7 Chapter 6: The Welcome Feast

The feast was being held in the grand banquet hall of the Royal Palace. Guards were stationed at every entrance and exit, checking any who entered the royal premises for weapons or hidden spells prior to entering. As my family and I proceeded through the checkpoint a guard stopped me and examined me carefully. His nostrils flared as he stared at me. I shrunk back and tried to appear calm. Suddenly my mother's hand was on my shoulder.

"She's with me, Jameson." My mother's voice lilted. I looked back at her. The man grunted and nodded us through.

"Didn't know she was yours, Ryder. Congratulations." He said, and we passed through without further trouble. I couldn't help but lean my head into my shoulder and sniff. What was with people thinking I smell weird? As we entered the banquet hall, the sheer expanse of the room shocked me. It was easily the size of a football field, with rows and rows of solid large grand oak tables. Along the front of the room, facing perpendicular to the rows of tables, was one long line of tables, which was presumably for the royals.

Hundreds of Fae were in the room mingling, they stood in circles and off to the sides of the hall, gathering for chatter. The seating was assigned, so there were place cards before each seat. My family and I would be seated near the front, with the nobility. Some fae were completely glamourless, their wings were visible, some had horns. Skin of various blues and purples, greens. Tattoos of various affinities marked their skin. I crossed one arm in front of me and gripped it with my other arm, I felt awkward with this many unfamiliar people. My mother and Alan had been sidetracked by some old colleagues looking to catch up, and I saw my mother smiling, and laughing animatedly. It was nice to see her so full of life, all of my life I had known her as a loner. Here she seemed to be a social butterfly.

"Hey, Wren." A hand gripped my elbow gently, I looked up to see bright yellow cat's eyes. I smiled and blushed looking up at the tall man.

"Kellen! What are you doing here?" I was happy to finally see somebody I knew. He gave me a lazy grin and gestured to the soldiers distributed throughout the hall.

"This is my show tonight." He quipped. It was so loud around us from all of the conversations and music, he had to lean in close to my ear to speak. I inhaled the fresh pine and soapy scent.

"You are the most beautiful woman in the room, my lady." He said against my ear, and I shivered. His voice was low and honeyed. I felt his hand lightly rest on my hip.

"You clean up pretty well, yourself." As I leaned close to his ear my cheek brushed against his stubble. I blushed and looked at his bright eyes that crinkled at the edges from years of laughter. I bit my lower lip as I looked up at him. He stared at my lip, his eyes darkened.

"There's something different about you." He said, staring at me intently. I raised a brow and smiled.

"Why does everyone keep telling me that today?" I whispered. He laughed and shook his head. I heard a throat clear behind us. I turned to face my mother and Alan, standing there with their brows raised at our proximity. I blushed and stepped way from Kellen, adjusting my dress nervously. Kellen smirked and bowed low to my mother and Alan.

"My lord Hawke, Lady Ryder. I must go check on my men, but I do hope I will see you later." He greeted, and backed away through the crowd. I almost growled in frustration at him leaving me here. My mother tsked and grabbed my hand, leading us to our assigned table. I sat in the centre while Alan was on side of me and my mother on the other side. I noticed there were many other young Fae, looking around the ages of twenty-one seated at our table. It must be a lot of the new arrivals. Across from me a young girl, appearing around her early twenties, peered at me shyly. Her long brown hair was curled around her face, and her honey brown eyes were warm. I reached out a hand to her.

"Hi! I'm Wren." I smiled warmly. She smiled in return and grasped my hand shaking it warily. I realized hand shaking was likely a human custom.

"I'm Gwyn. You're beautiful!" She blurted out, and turned bright red. I blushed and thanked her.

"Is this your first year at the Gathering?" I asked her. She nodded and looked around.

"I've never been to court before! This place is so grand. I'm not used to all of the finery." She admitted. I laughed and nodded.

"It will be nice to see a friendly face around." I said to her. She smiled wider. My mother patted my leg approvingly.

Trumpets sounded all around us, and everyone in the hall stood. We turned towards the entrance of the hall, where a herald stood before the great doors. The herald stood tall and called out.

"Introducing his Royal Majesty, King Alexander Deimos. Her Royal Majesty Queen Ravena Deimos, and his Royal Highness Prince Rayne Deimos." He thudded his staff against the ground and moved to the side. I schooled my expression and prepared to maintain my calm in the face of the man who had murdered my family. I clenched my hands at my sides.

The guards parted as a tall man with greying black hair, a thick black beard, and piercing blue eyes waltzed into the hall. He was tall and muscular, domineering in his presence. His wife walked in slightly behind him. She had her platinum blonde hair up in a formal twist, and her bright grey eyes were wide, taking in everything around them. She had a floor length ice blue ballgown on. She looked quite young, at the latest in her early thirties. Trailing behind them trudged a figure I gasped to see. His auburn hair was combed to the side, his suit was finely pressed and not dishevelled this time. His icy blue eyes were calculating as they took in the room, he throw a charming smile over to a crowd of girls they walked past.

The Drunken Idiot from earlier! I thought. Gwyn looked at me and raised a brow, I blushed realizing I might have whispered that out loud. I shook my head and started clapping along with the rest of the crowd. The royal family made their way to the head tables, taking up three of the seats. The rest were for the rest of their household, that did not require introduction. The king and his family stood in front of their seats. The king held up his goblet.

"Welcome everyone, to our palace for yet another unforgettable Gathering!" He started, and the crowd cheered. "We must never forget the purpose of this gathering is to renew the land the gods have gifted us. We could not do that without all of you here today. This year the gods have seen fit to send our son home to participate in the events. He hopes to find his mate, as do all of you." The king gestured to Prince Rayne, who nodded his head to his father, his expression was carefully schooled.

"I remember my first Gathering..." As the king prattled on, ignoring every mention of the coup twenty-three years ago, Raynes eyes surveyed the crowd. His nostrils flared, and then his eyes met mine across the room. He froze, then a smirk played upon his lips. He wiggled his fingers at me in a barely perceptible wave. Then he winked. I saw a few women glance my way, I sunk down in my chair, mortified. My face felt hot, and I'm sure I was blushing. My mother looked down at me with a frown on her face. The prince of the royal family that killed my own paying attention to me was not something we needed.

"To a great year, full of energy and life!" The king finished and the crowd cheered again, raising their glasses. Everyone drained their flutes of champagne. I drained mine in one quick gulp and placed my glass down in front of me. The king snapped his fingers and mounds of food appeared on the tables. From turkey, ham, potatoes, veggies, stuffing, roast beef, salads, there was everything you could imagine on the tables. Everyone dug in.