I chuckled, turning when I heard a throat clear. I was struck stupid again when I saw my knights. And it wasn’t only the ones who where there all the time, but all of them as this was a big thing. All of them looked amazing dressed in their suits. It sounded weird and cheesy maybe to be in a white suit, but no, they pulled it off for sure. Especially the Begleys with their tanned skin, caramel hair, and golden eyes.
Seriously, I was seconds from fanning myself with all the sexy going on. Like dayumn.
Even Simon. He was good looking, but always goofing around and a brightly smiling young guy. Now he was a man, a hot one, with his hair styled and giving me a look that he might be a little cat, but he was a man who wanted to show me what he wanted to do to me.
“Yeah, dressing up more often sounds good,” I whispered, trying to shake myself out of it. “Thank you for coming and joining the circus.”
Thomas Gagon dipped his head. “Always, Princess Inez. Our family is no longer only our clan and you did that. We will stand with you always as our coven is worth that.”
It was. I absolutely agreed with him; which was why I was putting myself through all of this. I greeted each of them, careful of my lipstick, but getting some on James when he pulled me against him and whispered something naughty in my ear. I shivered, completely under his spell as well.
The man could wear a suit for sure.
Then I went to greet my nobles, thanking the ones who were willing to show their solidarity, even when they didn’t want to court me or whatever. They gave me several funny looks and reminded me it was a dream come true to join a coven and not have to be a part of the court or traveling all around, expected to find one. Hey, if they were happy, that worked for me as we needed everyone in our corner we could get.
“Let’s get you something to eat,” Cerdic offered.
“Um, I don’t know I could keep anything down,” I admitted.
“She started having a panic attack three times,” Hope told them, and I couldn’t even get mad at her for snitching as she never did. I wasn’t objective, but she was, so if she thought they should know, I trusted her. “How about some of that ginger tea you like and a bagel? Just something to soak up the acid from nerves.”
I nodded, following after her over to the start of the setup and it was a setup. Holy crap. My ballroom was huge and to the right of the last entrance was the first buffet table that was the coffee and tea station. There was every kind of coffee option we had, from already brewed carafes to coffee presses and fresh-pour coffee cones with filters right there.
There were kettles of hot water ready to go, electric and safe, but also tea pots if people wanted to take those to tables. There were dozens of tea bag options, plus loose leaf, and then an array of fixings from sliced lemons for tea all the way to syrup pumps to make fun coffees and everything in between. Nice.
I fixed my tea with honey and moved along, curious what else they had thrown together, hoping it wasn’t too bad. The table was full of fresh fruit and juices. The juices were in individual carafes that looked cute but fancy, and there were markers of what everything was. Right, we had those juicers someone had found and brought here at Nick’s request.
“Thanks, guys,” I said to my nobles, knowing they had gone for the array of rare fruits even before the apocalypse. Or they’d shown people where to go.
“Actually, it was several from my previous coven,” Vitor told me. “They are very keen on making sure you shine in front of so many as they like the life you offer them, the difference of your coven compared to others.”
“Good to know. Thank them for me. This is impressive.” I swallowed my feelings that shining wasn’t always good as that had been the exact reason Safie had wanted me. I preferred under the radar, but Princess Leonor had had crap of people trying to adopt her and take over what she had since she didn’t shine. Life was a crazy balancing act with severe consequences too often.
After fruit and juices were all the adult-type brunch drinks and fixings. There was a mimosa fountain and Bloody Mary station and a bunch more I didn’t even check out since I wasn’t all that knowledgeable on booze yet.
Next was an entire table of pastries. It was overflowing with them. There were donuts, bagels, eclairs, cream puffs, muffins, cinnamon rolls, croissants, and more, and all with options of stuffed this or that and crazy looking toppings. I simply blinked at the pretty and sugar heaven a moment. Then I looked at the others as if trying to figure out what I was missing.
“The Novak clan are still in Seattle helping there, but eventually they want Portland,” James explained, always up on goings-on with the clans and leaders. “They used to own a very successful bakery and several other useful businesses they would like to have again if older vampires of the coven deliver to the outposts. They were going to help with some of the food, but they took the chance to really shine.”
I nodded, getting it. Wow, shine they did. “I’m going to get fat if we can get this all the time.”
“You would be just as attractive if you were plump,” Kristof said as he loaded his plate. Most might have gotten annoyed with him, but honestly I found his bluntness, and sometimes dense nature without tact,
