The Queen of the Night

Chapter 25

When we returned to our guests it was at dinner. Everyone had already been helping themselves for quite some time. Matthew sat at the head seat, trying to hide a look of disgust. I sat at the other end of the table, but immediately regretted it as I had to duck several times from airborne, bloodless potatoes, steaks, and other harder foods I couldn't identify in the air. It didn't appear that any of the parents noticed this kind of behavior. They spoke as if the room were quiet and tiny little demons didn't fly around, screaming and wailing at each other.
    I looked across the table at Matthew and found that he mirrored what I imagined I must look like. A scowl across his face, half bearing his pointed teeth, his plate touched only by the flying food, purposely not joining any conversation, his arms crossed, pinching the bridge of his nose every time a kid flew past him, half morphed into a dragon.
    "Duck."
    "What?" I looked into what I almost mistook as a brick wall. It knocked me off my chair and into the floor. My head sang the words of pain and it traveled down my neck. Jillian, who had been dutifully standing by her corner, ran to my aid. My chest felt heavy, but I didn't struggle under it. The fat child had flown into my head, his reddish-brown scales peeling off as he grinned, still sitting on my chest.
    "Oh, get off, child!" Jillian scolded. She probably would've said more if I hadn't pushed him off my chest. My eyes must've held a wild look, my chest felt inflamed with anger, because Matthew glared at me.
    I forced a deep breath, and approached the table sluggishly, said in as even of a tone as I could muster, speaking through my teeth, "Could you guys please control your children?"
    "What is wrong with the way our children behave?" Aia asked indignantly, a thick Chinese accent coming out with a few of the words.
    I gestured over to where I had just been lying, "Did you not see what just happened?" I looked at Loraine and Eden, who were both of no help, and then at Matthew who stood.
    "Miss Aia, if the children will be flying please have them do it outside."
    Kida chimed in with a high pitched, girlish voice, "I still don't see the problem. They're just being children."
    The only well-behaved child appeared to be Delilah, who held down her youngest brother, Gregory, and whispered in his ear. Whatever she would whisper would calm him down almost immediately. The oldest, Vincent, continued to egg on Kujo, who then proceeded to throw things at his fat brother.
    Both Matthew and I pinched the bridge of our noses. My head throbbed with the noise and the headbutting. I wanted nothing more than for morning to come quickly.
    "You are right," Matthew put his hands in his lap, a controlled mask of calm. How could he hide his feelings so naturally? "Children have very high energy and outside I will not worry about them breaking anything of value, and they will have more freedoms to fly however they like."
    Eden stood, and his voice boomed over the noise, "Well, you heard him, children. Outside all of you."
    The children complied, but not without some complaining and yelling. Delilah escorted the toddler outside quietly. Both Matthew and Eden sat and spoke quietly. I brushed away pieces of potatoes from my chair before sitting. Damien and Ky spoke quietly to each other as well. Nobody paid me any mind, but somehow, I didn't care. I stared down at my plate full of both cooked and raw foods, the blood staining the dining table a deeper red than before.
    "So it's settled then!" Eden's voice made everyone go silent. "We'll have the introductory party next week and then we'll make the announcement!" He stood with Matthew.
    "That isn't what I said!" Matthew complained. "It's too early for that. There's still so much she has to learn before she is officially brought before the people-my people." He quickly added.
    "Isn't it kind of useless by this point?" Draco interjected. "I mean, everyone knows who she is thanks to Nexus's trial, as embarrassing as that was, or at least so I was told."
    Ky agreed, "Yes, but this wouldn't be in the traditional sense. This kind of party would more show the clans that she's more than capable of leadership and that she understands our ways. The allotted time hasn't even passed however, she still needs another six months or more!"
    "You can't teach her afterwards?" Eden yelled. I started to pay more attention to Eden's and Matthew's conversation now.
    "There will be no time!"
    Loraine chimed, "Well I think it's a wonderful idea, but we really don't know for sure, darling, and I really don't want to give up our only viable heir for things to have been false."
    If I had any blood running through me my face would be red, but instead it felt cooler than before, the first time in a long while that I felt anything at all. Even Draco's face drained of all color and he and Ky went silent for a long while.
    "I think I misunderstood the original conversation...what are they talking about?" Ky inquired when he noticed our faces.
    "Nothing," we snapped in unison.
"You three, come on, we have to teach you to dance!" Eden ordered suddenly
    "I didn't agree to that!" Matthew snapped.
    I turned on Draco with a glare. His only answer was a sheepish smile. "He asked why you were dancing on my feet that night of Ky's introduction and I may have told him you didn't know how to dance and that's why you were dancing on my feet," he said. "Sorry, Cinderella."
    Somehow, I was talked into getting on a formal sheath dress and I realized why vampires wore loose dresses. Sheath dresses were harder to run in and they were uncomfortable to walk in. Within the hour me and Draco were dancing in the piano room and my body still wanted to go its own way.
    "Stop," Matthew sighed, "she won't get it." He stressed.
    "Don't speak such nonsense, Matthew. Here, allow me to show her," he pushed his son out of the way and nodded at Jillian to start again. He took my hand and placed his other hand on my waist, but it was the same as before. I kept tripping over his feet.
    After what felt like hours of dancing with Eden he gave up and I couldn't help but feel a bit of victory welling inside me. Throughout the rest of the room there was an air of frustration.
One of the grandfather clocks chimed and counted the time to midnight. "It is late. Loraine, round up the children and we shall leave." Eden commanded. Jillian got to her feet at once and shoed them the way out. Ky waved as he followed them out. Draco whispered, "Sorry for...well him," as he left the room quickly.
With relief washing over me I sat on the piano bench and rubbed my head. "I hate dancing," I told Matthew when he stood in front of me.
    "Part of the problem is the dress. It's not only unflattering but it's uncomfortable. But secondly, part of it is also you're too independent. But that isn't a bad problem." He smiled. His smile was oddly warm, and it made me smile too. I hugged him tightly before leaving the room myself.