Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
Queen Gloriana had long, flowing, black hair that looked like it reached down to her bottom. Her eyes were a wonderfully luminescent shade of her sky blue. And her skin was a pale, nearly perfect shade of white. She was beautiful and definitely looked a lot more regal than I ever thought I would be capable of.
Next to the Queen’s throne was a smaller, yet still elaborate, throne with a smiling man sitting next to her. According to what Casey had told me, that throne would be occupied with the Queen’s current arm candy.
Queen Gloriana apparently had never found her mate but she had a lot of men she had fancied over the last couple millennia. I guess that was actually understandable. It’s just that I could never imagine a life like that. But, then again, I was mated so I only knew this life.
Standing around the Queen’s throne were six women. What I would think of as ladies in waiting. Apparently, Casey used to be one of them until she mated with Cedar. Being a lady in waiting was one way to be part of court when you would otherwise be excluded.
There were likewise men gathered around the consort’s throne as well, but there were only four of them and they didn’t look as pleased as the women did.
Aside from the men and women that were essentially personal attendants for the Queen and her consort there were also guards standing watch at the front, back, and both sides. They looked highly efficient and good at their jobs.
When we were close enough I saw that Breon and the guards were bowing, but I had been advised by Casey ahead of time to not bow fully. My guards did, as did Casey and everyone aside from Joaquin and myself. We were royals and we were not supposed to bow.
Instead of the full bow that the others were doing, Joaquin and I lowered our heads with a smile.
“Queen Riviana, thank you for taking the time to visit my court.” Queen Gloriana spoke in a voice that was girlish and sounded young, it was soft but still carried through the whole room.
“Thank you for the invitation, Queen Gloriana. I am honored to be granted this wonderful opportunity.” I had been working hard to sound more regal and worthy of the title of queen. I needed to do as Casey said and start modeling myself after the Queen that was in front of me.
“I am the one who is honored. You, Queen Riviana, are blessed by two different Celestial beings. That is an amazing and marvelous feat. Did you know that we Fae are descended from the Gods as well. We are more closely related to them than even the shifter children. Some of us even used to be worshipped as goddesses and gods.” She winked at the end of that. She was clearly telling me that she was once worshipped as a goddess. That was a little intimidating. “And now my people and your people are intertwined. I think this is a wonderful twist of fate. To me it feels as if the celestials that still hold places in the heavens are trying to unite the world for one goal or another.”
“Yes, I do agree. I think it is marvelous and that we will be able to do much as allies.” With that statement I told her that I was hoping to work together in the future and that I had nothing against the union of Cedar and Acacia.
“Come, Queen Riviana, let us not take any longer. There is a banquet in your honor.” I watched as Queen Gloriana rose to her feet then and beckoned me to follow her. “Let us walk together so that we may have a lovely conversation along the way.”
I made my way to her side and Joaquin stood in his place behind me on the right. Queen Gloriana’s consort and current arm candy had risen and positioned himself opposite of Joaquin at his Queen’s left shoulder. With our consorts in place our guards moved to stand around us as we made our way toward the banquet hall. Queen Gloriana wrapped her right arm around my left, holding onto me as we walked.
“It is wonderful to meet you, Riviana my dear. I have so been looking forward to it. My dearest niece, Acacia, has told me much about you and your endeavors. It sounds like you’ve been through a lot. How are you holding up?” Queen Gloriana’s voice was soft and sweet, it made it easy to listen to her.
“I am doing just fine, Queen Gloriana. Thank you so much for asking.”
“We’re both royals and I am hoping we may be friends my dear. Please, call me Gloriana, or even Glory. I know I am much older than you but that shouldn’t make a difference. We queens are timeless.” There was just the slightest hint of laughter in her voice now. Just barely enough for me to tell that she was amused.
“Yes, Gloriana, I hope that we may be friends as well. I think that would be a wonderful idea.”
“Excellent, excellent. I am sure we will have much to talk about during the banquet.” Gloriana was patting my hand that she was holding with her left hand, our arms still linked together.
As we approached the banquet hall I could smell the food that was being prepared for us. The scents were beyond delicious and intoxicating. I was nervous about eating any of the foods that were being prepared though. I had heard that humans shouldn’t eat foods prepared by the Fae, they could have ‘interesting’ effects on them.
I guess I wouldn’t be the one to get the effects though, since Gabriel was going to be acting as a proper guard attendant. At least that’s what he called himself. He was going to be taste testing all the food that I was supposed to eat. According to Casey, it was common for visiting royal and diplomats to have an attendant or guard test their food if they did not yet trust the queen. I just hoped it wouldn’t offend Queen Gloriana. I would hate to do something that would cause us a political disaster and possibly start a war between the Fae and all of my shifters and warlocks. That would be unpleasant to say the last.
‘Please, Nehalennia, let this meeting and banquet go smoothly. I really don’t want to cause any trouble.’
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Joaquin
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As soon as the Fae Queen asked us to join her for the banquet she had wrapped her arm around my Little Bunny and started out of the room. The movement that followed was quick and efficient. Her consort went to stand by her left shoulder and I went to stand by my mate’s right shoulder. The guards in the room, ours included, went to stand around the two queens. The guards combined to form a protective circle. It was almost as if it had been communicated ahead of time, which it hadn’t.
I listened in on the conversation between Queen Gloriana and Riviana as we walked. It seemed so odd to me to hear the way they were talking. I had never heard my Little Bunny talking so dignified and regal before today. It was different, but not in a bad way. It was actually kind of sexy. I wonder if she would let me use a fantasy role play with her Queen persona? Well, I guess we would have to wait and see later.
Finally our whole procession of guards, consorts, and queens made it to the banquet hall. There were once again guards standing at the door that opened them for us as we approached.
There were so many people in front of us that I knew Little Bunny couldn’t see the room right away, even with the added height of those sexy shoes she was wearing. I was tall enough though, and I could see the whole room with ease.
There were dozens of very long tables that had several people at them already. The entire group, hundreds of people in total, stood as soon as the doors had been opened and they were kneeling before their queen was in sight.
Queen Gloriana didn’t hesitate at the door. She just kept walking up toward the table that was sitting on the raised dais at the far end of the room. There were two very large and very lavish throne-like seats in the middle of the table. On either side of those thrones were two smaller yet still lavish thrones, one on each side of the middle two. Those four thrones were the only seats that were at that table.
While we walked I noticed Acacia stray from our group and go take her seat with her family among the other people that were gathered. She bowed along with them when she reached her seat.
The Fae Queen pulled my mate along with her until they got to the dais. Four guards moved forward and pulled the large chairs away from the table. When it was ready for her to sit, Queen Gloriana pulled Riviana right along to the large thrones in the middle. The Fae Queen sat herself in the one on the left, from my view, and indicated that Riviana should sit in the identical throne to her right.
“You sit here beside me, Riviana. And your consort can sit on your other side.” Queen Gloriana smiled at me to indicate that I was allowed to go ahead and take my seat.
I was going to move behind my Little Bunny to push her chair in for her but the guard that was behind her did that before I could. With a little bit of disappointment that I made sure not to show, I went to my seat. Before I could even think of pulling it in, another guard behind us pushed the chair in for me. That was a little awkward for me.
I was starting to think that my Little Bunny wouldn’t be the only one that needed to learn how to act like a royal. I needed to be more like a king. I may only be the king because I was married to Riviana but that didn’t matter to me at all. I was a king and I was going to behave like one, at least when I had to.
Once we were all seated the people kneeling rose from their positions and took their seats. That was when Queen Gloriana addressed the group at large.
“Welcome my wonderful people. We have a special visitor today. She is the reason for this banquet this evening.” The entire room was silent while she spoke, this was the type of command that I used to have as the Alpha. But that was before I had been outranked. “Our guest this evening is Queen Riviana Gray. She is the queen of all the shifters in the world as well as all the magic users. Both of these groups are large and include many different people. The magic users don’t just include the witches and the warlocks, she is also the queen to the djinn and the genies. The shifter world is even larger and more vast than that of the magical world. I imagine that Queen Riviana is going to become a very important ally for us in the future so I encourage you all to be very welcoming.”