152. Jayce

CHAPTER 152

Jayce

After handling and seeing to Aurora's needs, Klaus and I remain in the shower taking care of each other for at least the next thirty minutes. Apparently, for tonight, Oberon had set up a second room for us guys to go into to get ready. Within the room, there are different tuxedos for us to wear. Each one varies in shades of grays. The only one who doesn't have a fully grey tux is Alaric, who has blood-red lapels.

The rest of my bond mates are in different states of getting dressed; most of us have the pants and the dress shirt on. One of the male tailors are present in the room with us, helping us get our fancy buttons, tie clips, and cufflinks on properly. For some ridiculous reason, Oberon thought that today would be a great day to wear a cummerbund. The cummerbunds are a mix of slate grey and crimson.

I could tell by the colors chosen for us that Aurora's gown more than likely would be some shade of blood-red. "Well, it's obvious, guys, she's going to be wearing a gown, more than likely according to the accent colors, some shade of red," I say almost sarcastically as if they should know by what they're wearing. Each one looks suspiciously down at his outfit and then back over to me as I motion to the color of the cummerbund and the color of the bow tie that we're wearing.

"That would be the most logical answer," Klaus says as he looks at his cummerbund.

"I was wondering why my suit had this ridiculous colored lapel," Alaric says, looking from his lapel to the cummerbund then to the tie in his hand. I roll my eyes and shake my head at him.

"Obviously, Alaric, since you are King of the Ice Dragons, yours would have more color to it than ours." I roll my eyes slightly after uttering the sentence in a rather uncharacteristic ballsy move for me. He looks at his outfit more closely then studies everyone else's. It suddenly must make sense to him as to why his outfit is different.

We're finally all dressed when Oberon comes walking in—his robes for tonight are the same colors as our tuxes. His flowing robes are almost iridescent in color, one direction looking grey while the next movement takes on a beautiful crimson color. "Greetings and salutations to Your Highnesses," Oberon says in that melodic voice of his as he sweeps into a bow gracefully. Slowly, he stands back up and looks at us. "I'm so pleased to see that what I arranged for you fits so well," he says with a smile and a flourish of his hands.

"Our young queen is ready and waiting for her king to come and get her," Oberon says as he pointedly looks at Alaric. "After all, this is the Winter Palace once known as the Ice Dragon Castle. It would break protocol and tradition for anyone other than the King Consort to escort the Queen," Oberon says in a stately manner as he motions towards the door for Alaric to get his ass moving. It takes several seconds before Alaric fully connects the dots and takes off out the door in a hurry.

"Your Highnesses," Oberon says in a much gentler tone. "Upon the table, there are new crowns for you to match your queen. She would like for all of you to match," he says. And as he waves his hand, the lids from the boxes all pop off and disappear into a shower of glitter.

I'm the first to creep over and take a good look at the crowns he had brought for us. They are similar in design to the crown that the Blood Queen once wore. I look at Oberon questioningly, and he just smiles at me. "Aurora is going to wear her great-grandmother's crown tonight. I just so happened to polish it up a little bit and adjust its sizing to fit her better." He smiles and bows before promptly leaving the room. Within each box is a card with a name and a crown specifically for each of us.

I reach for my crown, and just as he said, it's exactly like the one that was once the Blood Queen's. I walk in front of the mirror with it and set it upon my head. Miraculously the crown moves and resizes to fit my head perfectly. Now I'm really pondering if the crowns can do this. Why is there one specifically for each of us? I can't help but ponder that as I watch everyone else slowly put theirs upon their heads. I will have to ask Oberon about this later.

We take the side corridors heading towards the throne room. The handmaidens usher us in to line up on either side of Aurora's and Alaric's thrones. She and Alaric have not yet made their appearance into the throne room. Nicodeamus is already sitting at Aurora's right-hand side. We get moved and shuffled around to fill in the five remaining seats. Each seat is its own throne, but not as big as Alaric and Aurora have.

The music changes, a beautiful fan fair starts to play, and then the music changes yet again to the song " I am the fire " by Halestorm." I smile at the song choice as the doors open wide. Alaric and Aurora walk in hand in hand, smiling. It's now that I notice their hands are shifted to that of their gauntlets. And at this point of the song, the singer says she is the fire. Aurora and Alaric raise their empty hand, talons facing up, and blue flames rise at least a foot above their open palms. The oohs and ahhs that fill the throne room are almost deafening.

Aurora is extruding an aura of confidence and dominance as she walks down the aisle towards the throne. Her head is held high as she maintains the flames as she walks. Her gown is full length with a train. The bodice of the gown appears to resemble dragon scales. The rest of the gown appears to be made of thousands of tiny rubies sewn into the material. She ripples and shines every step she takes; the material seems to flow like blood behind her. Upon reaching the throne, she and Alaric release each other's hands and hold their taloned gauntlets in front of them, allowing the fire to rise. Aurora looks over to her father, and Nicodeamus shifts his hands to that of his gauntlet, and then the flames rise from his hand as well.

Be it a show about or just a sign of unification, it was definitely an impressive feat that gained everyone's attention in the hall. Aurora and Alaric quickly shift their hands back, extinguishing the flames, as does Nicodeamus. They slowly take their seats, and as they sit, we all sit in time with them. Aurora does a very slow nod of her head, and the entire room sits at her command.

I can feel the power radiating off of my mate. She uses every ounce of her dominance to make sure that everyone realizes there shall be no one that stands against her. Nicodeamus rises and addresses the court, thanking everybody for their arrival and taking part in the celebration that is taking place tonight. He announces the complete victory over Vladimir as well as the Strigoi. He names several of the war heroes present in the Dragon Court that assisted in our endeavors. As each of the males comes up, Aurora stands with Alaric, receiving the various pins and medals to place on our allies.

I, myself, and the others were not aware of the awards ceremony that was taking place. It's a nice way to show that people are appreciated and see who is or is not on our side. Oberon periodically comes over and exchanges trays with Alaric, providing him with more medals and ribbons for Aurora to hand out. I can almost bet these little trinkets she's handing out are enchanted. I would dare place a wager that these will be another way for Oberon to weed out anyone who may commit treason against us. A gift to be given in good faith also serves as a little spy to make sure nothing negative happens to our family.

Oberon announces for everybody to retire to the Grand Ballroom for dinner and drinks and engage in dancing and frivolity. Aurora nods slowly and then rises up, taking hold of Alaric's hands. Dimitri and I flank them as they head down the hall and into the ballroom.

The floors are freshly redone in the cedar planks that Aurora had wanted. It's a beautiful blend of red cedar as well as white cedar. The intricate designs flow across the space. As we move towards the front of the ballroom, it's now that the design becomes evident. The pattern mimics dragon scales and is only visible from where Alaric and Aurora are sitting.

Speaking of the happy couple, they drink and eat at the head table, watching the festivities. Nicodeamus and his mate Helle are sitting to their right, also enjoying themselves. Queen Gisella and King Consort Austin are sitting to Aurora's left. It seems the two families are quite close, from what I can tell. I know that our little girl, Tia, was quite taken by their son, Draven. Oh, Goddess above, please let him be her mate. He comes from such a good family. I look up and see the questioning look in Aurora's eyes as she follows my gaze towards Gisella and her mate.

I make the come here motion with my finger and Aurora giggles as she excuses herself from the conversation. Quickly, I meet her halfway, and she wraps her arms tightly around my neck. Her delicate scent is slightly enhanced with honeysuckle. Slowly, we dance gracefully around the ballroom. I am blessed to have this time with my mate; not only are we enjoying ourselves, we are scoping out the attendees. Aurora's beast softly purrs in my embrace, making me feel like I'm the king of the world. Her lips gently kiss me on the underside of my jaw before she runs her nose along my jawline. Whispers move through the crowd seeing our exchange. The queen is being submissive to her Omega. I wink at Aurora, and she smiles against my throat; Alaric's plan is working.

Shortly after the whispers start, Alaric raises his hands and the music changes. He slowly steps down from the royal table and extends his hand in Aurora's direction. She smiles and tilts her head looking at him. Gently, she kisses my cheek then moves to Alaric. Her movements fluid and graceful as she dips into a low bow. Her eyes are downcast, and a smile graces her lips. Playing submissive has become a game between Aurora and Alaric, getting ready for this very moment.

Old school protocols suck. With most dragon houses here being well over the five-hundred-year-old markers, they are stuck in the old ways. Aurora remains bowed low before Alaric till he gently touches under her chin to get her to rise up. Aurora stands up, back straight, and her chin held high. Alaric lowers his head to her and then bears his throat in a move that shocks the entire gathering. Aurora's eyes shift to that of her beast and she stares down at her mate.

"The days of subservience are over." Aurora's voice booms as the temperature in the room drops swiftly. "My great-grandmother, the Blood Queen, bowed to no male!" she says as she helps Alaric to stand at her side as her equal. "I will not stand idly by allowing these archaic traditions to weigh down my daughters," she says boldly as her hands shift to that of her gauntlets.

The double doors to the side of the ballroom open, and Dimitri and Dominik enter with all of Aurora's children. Her daughters each are wearing crimson dresses, a nod to their mother's gown. Little ruby crowns rest upon their heads as they walk hand in hand towards their mother. Marco walks beside all of the princesses, allowing Luna to hold his hand as they walk. Ladon is in an exact replica of his father's suit; he also has a ruby crown upon his head. Aurora motions for her children to line up around her as she looks at the audience. A quick wink to Tia and she shifts her arms to match her mother's gauntlets. Tia's eyes move to her brother, who removes his suit jacket, handing it off to Dominik and rolling up his sleeves. He looks up to Alaric and receives a smile and a wink; Ladon shifts his arms to that of his gauntlets, as well.

Aurora steps forward and motions back to her children. "Some call me a mutt, an abomination," she says with a sexy smirk. "Well, I am here to tell you this abomination took down Nexus, Vladimir, and united the Great Dragon Houses." Her eyes scan the crowd as the aristocrats start talking to their guards who were at the various battles to verify Aurora's statement.

"We are entering a time of peace and growth; I would love for this to continue for generations to come." She smiles as she steps back to her children. "Any who wish to challenge me for the throne," she pauses dramatically and arches an eyebrow, then makes a sweeping motion with her hands, "meet me in the ring tomorrow morning. I will gladly show you what this abomination can do." Aurora smiles sweetly, then shepherds her children to the main table and gets them settled.

Her ever watchful eyes scan the room slowly. Through the bond, she reaches out to myself and Dominik and asks us to shift and sit on either side of her children. We do so without question and rush over to the table once we return to the ballroom. I choose to sit on the same side that my daughter is on, and Dominik ends up taking the opposite side.

We stay as our wolves for the rest of the evening, ensuring no one that isn't safe gets anywhere near the children. I look up and watch my daughter as she attempts to feed herself at the table. She keeps looking down at me and dropping scraps of food to me. The kid already has the idea to feed what you don't like to the pet in the house. I shake my massive head and then rest my muzzle on my daughter's thigh.

Gently, her tiny fingers run through my thick fur, and I hear her ever so softly going, "daddy daddy daddy." It's amazing how one so little knows who I am even in this form. The majority of the night goes off without a hitch, and we all head off to bed. Dominik and I decide to stay with the children as our wolves tonight to make sure that nothing happens. I know for a fact that my mate has just pissed off a few of the dragon households. I won't be shocked if somebody doesn't make an attempt either on her life or one of the children's. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.