Chapter 3: The Ball Has Begun

As the elders arrive one by one and greet us, Dominic graciously introduces me to them.  Standing next to him in my beautiful royal blue gown, I feel like a queen and more importantly, they are all addressing me as such.  I realize that if anyone doesn't think of me as their queen, it will cause problems for Dominic in the long run, so I do my best to play the part.

While curtsying, Dominic introduces me to Frederic, the elder of Allen town.  He is an older man than Eric by about twenty years I would say and about a foot shorter.  There is something about him though, that makes me feel insignificant.  Perhaps it is the fact that everyone in the room seems to think highly of him.

It begins to make me wonder.  If Dominic wasn't king, would Frederic be?  I imagine over time all these things will become clear to me, but as of the moment I can only surmise.  

When everyone has arrived, Dominic leads me to the head table and pulls out the chair for me.  He says with adoration, "For you my dear."

Glancing up at his face before I sit down, I see him looking down at me with desire in his eyes.  I carefully take a seat and he pushes the chair in.  As he sits so close next to me that his knees touch mine we wait for the food to be served.  I admire the decorations once again and remark to Dominic, "This is so beautiful."  

He nods and smiles while he keeps his constant attention on the events unfolding before us.  Two of the elders seem to be in a heated discussion over something that one of them had said.  However, when they both stand up and growl at each other Dominic lunges across the room and steps between them.  He demands, "Stop this right now."

Placing his hands on both the men's chests, he stops them from throwing punches at each other or even worse.  He asks, "What is all this about?  You are disrupting my queen's ball and that shall not be overlooked or forgotten any time soon."

The elder on the left of Dominic speaks up, "He has been mating with my luna and I have proof.  When I confronted him, he told me that she seduced him not the other way around.  I suggested that he had is way with her by force while I was gone to the meetings and now he has made the first move."

Dominic, turns to the elder on his right and asks, "Is this correct?"

The man hesitates before answering, "Yes, that is exactly right."

I watch as my king slams his fist on the table and everyone around him seems to jump.  Staring sternly at the elder on the right, Dominic states, "You know what the laws are and now you will have to pay.  After the ball I shall deal with you, but for right now I will have the guards take you away."

Dominic raises his hands and makes a swaying movement with one.  The guards immediately rush over and take the elder into custody.  Watching as Dominic walks back to his chair, I love the fact that he demands total respect and will accept nothing less.  His laws are written in stone and if you break them you do pay no matter who you are.  I just hope that I am never on the receiving end of his punishment. 

Once he is back to the table and is sitting down, he announces, "The ball shall go on."

With that, the room becomes a flurry of servants bringing in trays and all the food smells delicious.  When our food is brought to us, I stare down at all the goodies on my plate and wonder just how I am going to eat it all.  While I enjoy my food, a younger woman walks over to me and pours another glass of wine. 

She smiles and says, "You are beautiful, my queen."  I nod and smile before she walks away quickly.  

After the meal, the music begins to play again and this time dancing music flows through the air.  A waltz starts and Dominic's eyes light up before taking my hand and leading me to the dance floor in the middle of the room.  When he takes me in his arms, I glance into his eyes and I swear I see genuine love in them.

Twirling around the room, Dominic seems to really enjoy himself.  I could care less, except for the fact that I am in his arms and his touch sends tingles down my spine.  Just after the song ends and the next begins, he leans down and kisses me softly on the lips sweetly.  

Dominic looks up when Frederic taps his shoulder from behind and asks, "May I have this dance with the lovely young lady?"

With a worried look on his face, Dominic releases me and hands me over to Frederic.  When all eyes are on us including Dominic's from his chair at the table, he takes my hand and leads me along the dance floor to the music.  Leaning forward, he whispers in my ear, "My darling, you are the most beautiful woman here and I simply must have you.  Where did Dominic find you?"

Shocked, I glare at him and try to pretend that he didn't just say that to me.  I smile for Dominic as I stare at him from across the room, hoping that he doesn't notice that something is wrong.  When I turn to face Frederic, I state.  "He found me in the woods where I was kept for him till my 18th birthday."

Frederic starts to laugh and then he stops when Dominic comes up behind him and places a hand on his shoulder.  "I think you have had our queen's attention for far too long.  Excuse me, but I believe the rest of this dance belongs to me."

Frederic turns to him as he releases my hand and warns, "You should be careful to not offend the elders.  I realize that you are the reigning king, but we uphold your laws and make sure that no one steps out of line for you.  You may find that upsetting me, causes more problems for you than you may think it would."

Dominic's face turns red instantly as I watch from the side and his eyes turn golden, just before he asks rather loudly, "Do you think I am scared of you?"

Frederic steps back and after quickly assessing the situation, decides he had better retreat back to his seat at his table.  When Dominic sees this, he catches him in mid stride and knocks him on his ass.  Everyone turns and stares as several servants rush to help him up.

Noticing that everyone's attention is on the two of them, he booms in his loudest voice, "Please continue."

Strolling back to the table, Dominic holds my hand and just before we sit down he makes an announcement.  "From now on, if anyone has a problem with me or my queen, they are to take it up with us in private."  Then he pulls out my seat and I sit down.  

For the rest of the ball, everyone seems to be content except for Dominic who is agitated and doing his best to hide it.  However, I can tell when he snaps at one of the servants that he is still not happy.  Trying to make him feel better, I ask, "Would you like to leave my king, so we can be alone?"

He nods and then stands up and announces, "You may stay till the dawn, just as long as the wine and food lasts.  Have a good rest of the night, my queen and I are taking our leave.  Goodnight."  At that, everyone cheers and then we exit.

Once we are back in our room, I try to make my king relax.   Hoping that he will show some kind of emotion for me, I ask him, "Do you like me?  Am I not pleasing to you?"

He turns to me as he sits on the edge of the bed.  "Yes, I do and you are very pleasing to my eyes, but you are so young and I wasn't prepared for how I feel about that.  Anastasia, you could be my daughter and before I can ever touch you, I have to work that out."

Feeling let down and not worthy, I slouch sitting across from him and don't say another word.  After a few minutes, he stands up and begins to remove his clothing with his back turned to me.  I watch him and I can't keep my eyes off of his body.  Although, now it seems more and more evident that he may never actually do anything with me.

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