The Dreaded Date
POV: Alexandra
I told him of King Renier’s request to meet with the family as my father leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. As soon as I finished he leaned forward, “I suppose it would be rude to refuse the man access to his daughter. What say you, Talia?” She nodded, “I’ve never met the man so I am curious about him. Why don’t we prepare for the day after tomorrow? That gives us time to prepare for an official Seely Royal visit.” He nodded at her, “Write the invitation so that way it doesn’t cause tension between him and the King. I imagine Lucien would be upset if he knew Renier was the one to request it.” My mother wrote out the invitation and placed it in the official Batiste stationary and my father placed the wax seal on it. He handed it to me, “Here you go. I suppose we should ensure the whole family is here. I will send official summons to Whisperia, Vanessa, and Talon.” He looked at Mordred, “I don’t think I need to summon you, right?” He shook his head, “I wouldn’t miss this in all the world. I want to see the young man who fell in love with our little rose.” I sighed, “Could you not?” He smirked, “I think it might be a tad unprofessional for you to be sassing the people you’re delivering to.” I smirked back at him, “Technically, I’m not delivering to you…uncle.” He grabbed his chest like had wounded his heart, “You hurt me, dear niece.”
My mother cut in, “I think Xan has another envelope to deliver.” I looked down at the envelope and realized I didn’t know to whom I was supposed to deliver this to. I read the name on the front, it was Countess Delnaro. I sighed, “I’m not sure how I am supposed to go out that far.” Mordred leaned toward me and smiled, “If my beautiful niece would humor me for a short detour, I can take you there via portal. Would you like to strike that deal?” I sighed, “I think it would be easier for me to go with you and detour than it would be to spend an hour in the carriage. Where are we going?” He smiled and shook his head, “Oh now, that wasn’t the deal. You’ll find out when we get there.” We turned to leave but my father called out to me, “Just a second, Xan. I wanted to tell you something before you leave. I forgot to inform you that I gave consent for Lucy to keep Sunny. I just need to know if it would be okay if I took her into town to buy some supplies.” I nodded, “I’m sure she would love that. I don’t see a problem with you taking her Papa.” He smiled and blushed which made me laugh. I left with Mordred out of the study and he led me out of the front door before he opened the portal. I turned to the coachman and said, “I will be back soon, I’m just going to go see Countess Delnaro.” The coachman replied, “Understood, Your Grace. We will be here when you get back.”
I nodded and stepped through the portal which brought us in front of Litha’s house. I thanked Mordred and stepped up to the door and rang the bell. An old woman came to the door, “Can I help you?” I smiled at her, “Hello my name is Alexandra Batiste. I am wondering if Countess Delnaro is in.” She smiled widely back, “Of course, Your Grace. I will inform my lady, won’t you and your friend come in?” I looked back at Mordred and he shook his head, “I will just wait for you out here if that is okay.” I nodded at him and turned to the housekeeper, “He is going to wait out here. I don’t know if he’s just uncomfortable coming in.” She nodded and let me in and promptly showed me to a sitting room, “She will be right with you.” The housekeeper left the room and closed the door. I looked around the room and it was decorated in white and pink which was very much like Litha’s personality. It was bright in the room and it smelled of lemons. It was very different from my father’s study at home, which was the only room I could compare this one to since we didn’t have a sitting room. Instead, we had a ballroom which would be nice if we had more parties.
The door opened in the room and Litha called out to me, “Xan! I’m so happy that you’re here! I’ve been wanting to go into the capitol to see everyone but I’ve been so busy. I’ve been trying to help the Glades by sending supplies that I can. What brings you out here?” I held the envelope up, “I got one of the Royal Scribe positions and I have been asked to deliver this to you.” I handed her the invitation and she smiled, “Oh is this the invitation to the ball?” I nodded, “Yeah, it appears to be.” She smiled, “I hope I get to dance with Blake. We’ve been writing to each other and I think he is softening his heart to me. I would love to see what you think during the ball though.” I smiled, “I don’t know if I have that ability but I appreciate your faith in my abilities. I can see what Aphrodite says. I need to talk to her soon anyhow.” I rose from my seat, “Unfortunately, I can’t stay long since I was given a small task and I need to get back to help Malinus. I’m hoping what they are currently doing is finished.” She looked at me confused, “What are they doing?” I sighed and explained what had happened and after I finished she was visibly mad, “Wow, I can’t believe those old geezers did that! The nerve!” I shrugged, “I can’t help that they want things to be fair. I have other things going on but we will have to catch up later.” She hugged me, “Of course, I’m coming to Tarn early for the ball. We should have lunch and catch up. All of us.” I nodded, “Yes, that would be great.” We turned and walked to the front door and she bid me farewell.
I looked out across the road where Mordred was leaning against the tree, “Ready then?” I nodded, “Where are we going?” He winked, “You’ll see.” He opened the portal and beckoned me to step inside. I walked up the portal and inhaled deeply then stepped through. On the other side, I was standing in front of what looked like a black castle. I looked around and found the ocean below me and immediately knew that Mordred had brought me to the Floating Islands of Lasparia and I must have been standing in front of the House of Dark. I turned to look at Mordred, “We’re at Lasparia?” He nodded, “I have something I want to give you that is an heirloom of sorts. It’s supposed to be given to family and you are my family.” I sighed, “Shouldn’t you be giving that to Vanessa? Have you told her by the way?” He chuckled, “Uh no, I haven’t but that is why I want to have that dinner. It was going to be me, you, Talon, and Vanessa. What do you think?” I nodded, “I can do that but when?” He smiled, “I was going to ask them during this meeting with your honey and his pops.” I rolled my eyes, “He’s not my honey.” He laughed, “I know but picking on you is fun sometimes because my cute little niece gets cuter.” I sighed, “You didn’t answer my other question.” He smiled, “Oh right, well, I have something far more special for Vanessa but this is something I think is appropriate for you. You’ll understand when you see it. Let’s go inside.” He escorted me into the castle, and everyone that was working there all stopped and bowed. An older gentleman dressed as a butler stepped forward, “Welcome home, Your Majesty.” Modred smiled and placed his hand on my back, “Yelton, this is my niece Alexandra Batiste. My brother Reggie’s daughter.” Yelton smiled and bowed, “An honor, Your Highness. I have heard so much about you from His Majesty. You are certainly his favorite person. Other than his daughter.” I looked at him confused, “I think you are mistaken. I am merely a Duke’s daughter, sir.” He smiled and shook his head, “Here in House of Dark you are considered a Princess amongst us. You are His Majesty’s family which makes you a Princess. Of course, since you are not a witch, you cannot inherit the crown. I suspect I know why His Majesty brought you here though so you can accept it without hesitation since you are considered a Princess, Your Highness.”
Mordred led me down a massive hallway to a door that had a lock on it. He pulled out an ornate key and placed it in the lock. He opened the door and turned on the light. Inside looked like a museum of treasures with several items in glass display cases and a wall of locked boxes. He led me over to a table near one end of the wall of lock boxes and pulled out a chair, “Have a seat. I’m going to show you what I’m going to give Vanessa first. I know you are in a hurry but I want to know your opinion of what I want to give her.” I sat down, “Well, let’s do this then.” He nodded and walked over to the largest lock box in the room. He pulled out a large book and brought it over then placed it in front of me. I looked down at the large book and in gold letters it said, “Grimoire of Le Fey” I looked up at him, “This is a huge book. Is this significant amongst witches?” He nodded, “A family grimoire is all the secrets and spells of that family’s witches. Anything that has ever been developed by our family shows up here, kind of like the Books of Life the fates make.” I thought of the light-healing potion and got nervous, “Does it show any spells that I develop?” He shook his head, “You have to be a witch in this family and blood relation so no. Are you sad about that?” I shrugged, “I’m not really sad, no. I just don’t want my super secrets spells to get out. Ya know?” He chuckled, “Your secrets are safe, little rose. Don’t you worry. So what do you think?” I smiled and ran my hand across the cover, “I think she will love this. Vanessa is nerdy about her spells.” He nodded and picked the massive book up from the table and locked it back up. He went over to another smaller lock box and pulled out a box. He brought it over, “Stand up, little rose, and pull your hair off your neck. I’m going to place this around your neck.” I did as he asked and he placed a necklace around my neck. He said, “This was a treasure my great-grandfather was gifted by Apollo long ago. It was a gift of gratitude for saving a temple in Vellum from being destroyed. It is said to amplify both fire magic and sun magic which until now my great-grandfather was the only one that has wielded this power. I hope you will accept it. It’s called the Sun Amulet.” I looked down at it, it was a golden sun with an opal inlaid into it. I touched it and smiled, “I will accept this gift, uncle.” I hugged him, “Thank you but I think I should get back now.” He nodded, “Let’s step out of this room and lock up. We can take a portal from the foyer.”
We walked out of the room and he locked up. We stepped out of the long hallway out into the foyer and he opened the portal. Yelton bowed to us, “We hope to see you again soon, Your Highness. Hopefully for a longer period of time.” I nodded at him, “I think I’ve been invited for dinner here soon so I look forward to seeing you again.” We stepped through the portal in front of the manor where the carriage was waiting for me and I took it back to the castle in silence. When I returned, I went straight up to the office but no one was there. I turned out of the room and ran into Renier again. He smiled, “You’re back Your Highest Highness. How was your trip?” I nodded, “It went well. Oh, I have something for you.” I pulled out the envelope my parents gave me and handed it to him. He opened the envelope and read it. He smiled and tucked it into his breast pocket, “I am pleased to be invited, and please let them know that we accept. Oh, and if you are looking for your colleagues, I believe they are at the center of the gardens.” I sighed, “I was hoping they would be done by now. Thank you, Your Majesty.” He smiled, “It is no problem, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to meet with the Queen Mother.” I turned and walked down the stairs and out of the side doors towards the gardens. I walked through the gardens with roses and irises which would have calmed me to walk through but I grew anxious as I walked through. I had a bad feeling with each step I took. I rounded a corner around a bush and saw on a bench was Lucien with Melody on his lap and she was kissing him.
