Chapter 97 - The King's Bite

It was a perfect day in Nefolktu – dark clouds covered every inch of the sky, but there was no threat of rain. Allegra wondered if her fae friends had anything to do with that. She suspected they did. She stared at her reflection, admiring the golden gown she wore. The frantic activity going on in the background did not phase her one bit. They were all there to help her so that the only thing she had to worry about was looking majestic and arriving in the throne room on time.

Even now, Milena’s voice was heard shouting orders through her phone. They had done their best to trim down the guest list, but they had to make an exception for a TV crew, which did not sit right with the vampiress. It would be the first time in history that they had allowed a camera crew onto Kalitsk’s grounds and it felt like an invasion. She had to dispatch some of the guards to keep an eye on them since one of them had already been found snooping around where he did not belong.

Cilla, who kept an ear on Rijavian high society, knew there were whispers of speculation concerning the fact that the soon-to-be Queen’s parents and sister would not be attending the coronation. Milena had tasked her with making sure her friend stayed away from any social media, but the redhead was not worried. Although Rijavian blood flowed through her veins, Allegra had long moved past that stage of her life. She was fully immersed in the culture of Nefolktu. She cared more for the Nuicun lessons she and her best friend took three times a week than the most popular gossip in her home country. Judging by the dreamy look she was shooting her reflection, that had not changed in the past few hours.

“You look gorgeous, dear.”

Allegra looked up and smiled at Mrs Duval. She was seated right next to her daughter, and the two of them both shot her encouraging smiles.

“Thank you,” Allegra said. “When Milena first showed me this dress, I thought it was too much.”

“Nonsense,” said Mrs Duval dismissively. “You’re going to be crowned Queen of a nation in a short while. This is exactly the time to wear something so lavish. This is so exciting!”

Cilla’s mother was much more bubbly than she was, but they had always been close. It was obvious to everyone who looked at them. Their matching red hair and green eyes only seemed to cement their bond. There were no words to describe how relieved she had been to be reunited with her parents and find that they wholeheartedly accepted what she had become. It came with the possibility of never seeing her home again, but the thought did not scare her as much as it once had. She knew her family would always be welcome to visit her.

Adding to the ruckus of the room were, of course, Allegra’s little brother and cousins. Channa approached her older cousin when she took notice of Mrs Duval’s words. She stared at the dress admiringly and fawned over the complete look. The boys came over as well, to no one’s surprise. The three were practically joined at the hip.

“We should take a picture!” Aidon said excitedly. It was the first time he had sounded pleased all day. Being forced into a suit right after breakfast was not his idea of a good time.

Cilla accepted the phone that he waved at her and obliged, capturing the family moment. She could only imagine the tongues that would begin to wag as soon as they saw the picture. Instead of handing the phone back to Aidon after taking a handful of pictures, she subtly dragged all three of them to another side of the room while her mother kept Allegra busy. It was too far for her to overhear them. She waved the phone warningly before she gave it back to the boy.

“Don’t post that,” said the redhead as she thought about the hundreds of thousands of followers he had on his page.

“What?” Aidon asked, slightly insulted.

“At least not yet,” Cilla explained. “We would prefer that the first look the public has of Legs's dress be through the live broadcast. You can post that after the ceremony.”

“Oh,” the twelve-year-old said blankly before shrugging. “Alright. That sounds reasonable.”

“Have you ever known me to be anything, but?” Cilla asked rhetorically before spinning all three of them around in the direction of the door. “You guys should go down now. You don’t want King Emir and Queen Solal to arrive before you do. Also, try not to interact with the camera crew. Put on your ‘snobby royal’ faces on right now, so they aren’t comfortable with approaching you when you're on your own.”

The children laughed at that as they obeyed and left the room, leaving it far less chaotic in their wake. The hair dresser and his team of make-up artists all left shortly after and Cilla turned to see Milena give her an approving, if brief, nod. In the last few weeks, the distance Milena had put between them had slowly disappeared as the older vampiress slowly began to forgive herself for something Cilla still did not think was her fault. They were once more approaching a place of normalcy and she could not be more relieved.

A knock came on the door and the redhead answered it to find Mace on the other side. She smiled up at him. His eyes, now a much more normal blue, glittered down at her in amusement. Other than Allegra and Cedai, he was probably the one she was closest to in the castle. It was hard to believe how much she had disliked him at first, because none of those feelings remained. Instead, they had only continued to grow closer after her transformation. So much so that she feared her mother was getting the wrong idea about them.

“This is a stupid idea,” Cilla harrumphed, knowing that his offer of escorting her to the coronation would only fuel her mother's opinion of them.

“Well, it's too late now,” he said in that easy way of his before striding into the room and bowing gallantly at Mrs Duval before offering his arm to her. “Good morning, Mrs Duval. Your Majesty.”

Allegra rolled her eyes at him while the older redhead giggled, flashing her daughter a meaningful look that the younger woman ignored.

“I'm not Queen yet,” she reminded him.

“Well, you look the part,” Mace complimented, drawing further admiration from Cilla’s mother.

“Mason is escorting us down to the throne room,” Mrs Duval explained, seeing Allegra’s curiosity shining through her eyes.

“I see,” Allegra said, shooting Cilla an amused look. “Well, don’t let me delay you. Off you go.”

The older woman placed a kiss on Allegra’s cheek before she let Mason pull her and her daughter away. When the door clicked shut behind them, she realised she was left alone with her sister-in-law. Allegra finally sat down, having finally memorised every aspect of her reflection. The TV was on, playing at a very low volume. On it, she saw several handfuls of familiar people walking into the throne room and even more that she did not recognise. Bit by bit, the room began to fill up until there were hardly any free seats left.

As the audience waited, the camera panned over the crowd, slowing down significantly whenever someone of note was spotted. Milena settled in next to her and Allegra shot her a bemused look.

“Finally wrapped everything up, have you?” she teased the vampiress.

“Yes, finally,” Milena said as she hurriedly sent off one last text before giving Allegra her full attention. “All it took was micromanaging every single person in charge of something today until the very last minute. Humans are not the only ones who can be incompetent.”

“Aw, you always say the sweetest things,” Allegra said with a chuckle, ignoring her sister-in-law’s glare. “Shouldn’t you be heading down?”

“I think I will stay with you until Vladislav arrives,” said the vampiress.

“Oh, wow. I can't believe it's taken me this long to break you down enough into admitting you actually like my company,” said Allegra. “One would think you're buttering me up because I'm going to be Queen in a moment, but trust that you have good intentions.”

“Allegra, please,” Milena said as she massaged away a non-existent headache.

“Sorry,” the Duchess said unrepentantly. “It’s just really fun to tease you. It’s pretty hard to resist.”

Milena sighed and faced her with a serious look on her face, which had Allegra paying close attention.

“I am very proud of you and the progress you have made in these past few months,” Milena said. “There were several moments when I had my doubts, but you proved me wrong every single time. You are the only person I find myself happy to be proven wrong by. You are going to make an excellent queen.”

Allegra grinned brilliantly at her.

“That means a lot, Milena. I love you, too.”

“That is not what I said,” the vampiress protested.

“But that is what you meant,” Allegra said confidently. “I'm pretty good at reading you.”

Milena merely sighed with exhaustion.

“I wanted to run something by you,” Allegra said, changing the subject. “Now that Zallius and Cedai have renounced their loyalty to Drausia, how about letting them stay here? It’ll minimise our contact with any of the three fae kingdoms. Between the two of them, they're capable of casting most of the spells we need from the fae. Moreover, it means we can distance ourselves from the upcoming war.”

Not to mention the internal struggle for power that was the cause of Zallius and Cedai’s departure. They were too young to be taken seriously by most fae, but they had enough influence that whoever they staked their loyalty to would most likely take control. Neither of them wanted to be dragged into the political machinations currently going on in their home, so they left. The castle was the perfect place to separate themselves, so it would be a win-win.

“I think that is an excellent idea,” Milena said.

“You do?” Allegra asked, feeling oddly proud of herself.

“Yes,” the Princess admitted. “It is something we have long considered, but we never could because, quite frankly, there were no fae that we trusted.”

“But you trust Zallius and Cedai?” she asked.

“After they fought by our side to bring Cilla back, I think we would be fools not to.”

The door swung open to reveal Vladislav standing right outside their room. Milena stood up and shot her a look that said they would continue their discussion later. She passed her brother with a sight tap on his chest and nothing more. Her husband closed the door and took the seat that his sister had just vacated. He leaned forward and placed a little peck at the corner of her mouth, languidly taking in her dress.

“You look amazing,” he said, pulling out a familiar box.

He opened it to reveal his mother’s necklace. The blue diamonds sparkled even in the dull light of their darkly shrouded room. Allegra turned around dutifully to allow her vampire to slide it around her neck. It settled right above her chest, right where it belonged.

“A look fit for a queen,” Allegra murmured.

She leaned back and admired his appearance as well. He looked extremely handsome in his black suit with a royal blue sash running diagonally across his shoulder and chest. He stood up and walked into his closet before exiting with his crown in one hand and a white-spotted, fur cape in the other. The crown was a heavy, golden thing. The diamonds embedded in it matched both the blue of her necklace and his sash. He handed it to her to admire before she placed it atop his head.

“I’ve never seen you actually wearing it before,” she said in awe.

“I try to save it for strictly royal occasions,” Vladislav admitted.

“”You didn't even wear it on our wedding day!” Allegra tsked.

“That’s because you were marrying Vlad that day,” he said with a soft smile, “not the King of Nefolktu.”

Feeling her heart turn into absolute mush, Allegra leaned forward so their lips met sweetly. She pulled away just in time to see Milena and Nik striding into the throne room side by side. They were the last to make an entrance and they sat in the very front, right next to her family and – was that Leander? She found that she did not mind his presence. It was far preferable to his predecessor.

“I think that's our cue,” she said, looking pointedly at the TV to make sure he saw the same thing she did.

Vlad wordlessly stood and dutifully clipped his cape on. He led her outside, placing her hand on his arm as they began to descend the stairs. Allegra was only vaguely aware of a pair of footmen joining them somewhere on the second floor before they went down another flight of stairs. All her home training kicked in when the cameras came into view. She held her head up high, looking straight forward, thankful that her husband had tailored his stride to match her own. They approached the throne room and the sound of chatting murmurs died down when a voice loudly began to speak.

“Please welcome His Royal Highness, King Vladislav Archaki and Her Grace, Duchess Allegra of Evoria.”

The footmen swung the double doors open as everyone rose to their feet. The soft sounds of a string quartet rose to meet their ears as the couple finally stepped inside and made their way to the front of the room where two thrones awaited them. Vladislav helped her into the smaller one before he sat down on the large throne beside it. Allegra recognised the short man standing before them. How could she forget the fae who had married them? She realised he had cast a masking spell on himself because he looked decidedly human. She only allowed a smirk to cross her face for a second before she schooled it back under a cool demeanour.

Both Allegra and Vladislav listened intently to the speech he gave themselves and the crowd about leadership and integrity. He expressed what an amazing leader their King was and that there was no way he would allow someone that was not worthy of being beside him to be crowned Queen of their great nation. Even though Allegra had spent the past couple of weeks practising, she had to admit she was nervous when the time finally came to recite her vows.

Vladislav watched as his wife stood up before the hundreds of people gathered before them. He could not shake the pride he felt just watching her recite the same vows he had recited hundreds of years ago now. He recognised the steely determination in her eyes as she spoke and he knew she meant every single word she spoke. She had already given herself entirely to him and now she was giving what she had left to his home... to their home.

When she turned back to face him, he had already stood up. Nik approached with a deep red cushion. On it rested her crown. It was a perfect match to his own, only smaller and lighter. He took the delicate looking crown and placed it on her head, enjoying the sparkle of the blue diamonds against the lit torches of the throne room. Milena approached with a cape that matched his own, tailored to fit her perfectly. Vladislav clipped it to her dress and could not resist returning her smile when she turned up to flash her brilliant teeth at him. He stepped away so they were standing side-by-side, facing their subjects together.

Everyone stood up as soon as the voice that had received them began to speak once more.

“Announcing: Her Royal Highness, Queen Allegra Archaki.”

The crowd erupted into a thunderous applause as Vladislav reached for her hand. He raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss on the back of her hand, never breaking eye contact.

“My Queen.”