Exhaustion
As we rode in the carriage on the way home, I sat with my head leaning against the glass staring out into the scenery as it went by. At first my mind was thinking about the Pelshies, I remember the Headmaster saying they come out at night. I had wondered if they had caged them for the night to allow the ball to proceed without the pain of having the attendees ripped to shreds. Then my mind wandered to Blake and how he disguised himself to meet me. I started thinking about how I should be freaked out about his stalker vibe. Would he feel right now about my hesitation to trust him? To be fair, he hasn’t done much to make me trust him. He did disguise himself and deceive me to get close to me. If you think about it, Lucien did the same thing. Should I be mad at him? The difference between the brothers is that one revealed it himself to have been disguised and the other let me find out. Blake could have easily let me know that he was Burnett with his letter to me that the shop keeper slipped into my shoe box. Then again, I had wondered if Lucien had told me had he not promised Vanessa. I’m not so sure about that either. I would ask the King to be honest with me in my next letter to him but for now I would have to wait for his reply to my letter. I didn’t want to be the first one to make a move there since I was the last one to do so.
As I sat there thinking of the King, my mind drifted off to the Blood Ritual and what I had to do to swear fealty to the Royal Family. I felt a heat rise up my cheeks as my mind flashed back to the first exchange between Lucien and I. I hadn’t had to time to process what was going on at the time and I hadn’t had time since until now. His lips felt like small sparks on mine but nothing painful. How would I describe it? I had whispered to myself, “Tingles.” I remembered the look in his eyes when we parted, and I slowly opened my eyes to look up at him. I couldn’t quite place the emotion that was there, but it seemed like a small fire was lit inside of them. It could have been the reflection of the candle off of his eyes, but I didn’t think so. If only I could have read his thoughts in that moment, I would know that I was not alone in feeling that tingle. What was that? I had fully thought I would come Vellum and stay out, for the most part, of the dynamics of the Royal Family. Am I going to come between two brothers? Had I already done so with my mere presence when I was a baby? Had I turned Blake into the person he is now? This obsession over the throne, of me. Was that me? I must’ve had a look on my face that worried my father because he leaned forward and grabbed my hand, “Penny for your thoughts…or rather given where we are copper piece for your thoughts.” I pulled my head from my resting spot on the glass, “Oh I was thinking about the Royal Family. More specifically, the brothers.” He merely replied, “What about them?” I sighed, “I am wondering that given what my Blood Ritual entailed and how the Prince feels about me. Was I causing issues with them?” He knitted his eyebrows, “What was your Blood Ritual? It obviously was a cut in the hand.” He looked at my hand and I remembered I had not told them what it entailed.
I sat up straight, “Okay but I have to say that after I say what I have to say, I’m thinking some will have a bone to pick with the Grand Pretre.” My mother gasped, “No way! We don’t say such things about Her. She is a revered Holy figure in Vellum.” I nodded, “I know but let me tell you about this ritual.” My mother leaned back in her seat to concede to me, “Okay so I walked into a dark room with nothing, but a candle and it only illuminated the table and a small surrounding area. I was told to walk toward the light and then the King.” My mother rolled her eyes, “Par for the course, dear. You could get to the specifics.” I sighed forgetting my mother was not always patient, “Well, I didn’t know that. So, we cut each other’s hands and placed the blood in the chalice.” My father rubbed his forehead, “That’s a lot of blood for the ritual. Usually, it’s a drop of blood.” I hadn’t known that but given what I knew of my mother’s and Jess’ rituals that seemed likely. I continued, “My fangs came out at the smell of the King’s blood. We each drank out of the chalice.” My mother from her dark corner commented, “That’s all? That’s nothing to get mad about.” I grunted, “You didn’t let me finish. Anyhow, the King had to take a small sip and had to feed that sip to me, and I had to do the same to him.” My mother sat upright, “I have a bone to pick with Grand Pretre!” There it was Talia’s famous temper. It didn’t matter who it was, whoever pissed her off was not immune. She continued, “I cannot believe She made the King steal away Alexandra’s first kiss.” She looked at my father and frowned, “And you, why aren’t you more displeased?” My father cleared his throat, “I am upset naturally that my daughter had to kiss a man as part of a ritual but there’s really nothing to be done. It doesn’t really seem to bother Alexandra in that sense.” He looked at my face and the obvious blush and wistful look I was undoubtedly displaying. He then furrowed his brow, “I will say that, in the presence of the Prince, that might have caused a little rift in the Royal Family. It is probably no worse than it was before though. I don’t want you to fret Xan but from what I understand, you have always been a source of contention with the brothers. One wanted the power just so he could elevate you as Queen. The other wanted the power to carry on his father’s legacy. King Lucien has believed in his father’s vision since he was young.”
I sighed looking back out the window, “Why would the Prince think I even want to be elevated as Queen?” My father waited a while to speak, “Well, your grandfather tells me that the Prince believes that would ease the years of suffering you spent at the hands of the humans in Terre.” I shook my head, “I don’t see how that would ease my suffering. It’s in the past and I don’t want to dwell on that now that I have a life here where I have friends.” I waved my hand sweeping across the scenery which was turning from the brick wall surrounding Tarn to the inky colored trees that made up Blackwood. We would almost be home and thank whomever for it because I was tired. A lot happened this night and I had still a lot to process on my own time in my own room. I thought that I would have one of the twins draw me a bath while I undressed. The perks of being the master of Blackwood in Vellum is that I had a large tub and my own bathroom to ponder life’s little mysteries in. When we pulled up to Blackwood, I waited for my parents to get out of the carriage. They sat there until my father spoke up, “Xan, we have to get going tonight so we will not be stopping off here. The carriage is merely dropping you and Jess off.” I looked at Lord Kellen to see what he was doing, “I too must go Your Grace. We are preparing for a small conference so that negotiations could move forward. Thanks to you, the humans in America are willing to conduct trade talks.” I nodded and stepped down from the carriage. I waited for Jess to finish getting down before I turned to them, “I wish you all luck and safe journeys. May Aphrodite bless you on your way.” When I said that I could feel a warm embrace around me, and a heat come from my eyes. My mother gasped, “What was that?!” I looked at her and furrowed my brow, “What was what?” She grabbed my father’s hand and he spoke shakily, “Your eyes were glowing a purple color.” I shrugged, “I believe that was Aphrodite fulfilling my wish for you. I felt her hug me just now.” My mother sighed, “I forget She told us that you were touched. I shouldn’t be so shocked when it comes to you being special.” My father cleared his throat, “I think we should get going so we can gear up the jet.” She nodded and was wordless after that and he shouted as they drove away, “Be good Xan!”
I pulled myself into the manor desperate to get out of this peacock plume of a dress and sink myself into a magma temperature bath. I saw Dana waiting for me at the door, “Dana, can you please draw me a hot bath while I change out of this dress?” She nodded, “Right away Your Grace.” She ran up the stairs and was hauling tail for an older woman. I’m not quite sure she needed to run since I was moving almost at a sloth’s pace up the stairs, using the railing to drag myself up it. Jess had mentioned at the ball that she wanted to go make herself a light snack before bed and already headed to the kitchen. The full moon was drawing near so she needed the extra food to keep her strength. If this was a night out in Vellum was going to be, perhaps I too needed to keep up my strength. The King had announced at the ball that he would be holding a competition for the Queen seat during the school year. He essentially took the decision out of his hands. I did hear hesitation in his voice as he announced it though as he scanned the room. He looked as though he was looking for someone, perhaps he has some lover that no one knows about. At this thought I felt a hard thump in my chest, it felt like my heart was playing baseball with my sternum. I stopped on the stairs and took a deep breath which helped the feeling stop. I finally got to my room, and I shucked off that ginormous teal puff ball and the oh so comfortable shoes that Blake had made for me. I walked into my bathroom where the scent of lavender hit me, “Bless you, Dana. I need the aromatherapy.” She shouted from the other room, “Yes, Your Grace looking at how tired you looked…well, I just figured you could use something extra. Do you need anything else Your Grace?” I sunk deep into the tub and sighed, “No Dana, you can go for the night. Sweet dreams.” She closed the bathroom door, “You too Your Grace.” I sat there enjoying the way the lavender oil was making my skin feel and thought to myself, “I have two days before school starts and I hope they are filled with relaxing moments like these.”
