Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
Queen Gloriana was on her feet now. The magic she was exuding was raising her off of the dais and was moving closer to the man that was suspended in the air. And her hair was indeed blowing around her like I imagined it would have been earlier. Only, it was blowing a lot harder than I expected.
“I tried to warn you off calmly, Grier. I tried to let you save face and receive a lesser punishment than what you are going to receive right now. I really didn’t want to do this in front of our guests but you have left me no choice. You have repeatedly threatened not only me but our guests as well. They are here at my invitation. They are not usurpers, they are not intruders or invaders. They are honored guests.” Queen Gloriana sighed then like the next part of her speech was going to be very difficult. “I truly wish you would have listened to your wife. You should never have come out here. You should have given this all up before you even got started. Now I have no choice but to punish you as a traitor to the crown.”
“This will only strengthen my point. You are going to steel the resolve of those that agree with me. You are just making me a martyr.”
“I sincerely hope that no one is as stupid as you are Grier. And I hope that you serve as a lesson to those that wish to follow in your footsteps.”
“No, I will not be a lesson, I will be a hero. I will be known as the man who started the revolution. I will be-.” That was the last of what Grier had to say.
Well, to be fair he probably had more to say, but he didn’t have the time to say it before it was too late.
Queen Gloriana placed one hand on the man’s chest where he floated in front of her. In an instant his entire body seemed to explode with large thick vines. They poured out of every part of his body that they could. Vines came from his eyes, his nose, and his mouth. There were vines coming from where his eyes had been, the eye balls themselves skewered on the tips of them. There were even vines coming from his rectum. Not to mention he seemed to be coming apart at the seams with the vast amount of vines that were filling his insides. It was all very graphic and very disgusting.
I would have been splattered with the blood that flew from the man when he died if it hadn’t been for the shields that I threw up at the last second. The blood and other fluids just collided with the invisible wall in front of those of us that were still at the table.
I wanted to show that I was still composed and not at all bothered by the scene, even though it scared the shit out of me. Still, I needed to act like this was nothing so that the Fae would not lose respect for me. So, to show that I was unaffected, I just picked up my goblet from the table, took a sip, and turned toward Joaquin.
“That was very exciting, don’t you think so?” The shock that flitted across Joaquin’s face told me that he hadn’t expected me to seem so calm.
I guess that means I succeeded.
****
Riviana
****
The excitement, if that’s what you want to call it, died down pretty quickly following the demise of Grier. It’s funny how fast an execution can stall a party. Now we were all left wondering what to do next.
Queen Gloriana, surprisingly, didn’t have a drop of blood on her after what she had just done. I thought for sure she would have been soiled somewhere, but I was wrong.
I watched as she stood there, looking a hell of a lot more dangerous and powerful than I had thought possible. She looked around the room and spoke to the gathered crowd in a loud, firm voice that was sure to send shivers down many of their spines when they heard the sinister undertones in it.
“I hope that this will act as a lesson to all of you. I will not tolerate baseless accusations or idiotic displays of revolution. If any of you ever decide to truly try and overthrow me you have better come up with something better than this pathetic scheme. And whoever put poor Grier up to this had better change their plans, and quickly. I will not take this lying down.”
There was a thrumming of power in her voice as she spoke. I had noticed something similar when Joaquin and I had spoken to people with our full timbre of authority. It was definitely something else when you heard that, and I could only imagine what it felt like to have to obey a command like that.
“Now, all of you may leave. Get out of here. Leave my sight at once.” It was easy to tell that Gloriana was in a bad mood. She wasn’t speaking politely like she was earlier. She was letting the dark side of the Fae Queen out to play right now. That was both exciting and scary. I was glad at that moment that I was not part of her kingdom.
Having no way to refuse her Queen, Acacia was forced to leave the hall with everyone else. Though I did notice her looking over her shoulder as she mouthed an apology to me.
‘I am so sorry, Riviana.’
Great, now I was being left alone with the Fae Queen. I wonder what will be happening to us now. Was she going to go back to the nice Queen that we had met earlier, or was she going to stay this rage filled goddess that I could see before me right now?
Once the room was cleared of everyone except for those of us that had been on the dais Queen Gloriana turned to look at me.
“I am sorry for the interruption to our lovely dinner, Riviana.” She was talking like the nice Queen Gloriana now but I could still see the angry glint in her eyes. “Please, won’t you come with me to my private study? I wish to talk to you some more.” I saw that she had her hand extended toward me, beckoning me toward her.
“I believe that will be a most wonderful idea, Gloriana. Thank you for the invitation.”
At those words Gabriel came forward and pulled my chair back for me. At the same time Vincent pulled the chair back for Joaquin while another attendant guard pulled back the consort’s chair. Once we were all on our feet I let Joaquin escort me down to where Gloriana was waiting for me.
“Please my dear, follow us.” I watched as Goriana wrapped her arm around her consort’s arms and let him begin to guide her. “Curtis, my darling, will you do me the honor of escorting us to my private study?” Well, I guess I finally learned the nameless consort’s name. That made him the named consort now though and that just didn’t have the same ring to it. Oh well, I would have to get my internal laughs elsewhere.
Hey, I needed something to keep the humor going or I would lose my mind in this place. I wasn’t used to acting so serious all the time, I usually only kept up the serious stuff when on official pack business. This day was already so draining and exhausting. I just couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Curtis led us out a side door on the opposite side of the banquet than the door the others left through. He then guided us down a very long and empty hallway. There were no servants in sight and no other residents either yet there were several doors that were shut along the way.
Eventually Curtis had reached a door just before the end of the hallway. This door, and almost every door we passed along the way was very elaborately decorated. There was a pattern of vines and flowers engraved into the heavy looking oak door. The wood was old and aged and looked beautiful with not a drop of a wood stain or gloss coating anywhere to be seen, it was just polished until it could shine. There were however, several gemstones and what looked like real flower petals emblazoned into the carved design.
An attendant guard stepped forward and opened the door just as we had reached it. I watched as Curtis let go of Gloriana’s hand and stepped aside and she entered the room.
“Come, Riviana, come speak with me while my men get your husband and guards situated.”
I could sense the apprehension that was coming off of Joaquin when he heard those words, but I wasn’t afraid. I could tell that despite all the worry and tension, Queen Gloriana was not going to do me any harm. If that was her intention, then why did she put an end to what that man was saying. She would not have killed one of her own people for me if she meant to harm me herself. At least that was my reasoning anyway.
“That would be wonderful, Gloriana, thank you. Joaquin, you and the others settle in. I will have someone come for you when we are done here.”
Oooohh! I could tell that my Fido didn’t like that very much at all. He didn’t want me leaving his side. He had actually told me that before we left. Oops. There wasn’t much I could do about it right now. Did you really want to piss off a Queen who just made vines shoot out of someone’s ass? I don’t think so.
‘Go Joaquin. I will be fine.’ I sent the message telepathically through my mental connection to him. I also offered similar words of comfort to the others. After a moment’s worth of hesitation they all took their leave.
With the others gone, Gloriana pulled me into the room behind her. I saw that there was a large, ornate desk that was made from more aged oak, this time the wood wasn’t just polished, it was trimmed with gold. That beautiful desk was sitting near a large fireplace that seemed to be burning magically, since there was no wood and the colors of the flames kept changing from pink to blue to green, then purple and back to pink.