Chapter 52

It was time for Michael the king to introduce his daughter to the other members of the royal court and distance relations. It was going to be a dinner party; He would also announce the return of the Coronation Ball.

He was also aware of the whispers of discord among some of the court. He hadn’t heard of anything concrete like acts of open treason, but this dinner party would give him better insight into who the troublemakers were.

Daisy would help with her unique talent of knowing the false and deceptive. He would talk with her and Noah about not tipping their hand and just reporting to him what they found.

He was also remodeling three rooms in the west wing and making them into one room; it would be the new nursery. He smiled to himself; if someone were to tell him that he would be remodeling the west wing two months ago, he would have laughed in their face.

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Daisy sat in the common living area, going over the pictures of the renovations to the nursery, picking out colors and carpeting, and so on. What she had feared about her dress for the Ball came to fruition. She was already too big to fit into it.

Today, she had stood for five hours to get a new one fashioned in time for the ball; it would be a more open and flowing dress instead of tight and revealing.

Raja has informed them that they have two boys and one girl. A tiger cub, a vampire, and a human. Everyone was over the moon. She was too, but at the same time, anxious. What did she know about raising a Tiger or a Vampire child? She didn’t care that they were, but she knew that they had to be different, and she just didn’t want to mess things up.

Enid saw her distress and assured her that it would be fine; children do not come with manuals. She would also have all kinds of help and advice from everyone around.

The doctor wanted to constantly monitor the three because a shifter and a vampire could take more nourishment and leave their human sibling lacking. He gave her all kinds of books and pamphlets to read.

She looked up at the clock. It was time to get ready for the big dinner party; her father talked with them this afternoon about not letting on that she could see those that were false.

Daisy decided that she would wear the blue-green flowing dress. It wasn’t as if she was trying to hide that she was pregnant; she felt more protected in her roomier clothes.

Her father insisted that she wear the family jewels. They went well with her outfit. However, she was not going to wear the tiara until the ball. She felt a little silly wearing it, to be honest.

Noah came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, and she couldn’t help but perv a little at the view. He was too scared to do anything but kiss and touch at first till the doctor reassured him that it wouldn’t do them any harm in the early stages.

He stared at her as she looked up and down at her yummy mate. He laughed and then whipped off the towel and posed for her. Daisy laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

Noah frowned at her…

“What is all this wonderful body worth, just a peck on the cheek?”

Daisy giggled…

“No, silly, but you have to get dressed asap, or we are going to be late for our party.”

“I know; the thought of having to go hob knob with some of those old sycophants makes my skin crawl. Raja said that he would take a nap because he would have to bite them in his frustration, and then we would have to go get rabies shots.”

Daisy laughed…

“Go get dressed, silly; we can do this; just think of what I will have to go through feeling all that crap they have floating around them like flies.”

“Promise me, Noah, that you won’t leave my side tonight. I need you to be my anchor.”

Noah brought her in for a hug; you already know that I have no intention of letting you out of my sight in the middle of that nest of vipers.

Once they were both ready, they made their way out of the west wing and down the main stairs to be announced to the dinner party members, and then they would mingle till dinner was called.

They were announced and went through the double doors where Michael greeted them. He smiled at them and escorted them about, introducing them to everyone, then he left them to their own devices; this was part of the plan.

It wasn’t like they would approach them when the king was hanging on their heels. They had discussed having Daisy wander around independently, but Noah would not allow it.

As they mingled, most of the members were quite lovely, if not a little eccentric. Daisy didn’t get any negative feelings from them; it wasn’t until they were over where the elders hung out that Daisy started to feel a black rage come over her. She knew one or more of the elders was giving it off. She only ever had that intense feeling before when she met a zealot once, his conviction was horrible.

She squeezed Noah’s hand. It was their signal that she felt something was wrong. Noah immediately mind-linked her.

“What is it? Or should I say who?”

“I don’t know which ones they are, yet I am not close enough to pinpoint them, but there are at least two; they are truly nasty.”

“Daisy are you sure you want to do this? Just say the word, and we are out of here.”

“It’s alright, Noah; no, I don’t like to be around these sorts because they feel so black and oily. We have to know who they are so My Dad can find out if they are up to something.”

Noah pulled her closer to him; she was almost under his armpit. He showed no signs of letting her have any other position; he intended to protect her no matter what; he certainly didn’t care what the snobs thought.

As they went about the little corner of elders most felt cold to her but nothing negative, it wasn’t till they were walking over to two of the elder vampires that she felt it. It was the black ooze that she felt earlier, only now that she pinpointed who they were. It was more intense.

They both could tell that neither of the older vampires wanted to interact with them, but because it would be a direct insult to the king, they straightened their shoulders as if going to battle. As they approached them.

Daisy watched as their black expressions changed into a friendly stance; only their smiles made the whole experience of talking to them even worse.

She managed a polite smile and a nod, but Noah wouldn’t let them touch her. Not even in greeting, Noah didn’t need extra senses to know that these two were bad.

Raja woke up and watched as well; he didn’t like them either they said the standard kind of greetings and pleasantries.

Then without seeming to be rude, Noah guided them off and away from all that negativity. It made his skin crawl. He couldn’t even imagine how Daisy was feeling.

Michael met them as soon as they were off and into the gardens.

“Well, did you two find anything out?”

“Dad, everyone was wonderful and polite except for two; they were also polite, but it was like getting a promise from a snake; it was black and sickening. If it wasn’t for Noah, I don’t think I could have been that close to them without throwing up.

Daisy nonchalantly pointed out who the two men were.

Michael couldn’t say he wasn’t surprised; those two have been a pain in the ass for a long time. In the past, they had been chiefly ignored, but now that they are a threat, Michael decided it was time they went the way of the dinosaurs.

They had been pushing a lot for Michael to continue with the ball, but it was clear that neither of them approved of Daisy or Noah; he decided he would do some investigating and figure out why they were so pushy about the ball.

It was too bad that his friend was now gone on to the next life; otherwise, he wouldn’t mind letting the Wraith have two more victims for his creation.

Still, sometimes it is more satisfying to take out your garbage. It also sends a message to other pieces of trash that would think to do something similar.