Chapter 20

"She cannot wear that dress!" Loren Vallie said, almost glaring at Kore who sat behind her home desk with a bored look on her face. "Minthe is a Vallie and she will wear the Vallie colours. She cannot wear that green when our colours are amber and oak brown."

The dress in question was a beautiful sage sundress, longer than normal with it going down to around her upper calves. It had a wrap front that created a decent V neck. There were small trails of vines and bright red Dahlia flowers around the skirt hem. It complimented the slight redness in Minthe's otherwise ginger-brown hair and allowed the green in her eyes to stand out.

"Minthe is a Redwater," Kore was in diplomatic Royal mode. "You've gone so far to make sure that she is acknowledged as a Redwater and as soon as she splits herself from you, you decide she cannot? As much as you want to control her, she is no longer part of your Clan. She really never was."

"She is part of my Clan and so she listens to her leader!" Loren slammed her hands onto Kore's desk, wanting to make the Princess flinch and show weakness but it never came.

"Right." Kore clicked her tongue, standing up and leaning forward as she put her hands on the desk. "This is my office, my house, my Clan and my community. Remember who you are speaking to, Loren Vallie. Remember where you are and who you are talking to. Remember who is subject and who is royal."

"Not for long."

"Yeah?" The gem on Loren's necklace cracked as Kore's eyes glowed, breaking in half before crumbling to the ground. Kore sat back in her chair, looking a tad smugger than she should have.

"You broke my necklace!"

"And I'll break your neck next." Kore waved a hand dismissively at her. "Get out of my sight before I am tempted to."

"I am the elder of the Vallie Clan! You will treat me with respect!"

"While in your country, that might mean something, it doesn't mean anything here. The Vallies are not registered with the Order and cannot call themselves a Clan, you are simply a large community. Your community is within Central Europe, you answer to Whitestone. So if you have problems with one of mine, which the Loset Clan is, you go to Ciel Whitestone to sort out." Kore gestured to the door. "Get out before the temptation takes over. B-bye."

The Vallie elder did not look happy as she left the office, cursing under her breath.

Kore just rolled her eyes and watched as Minthe sighed, almost laughing in relief.

"I've never seen her so angry and defeated. It's brilliant!" Minthe laughed, swaying in her sage green dress.

"Some people need to know their place," Kore smiled softly, standing from her desk chair. "I need to check on the preparations."

"Shouldn't you go get dressed first?" she asked. "You'll be late otherwise."

"I'll have time."

)()()(

Kore was more concerned with the guards than anything else.

The Greylight community was known for their guards and defensive Magic. They founded most of the military of the UK, family lines being so old that they spanned several royal dynasties of the civilians.

The others had already gotten dressed, leaving for the High Halls for other preparations.

She left for the High Halls a couple of minutes after, telling her friends where they could find her before going.

Kore didn't care that she was still wearing her fluffy purple sliders with her grey tailcoat while she spoke to the General of the United Witch Army and her major advisors.

"The festival that is held in the Kaira forest is closed off here," General Hardrada gestured to the map that sat in front of Kore at the head of the table. She stood behind the Heir Greylight, pointing to several entries and exits. "Anyone who isn't authorised can't get in. We have put Magic dampeners in some areas that have had problems with overrunning with Magic control problems. We kept the dampeners away from the platform and near the lake, as per your request."

"Putting dampeners there will just cause more harm than good since we have the Riverdance happening," Kore said, her voice calm and clear. She looked up at the long table of men and women, many of whom wore grey tailcoats but there were also a couple of black and of white. "And with the Shifters and Arcanes also attending?"

"We have a couple of Whitestones acting as unallied clan members that have been asked to follow them," Another said. "Your friends have been excluded from it but two of them, Torrens, have family coming over too so they'll be put on watch too."

"Good," She said. "I don't want there to be any harm done to them or us. Have we got a few Poison Masters on standby? Some Healers would help too now that I'm thinking about it properly."

General Hardrada sat down to Kore's right, nodding as she clasped her hands in front of her. "Yes. We have permits for the Poison Masters to carry their ingredients and potions on them during the festival, along with the Healers having their styluses for any major wounds that may occur. We don't anticipate any major harm happening, perhaps a couple of drunken brawls but nothing too dangerous."

"Good, good. Anything else that needs addressing?"

One of the men at the other end of the table raised their hand. "There've been requests for human fireworks and I hadn't given them an answer until I knew what the verdict would be on that."

"What type of fireworks?"

"They said..." He looked at the paper in front of him. "Several ground-based ones; firecracker, wheel, snake, strobe, fountain, and ground sparklers, along with a few aerial ones; shell, reloadable, and a single rocket."

Kore leaned forward as he sent the paper down to her with a gush of small air Magic to make it lay down before her. She read the list down, nodding. "Okay, the ground-based ones are fine but they need to be kept out of the forest area. But I don't want any fireworks in the forest unless there are some Fire-disciplined Mages there. Keep that to the edge with a few in attendance and I'll be happy to let it happen. The aerial ones are good but I want you to make sure they're up to the top standard for humans before we even think of firing them."

"Your Majesty, someone is at the door,"

"Who?"

"The Arcane, Lady Torren is asking for you,"

"Let her in."

Annaliese came into the room, dressed in her beautiful dresses. As a foreign guest, she didn't have to wear the colours of any of the Clans and so got to choose what she wore. Annaliese was in a dark dress with tulle around the skirt that had white designs of flowers.

"Kore, you need to get dressed," Annaliese said, carrying a large bag that held Kore's dress over her shoulder. "There's an hour to get ready, if that. The boys are already ready at the manor. We're just waiting for you and Silas, but we all know that he'll take another twenty minutes at the very least."

General Hardrada turned to Kore. "We have things covered here, Your Majesty. You can go ahead, we will make sure to keep you up to date."

Kore nodded and stood, watching as they all stood too. "Thank you."

Many of them bowed their heads as she walked out of the room, Annaliese following quickly behind her.

)()()(

"Kore!" Annaliese yelled at her door. "You're taking longer than Silas did! What are you doing that will take you so long to get ready? We're waiting for you! The guys are already downstairs and the car has already pulled up."

Kore opened her door, stalking out with her low-heeled sandals clacking against the flooring. "I am tryna get this fucking circlet to sit straight but it refuses."

Both girls started to make the descent down the stairs as Annaliese snatched the circlet from her. "I'll do it for you when we get into the car."

The guys looked handsome as they stood at the very bottom of the stairs. Shirts were loose and thin, usually coloured in one solid shade or another as they were tucked into a darker pair of trousers.

Richard was also here. The school year was over.

Wylan and Markus were waiting for them at the very end, holding hands out for them to take for the very last steps as they suddenly slowed their descent.

"You look beautiful," Markus smiled, raising her hand so he could place a peck on her knuckles like a gentleman. He wore a black poet shirt that had the front lacing done very loosely, the silver design around the collar and his wrists were slightly floral. It was tucked into a tight pair of black leather trousers that did wonders for his ass, as Kore noticed.

Kore flipped her hair out of her face, the beach waves beautiful in mixing the plum purple into the charcoal as she smiled. "I know."

That made Ruel and Silas snort.

"Oh, fuck off," Kore laughed, flipping her hair again with a shrug. "When you look this good, you need to own it."

Her pale lilac dress did wonders for her complexion, making her skin gleam like it was covered in glitter or Magic. The off-the-shoulder sheer sleeves showed off her shoulders, upper back and the tops of her breasts where the crystal necklace nestled. The sleeves went down to her wrists, becoming loose around the arms but tight only around the wrists. The bodice was fitted to her curves to show them off. The skirt went down to her ankles, with two slits, one on either thigh going all the way up until it hit her waist but overlapped when it hit her upper thigh.

She wore a thin silver corset that pushed her bosom upwards a little, structured enough to give support but not enough to restrict her at all.

Her makeup was very simple, only a little glamour Magic to add the shimmer of silver on her eyelids.

"We off?" Kore asked, going ahead of them.

)()()(

"Welcome to the annual Summer Solstice!" Kore toasted with a glass of champagne, standing on a raised platform in her pastel purple dress, so light it almost looked like a silver colour instead.

The area was a wooded forest with thin trees every few feet with several clearings of space where tables and chairs were placed. Within the trees were lanterns of blue flames, lighting up the darkening place where several thousand people stood. The forest was actually huge, spanning a couple of hundred acres but they had all congregated where the lakeside was near the shore.

Many members of the Order and Court stood around the raised level. Court members stood with their families and children, with the Sallows to one side where the Arcanes also stood. Richard stood next to Markus. The Torren family also joined the festivities, save for Zayn who was too busy to come as were Lord and Lady Alastair.

Everyone was light on layers, flowing dresses and thin tunics. It was far too hot for anything more than that, but they all wore some sort of makeup to show their festive spirits.

"Welcome friends and family," Ciel continued, dressed in a loose shirt that showed off his stomach and chest. His family crest was painted onto one side of his chest, large and vibrant with the brightness of the blue. "We have some extra guests this year. Arcanes from Asia, and the Shifters from the Americas. We ask that you all behave yourselves or be asked to leave."

Brona raised her glass. "Let the shortest night festivities begin!"

The three Crowns toasted before everyone began to socialise.

Kore didn't drink her glass, not liking the taste of champagne so she just walked down the tiny stairs and onto the forest floor.

"Mr Torren," Kore greeted with the biggest grin, as she let him take her hand and pressed a kiss onto it. "Pleasure to see you and your family at this event. I am so glad you've taken up my offer."

"This will be my first Summer Solstice event," He said. He and his family wore simple yukatas with beautiful summer designs.

His wife stepped forward, looking at Kore's outfit. "Your dress is very beautiful."

"Thank you."

"It's very fantasy-like," she said. "Beautiful."

Kore lifted the bottom piece of her dress, showing off the dark purple gladiator sandals, wrapping all the way up to her knees. "I went for a fairy-type look. A little less urban and a little more mediaeval."

)()()(

To the side of a large wooden platform with wooden poles that lined the sides with glowing white flowers letting lights emit from their petals, several dozen people were gathering by the edge.

There were two benches on either side of the platform, and several teens and young adults began to gather there, sitting down on the benches in shades of cream and yellow as they sat next to each other.

The Blackwoods sat between each Whitestone, letting it go one Clan and then the other. They started to clap and gently tap their feet to a beat, getting louder with their taps until the beat got everyone's attention.

"Right. You all best gather round," a man said, standing on one of the benches as he gestured to the platform. "The Riverdance will begin soon!"

"Riverdance?" Mr Torren asked, looking at Kore as she just looked over her shoulder at the platform before waving them to follow her over.

"It's an Irish dance," she said, placing her glass on one of the nearby tables and watching the champagne turn into a fruity drink. "The ones in the dark, slightly mustard yellow are the dancers, mostly people from the Greylight community, while the singers are the ones in the cream and drummers are the plain yellow."

"Drummers? There are no drums or instruments of any kind?" Mrs Torren said. "Not that I can see, at least."

"We are Magic."

It started with two males, Berket and Usher dressed in dark brown trousers and bright mustard poet shirts. They tapped across the wooden platform, once, twice and thrice, each time doing a couple of twists and turns here and there to increase the tapping.

When they finished, simple tapping and clapping turned into proper drumming. The sound that came from each person was the sound a drum would make.

As the next person came onto the stage, the drumming stopped to let them tap away at the wood to the tune befitting the dance. Their feet moved but their torsos stayed still as they were light-footed but loud against the wood. They held their arms out as they turned, keeping balance and stopping whenever the drum began.

It got to the stage where the person became quicker with their steps, the pace fastening as their little solo ended. More and more people joined in now, slowly approaching the middle as they lined up to start tapping away in the silence.

The tune changed as only a few of them tapped their feet against the floor, moving forwards before going back to line up. It changed again when the other dancers joined in. They got into a good rhythm again, letting the audience watch them dance before the music started again.

The singers began to sing, a sound that was a lot more like a violin or fiddle than an actual voice. It morphed with the drumming as the dancers continued when the drums started.

"Hey, Princess," Bereket called out as he stood in the middle of the group with his brother as they danced on the stage. "You coming up to help finish this?"

"It's been too long since I've last danced," Kore said to them.

Usher rolled his eyes. Both brothers came off of the stage as the rest of the group continued to dance as the music stayed. They pulled Kore onto the stage as the dancers made room for them in the middle.

They had pulled her to the section she liked the most, where they had to cross one foot in front of the other and where the music silenced to listen to their perfectly in-sync taps. They pivoted only on their heels, turning their feet to one side and then the other a few times. It allowed Kore to get the rhythm before the proper dance started again.

Kore held part of her skirt up, not wanting to trip herself or another as she got into the rhythm of tapping again. Her shoes might have not been tap shoes but they worked well enough for this, letting her bend her feet when needed to get a specific sound.

It took the music increasing its pace for the dance to end with one foot on the ground while the other was crossed over the leg to make the toe touch the floor.

The crowd and audience applauded as they all bowed.

Kore bowed too, quickly getting off the stage and jabbing both of her male cousins in the chest with her long nails. "You do this every year!"

"And you fall for it every time," Usher laughed, hugging her.

Bereket snickered. "You mean her ego tells her to be in the spotlight."

She fake gasped. "Shut up."

"It's true."

She gave them the finger as she walked over to her friends again, congratulating her on the mini-performance.