The Story of Udonia

Chapter Twenty Seven: Christmas Party

Did you get the same text? I asked Ashley in a message with a screen shot if a message from Hannah Haruhi inviting me and Ashton to her Christmas Party on the 24th.
Yes! She replied. Are you going to go?
Yeah. Ashton and I. I responded.
Alright. Stephen and I will be there.
I felt better knowing that she would be there. Hannah scared me. She was strong, independent, and her expressions were always so unreadable. I could never tell what was going on in that head of hers.
"I guess we are going to Hannah's Christmas party with Ashley and Stephen too." I said to Ashton.
He spit toothpaste into the sink. "Is that tomorrow?" He asked.
"Yeah, Christmas Eve." I replied and put my phone down.
"Okay. I don't really like Hannah."
I squirted toothpaste onto my brush and pushed him out of the way of the sink. "Me either." I replied. "But we have to get used to her face. She is the queen of Haruhi and I'm going to be the queen of Udonia. We'll have to play nice if we want to keep peace." I put my toothbrush in my mouth and began to brush.
"Yeah, I guess." He stomped out of the bathroom like an angry child.
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After the longest car ride ever with Ashley asking me baby questions, we finally made it to Haruhi. Even Stephen seemed annoyed by her constant questions.
We were all dressed fancy. Ashton and Stephen were in simple black suits. Stephen had a white shirt and back tie while Ashton had a red shirt with a black bow tie. Ashley was wearing pink, as always. It was a long form fitting pale pink dress with a thigh high split on the left side of the tight skirt and a lower neckline than Ashley typically sports. There was some silver detailing on the top and she had on matching silver heels with matching silver jewelry and a little silver clutch. Her brown hair was in loose curls. I was wearing a red dress with a tight fit on the top that followed down to just below the butt where it then puffed out.  (I wanted to wear something tight before I was to big to fit into it.) It was a high low hem, what's new, with gold details on the skirt, what's new there too. It had a high neckline which also had the same puffy ruffled look at the skirt and some gold details. I wore gold heels, gold hoop earrings, and a matching gold clutch. My hair was up in a tight high ponytail.
The Haruhi castle was very scary and unfriendly looking, but my pretty dress made me feel better, and of course Ashton. It was just very dark and threatening.

We walked in and followed the flow of people to the massive ballroom. I mean this room was bigger than the ballroom in our castle and Ashley's combined. It was filled with people. Everyone looked high class and fancy. They all seemed rude too. Unapproachable. So we stayed isolated and let them come to us.
We stayed in our little group and I had to remind Ashley not to say anything about the baby until after the party.
Hannah came over to us at one point during the night.
She smiled as she approached. "Hello."
She stuck out her hand and shook mine.
"Claire." She moved to Ashton and shook his hand. "Ashton." She nodded her head and then did the same for Ashley and Stephen.
"Thanks for coming. I am going to give a speech soon." She pointed to the throne area on the far end of the ballroom. "So I'm going to make my way down there. Have fun." She smiled, gave a little wave, and left.
"Okay, thanks Hannah." Ashley said to her retreating back.
"Shall we dance?" Stephen put out his arm.
"It would be me pleasure." Ashley accepted his arm.
They made there way to the dance floor and looked at us to follow.
"You go have fun. I probably shouldn't. Feel a little dizzy."
They continued onto the dance floor.
"Do you need to sit?" Ashton asked.
"No, I'll be fine if I just stand still." I replied.
"Alright, I'm going to get a drink if I can find a waiter. Will you be fine alone?"
"I think I can handle being alone for a minute."
"Okay." He cheeked my cheek and set off.
I watched Ashley and Stephen. They were both smiling and looked very happy. There was love there.
"Claire Hazenberg."
I shot around to locate the voice that just said my name. I was now looking at an older man that I recognized. It was none other than John Locke. He was probably in his mid forties with barely any head on his short head. What hair he did have was gray. He was about my height, 5' 6", and was just a stocky fellow. He also always had a smile on. He was a goofy guy and very friendly. He was outgoing, confident, and smart.
"John." I smiled and stuck out my hand.
He delightfully shook it.
"I didn't know you were coming to this event."
Whenever John and I spoke it was to talk about things with the kingdom. We barely met and spoke about social things, mostly because the only other times I had seen him in the past I was much younger. He was my father's closest adviser.
"Yes, I got an invite the other day and figured I should attend as the acting ruler of Udonia."
I smiled.
Thanks for that reminder.
"Yes, well, I also figured I should come to try to make nice with Hannah. The new generation is swiftly moving in and it would probably be best if we keep the peace."
"I agree, but let's not talk politics." He shook his head. "We should talk about happy things. It's Christmas." He smiled. "I remember I funny Christmas story from when you were a child..."
Ashton chose that moment to make an entrance. "Hi." He smiled at John.
"Oh, John Locke this is my boyfriend Ashton Covington." Ashton shook John's hand.
"John." Ashton smiled. "You are acting ruler in Udonia."
"Right. It is a fulfilling job really. I never realized how much pressure you royals were under and it really has only gotten worse. What with all the disasters happening recently..."
John was a smart man, but sometimes he mouth got away with him. He would say things without thinking about how they make the their person feel.
Hannah interrupted with her speech.
Ashley and Stephen made their ways back to us.
"Hello everyone. I'm Hannah Hoss, queen of Haruhi. Hopefully you all know that. I just want to thank you all for coming and making my Christmas this year feel less lonely. The royals across the island have had a tough couple of years. It started with the terrible loss of the Udonian family when their yacht sank leaving poor Claire alone. Then Mrs. Covington of Hikaru was a victim of a car accident and Mr. Covington was diagnosed with cancer. And my mother died in a car accident not long ago now followed by my father's death during his surgery leaving me to take control of Haruhi. I think that the message here is that even though the old rulers are crumbling the new generation is ready to accept the challenge and stand up for are monarchs. For our people and our kingdoms." She raised a glass of champagne into the air. "And have a happy holiday everyone." She added and smiled.
"Happy holidays!" Everyone shouted and clinked their glasses together.
The night continued with nothing specific happening except for how tired I was. My feet were killing me and my stomach was hurting. I just wanted to go home, but I didn't want to be a party pooper. I waited until some people started to leave.
"Can we go?" I asked Ashton.
"Yeah." He gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'll find Ashley and Stephen." He kissed my cheek and walked off to find his sister.
I turned to my left and saw Hannah across the room.
I should probably say goodbye...
I got up the courage to walk over to her.
I smiled. "Hannah."
"Claire, hi."
"We are actually going to get going."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I'm not feeling the best, so we're just gonna go. Thank you for hosting. It was a wonderful party and merry Christmas." I shook her hand and left.
"Thanks for coming." She said as I left.
Still have no idea what the woman is thinking.
I found Ashton and we left. Ashley and Stephen were outside finding our car.
"You feel sick?" She asked me.
"Yeah, nothing abnormal recently. I was afraid this was going to happen." I sighed. "My feet hurt too, like more than they normally do when I wear heels and I'm just tired."
"That's fine. We'll go."
"You guys should have taken a separate car." I said.
Ashley waved her hand at me. "Nonsense. We stay together. And it gives us an excuse to not have to stay with Hannah." She stepped into the car.
Stephen shrugged his shoulders and followed Ashley into the back of the limo. I fell asleep on Ashton's shoulder on the ride back.