17. The Mate Games
2161 Words
Everyone gets fancy. Nadine and Thora wear princess dresses too. Mine is royal blue with silver accents. My jewelry and tiara are silver too. I feel pretty. Not sure about the color of this dress with my black hair. But it's not bad.
We get down to the main level and collect ourselves in the cafeteria. I glance around, and the entire table is here. As well as some extras. Dorseti and Elkie from the medical area are here. They're dressed up in princess dresses too.
Dipak stands up on a chair. "There are no announcements or introductions. You can go in when you're ready."
The place starts clearing out and Dipak comes over. "Who are you walking in with?"
I shake my head and my lip quivers. I am going to bawl at any second.
Tye pokes my nose. "You can always make out with Johen in front of them."
I can't help but giggle.
"You got this. Play the part. You're an amazing actress. Go be Princess Evie for a couple hours. Then everything goes back to normal."
"Let's go that way." Dipak ushers us. Then we get to the door. "Pick 1 Princess Evie."
I check myself, and I've got a death grip on Tre and Marcus. I shake my head.
"Is Starlet scared?"
"Yes."
Marcus hugs me. "Princess Evie isn't scared though. She's strong. A ruler. An explorer. Already a queen, before she's even 400."
I close my eyes, relax my muscles, and take a deep breath. I'm Evie now. Nothing else exists beyond the stage. The ballroom is my stage.
I open my eyes and Dipak is the only 1 left. He faces me. "Let's not keep them waiting, Princess." He holds out his arm.
I take it lightly and curtsey. "Thank you, sir."
The announcer gives us an introduction.
"Princess Elizabeth Vivian Canmore, escorted by God of War, High King Dipak Arjun De La Nuit. Commander of the Northern Fleet."
I say quietly, "This is my first time being escorted by a God. I do feel special."
He laughs and tries not to. "Have to get the woman to fix the titles. Elek's a damn Emporer."
I put my hand in front of my mouth. "I guess that makes sense, I'm usually with a pharaoh."
We laugh, and he guides me to the head table.
I take a minute to glance around. The ballroom is done fancy with black and red. I sit in the center of the head table. Our whole table is on a pedestal. I sit here with the girls. Nadine and Thora sit at my sides. Elekie, Dorseti, Coral, a few other girls. I don't know who they are. Probably mates of table people. The boys are down on the main level. There are big round tables set up. I can feel the boys watching me. I try to ignore them.
Thora leans in. "Doing ok?"
"Everything is so fancy."
"Nadine picked the ballroom. Blame her."
"Would you have rather sat in the dirt for a picnic?"
I shake my head. "I'm not wearing this dress in the dirt. But can we have wine?"
Thora motions for a servant.
"NO."
The 3 of us give Marcus a dirty look. I give him the sign for a little.
He rolls his eyes and comes over. "You are not getting drunk."
"Just a little wine."
Nadine nods. "One glass."
"I haven't even made the starting speech yet."
"Well, we'll survive it with wine." Thora rolls her eyes.
"No. You're going to sit here and be good. You can have 1 glass with dinner."
I flip around. "Gold wine."
"Yes ma'am."
He shakes his head and roams off. I motion the servant over. "We're going to need the biggest glasses you can find."
Nadine chokes on water. "It doesn't even have to be a wine glass. Just the biggest cups you can find."
"And fill them up to the very tippy top."
"Yes, ma'am."
Thora smirks. "We'll have 1 glass at dinner."
"Yep. 1 glass teenage style." I scratch my head. "We have to find a way to get rid of some of these. There's too many."
"Yea. But the kings and prince's have advisors. They're not in the games. Only here to advise. Then our people are down there. I think they said the count so far was at 132. That's probably the end. It's 3 minutes until 6 now."
"That's 130 more than I thought would show up."
Thora rubs her eyes. "Now we have to sort through 132 idiots instead of 2."
"We shouldn't have made her a princess. I mean, I'm not that. When the castle fell, I lost that title."
"You've got the crown. You lost the title of princess and became a queen. The castle's still yours, so you're a queen."
"Wouldn't Mikey be the throne holder?"
"You took the throne when he was gone. You can give it to him, but that would make you a former queen. Also, next in line for the throne because he doesn't have kids. It's a weird loop you 2 are in."
"I'll have to talk to him about it. I don't want that castle. I can barely walk in. It's heartbreaking."
"We'll figure it out later. Marcus is finally going to talk."
"Welcome. I will say this as simply as I can. If you are chosen by Princess Evie to be her mate, the Gods will bind your souls. You will be true soulmates. In this life and any other lives you choose to live together. This is a chance for a real soulmate. It is not done with a potion. The potion lasts for 1 life only."
Dipak takes over. "The Mate Games will be 6 meetings or events over the next 8 months. You are able to walk away at anytime before the last meeting. Once the last event begins, you will be locked in. If she chooses you, you are stuck."
The boys laugh.
The servant puts the biggest cup ever in front of me. Everyone at the table has 1. We all lean forward and take a sip off the top at the same time.
"Excellent wine choice, Princess Evie."
"Thank you, Queen Thora."
"Oh, we can have them try this wine. We could weed out some idiots that way."
Thora nods. "Excellent idea, Queen Nadine."
"How would that weed anyone out?"
"We'd have to hear them talk."
The 3 of us bust out laughing.
Marcus glances at us and keeps going. "Keep in mind, she is a teenager. She's 392. You're welcome to introduce yourself. Talk to her. Dance with her. But do not forget, you are speaking with a teenager. Also, she will not be granted unsupervised time with anyone. Do not try, you will be removed. Any questions?"
"When are the games?"
"Dates can be given. We do have them listed. Locations are not given. If you are chosen to continue, you will be given the location two weeks before."
I motion the servant back. "Unlimited drinks for anyone in the mate games."
"Yes ma'am."
"What's that going to do?"
"Hopefully something. But we can watch them around alcohol this way."
"That's true."
Nadine smirks. "Wait until they're drunk, and we'll switch to belly dancing outfits. We can dance for them."
Thora sits back. "We need some entertainment."
"He signaled for dinner finally."
By the end of dinner, we're a little tipsy. Dorseti falls off her chair and pops back up. "Sorry my chair quit for a second."
I smile and nod.
Nadine jumps up. "DIPAK KNOWS. CHUG."
Every single oversize cup on our table gets picked up. We chug in unison. The boys from the table run at us. They take our cups. It's a very sad time.
Then Marcus makes another speech. "I need to stress that she is a teenager and will bend rules. When you tell her she can have 1 glass of wine with dinner, this becomes the glass."
Everyone in the room cracks up laughing.
Nadine jumps up. "TIME TO DANCE."
Marcus rubs his eyes. "Good luck everyone. Welcome to The Mate Games."
Thora screams. "GIRLS ONLY DANCE FIRST."
We get to the dance floor and dance sexy. This is not very effective in ballgowns. But it's still fun. Then a fight breaks out. Dipak throws a couple boys out.
Romeo stands by the dance floor. I bounce at him. "Hi."
He winks at me, then Dorseti pulls me back. "This is girls only dance. Are you a girl?"
"I'm not on the dance floor. I'm beside it."
"I WILL CUT OFF YOUR BOY PARTS."
Elkie looks at her. "If you do that, he will be a girl."
"I'm watching you."
"I'll step back."
I laugh so damn hard.
"Can I have a dance, after the girls only dance?"
"YES." I pounce at him.
"Don't make out with him. Keep space."
Nadine smiles. "You better not make out with her. You'll lose your boy parts and Marcus will take off your head."
"Are you girls bored?"
"How did you know?"
"You all ran to me. So, how is the teenage drama going?"
"There isn't any."
"This is the drama now. You're the drama."
"I don't know about that. I'm not very dramatic."
Elkie puts her arm around Nadine. "So, this guy is the favorite to win?"
I scratch my head. "Win what?"
Thora rubs her eyes. "She forgot what we're doing."
Nadine nods. "We gave her too much alcohol. Don't throw her in the air. She chugged half a bucket cup of wine."
He laughs and takes my arm. "Thank you for the tip."
He's a good dancer. He dances with me formally. All I want to do is hug him though. Then the other guys start asking me to dance. They dance formally, and I'm about to pull my hair out. The girls are dancing. Everyone seems to be having fun.
Then a nice boy puts his arm around me. "I don't know any formal dances. But can I have a dance?"
I wrap my arms around him and hug him. I lay my head on his shoulder, and we dance like that. He's warm.
He wraps his arms tightly around me. "You getting tired?"
"Bored, I think, and my feet hurt."
"You still have shoes on?"
"Yea."
"Give me your shoes and I'll put them on your seat."
I take my shoes off and hand them to him.
"Yea, I can see how these would make your feet hurt."
I snuggle back into his arms. "Thank you. That feels better. What's your name?"
"Ezekiel or Zeke. I like your hair."
"Thank you."
The song ends and Marcus is there to separate us. Zeke takes off with my shoes. Marcus shakes his head. "What the hell was that?"
"Dancing." I stretch. "I need different entertainment."
"It's already 9. It's almost over. People are leaving. Try to dance a couple more times."
"Fine."
The next boy dances slow with me. I snuggle against him too. "You tired?"
"Maybe. What's your name?"
"Dravon. I'm here for my cousin. He's a prince. It seemed like you needed a longer break from the formal stuff."
"Thank you for that. I do."
"Glad I could help a little." He kisses my hand and roams off. He's nice looking.
Nadine grabs my arm. "We're peeing now, and I watched you check him out."
I giggle. "Ok."
We go to an office across the hall and change into belly dancing outfits. There's a bunch of us that do it.
Marcus has a melt down when we walk in. "NO. TURN RIGHT BACK AROUND."
Tye shoves him into a chair and throws a table cloth on him. "IT'S FINE."
We dance to belly dancing music and the boys come up and stand around the dance floor. There's not to many left anymore. They're checking me out though. Then they come on the floor.
"DIPAK." Dorseti yells at the top of her lungs. "Get rid of him."
Marcus stands in the middle of us. "GET OFF THE DANCE FLOOR."
A prince laughs. "You can't tell us what to do."
His eyes go red, and he throws the prince at the door. He flies quite a far distance. "GET RID OF HIM."
"GOT IT."
The rest of them back up. We finish our dance and they clap for us.
Marcus rubs his eyes. "That's good for tonight. If you make it through to the next round, you'll get the location in about 6 weeks."
I spot Collin standing by Tye and run over. "Did you see me dance?"
"Yea. That was fun to watch. You were beautiful out there."
I jump for him and Tye blocks me. "Evie is single."
I run out and drag Thora with me. She turns me back into myself and I run to Collin.
He catches me and holds me up by my butt. I think I'm asleep in 4 seconds.
- Writer
