Royals (Book 1)

Chapter 36 : Anticlimactic

My blood has frozen over, my body rushing in chills as my muscles constricted under my skin. The music had ended and Alarik had pulled away, I lost him in the crowd when people began to approach me with happy birthday wishes. As much as I wanted to focus on niceties, I could not shake the words he had spoken to me.

I was meant to kill you.

Surely, he must have been kidding. For a moment, I think of how he regarded me with so much disdain when he first arrived. The ghost of his fingers around my neck reappears for a moment, the sheer memory felt like it could leave a bruise.

"Rayna, you look glamorous." Loren, Alarik's sister, suddenly approached me. She placed a kiss on both of my cheeks, and I noticed Marina and Keil directly behind her.

"We need to get some alcohol in you, you look too stressed." Keil laughed, making me notice how sharp his cuspids were.

"Just not too much, we still have an event for after." Marina reminded me, wrapping her arm around mine as she stood beside me.

"I still have no idea what you have concocted." I sighed, not even feeling up to a celebration after this one.

"Hopefully more fun than this, some of the older kings do not know where to keep their gaze." Loren giggled along with Marina, I glanced around to one of them staring at my chest.

"Rayna, should I invite Nigel?" Marina asked me, seeming cautious with the statement.

"No." I answered, so suddenly that Keil and Loren exchanged a bewildered glance. I had to keep up appearances, make it seem as was selecting him tonight. "Nigel is not the party type, he would not even come."

My parents decided to allow Nigel to stay until after my birthday, instead of banishing him early and creating a fuss about what happened at the games. I suppose I should be thankful, that was Luis's plan could go unscathed.

At the mention of him in my mind, I ran my eyes across the crowd but did not see that mop of fire anywhere. That's odd, I doubt he would miss the opportunity to make sure he plan went seamlessly. He admitted to being on the call list for additional staff, what reason would he have for not coming?

The rest of the night was filled with the same idle chatter, conversing with others heirs and royals out of courtesy. I had never realized how people flinch when they were about to mention something political about the outside world. They had to remind themselves, take a step back from the conversation to recollect themselves. Fear was evident in their eyes, one slip up and they possibly become guilty of treason.

The things my parents could do to others, the emotions they provoked.

Alita entertained me for a portion of the night, elated to hear all of the gossip we miss out on from our disconnect from the outside world. There was no detail she did not want to hear, no detail she did not immediately report back to me. It felt so childish and carefree, exactly what I wished I could focus on.

As much as I wanted to search for Alarik, it felt better that I was away and ignorant to his reasonings. I was curious, but I could not want to be farther from the truth. What could justify his need to murder me, what could I have done before even exchanging my first words with him?

There were too many questions tonight, my head was spinning with them as well as two flutes of champagne.

"Please, everyone gather." My mother called, using a butterknife to knock against glass to help gather our attention. Natia found me in the crowd and brought me to her side, and I knew it was finally time. I plastered on my best royal expression, a polite smile as I stood beside the queen herself.