His Grace Presents The Batiste
We had pulled up to the university event hall where the ball was being held. It was expected that the guest of honor would be fashionably late to the event so that they may be presented last. Lord Kellen was with us because Jess had to be presented first. Tonight, was her night too but because her father was a lower-level noble, she was the warmup band. Lord Kellen got out of the carriage first and held his hand out to his daughter to help her down. I tall man with long red hair neatly tied back in a royal blue ribbon, which matched his eye color, stepped up to the carriage. My mother perked up and leaned out the window, “Malinus, it is so good to see you. I had heard you worked for the King.” Malinus did an exaggerated bow, “Well dear cousin, I have been tasked to tonight with directing your family when to enter. We shall let Lord Kellen in first, Josiah is taking care of that.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black stone and showed it to my mother, “This is a coms stone. When it glows, that means that they are ready for you. It shouldn’t take long as it would with The Batiste. I think it is safe to say that the Royals are all intrigued by her.” Just then the stone started to glow. My father leaned forward, “I guess that is our queue.”
Malinus nodded and held his hand out for my mother to take. He would have to present her to the King before me. My father then got out and held a handout to me from the outside. I took a small moment to close my eyes then inhale and exhale. Then I took my father’s hand to help me step down from the carriage. He then pulled my hand into his arm to escort me behind my mother and her cousin. My father leaned into me, “Are you nervous? I can hear your heart beating something furious.” I shook my head, “I think I want to turn around and run. I don’t want to screw up or back out of the Blood Ritual. I like Vellum already, so I don’t want to be expelled.” He smiled at me, “My little rose, I know you have the courage of a lion. You will do well. I think for me, I am more nervous about your dance partners.” He gave me a look of concern and knew exactly who he meant by that. I could merely nod at him, no doubt my mother told him about my letter. They told everything to each other, it’s what made their relationship strong. My father often talked about how honest with one’s spouse was always best in order to be most free in their relationship. I only hoped that I would have that with whoever my spouse would be some day.
We came up to the two large black doors that connected to the ballroom and the two attendants opened them. Inside a man announced, “Your Majesties, Her Grace Duchess Talia Batiste escorted by Lord Malinus and Her Grace The Batiste escorted by His Grace Duke Reginald Batiste!” A room that had sounded festive only moments before became so quiet that you could probably hear the beating of my heart throughout the ballroom. Everyone was staring at us and every once in a while, you could hear whispers behind me as we passed. My father and I were about ten paces behind my mother and Malinus. My mother finally reached the dais where the King, the Queen Mother and the Prince were. My father stopped and whispered to me, “We have to give them time to greet her.” I nodded and pulled my eyes to my feet to wait and so I could better hear what was going on. I could hear my mother say, “Your Majesties, it is a pleasure to be in your presence again.” A gentle man’s voice told her, “Your Grace, we are honored by your presence at last. I see you are wearing the Pegasi, I am pleased.” A woman’s voice started talking, “Your Grace, we are pleased to see you. When last we met, it was a bit…different.” I heard a man clear his voice and speak, his voice was deeper, darker, “Your Grace, we warmly welcome you and your family back to Vellum. It is good to see you.” My mother then said, “Thank you Prince Blake, we are glad to be back home if not for a short time.”
With that I had assumed mother was done because my father started walking forward again. I pulled my eyes up to see a tall blonde man with long blonde hair whose hair was tied with a gold ribbon. He was probably the most gorgeous man I had ever seen, more so than Agent Walker or Burnett. Next to him was an equally beautiful older woman, she seemed to be little older than my mother. She too was blonde but a great deal shorter than the man. Next to her was a tall blonde man with short blonde hair who seemed familiar to me. I felt like I had seen him before, but I tore my thoughts away from him and focused on remember what I must do. My father had stopped in front of the King, “Your Majesties, may I present to you my daughter: The Batiste, Alexandra Rose Batiste.” I curtsied just like Josiah had taught me and then kneeled with my head down like my father was doing. The King addressed my father first who had rose to talk to him while I stood kneeling. It was customary for a subject in Vellum to stay kneeling to the Royals until they were either addressed by name or touched on the head. “Your Grace, I am pleased that you are here. I don’t see Darren though, did he not come?” My father addressed the King, “No Your Majesty, I’m afraid he caught a rather nasty human bug and didn’t want to risk spreading it in Vellum.” The King merely said, “I see, send him my well wishes.” Next the Queen Mother addressed him, “Such a shame we will not be graced with Darren’s presence tonight. I had hoped to dance with him.” My father leaned to kiss the Queen Mother’s hand, “If I may Your Majesty, I can stand in for him.” She giggled, “I will hold you to that Your Grace.” My father moved on to the Prince, “Your Grace, I cannot tell you how sad I am not to see your father here tonight. I know we are all robbed of such wonderful company.” My father said, “Your Highness, you will have to make do with the presence of the three of us tonight I am afraid. Perhaps next time.” The Prince said, “I am sure the present company will be sufficient.”
Finally, I heard the gentle voice above me, “You may rise now Your Grace. Let us see the famous Batiste.” I rose to greet the King, “It is my honor to meet you Your Majesty. I have heard many good things about you.” I pulled out the hand that held the ring and he grabbed it and planted a kiss on the knuckle next to the ring he had gifted me only hours ago. He smiled, “I hope that you will find Vellum as a welcoming new home to you.” I nodded, “I have very much enjoyed it so far Your Majesty.” He then turned to his mother who spoke to me, “Your Grace, such a beautiful young woman. I had heard that your raven hair and violet eyes made you a unique beauty within Vellum, but I don’t think those rumors did you any justice. You are also the very picture of grace and elegance, no doubt a result of the tutelage of your fine mother.” She looked at my mother who was beaming with pride. I turned back to the Queen Mother, “I had very fine teacher indeed Your Majesty. As you know, mothers are our sources of inspiration especially for young ladies.” She smiled gently at me, “Sadly, I never was gifted with daughter but if I had I believe you would have been a friend I would want for my little princess.” She then turned to her other son who pulled my hand to his lips before he spoke, “Your Grace, I have been waiting a very long time to see you again. Your beauty knows no bounds and there is none in the kingdom that could rival it. I hope you will dance with me later.” As I looked into his eyes, it finally clicked that I had been face to face with none other than Burnett. He looked slightly different, but no one could mistake those eyes for anyone else’s other than maybe the King’s. They both had that light green hue, but the Prince’s eyes had a honeyed speck to them.
I looked up at him with a slight look of shock on my face, but I regained composure to address him, “Of course Your Highness.” As I said that the music started to play, and I walked away from dais. It was social time to mingle and have cocktails. In Vellum, it was legal for eighteen-year-olds to drink, and I wanted some wine to wrap my head around what I just realized. This whole time I had been talking to Blake and I hadn’t even realized it. I couldn’t fathom how he was able to come to Terre since I was told his pendant to access the portal had been taken by the King not to mention how he disguised himself. Jess came up to me with a glass of wine, “Xan you look slightly pale. Are you okay?” I looked at her and pulled her aside, “No I just realized that I have met Prince Blake before.” Her eyes widened, “What? When?” I drank a sip of my wine and inhaled ready to tell her but before I could, I heard the loud yelling guy announce, “The King will now open the dancing with The Batiste.” I walked forward to the dais to meet with the King. He offered me his arm and shot a quick glance at Blake who was scowling.
The King led me to the dance floor where they played some nice melody that I didn’t recognize. The King started dancing with me, “I am so happy to see you at last Alexandra. We have been waiting a long time for this day, my family and I.” He twirled me, “It has been too long Lucien. I have enjoyed receiving and reading your letters.” He smiled, “The feeling is mutual, but I have to confess something right now. Can you keep it between us though? Also, I need you not to be mad.” I looked up into his eyes, “You can tell me anything. I promise I will keep it between us. I will try not to be mad." He stared into my eyes for a long time and exhaled slowly, “We have met before, but you only knew me as the gate keeper.” My eyes widened, “That is indeed a revelation Lucien but somehow I am not mad. You are very easy to talk to and seeing you as an old man made it easier.” He smiled, “I had promised Vanessa that I would tell you when I finally got to officially meet you. It was the cost of purchasing the item from her.” I giggled, “Vanessa, ever the mother figure.” The music ended and I curtsied at him as he bowed. He pulled my hand to his lips, “I will see you later during the Blood Ritual.” With that he left, and a chill went up my spine at the thought.
