The much waited for event was being held in Paris and a lot of oohs and aahs were heard as the vampire community was led into a large room lit dimly by heavy crystal chandeliers. These were mostly from the younger vampires as they had not seen anything so glamorous, not on the scale of the mating ceremony anyway. As for the older vampires, they were slightly jaded as they had been to wonderful and exotic events, but they could not deny that the arrangement of the mating ceremony was very impressive. They were all led to large oak chairs in the shape of mini thrones and were sat adjacent to a higher level of larger thrones set out for the elders. In the middle of it all was a large space where fire breathers did their tricks and bellydancers glided and twisted seductively.
'This is quite impressive.'
Aleksander raised an eyebrow at the praise in Danka's reluctant tone. It was the first sentence she had uttered since he met her three days ago. He nodded as well. As much as it irked him to say so, it really was impressive. The elders had definitely pulled out all the stops for their first ever pure bred mating ceremony. He smiled bitterly to himself. Waste of money if they asked him.
The seating arrangement meant that the parents, visitors and normal vampires were sat in a half circle while the pure breds were sat in the centre of it all, directly in front of the performers and directly opposite the elders. Aleks smiled to himself when he saw where he and the others were being led to sit. It would give him a lovely view of Damien and this way he would be able to keep an eye on him.
As he sat down he noticed Damien's slightly fidgety demeanour and wrinkled his eyebrows lightly. This was very puzzling and scary at the same time. Damien was the most cunning of elders, even vampires. Normally, regardless of whatever plan he may or may not have been plotting, he never made it obvious by fidgeting or looking around. No one ever knew he had anything on his mind until it had occurred. For him to be so obviously twitchy did not bode well for Aleksander. It also meant that whatever he intended on doing, he was going to do soon.
The performance by the fire breathers started in earnest as a large burst of flame was blown in the air, blinding Aleksander for a second. He turned his head away, squinting and realized that he could not really make out the elders in front of him. He looked round wildly in panic and decided that he could not do this alone. He should have told his father in the first place. His father would have known what to do as he was aware of what Damien was capable of first hand. He shook his head at his stupidity and kept on trying to see past the jumping and fire breathing cretins in front of him.
'You may not be aware of this, but this is the third time you have jabbed me in the ribs with your elbow. I may not be able to be hurt but that does not stop such jabs from causing me discomfort. Either tell me what is causing you such distress or comport yourself.' Danka hissed vehemently in his right ear.
He turned and saw her glaring at him.
'Oh, I apologise, I wasn't aware of...distress? What do you mean by that?'
'Don't give me that. It's pouring out of you in waves. I don't care if you tell me to mind my own business, but don't pretend you aren't bothered, with the Elder Damien nonetheless, and lie to me.' Damien half-whispered with a snort.
Aleksander looked round for his parents once again and saw that they were too far away to signal to. Crap.
'Okay look, I'm going to tell you something but I have to trust you that you will not breathe a word of this to anyone.' He whispered softly but heatedly to Danka.
Danka nodded shortly.
He proceeded to tell her all about Belle.
She nodded when he was through, 'Ah, I had a feeling you weren't like the rest of us who were annoyed about the ceremony just because it took away our rights to choose our mates, but a human...hmm. I have heard you, but what does this have to do with your newfound fascination with Damien? Or does he know about her?'
Aleks shook his head in despair, 'That's what I don't know. I was so sure before that he did not, but why else would he have given me such a smug look before? He has something up his sleeves that will hurt me and I don't think it has anything to do with my family. He may be evil but he is definitely not stupid. And, it's not like he hasn't done something similar to this before.'
Danka looked at him in confusion, 'How so?'
'He killed my father's first love. She was human. He must have some sort of hatred for humans and I know for sure that he definitely hates me and I'm afraid that if he has found out about Belle, and I can't say for sure that he hasn't, then she's as good as dead.' Aleks said flatly.
Danka widened her eyes then. She had thought this trip to France was going to be boring and irritating especially when she was going to be mated to a stranger, but it seemed the vamps here were full of drama.
Danka smiled sympathetically at him, 'You cannot just keep worrying blindly without having any idea of what he is up to. I will look out for you as well. I will keep an eye out for him.'
Aleks looked at her with relief and a tiny bit of suspicion, 'That's really kind of you and believe me when I say I appreciate it, but why are you helping me? I thought you did not like me, so why the turnaround?'
Danka shrugged, 'Because you have been honest with me. You did not have to be, yet you trusted me with your secret.'
Aleks opened his mouth to thank her again, but she continued, 'And also because I am bored. This is so much more fun that staring at these buffoons try to burn us to crisps. What were the elders thinking getting fire breathers here for? It's a sure way to eliminate all of us in one swoop and there are a lot of important vamps here too.'
Aleks nodded once. Right. Well she was helping him anyway and a beggar did not have any choice, really. 'I'm going to go look for my parents. There's so much noise now, with some people standing and others jumping about so I can sneak off now to look for them.'
'Fine. I'll just stay here and...' Danka started, then she realized something quickly. 'Look, now that people are beginning to mill about, don't you think Elder Damien now has the perfect opp...' She turned round and saw that Aleks had already gone off. She ended with a perfect eye roll, '...ortunity to go wherever he wants to go.'
She sighed and looked up at the elder's level. Damien was still sat there. She looked round and could not find Aleks. Suddenly, a trumpet sounded startling her and many others. A voice called out loudly, 'The mating ceremony is about to begin. Pure breds, be with your designated mates.'
Danka felt Aleks slip in beside her. 'Did you find them?'
'No.' He gritted out angrily. He had caught their scent and had been following it, but this stupid trumpeter had given his announcement and he had to get back to his annoying little throne. He looked down at the table closing his eyes in frustration. Then he opened them and turned as if propelled. His father was staring at him in confusion as if he knew his son was worried about something. Immediately, people began to applaud as the elders stood and everyone stood as well with them.
'Yes! I've seen my father. Look, I'm going to go talk to him. With everyone clapping and standing, I have a chance to get to him and get back here. I'll be back soon.'
He left again as Danka opened her mouth to talk.
'This is getting tiring.' She muttered to herself. She had seen Damien stand as well with the elders, but he was lagging behind as the other elders walked forward. If she had not been studying him as closely as she was, she would not have noticed his quick side step towards a door she had not seen before. She looked round for Aleks and saw him whispering away to his father. She shook her head in exasperation. Guess it was down to her to follow the big bad Elder Damien then!
***
Belle smiled as she left the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. She had had a lovely flight from Heathrow and was now heading off to the Hyatt Regency Paris Hotel. She found a cab outside the airport and hopped in happily. The hotel was not too far away from the airport and was also close to tourist spots like the Eiffel Tower and Louvre. Even Disney! She grinned to herself as she thought of Claire. Claire would have loved to go to Disney. They had not been there since their school trip in college. She was looking forward to a wonderful soak in the bath and some dinner. No, dinner first then a soak. She sighed happily to herself as she leaned back against the cab seat and smiled. Now, she could finally put everything to the back of her mind and just be.
***
