Shadow Wolves: His Black Rose (Book 6)

Chapter 5 - Who to trust.

Elizabeth

We arrived at this huge medieval castle that seemed to be haunted, and I started wondering if this wasn’t some elaborate ploy to get everyone together and kill all of us. The SUVs pulled up to an entrance with a red carpet laid out. They opened the doors one by one and let us out, pointing us in the direction of the front door. Uh! Yeah right! I was walking right into the slaughterhouse! When it was our turn, we climbed out of the car and I decided to hang back around the front door first. I was not getting eaten by some vampire queen.

“Why would a lovely young lady like yourself be standing outside when the party is inside? And that after she had already been introduced to everyone.” I jumped at the sound of the vampire’s voice behind me, but when I turned around to see who it was, I found a man in his late thirties, with a kind smile, looking back at me.

“How do you know who I am?” I frowned.

“I am Queen Lucille’s right-hand man, Edgar. I make it my business to know everyone.” He smiled.

“Oh, you are one of those vampires.” I took a step back and walked into a solid wall. He burst out with a big smile and bowed.

“King Julius, how wonderful to see you again!” Turning around, I found Julius standing behind me, and he put his hands softly on my arms.

“Your mother was getting worried that you had run away Lizzy, Edgar, a pleasure as always. Thank you for looking after Elizabeth.” Julius smiled, putting me a little more at ease. I could have handled that situation a lot better!

“Of course, your Highness. I will lay my life down to protect your beautiful daughter.” Edgar seemed sincere, but I didn’t trust the guy! Julius smiled, then gave him a nod and guided me into the castle, where I was announced. Again, apparently.

“Who was that guy?” I whispered under my breath.

“Edgar, he is one of the oldest vampires here. It is strange to find him outside. It’s a long story and I will find out what is going on, so for now, stay close. I don’t trust him.” Julius sighed.

“I told you and mom this was a trap!” I nearly stomped my foot loud enough for everyone to hear. He turned around, putting his hands on my arms again.

“Darling, do you trust me?” He frowned.

“Of course, I do, you are like… the only father I know.” I sighed, feeling guilty.

“Then trust me, please. I won’t let any harm come to you. I promise.” Julius smiled. I had no other choice but to agree. He might not be my father by blood, but after my dad died, he stepped up and did the job. I became his little girl in all senses of the word and I couldn’t have asked for a better substitute. Hooking my arm into his, we walked over to where mom and Jane were talking. Jane’s eyes were sparkling like stars at everything she was seeing, and I could see that this was going to be the experience of her lifetime. I truly hoped she found her mate.

“Anybody faint or trip over themselves yet?” Theodore joined us.

“Yes, anyone we should rip to shreds yet?” Randolph grinned.

“Now boys! You behave yourselves, or you won’t find mates!” My mother frowned while wiping invisible lint from both their shoulders.

“Yes mother.” They replied in unison, making me burst out in fits of laughter. I started looking around the room and saw Christiaan and Erik, and then the new exciting faces started hitting me. Everyone was hoping to find that one special person that had been chosen for them to love, and there I was trying to avoid it.

The foyer was soon full of people talking and laughing and old friends catching up. Our chaperons saw each other for the first time in many years. I was still looking around when the trumpets started to play, drawing everyone’s attention to the main stairs. A gentleman with two ladies in the most exquisite dresses I had ever seen, came walking down the stairs. They stopped halfway down.

“King Magnus, Queen Pearl, and Queen Lucille, all welcome you to their territories.” A man dressed in a suit that made him look as if it was too tight to even walk in, announced them.

“Thank you, Craig.” King Magnus turned to look at the suited man and dismissed him. “Welcome everyone. I am going to leave the talking to the two beautiful ladies at my side. Queen Pearl, my wife and Queen of the werewolves, and Queen Lucille, Queen of the vampires, for those who don’t know. Any of your male group leaders who have security concerns are welcome to come and talk to me in the library. We will meet up with everyone else in the dining room after.” He kissed each lady on the cheek and excused himself, then a man announced which way the library was. Julius kissed mom on her cheek and instructed the boys to stay with us for safety.

“Welcome to my castle everyone. I hope your stay here with us will be enjoyable. Rooms have been allocated so that you are close to your family and friends for now and, yes, this castle is so old that it has enough space for everyone.” Queen Lucille smiled brightly.

“We only recently upgraded the castle with indoor plumbing and electricity and would appreciate your patience if something doesn’t work properly. Please report any problems to Edgar over there. He will make sure that it gets fixed as soon as possible.” Queen Pearl smiled and pointed at the creepy guy who was now standing just to their left, up to two steps.

“Now, you probably all have a lot of questions, so I’m going to start with one. No, we don’t all live in the castle. King Magnus and Queen Pearl live in their own territory next to mine, with their pack. Queen Pearl used to be the Queen of the vampires, in fact.” Lucille smiled as Pearl laughed out loud.

“You had to start with that story and bore our poor guests. But it is true, a witch cast a spell that had effects generations later, turning me from a vampire to a wolf and now, I’m happily married to King Magnus. But we couldn’t leave the vampires without a ruler, so they had a vote and my best friend Queen Lucille here was crowned.” Pearl smiled and I rolled my eyes. I didn’t care about their life’s story!

“I guess the moral of our story here, is that you never know what the moon goddess has planned for you or what your destiny may be.” Lucille continued.

“No matter what you believe. You can’t plan life… You should live it.” Pearl chimed in.

“That is why we decided to bring together our kingdoms that haven’t seen or heard from each other for centuries. It’s time we remembered our history and rebuilt our relationships from here.” Lucille looked at Pearl and smiled brightly.

“That’s right. Our supernatural nation has grown so far apart that most of you didn’t even know you actually had a King and Queens. Or others decided they would step up in that territory and take over the role. Even terrorizing the innocent.” Pearl didn’t look happy when she said the last part.

“So, this week, not only take the time to find your mate but also take the time to reconnect. You never know who you might find that might even be long-lost family. If any leaders are here that would like to talk to us, please feel free to approach us at any time. We want to bring us all together again.” Lucille sounded like some world leader. It was irritating.

“The younger generation just have fun. We have an entire week of activities planned for you. If you aren’t a day-walker, please speak to Edgar. He will arrange what you need, so you may enjoy all the activities.” Pearl’s words were a little surprising! They turned to look at each other and burst out laughing.

“I think that’s everything…” Lucille smiled.

“I hope that’s everything. Let’s all go and have dinner. I’m starving.” Pearl laughed.

“You are always starving!” Lucille laughed at Pearl and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the two of them. They were clearly best friends and I felt Jane’s hand giving mine a quick squeeze. I started looking around the castle walls, following her gaze, and saw that ancient paintings were hanging everywhere from periods long forgotten. The ceilings were also paintings at some point long ago, but time has faded them. There weren’t extravagant pedestals with expensive vases like I imagined there would be, or those medieval ridiculous chairs everywhere.

“Surprised?” Edgar gave me chills down my spine the second I felt his breath on my shoulder.

“Why would I be?” I turned to look at him when he fell into step with us.

“That the castle is not what you expected. I can see it in your expression. Which part of it all did I forget to add?” Why was he following me? I needed Julius to get back here, right now.

“I don’t know, where are the women in those funny wigs and dresses?” Theodore hooked his arm around Edgar’s shoulders and I almost burst out laughing at his expression. Randolph appeared right in front of him, walking with his hands behind his back, backwards.

“I would love a lesson on the architecture of the castle. It looks like it was all built-in one go, which is strange. No castle of this era was a built-in one go. They were usually built-in small parts and the rest was added as the family grew.” Randolph frowned.

“If you will excuse me. I have some things to attend to before dinner.” Edgar bowed and was gone within seconds.

“BOYS! We are guests here! Behave yourselves!” Mom looked unhappy.

“But mom! Never mind.” Theodore sighed. He gave her one look and decided not to say another word. Julius would set the record straight when he returned.

Julius

“I don’t believe we have met. Magnus.” Magnus smiled and politely held out his hand to shake mine and usually, I wouldn’t, but these circumstances called for it.

“Julius, your Highness.” I specifically didn’t refer to my title.

“Just Magnus please, or I will have to call you and everyone else here on their titles and that would not only confuse me but make conversations so boring and tedious.” He laughed comfortably and handed me a drink. I looked at him a bit surprised. Vampires don’t drink alcohol, but yet again, I indulged them.

“I hate to fall in the door with a problem sir, but I need to know more about Edgar.” He looked puzzled. “He seems to have taken a particular interest in my daughter. I would like to know if it’s a safe match for her.”

“Ah, yes, that would make sense. Edgar is a good guy. A bit weird, because he originally comes from the vampires who still live according to the old ways, but he has been with us topside for a while now and from what I know about him… he has only acted in the best interests of Queen Lucille and Pearl.” Magnus explained.

“You would believe my daughter to be safe in his company then?” I sighed.

“I would stake my life on it.” Magnus smiled. I still didn’t feel relief, and now Magnus had shown me the length of his knowledge of the kingdom.

“Thank you for your time, Your Highness.” He was about to correct me again when I bowed and left the conversation. I was not completely ready to reveal my status yet. It might shock their entire perception of their situation and I wanted the week to go smoothly for the young ones. I would deal with things once we returned home.

A servant called and dinner was served, and I found all the others in the dining room ready to be seated. Usually, places would be allocated according to status or rank, but for this occasion, there was a head table for all the chaperons and the rest were set out in long tables for the younger generations. The funny thing was that they observed etiquette in some things but didn’t seem to know the first thing about it in others.

“Darling, stop fussing. You can tell me all about it later tonight.” Esmeralda reprimanded me, making me realize I was frowning, causing some looks to come my way.

“Oh, I apologize everyone. My thoughts are adrift. It must be old age catching up with me.” Waving my hands in the air, and rolling my eyes, I pretended to make a joke about it all, and soon they all relaxed and started joking around about their ages. I kept Edgar in the corner of my eye, where he sat next to a wolf seated next to Queen Lucille. They were talking animatedly, but there was just something…