Chapter 77 - The King's Bite

Allegra tapped out early on the drinking. Really, she should have cut it off at two glasses. One simply did not drink with vampires. Vladislav got up to go with her, but she waved him away. She surmised that he and Milena knew their lawyers on a personal level because there was an unspoken camaraderie between the four of them. He was obviously having a good time and she only planned on crawling back into bed. On her way back, her hazy mind suddenly came up with the idea of visiting the longue. She had not been there to hang out with them in a while and was interested to see how the dynamics had changed with Jakk and Channa being there while Mason was emotionally unavailable.

The first thing she saw when she entered was the kids playing a game just as they had been last time. This time, however, they deigned to look up at her smiling in greeting.

“Aren’t you two supposed to be getting ready to go see the Monument of Nostro with your parents?” she asked curiously.

Nostro was supposedly the greatest Archaki ancestor there was. He was Nefolktu’s first king and word had it the statue was impressively massive. It sounded like a tourist trap to her, so she had no intention of going there of her own free will.

“That’s this afternoon,” Jakk said sullenly before he brightened up and gave his younger cousin a noogie. “But at least Aidon’s coming with us.”

“Am not!” disagreed her younger brother as he looked up at her with puppy dog eyes to help him get out of the situation.

Allegra raised her hands to show him there was nothing she could do and in doing so, managed to wobble a bit. Channa’s eyes, as sharp as her mother’s, caught the movement and studied her older cousin even closer.

“Are you drunk?” she gasped scandalously “It’s barely lunch time!”

“It’s called day drinking, kid,” came a response from behind her. Allegra turned to see Cilla seated at the bar with Mace of all people. “Once you’re an adult, you too can partake in this time-honoured tradition. But until then, we’re all going to keep our mouths shut about Nefolktu’s future Queen drinking before lunch. Got it?”

She narrowed her eyes at Channa and the teen rolled hers back before looking back up at her cousin.

“I wasn’t going to say anything to anyone,” she promised. “I just don’t think it’s smart or ladylike to drink this early. Aren’t you supposed to be with your new husband?”

Allegra patted the girl’s hair comfortingly. “Who do you think I was drinking with?” she asked her amusedly. “I had to get out of there because drinking with vampires is a sure-fire way of permanently damaging your liver. And just between you and I, being ladylike isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Some might even say it’s boring.”

The two cousins shared a giggle.

“Are you having lunch with us today?” asked her brother.

“I might as well,” Allegra shrugged as she left them to their game and joined the other two adults at the bar.

Mason was just getting off the phone with the kitchen to tell them to add more to what they planned on bringing. She slid in beside her best friend so Cilla was seated between them.

“Just you two today, then?” she asked as a conversation starter.

“And our sorrows,” joked Mason. “Can’t forget those.”

Cilla clinked her glass against his as she looked at him proudly.

“Now you’re getting it!” she said joyously before turning to Allegra to whisper. “I’ve been teaching him everything I know, just like you wanted.”

“I wouldn’t say I actually wanted this, but it does look nice to see his sense of humour coming back. Even if it is darker than before.”

“Heartbreak will do that to you,” shrugged Cilla. “Besides, he’s a vampire. That’s the only type of humour they should be allowed to have.”

“You two do know I can hear you, right?” he asked as he raised an amused brow. “Or was the goal specifically for me to overhear?"

“Sometimes we forget, alright?” said Cilla. “Apart from the eyes, there isn’t a single vampiric thing about you.”

“I wonder if you've ever apologised for being in the wrong, “ Mason thought out loud. “You don't seem to be the type.”

“It’s hard to apologise when you're never wrong,” she said flippantly with a toss of her red hair to match.

“Is this how you two always are?” Allegra asked after watching them exchange words back and forth. “How can you stand to be around each other for any length of time?

They both looked at her in shock. “We were having fun, Legs,” scoffed Cilla. “I keep him on his toes."

“That she does,” Mace said with a sigh and a long sip.

A knock came at the door and they waited for someone to call for them to enter before opening in. A maid pushed a trolley in right beside the table they used to dine on. She set everything on the table and left with the trolley and a curtsey. She was barely out of the room before the kids ran to the table and excitedly began to fill their plates.

“Save some for the rest of us, you brats!” shouted Cilla with a teasing smirk. Their only response was for Jakk to stick his tongue out at her. Once they were done and seated, the rest of them got up and followed suit. Allegra was surprised the table was actually being used. Every time she had had a meal there, everyone plated their food and proceeded to spread themselves across their favourite spots in the room.

The kids even waited for them to sit before starting to eat and Allegra had a niggling suspicion that this was Cedai’s handy work. They ate and conversed happily enough. It felt like what a normal family meal was supposed to feel. Without their parents present, all the kids felt comfortable enough to just be themselves instead of being a part of a perfect image. Mason did not take nearly as much food as the rest of them. He settled for a rare steak.

“Are you feeling better, Mace?” Aidon asked innocently.

The vampire looked startled at the question, but he gave the boy a reassuring smile.

“Much better, Aidon,” he said gently. “Thank you for asking.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Jakk asked abruptly, looking up from his plate to study the vampire.

The twins had been afraid of Mace when they first met him because of his eyes, but they had warmed up quickly to him. Probably because, as Cilla had said, he was the most human of all the vampires they had met.

“His girlfriend broke up with him,” Aidon said without hesitation.

Jakk scrunched his nose and went back to concentrate on his food. He had not yet began to show romantic interest in anyone, so matters of the heart did not interest him. His sister on the other hand...

“What?” she gasped in disbelief. “Who would break up with you?”

Mace winced at being put on the spot while Allegra and Cilla exchanged sly glances. They knew a schoolgirl crush when they saw one.

“For the last time, Aidon,” Mace said tersely she was not my girlfriend.”

“When you’re a little older, Aidon, you'll realise that a lot of people don’t like putting labels on relationships,” Channa said in her ‘wise older cousin’ voice.

This time when the two best friends exchanged glances it was because they knew Channa had no idea just how right she was.

“Stop doing that,” Mace snapped at the two. “You’re sitting in front of me. I can literally see you every time you do that.”

Cilla huffed. “Apparently it’s a crime to look at your best friend now. Officer take me away,” she said as she dramatically held her wrists out in front of her.

“You wouldn’t last a day in prison,” Mace muttered. “The warden would probably haul your ass out of there the very next day, you’re so annoying.”

“Language,” the Duchess reminded them gently even as Cilla gasped at the insult.

What followed was a verbal back and forth that kept the rest of the table entertained until their meal was finished. They returned to the bar as the children returned to the TV to play one last game before they were taken away.

“Hanging out with you two is like babysitting,” Allegra harrumphed. “I feel like I should receive a cheque for the past couple of hours. I should get going anyway. Vlad’s probably wondering where I've disappeared off to.”

“He knows where you are every time, Allegra,” Mace gently reminded. “You have bodyguards on you at all times, remember?”

“Well, I’ve never even seen any of them,” the Duchess said defensively. “Can’t blame me for forgetting every now and then"

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Cilla said authoritatively. “Now that you have food in your belly, I can tell you’re sobering up. You’re joining us for drinks.”

“But it’s my honeymoon,” Allegra complained.

“Not yet it’s not,” said Cilla uncaringly. “You have to leave the castle for that excuse to work on me.”

Allegra sighed. “Can we at least wait for the kids to leave?” she asked reasonably. “I don't want Queen Solal walking in to see me drinking in front of the twins.”

“I highly doubt she or King Emir are the ones that will be coming to get them, but fine,” Cilla conceded. “Once the brats leave, we can get started.”

“We can hear you!” Jakk pointed out without bothering to look away from his game.

“You were meant to!” shouted back her best friend.

Allegra snorted out a laugh. “Please don’t ever have kids,” she said, trying, but failing to control her giggles.

“Oh, you know I don't plan to, “ Cilla shuddered. “Being the fun aunt to yours will have to do.”

Another knock came at the door, but it was opened without being bade to enter. Judging by the entitlement and the uniform, Allegra concluded that they were King Emir’s men.

“Masters Jakk and Aidon, Mistress Channa, his highness requests your presence in the left wing's parlour at once, “ said the taller of the two.

“Her Majesty also warns you not to forget to wear what you previously agreed on. Your outfits have each been placed on your beds,” said the shorter one.

He recognised Allegra and bowed respectfully, while his partner had his eyes trained on the children. They got up and left amid grumbles. Aidon even tried to shoot her one last begging look, but she blew a kiss at him instead, which he promptly slapped away before following his cousins out of the room.

The door had barely closed before Cilla placed the bottle they had presumably been drinking when she first came in. It was another whiskey and Allegra’s stomach gurgled at the thought of putting that in her mouth.

“I am not touching that,” she said vehemently. “It’s the reason I was so loopy to begin with. Get me a bottle of red or something. Maybe a chardonnay.”

Cilla rolled her eyes as she pulled out two bottles of chardonnay and placed them on the counter. She looked her best friend dead in her eye to show how serious she was being.

“You’re drinking both of these,” declared the redhead.

Allegra gulped and nodded her head, even as she concocted a plan to escape at some point. The plan did not go well... or at all, for that matter. Before she knew it, she was one bottle in and her brain kept telling her to keep drinking, so she listened to it. She had no idea when they moved to the sofas, but along the way she had finished the other bottle as well. Her last memory was of Cilla looking down at her and smiling proudly before she blacked out.

“She really can’t hold her liquor,” Cilla commented as she pulled out her phone.

“She had two bottles of wine, Cilla,” Mace said.

“So what? We drank way more than she did and we’re still standing,” Cilla shrugged as she took a picture of her best friend passed out in the background as she stood in front of her with a happy smile. Mason just watched with a raised brow.

“I'm a vampire, and I think that ceremony the fae did on you changed you somehow, to be honest. What is that picture for?” he asked.

“We have to get her to bed somehow. I can’t carry her and you'll probably lose a hand if you touch her,” Cilla said. “Pass me Vladislav’s number.”

Mace did so and Cilla sent the picture with the caption ‘I believe this belongs to you’. They did not wait long before Vladislav came storming into the room. He took in the state of the place with glasses littered about and his eyes narrowed on the two bottles of wine.

“I'm not surprised you are involved, Priscilla,” he said irritably.

“You’re just lucky I sent for you,” the redhead said rudely, knowing she was untouchable. “Passing out on a couch is something we’ve done many times in uni. I could have decided to take a trip down memory lane today.”

He merely sighed in response as he bent down to pick his wife up. Allegra grumbled a bit in response.

“Lemelone,” she muttered sleepily.

“Hush, pet,” her husband said. She immediately calmed after hearing his voice. “How about we get you to bed?”

He carried her out bridal style as the two remained and watched the scene.

“I want that one day,” Mace confessed.

“Me too, buddy,” Cilla said with a sad smile. “But it has to be with the right one. At least now, we know who it’s not.”