The Ball - Lucien

POV: Lucien

It seemed silly to me to proceed with the Fall Ball at this point. My general was in a coma and I had to temporarily appoint Talon Esperanza to lead the Citadel until he was out of it. Through interrogations, we learned that they aimed to lure us into the castle to take out a few key pieces. They were after Ronan, Alexandra, and Mordred. I could understand their aims to take Alexandra out but I couldn’t understand Ronan and especially Mordred. What did risking a war with the witches accomplish? Talon had still been working on it late into the night to get more information. I would need to officially punish Marquis Maigny at the start of the ball and I wanted more information so I could justify something harsh. Of course, Mordred and House Batiste would get a say in the punishment. Reggie won’t insist on the death penalty but what was committed was technically treason. I would need to confer with the Elders. I had asked Malinus to summon Elder Enzo. I was in my office pacing, worrying I wouldn’t be able to do the right thing. What even was the right thing? I wasn’t sure.

A knock at my door took me out of my loop of thoughts, I summoned the person knocking into my office. Malinus entered and shook his head, “I’m told the Elders are in a conference for quite a while today. I was told that Enzo would be able to see you shortly before the ball.” I threw myself into the chair, “What could be so important that they wouldn’t answer a summon from the King?” Malinus cleared his throat, “Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, Your Majesty…but they are addressing the matter of your Queen today. It’s why your mother promptly left the castle just after getting back from Mesha.” I sat up, “Oh that’s right…the General was supposed to be there. That might explain why they were after him…” I wrote that down so I could consult with it later. Then looking at his name on my paper, it dawned on me why they were after my mother, “They tried to kidnap the Queen Mother to prevent her from voting for Alexandra. That still doesn’t explain their target on Mordred. That is what doesn’t make any sense to me.” Malinus sat down on the chair in front of my desk, “Perhaps they have a personal grudge?” Realization dawned on Malinus’s face and he reached into his breast pocket on his coat, “That reminds me, Your Majesty. I have had word from His Highness.” He held out a letter addressed to me. With everything that went down the other day, I had not thought about his special mission. I had hoped that he was able to rescue Panshad. I anxiously took the letter, opened it, and read it, “It appears he was successful in rescuing Panshad.” Malinus sighed with relief, “That’s good to hear, Your Majesty. I know my cousin was most anxious about her when she heard she was kidnapped. I will have to send a note to Alexandra in a bit. Hopefully, she’ll get it before the ball tonight.” I continued to read the letter he sent, “Hmm, it appears he captured the woman who took Panshad. He says her identity would be of interest to me and…” I turned the letter to the next page, “And Vanessa? He says he will bring her tonight for her punishment but I would need to summon Tyleesh from House Batiste. Do you know if he is well enough to attend?”

Malinus sat up at the mention of the young man that was essentially adopted into his cousin’s house. He shrugged uncomfortably, “I do not know that, Your Majesty.” I nodded, “Then forget the letter to your cousin. You can deliver the news in person, I have a task for you.” He shook his head, “It’s not that I am trying to be defiant, Your Majesty but you will need assistance with dressing tonight and I highly doubt I will be back to you in enough time to help you if I go to House Batiste. Might I suggest sending Toby? He has been moping about all day, it seems he was most anxious about Alexandra and Teddy. It might do him good to see his teacher, Tyleesh and Alexandra.” I nodded, “You are right. That is an excellent suggestion. Tell Toby to get ready to play messenger for me. I will use my office this time if his assessment of his former teacher is deemed to be fit enough to face the public at this time. If not, I will appoint Alexandra as a proxy to be his voice for punishment. I believe Tyleesh would agree that she is the most appropriate person behind Darren who is incapacitated himself.” Malinus nodded, “I agree, Your Majesty. I could think of no one better to seek any justice Tyleesh might need.” I pulled the official letterhead out from my desk along with the gold envelope and official seal. I carefully wrote out the summons. Normally Malinus would do this but I felt that it would be best if I put down on paper what I was thinking. I signed it with the official royal signature and placed the seal next to my signature. I handed the letter and envelope to Malinus, “You have your orders.” He bowed, “As you will it, Your Majesty.”

Sometime later, I found myself in my room getting groomed for the ball that was happening in a matter of hours. I was nervous because this was the night that I was going to find out who they picked as my Queen. I know that they will likely eliminate Melody from the running but that still left Rayla. She was a lovely person but I knew too well that she wasn’t really into me. She was in love with someone else. There was a knock on the door just as Malinus pulled my undershirt over my head, “Come in.” Grand Pretre strode through the door and bowed at me, “Your Majesty, I rushed over from the council to see you. I do hope you have time for me.” I nodded at her, “I have nothing but time but you’ll have to forgive me for not looking at you. As you can see I’m being gussied up to impress the nobility of Vellum along with a few other special guests.” She gave me what looked briefly like a sad smile, “It is quite alright, Your Majesty. I know this. I came to counsel you on tonight.” I turned my head to look at her, “Tonight? Is there something I need to know?” She looked at me silently, “Hmm, you know very well that I cannot tell you that. I will say that no matter what goes on tonight, you must maintain your composure at ALL times. You have to think of decorum, as you always have. Tonight, you will not only face your future as a ruler but also the people who tried to take that from you. That is all I came to say. Besides, Enzo will be here in about five seconds.” She walked out the door without being dismissed, that was her way of doing things with me though.

Sure enough, Enzo knocked on the door about five seconds later. When summoned in, he sat at my tea table, “You needed to speak with me, Your Majesty?” I nodded as they were placing a black tie around my neck, “Yes, I would like to discuss punishment for the Marquis.” Enzo nodded, “I figured that, Your Majesty. Since he has wronged so many, I believe the ultimate decision is yours. You can choose to seek opinions from House Batiste. You also will need to keep in mind that the House of Dark will want to enact their own punishment.” I nodded, “Well obviously, I will strip him of his title. It will go to his next of kin. Unfortunately for him, it won’t go to his wife or daughter as I will be arresting them as well for their part in The Order.” Enzo nodded, “To that point, we will address her part in the Queen competition. This is something we voted on and I think you know the outcome of that.” I sighed with relief, “Would she have had a shot anyhow?” He shook his head, “Except for two, we all agreed that she would have made a most awful Queen. She is an impertinent person and unpleasant from what Edgar has said. He has been witness to her nastiness on a few occasions. That is not the sort we need on the throne. We all agreed we need someone with grace and kindness, someone we thought would protect the family and throne. We believe we got this one right. That is all I will say about it until we make the announcement tonight. If I may, I need to prepare for the announcement ceremony.” I dismissed Elder Enzo and finished getting ready. After what he said about who they picked, I was confident that they had picked Alexandra. She was the very picture of grace, loyalty, and protection. I was no longer nervous about the ball so I leisurely walked down to the throne room where we would conduct the nasty business of punishment just before the ball.

I strode into the room and to my seat. My mother was there along with Blake, both had their royal business faces on and I knew they were ready to get this over with. They pulled out groups of lower-level henchmen and women from The Order. All of them were sentenced to prison until it was determined they were truly reformed. I looked to Blake who had brought out his prisoner. It was a woman that looked a little familiar. He announced, “This woman has wronged my ward, the ward of House Batiste, and the Princess of House of Dark, Her Highness Vanessa. With that being said, we will see fit to punish her as I have conferred with the victim of House Batiste. We both agreed that she should face ten thrashings a piece for her role in the abduction of the wards of each of our houses and to be promptly extradited to House of Dark for their punishment.” I rose from my throne and nodded, “So it shall be, let it be known that this woman will be taken from here to face her punishment. May the Gods have mercy on your soul for we have none for you.” I sat back down in my chair, we were at the part where we would face the Marquis. The vision of him holding a dagger to Alexandra’s throat was burned into my memory and I realized that was why Grand Pretre was warning me.

They brought him in and I heard a gasp from the House Maigny section of the room. I rose from my seat, “Marquis Maigny, before I address the question of what your appropriate punishment will be, do you care to address this court?” He stood up as tall as his short, pudgy stature would allow him, “I did what I felt was right for the future of this realm. I have no regrets nor do I have any apologies to give for my actions. They were justly done for the purity of our kind and our realm.” I heard whispers in the room talking about his racism and how garbage he was. I firmly commanded, “Silence!” The room became quiet again, “I will ask House Batiste to step forward to ask the throne for his punishment on their behalf.” Reggie emerged from the House Batiste section and bowed in front of me, “Your Majesty, my daughter was the victim of this man on several occasions. That being said, she has had the grace to ask me to tell you that whatever punishment the crown chooses to levy on this man, would be sufficient enough.” I looked down at him, “House Batiste has turned this decision over to the crown?” He nodded, “Yes, Your Majesty. We trust that you will know what best to do with him.” I looked over to the House Batiste section to Alexandra. She smiled and curtsied at me and I spoke, “Very well, I will do my best by you and yours, Duke Batiste of Blackwood Deep. You are dismissed.” Reggie stepped back into his section. I addressed the man who stood before me defiantly, “You are hereby stripped of your title to face twenty thrashings, ten for the injury to House Batiste and ten for the injury to my General. You will then be banished to the House of Dark where His Majesty, Modred will do with you what he feels is fit for your punishment for your part in injuring him.” I looked over to Mordred, who was set up on the dais near the Elders. He rose from his seat as I took mine, “I humbly accept the extradition of the two prisoners to my custody once you have enacted their punishment, Your Majesty. I would like to invite the victims of each to attend their punishment appointment tomorrow night.” He sat back down and I looked at Elder Enzo.

Enzo rose from his seat, “Before we proceed to the ball, I would like to announce that we are officially disqualifying Melody Maigny as a candidate for Queen and henceforth place Marquess Maigny and Melody Maigny under arrest for their part in the actions of The Order. Citadel soldiers ascended on the mother and daughter as a roaring sob came out over the crowd. Melody was shouting, “I only did what I did to save His Majesty from that cow! He doesn’t deserve to have her tainted blood in his heirs! House Batiste is a pollution to Vellum society!” The crowd, of course, reacted to this with snickers and gossiping about how unpleasant she was to them. The two women were unceremoniously hauled out from the room, the Marquess being notably easier to escort out. Melody did not go down without kicking, screaming, and thrashing about like a toddler. Enzo clapped his hands once, “Now I can humbly say, let the ball begin. We will announce the future Queen at midnight.” The nobility poured out of the room and into the ballroom. I looked around the room as it emptied out, I couldn’t believe that this room had been covered in blood and bodies only a couple of days ago. I felt a hand on my shoulder, “Excellently done, Your Majesty. I must say, I do hope my son took notes on how to deal with these situations. I do hope someday his crown can be more powerful.” I had forgotten that Renier was still here weaseling about, trying to whisk Alexandra away to the Seely realm to be their princess. He continued, “I hope you won’t mind if Cal and I ask the lovely Lady Alexandra for a dance later.” I looked up at him, “What sort of host would I be to deny the pleasure of MY subject’s company.” I felt like I would emphasize “my” in that sentence so he would know that she was mine still until someone told me otherwise.

The royals finally joined the nobles in the ballroom, we were set up on a dais in the room where we could see the dancing. As King, I was able to open the dancing by choosing my first partner. I would choose Alexandra, of course. I walked up to her and bowed, she curtsied and I led her onto the dance floor. I leaned to her as the music started, “How are you? You’re not too badly injured?” She leaned her neck to show the wound, “As you can see, I’m healing well enough. No need to worry. How are you? Nervous?” I smiled and shook my head, “Not at all. Enzo assured me they picked the appropriate queen for me. The way he described the choice, it fits you to a T.” When we finished the dance, we bowed at each other as was custom and I whispered to her, “I look forward to you being announced as my queen later.” I took the time to dance with Rayla, Talia, Rayla’s mother, and my own mother. My mother was quiet throughout the night, I took it that she didn’t want to give the surprise away so I felt it best not to press her. When our dance was done, it was getting close to midnight. As my mother separated from me, I thought I heard her whisper something to me but I couldn’t quite catch it. I stepped up to the dais, anticipating the announcement from the council in just a few short minutes. There was enough time for one more dance. I looked out to the dance floor and I could see Alexandra dancing with King Renier. I inwardly was grunting at the fact that she smiled at him as she spoke to him. I was reminded again of what Grand Pretre had said earlier in the night. The dance was interrupted by the trumpets sounding for Enzo’s announcement. I leaned forward in anticipation as he stepped in front of the dais, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to announce that the Queen candidate council has chosen this lady based on her actions throughout the competition. We carefully observed both of our remaining candidates and while each would make an excellent Queen in her own right, we felt this candidate would be best fit to keep the crown safe. For that reason, we have chosen Lady….” As he announced the name, for some reason my hearing was failing me and I looked around the room to find Alexandra again. At this time an arm was around her and another hand was holding her up. What did that mean? Was she overcome with joy that someone had to hold her up?