A crown of flames

Chapter 31

The court has been transformed.

A ball room worthy fairy tales stood before me.

The lighting was slightly dim , a black sparkling
candle filled chandelier illuminated the room.

Fake spider webs were scattered along the walls of the vast room and heaps of what I assume was fake fog covered the floor.

There were fake spiders and glass balls and jack-o-lanterns and countless other ornaments decorating the hall.

There was an orchestra at the end of the room conducting the most unsettling music I'd ever heard.

The room was bustling with hundreds of courtiers dancing and chattering amongst themselves , everyone was wearing costumes , there were several other witches , but Conner was right , pretty much everyone was dressed up as vampires or werewolves, although I did see a girl dressed as a sack of potatoes.

Me and Victoria take a step into court and walk all the way to the end to pay our respects to the queen , she was still shamelessly sat on that throne of hers , either oblivious or indifferent to the fact that her daughter is a murderer.

I bow down to her , careful not to meet her gaze for too long , but thankfully she seemed too bored to scorn me this time.

Me and Victoria go and grab drinks as we wait for Luke and Conner to arrive.

I look around and sigh in relief as I don't spot Alana.

"Hey why does no one talk about Ben?, like literally no one told me about him"I ask Victoria

She shrugs "I think most people forget he exists if I'm being honest , he's the forgotten sibling , he's not in line for the throne and he's always away on military expeditions so he's not talked about much" She sips her goblet of wine warily.

"Have you met him?"

She chokes on her wine "I see him occasionally"

"By see him.........."

She groans "We sleep together"

"VICTORIA!"I exclaim in shock.

"What?"

"I am seriously running out of room for you on my stab list , how could you not tell me this?"

"Tell her what? "Asks Luke from behind us.

"Nothing" Victoria says quickly.

I raise a brow at her and turn to Luke as I take in his dog costume and laugh.

"Well Luke , you're making us all look bad , how on earth are you rocking that dog mask?"

He grins "Same could be said about you witchling" He turns to Victoria "Looking good cat lady"

I could swear she blushes and a snide smile emerges from her lips.

I roll my eyes and ask him" Do you where Conner is?"

He gives me a smirk "He told me to give you this" he hands me a purple envelope.

Victoria moves to my side with interest as I open the letter and read it.

Mirror , Mirror , on the wall

Who's the fairest of them all?

She's bright and she's tall

She's the boldest in this ball