Page 25 of Emergence of Fire
“You are welcome. My home is your home.” He inclines his head and walks away. I watch as he is instantly swarmed and surrounded by well-wishers. I don’t look away until I lose sight of him as he gets lost in the crowd.
“What just happened?” I turn to my mates, arm wide with my mouth hanging open in surprise. Gale laughs and Torin pats my shoulder affectionately.
“Looks like you have a Grandpa, gorgeous. Our family has gotten a little bit bigger.” Gale laughs as he sits to my left. Adrian sits to my right. I look over my shoulder at Torin who hasn’t moved. The sudden look of anger on his face has me following his gaze directly across the table to the other side of the room. A woman with unnaturally red hair, pale blue eyes, and a skimpy red dress so tight, if she sneezed it would rip into shreds, is scowling over at me. She is surrounded by four equally handsome men who look slightly uncomfortable by whatever she is saying. Her laugh is boisterous, intentionally trying to draw attention to herself. The people standing around her are laughing as well, a few are even openly staring right along with her.
“Do I even want to know who she is?” I ask the three of them. Adrian is practically growling as he stares daggers at the woman. I guess my hearing isn’t as sharp as theirs. Anger is pouring off Adrian in waves as he sneers at her.
“You definitely don’t need to know who she is,” Gale says through gritted teeth. I turn toward him in my chair. Trying my hardest to ignore her piercing eyes as they bore into me.
“Hey, who is she?” I snap my fingers to get Gale’s attention and he looks my way apologetically.
“That’s Vivyn. The future Queen of Celestia.” I turn around slowly and lock eyes with the woman my aunt warned me about, I sigh. I have a feeling I’m not going to get to eat my dinner after all. As if on cue, she begins to walk towards the dining table with her men in tow.
Well, I’ve always loved a good fight. Bring it bitch.
CHAPTERTWENTY
TORIN
Iwatch Vivyn cross the room and Cordelia shifts in her seat. She plants her booted feet flat on the floor and clasps her hands together on the table in front of her. She is preparing herself for whatever is about to happen and I can’t be anything but proud. I love how she shows no fear. King Maddox’s words were spot on earlier and I hope she holds on to those words in the coming moments. I know exactly what Vivyn is going to try to do. As much as I don’t want Cordelia to have to deal with this bullshit right now, I know that this is something she is going to have to face on her own. We are here to support her, and I make sure I convey that through our bond. Adrian looks back at me and smiles manically. He is all for a fight as he gets out of his chair and stands next to me. We both cross our arms over our chests and wait for this shit show to begin.
“Oh please, we all know Arcadia has been in decline even before Queen Thana’s execution. What she should have done was wiped out the Baron Lands instead of embracing criminals and degenerates. I mean, she allowed them to sit on her council. How did they repay her?” Vivyn looks directly at Cordelia and continues. “They stuck her like a pig.” She whispers this and follows it with a shrill laugh that echoes off the walls. Cordelia’s knuckles are white as she grips her hands tight. Gale places his hand on her thigh and gives her a gentle squeeze, and she lets out a small breath. Adrian growls and Vivyn’s mates all look up alarmed.
“Oh please, I speak the truth. She was ill-advised and put her faith in the wrong people,” Vivyn continues.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve met. You approach me just now as if I should know you. I don’t. I also don’t appreciate you speaking about my mother in that way. Your opinion of her actions isn’t needed, and won’t get a rise out of me either. Please introduce yourself and move along. I have no time for petty displays of power.” I can’t help the smile spreading across my face. Vivyn’s mouth falls open, clearly taken aback by Cordelia’s response to the crap that was falling out of her mouth.
“Child you don’t—”
“Cordelia. Or in your case, Queen Cordelia. I think we should keep things formal between us.” Cordelia’s words drip with sarcasm as she smiles sweetly at Vivyn.
“How dare you?” Vivyn spits out.
“How dare you?” Cordelia stands and crosses her arms over her chest. The anger is palpable in the air and I can see her fingers twitching. The telltale warning signs there could be fire is beginning to show. The quiet confrontation has garnered attention from more people in the room, including Twyla, who is now weaving herself through the crowd.
“I am Vivyn, the future Queen of Celestia. You are my sister’s ward. You are not a queen, just a child.” I can’t see Cordelia’s face but by the way Vivyn looks at her with her lips turned up in smug satisfaction she must be reacting to her calling her a child. “Oh please, I know exactly how old you are, Cordelia. In the grand scheme of things though, you are still a child. You all are.” She haphazardly waves her hand in our direction.
One of her mates looks around uneasily and I instantly follow his gaze. He quickly snaps his eyes back to us but I keep searching the room. I don’t know what I am looking for but I’m on high alert. I feel like we are being watched, and not just by the people in this room.
“You can pretend all you want. You know nothing of our Realm, or it’s people. Arcadia will still crumble and implode, just like Bestia from your lack of know-how and inexperience. I, for one, don’t think we should align ourselves with the likes of you.” Vivyn raises her voice with every word, growing confident with each person who comes over to listen. Some of them begin to whisper around us and it only makes Adrian bristle next to me. Moments like this can be a trigger for my brother, and the last thing I need is for him to lose it.
“Vivyn! That is enough! How dare you talk to our guest that way? You presume too much daughter! This will not be tolerated! You’ve disrespected me and Queen Cordelia.” King Maddox eyes glow with rage as he glares at his daughter.
Twyla rushes over to Cordelia and places her hand on her shoulder but Cordelia brushes her off. The last thing she wants to do is to look weak. Not here, not with all the most important Druids and Mages of Celestia in attendance. So many eyes are on her tonight, and the less people know about Cordelia, the better, in my opinion. The element of surprise was on our side. No one knows about her fire but us and Twyla. No one knows she can’t shift yet. If there are spies amongst the crowd they would feed information back to Thaddeus, I don’t want to give them anything. Unfortunately, Vivyn has forced Cordelia into this confrontation and there is no way to determine the outcome.
Vivyn scoffs. “Oh, father please, someone needs to put this child—”
“Call me child one more time.” Cordelia cuts her off before she can finish. She flexes her fingers at her sides, and I can feel her rage building. Twyla shoots me a quick glance and without a word shared between us I step behind Cordelia, placing my hand on the small of her back. We don’t usually use telepathy in human form but I push my Dragon forward just enough. I am glad that she can now hear us through our bond, I just wish she could talk to us as well.
“Baby, breathe.” I began to rub my hand up and down her back hoping that it is enough to calm her and her Dragon.
“Not here gorgeous. Let her talk shit. She’s humiliating herself by verbally attacking you.”Gale taking his cue from me also chimes in as she takes a deep breath and relaxes into me.
“Good Girl.”Adrian steps beside us and takes her hand, lifting it to his lips and giving her a gentle kiss. Cordelia looks at him and nods her head to signal she is ok. To the audience watching we just look like doting mates, they don’t know how close we came to fire flying across the table, or worse—the room going up in flames.
“Vivyn, what are you doing?” Twyla looks directly at her sister and they both stare each other down for a moment. “Why are you trying to provoke her? What’s your endgame?” Twyla inclines her head as if to study her sister. The scowl on Vivyn’s face deepens as she looks at Cordelia, only to see a smile on my girl’s face. She didn’t take the bait like she thought she would, so she turns her attention to the second adversary in the room, her sister.
“Thaddeus is at our doors. In the past twenty-four hours our portals have been under constant attack. Our resources are stretched, sister. I care for Celestia, as should you. If you did, you wouldn’t have brought her here. I say we hand the pair of you over.” Vivyn’s look of pride at what she has just revealed to the room is short lived as suddenly her mates go flying across the room. I look over to King Maddox, his cape billows behind him, eyes bright white, his hands outstretched with a look of pure outrage on his face.
