Conform or Suffer: The Darkness of Beauty

Chapter 34 Giant Teddy Bears

Friday Night, The Salad Princess Grand Ballroom

*

Yoleta strutted around an ice sculpture of a moth. She motioned to her guards to turn on the lights, and the room lost its ethereal glow.

Her ex, Dean Frog, sat next to a woman with a beehive hairdo and a tight black dress, and she flirted with him.

"Ready, ma'am," Madd-Ox said.

Security guards surrounded her, and all her guests entered.

Yoleta strutted to Rodrick and Prime Minister Sean-Mack, but she didn't shake their hands.

Junior mouthed the word 'trap.'

Sean-Mack winked at Yoleta and rubbed her leg. He spoke in a hushed tone. "I'll call off my killers if you decide to quit and look beautiful." He kissed her hand, then licked it.

She wiped his slobber on his cloak and suit. "You ordered Ida killed."

"That was Vex and Stanton's idea, but she became a traitor and was going out without her cosmetics. She used her magical gifts against me."

"Refusing to prophesy for money isn't treason. Ida never predicted the end of your reign. You're doing that on your own," Yoleta said.

"Stanton abused magic, and we all know Ida isn't dead. She and Grew-Ella are destroying the Moth Party, and you're helping them." Sean-Mack traced over his elf ears and then hers. "You're too beautiful to die, but I won't be locked up. Those pits are where Vex imprisons creatures."

"I was like you once, but we were incorrect about beauty and our laws." She wiggled from his grasp.

"Wrong answer." He glanced at the door, his smile upturned.

Assassins rushed at her, clutching daggers. Yoleta kicked a woman in her shin until the breaking of her bones could be heard. The man threw himself on top of her.

Madd-Ox jabbed him in the forehead with his knee and pushed Junior out of the way.

Other guards pounced.

Photographers took Yoleta's photo and videotaped her.

"Dumb Assassins Pummeled by Future Prime Minister is a fantastic headline, but I'll add a romantic spin." She grabbed Dean Frog and dragged him over the table, knocking over a jug of water, and kissed him in front of his date.

Sean-Mack stormed toward the exit.

Mascots dressed as bears rushed toward them and shoved dozens of postcards into the prime minister's hands.

He glared at photos of the same bear costumes printed on the front.

On the back, Lana scrawled a message before she died.

*

Dear Sean-Mack,

I know what Vex did with the engagement contracts, and you hoped you could shut me up.

My lawyers sent this, but you don't know where they're hiding.

With Love,

Lana

*

Prime Minister Sean-Mack tore the postcards into pieces and stormed out.

Rodrick snuck back. He watched reporters lift their cameras to record Quig kissing Grew-Ella.

The kiss lingered for two minutes. He smiled to himself. "Looks authentic enough."

Yoleta spoke in a booming voice. "Quig, go to your apartment alone. I'll have a driver take Grew-Ella to the hotel."

Chase and Zill slipped through the kitchen. They stared at Grew-Ella, but they fled when Yoleta and ten of her guards ran after them.

Madd-Ox held a microphone. "The blizzard collided with another storm front and shifted, and it won't be a light dusting. Meteorologists claim it'll be the worst storm in forty years."

"How much time will we have?" Quig asked.

Madd-Ox looked up at the clock. "Snow is expected to strike in four hours. The Salad Princess is open during the storm for those who can't make it out."

"Are you coming with us?" Quig asked Junior and Grew-Ella's brother. "We'll make room."

"No, we promised Yoleta we'd coordinate the efforts here," Junior said.

Grew-Ella and Quig grabbed their jackets and headed to Dot and Ruby's table.

"What are your plans?" Quig asked Dot.

She stood up. "We're going to stay with Ruby at the hospital. Snake Boy informed me that there is a new hospital ghost, and my family will be entertained."

"The hospital is safer, and I'm on shift tomorrow," Ruby said.

"We're leaving now to pick them up. We don't want to be caught in traffic." Dot grabbed Ruby's hand and left.

Quig and Grew-Ella chatted with Yoleta and a few other people before heading toward the door.

Rodrick ran after them. "Where are you going?"

Grew-Ella leaned closer, so no one could hear. "Quig and I are heading to the tent village to ask Hempstead if she is alright, and then we'll head to the apartment."

Rodrick spoke, his voice low and soft. "You two go home, and that is an order. I'll take care of Hempstead."