup with a mask that had a swan neck and head that rose three feet above her own.

It was outlandish, and not altogether attractive, but it was attention-getting and so very her.

The deep curtsy she gave me choked me up. And the affectionate clasping of my hand in both of hers nearly had me losing it.

The last was meeting the royal family of Land’s End .

King Niall , Queen Laoise and Princess Rowan were warmly greeted by Aleksei , Queen Calisa and King Fillion , and they warmly greeted me.

My dinner partner the night before had been Bainon , who I found was an interesting and often amusing male.

Even so, throughout dinner, I’d noted Prince Cormac seemed quiet, watchful and reserved, almost broody, like Tanyn .

His family was the exact opposite, which was a relief.

But that was the end of the list of the highlights of the receiving line.

The day had been busy. I’d made the decision to trail the queen and Aleece around, because this would one day be my responsibility, so I might as well dig into learning how to pull it off without delay.

This meant I hadn’t had any time for my gals that day, and since they were staying at the Palace , they hadn’t gone through the receiving line.

I was dying to see what they were wearing.

Though, Errol was back, looking peaked and discombobulated, even with this obscured by his raven mask.

I was surprised at how easy it was to pretend I didn’t know all he’d done to me. But he’d laid the groundwork by not being friendly or approachable, so I just kept playing at that.

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.

And in the room with the band and dancing, a colossal set piece that resembled Aleksei’s dragon sprung up from behind the band, wings spread, like he was about to take flight.

Although the theme was expected, as you could tell, Queen Calisa’s follow-through was outstanding.