The Animals Have Come to Play (Completed) (unedited)

A Game of Teasing

Probably will need earbuds to listen to the edit :p Thanks so much to Coral_G_Swizzle for making me this great edit ❤️

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(Chapter 23: A Game of Teasing)

The lights went out. I pushed away from Leander, resisting the urge to slap him.

"What the hell was that?" I hissed at him. He winked in response. Glass shattered from every drinking glass, plate, and bulb, raining down and around the guests. Cynric stalked away as horrific screams rose up. Everyone tried to protect themselves from the shards by raising their arms to cover their heads. Elizabeth shot out a hand, freezing the harmful pieces right above the crowd. One shard swirled into the next, and it continued like that until all of the broken glass was twirling around in a giant wave above our heads. They whirled towards a large, wheeling trash bin diving into it.

"Everyone, calm down," Elizabeth said to the hysteric crowd. They quieted a bit, turning towards her to look for guidance as what to do. "Everything is going to be fine. Go back to what you were doing. We'll solve the problems created." A murmur rose from the people before they turned back to the people they were talking to. Elizabeth sighed loudly before turning back to us.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. The lights are completely blown and the food is ruined." She looked at me with a withering glare. "This is your fault that the party has been ruined." Shock struck me as I gave her a weird look.

"My fault? How is it my fault?" I asked incredulously. She gestured off towards the way Cynric left.

"He shattered all the glass in the room because you whore yourself around. You make him fall in love with you, and then you go a kiss this guy right in front of him! You're already an awful person for trying to steal him when he's already engaged," she spat angrily towards me. A noise rumbled up from Leander. I smacked his chest, sending him a mean look. You started this to begin with, boy.

"Excuse me? First of all, Cynric is not in love with me. He doesn't like me like that. I haven't tried stealing anyone from anybody. And, if you didn't notice, Leander kissed me. Without permission might I add," I said with contempt, eyeballing Leander out of the corner of my eye. "And I'm not whoring myself around. Technically, it is okay for Leander and I to display affection towards each other. We are betrothed." I considered what I said, before realizing it came off inviting. "But that doesn't mean we will," I added quickly before he got any ideas. Elizabeth chuckled coldly.

"How naïve can you be? There's obviously a tug of war over you," Elizabeth sneered at me. "Now if you excuse me, I have a fiancé to find." She sauntered off in the direction as I stood speechless. A tug of war? Over me? She's crazy! I turned towards Leander who was looking away with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Leander? What is she talking about? She's crazy, right? There's no tug of war game going on, right?" I questioned him. He turned towards me, a sheepish look on his face before it was covered up with his normal, laid back expression. My eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"No, not tug of war," he answered reluctantly. "More like a game of teasing."

"Teasing? Teasing Cynric?" I asked, doubt lacing my voice. An impassive look masked Leander's face, and he opened his mouth to respond when he was cut off.

"Everyone, may I have your attention?" a powerful voice boomed out. A man in his late 50s with short, pepper colored hair. A dark business suit clad his body, and wrinkles crinkled along his eyes and forehead. The crowd fell silent instantly. He gave a brief, apologetic smile before addressing the room again.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience of the party being ruined, and that we can not fix it within a reasonable time to resume it. Because of this, we offer every guest here a room to spend the night in if they so choose. My staff is outside the room, and ready to use at your disposal to help find you a room. " With that, the crowd started pushing us towards the door. A roar went up as each person started talking to one another. I glanced to my side to continue the conversation I was having with Leander, only to find him gone. I spun around as I walked, finding him no where. I huffed in irritation before getting directed back to my room.

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"I have to thank you three for attending my sister's ball, even though things went awry," Benedict said as the three of us stood by the front door in the foyer the next morning. "But, I better expect your three at the rescheduled ball. And there better not be any trouble," Benedict added, giving me a pointed look. I held my exasperation inside, hoping he didn't expect an apology.

"On our behalf, we are sorry for the problem that transpired at Elizabeth's ball. And we thank you again for the information you gave us pertaining to the Kadel and Tasrius family," Cynric answered in a diplomatic tone. He bowed towards Benedict who bowed in return. We took our turns returning bows before we said our goodbyes. We took off down the steps and into the car we had driven here. We decided to take a plane to Wichita Falls, a town that was nearby to the residence of the Tasrius family. The ride was quiet, the three of us not having a word to say to each other.

When we stepped out of the airport, I wasn't prepared for the amount of heat that hit my body. I groaned internally as we searched for the car that was sent for us in the parking lot. There was a honk, and the three of us turned our heads simultaneously towards the noise. A girl with blonde,braided pig tails and a black, wide-brim hat waved wildly from a large truck. I shared a look with Cynric. We all approached the girl, and she gave us a big grin before tilting her hat towards us.

"Howdy, y'all! Name's Veronica! I'mma be your driver today!" She called out. I smiled unsurely.

"Hi, I'm Ariadne. This is Cynric, and this is Leander," I introduced the three of us.

"Y'all can expect that I was as excited as a cow in a full field when I was offered this job! You see, being called to work by the ma'am is as scarce as hen's teeth! Well c'mon! We got to skedaddle back before the madam gets riled up!" She beckoned us over quickly before hoping back into the raised, black truck. Cynric and I climbed into the back while Leander jumped into shotgun. The truck revved up before we backed out of the stall and peeled out of the driveway. Veronica peeked through the rearview mirror.

"My, Ariadne, you're mighty purdy! I wish my hair was as golden lookin' as your's! Instead I got this muddy looking blonde," Veronica gushed. I sent her an embarrassed smile.

"Oh... Thank you, Veronica. Don't say that about your hair though, it's a very pretty color! Its a much nicer color than my own," I argued back. Veronica laughed a bit, a snort surfacing before she scoffed.

"Oh, honey, don't try to make that dog hunt when it won't! I'd be tarred and feathered if that were true," I paused, not understanding what she just said. I just chuckled awkwardly before dropping the conversation. The boys continued to stay silent as the ride continued. Veronica hummed happily under her breath as country played quietly on the radio. The roads grew bumpy, and soon we were all rocking back and forth as we made our way down the road. Veronica looked between Leander next to her and us in the back.

"I know it's not my place to prod the bull, but is everything alright between y'all? You haven't even piped up about anything," Veronica asked with genuine concern. The two boys mumbled under their breaths incoherent excuses while looking out their windows. She looked at me for explanation, but I just shrugged my shoulders. Did something happen after the ball last night? And what did Leander mean by a game of teasing? Why didn't Leander answer me about if he was teasing Cynric?

I didn't have time to dwell on my thoughts because we pulled up to a quaint, one story ranch style home with a large fenced in land stretching around the main house. A large brown barn sat off to the side, and a few cattle and horses grazed in the pasture.

"We're here!" Veronica chirped as she pulled up into the dirt driveway and cut the engine."Welcome to the home of Tasrius!"

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I've been getting a lot of comments about Texas residents not talking like this, and I know 😂 I'm sorry if I offended anyone, my sister used to live there, I was just going for the most stereotypical I could, so sorry once again for anyone that has been offended by this!