Talia's Party Part Two
I stood there with noise ambience of the room swirling around me and cursed myself in my brain for having lied to my grandfather. It was a small lie but since I had never lied to him in my life, not even once I felt so guilty. I suddenly felt someone wrap their arms around my shoulders from behind and a head plop down in mine. The voice belonging to that person spoke up, “You did perfectly little rose, as your mother didn’t suspect a thing. We pulled it off and I have so many to thank for that.” I shifted to look up and into my dad’s eyes. We smiled at each other then I turned and returned the hug uttering a single question, “What’s the verdict?” I could feel his chest puff out as he said, “Is it ever really a question? Your mother can’t resist me.” I could hear my mother clear her throat behind him, “Oh really? I seem to remember resisting you when you asked for that first date. I believe you even begged me and went so far as to deploy Vanessa to convince me.” I laughed at the blush that crept up to my father’s cheeks because that was the first time in my life, I think I’ve ever seen my father truly embarrassed. He cleared his throat, “I see Count Dierno over there, we should make our way over since it appears he is the ranking member in the room. It appears Marquis Maigny has disappeared on us.” My grandfather spoke up, “About that, we may want to rethink our friendship with House Maigny.” My mother gasped, “Why would we do that?” He looked down at me and then back up at them, “I will explain on the way over to the Count.”
With that they all shuffled over to the Count on the other end of the room. I sat down in my dark corner where I stood at the last party and reminisced about how I had met the tall handsome stranger who called himself Burnett. As if I had manifested him from my thoughts, I felt someone grab my hand and looked up to find my hand going to the lips of none other than Burnett. He smiled at me, “How goes it Your Grace?” I smiled back, “Oh not so bad, I finally got to visit Vellum today. I also met the Headmaster.” He frowned and I got the sense that he wasn’t very fond of the Headmaster, “Eh, I am not so impressed with him. I know him, we’ve had occasion to speak since I am a student there too. I don’t like the fact that he hides himself away. I’ve never been a fan of people hiding things from others.” I got the feeling he was also referring to my parents, so I wasn’t thrilled at this declaration. I spoke up, “Well, I am sure he has his reasons. Everyone has reasons to hide things from others. In my case, I was being protected from any dangers that certain Vellanians posed to me.” I chuckled, “Is that the line you were fed? I don’t believe that. Perhaps the one they were protecting you from was actually your destined one. Did Grand Pretre not tell you that you had two paths ahead of you?” I was confused as to how he knew that since that was a private conversation between Her and the others present. I furrowed my brow, “How did you know about that?” He waved his hand in dismissal, “I have my ways, I am a pyrio after all. I could have any ability. I do know yours though and I find it fascinating.” I was further confused because not many know about the Aphrodite ability unless they were exposed to it. I asked the question on my mind, “Were you exposed to it?” He smiled a sort of devilish grin, “Oh not me but my lord has been, and he wants you little one. Not for anything nefarious but truly wants you at his side as tries to take his kingdom back from the one who doesn’t deserve it.” I knew exactly who his lord was, and I wasn’t thrilled that he sent Burnett to me. I said, “Why would he send you? Why not make himself known?” The devilish grin got wider, “Oh little one, now is not the time to make himself known. For now, I am his face and voice to you.” He looked me up and down, “I can’t say I entirely hate this task I’m on. Aphrodite ability or not you are attractive. I will say that I’m not opposed to taking you for myself.” At this declaration, my stomach was doing somersaults. I wasn’t sure it was because the most attractive man I’ve ever seen says he wants me or if the sense of danger coming off him was scaring the shit out of me. I inhaled deeply before speaking, “I will tell you, sir, that I am well protected so if you think that whatever it is your lord, or you are trying to do will not succeed.” He kept the smile on his face, “Little one, trust me when I say that no harm should come to you from either of us. You will come to him willingly as his is one of your destined.” I gasped, “Is he the Jade or the Gold?” He cocked an eyebrow, “What’s the fun of revealing that little one? I think you should determine that for yourself. I will say your other destined one is not someone you should trust. Please believe me that my lord means you no harm but does send you his regards and this little note.” At this he hands me an envelope with a wax seal on it. I studied the wax seal for a minute and saw the crest of Mesha on it. This confirmed who I thought his lord was and I asked, “Your lord is the Duke of Mesha?” As I looked up to Burnett, I merely saw the punch table that had laid behind him as we spoke. He freaking disappeared again.
I had sat there wondering if that dream, I had was Prince Blake the one dragging me away from Burnett. It made total sense since I know for a fact that Burnett was who I was dancing with, and he declared he found me attractive, and he also confirmed my father’s fears about Prince Blake being touched still from the Aphrodite ability. I tucked the letter into my pocket and thanked my mother silently that my outfit this time was a suit. I heard a pair of heels clacking on the black marble floor that were getting closer to me and I looked to find Vanessa coming towards me. She was smiling and holding two plates with cakes in her hands. She handed me one and she sat next to me. After she settled, she spoke, “I hear you took my magical items class this year. I am so freaking happy that you wish to take after your godmother.” I smiled back at her, “I don’t know if I will ever get used to having a witchy godmother. Most girls want a fairy godmother and here I am, and I have a savant of sorts with magical items.” She nudged my side with her elbow gently, “Trust me when I say you don’t want a fairy for a godmother. Them bitches are shifty. Terre’s fairy tales make them out to be sweet and loving. Nope, they are manipulative and backstabbing.” I raised my eyebrows, “There are fairies in Vellum?” Vanessa chuckled, “No they have their own dimension. I believe your fairy tales got one thing right about them. They are of the Seelie Court and that is the name of their dimension. They also know who the king and queen are, I tell you that Shakespeare knew things. Oberon and Titania are ones to look out for. I feel so bad for King Lucien for having to deal with them regularly. Anyhow, we were talking about school.” I nodded, “I really wanted to know how to make magical items. They seem so useful, and I really do admire you Ness.” This made her smile wide, “Oh little rose, you don’t know how happy that makes me. I would have been your aunt had things turned out the way I wanted them to.” I remembered my mother telling me Vanessa was engaged to my uncle Talon. I found myself blurting out, “What was he like? Mom won’t talk about him.” I pulled my hand to my mouth and gasped. On occasion my filter would break, and I caught myself blurting out stupid shit that I probably shouldn’t.
Vanessa sat there smiling and she looked down, “Don’t worry yourself my sweet girl but I don’t think this is the time to talk about that. However, I will tell you about him, but I want to make a deal with you if that’s okay.” If I could learn more about my lost family member, I felt like any deal I could make would be worth it, so I nodded at her. She looked at me and smiled, “You must come to me at my cottage on your first weekend there. We will have tea and catch up. I will also tell you about my love Talon.” That didn’t seem like a bad deal, “You got it Ness. I don’t mind ever spending time with you.” She grabbed my empty plate from me and handed it to one of the waiters working there. She then hugged me and whispered in my ear, “I think we should also talk about that young man you were talking to just now.” As we pulled out of the hug, I stared at her with wide eyes since I had not thought anyone saw us. I knew then that that tea invitation was more about my telling her about this rendezvous that I had with Burnett. What would I tell her?
