Lila of the Reptilydes Part 5
The night of the first party came way too quickly for Lila. She wore what Emma had suggested she wear for this "special" night; a pure white, off the shoulder dress that was cut a little short to show off her tail, which Lila had no problem doing. She loved her rainbow colored tail.
She did her hair up in a complicated twisted bun like Emma had shown her. It had been hard to pull off but with the small curly purple tendrils framing her face, she had to admit it looked really good.
She had decided to take the egg out with her, knowing that any suitor she might consider would have to accept it just as he accepted her. So she washed it down to make it shine nicely, then put it in the end curl of her tail and made her way down to the party.
She and her brothers would be introduced one at a time in order of their birth, meaning she would come last. It gave her some time to fuss over how her dress fell around her hips and butterflies to gather in her stomach.
Finally, her father started calling out their names, Ian and then Kory. They both got a round of applause from the crowd. Then the twins were called out. Both of them, just to be funny, had worn the same thing, that way their father couldn't (hopefully) tell the difference between them. But their father had seen them every day of their lives since they were born and would know them apart no matter what.
He had even known that they would try to pull something like this so he gave them a choice; they could wear nametags and not switch them, change out their ties so women could tell them apart, or had their initial branded into their tail. Wisely the boys decided to just wear the nametags bearing their names and not switch them.
Next Dmitri was called out, by himself. Dyremus had a special introduction for his precious only daughter. After Dmitri had his round of applause and took his seat, Dyremus held his hands up for silence.
As soon as everyone quieted down he announced, "And last but certainly not least, my little daughter, Lila." Applause erupted as Lila made her way out in front of the crowd and took her seat.
Dyremus waited for the applause to die down before continuing, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, this party was held for my children to find suitors, possible lifemates. Young ladies, I suggest that you be leery of them," laughter broke out and he grinned then finished, "young men, I expect you to treat my daughter with respect. I will treat you with the same. I cannot wait to meet the young man that my daughter chooses tonight." With those final words, Dyremus sat down and signaled for the music to start playing.
Ian sat still for only a moment longer before getting up and gliding out onto the dance floor and taking the hand of a young naga maiden with pretty white hair and white eyes and a completely colorlessly white tail; an albino, the rarest of rare colorings for a naga. He had actually had his eye on her for some time, seeing her in the city sometimes when he went out to the local market.
He had wanted to speak to her but every time he saw her, she was engrossed with some important task and he didn't want to interrupt her. She seemed to eye him with the same amount of interest as he did her. So now that he had his chance, he wasn't going to pass it up.
She took his hand gladly and they opened the party with the first official dance, leaving many potential female suitors glaring with jealousy, each of them all wanting their shot to be the next queen.
Kory, who would be the next logical naga out of his chair, sat back, gazing around with dispassion. Dyremus kept an eye on him. The young naga had been very depressed as of late, and the king had no idea why. Then the king followed his sons suddenly focused gaze all the way to a servant female naga with copper colored hair, with eyes and tail to match, that was helping keep food plentiful on the tables.
Dyremus smiled, knowing that she was what was causing his son's behavior; a young naga maiden that the prince thought he shouldn't touch just because she worked in the castle underneath him. The king took the chance to glance over at Emma, who gazed back at him lovingly.
They had been waiting for a while to announce their love, though probably everybody in the kingdom knew it. Tonight they would announce their engagement and the date of the wedding.
That would come later though. For the moment, Dyremus waved over another naga servant and whispered instructions for him.
The king watched as his son's eyes widened when the female naga was taken away under protest. A few minutes later she reappeared with a pretty green dress on, glancing around uncertainly at the party goers, not knowing if she should really join them.
Kory looked at his father, when the king nodded at him, he eagerly made his way across the dance floor, avoiding many female hands that tried to stop him and make him pay attention to them. He had eyes for only one naga; one that he had been avoiding ever since the attraction struck him the summer before; Karina.
They had been good friends, best friends. They had shared everything with each other. Then one day she came to their meeting spot with tears in her eyes and streaks running down her face where the tears had fallen before. It had taken a while for him to get her to explain but he had finally gotten her to admit everything.
Another servant had accosted her; tried to rape her. Kory had been furious, wanted to strangle the naga as soon as he could find him. That's when he knew that he had feelings for her, ones that went beyond just friendship. To make her a little happier he had had the servant that had attached her fired and banished from the castle grounds.
"Karina?" Kory asked. She started and turned to look at him.
"Can I have this dance?" he continued nervously, praying that she would say yes.
Karina looked at the prince, knowing that he held her heart in his hands even though he didn't know it. She had never thought to have the chance to be with him the way she truly wanted to. But that had all changed tonight when her father, best friend and personal butler to the king, had told her to go put on her best dress.
She had refused at first but then forgot all arguments when her father told her that the king had personally requested that she join the party. Her father had a special twinkle in his eye. The king was allowing her too possibly be with his son! He didn't care that she was a servant! Now if Kory could accept her position was a different story.
She smiled sweetly and took his offered hand, following him out into the crowd with a happy smile on her face, knowing that everything would be different from now on.
The twins looked around with trepidation, not seeing any girl they were particularly interested in. They wanted to please their father yes but they didn't see how they could when they weren't attracted to anyone.
Dmitri looked around at all the people here for the party and wished he could just go back to the library and curl up with a good book.
Several male nagas had requested Lila's hand in a dance, but she hadn't liked any of them. One was too short, one was too fat, and one was actually balding (gag). One male naga had actually gotten her attention. He was tall and broad shouldered. He had short jet black hair with a tail to match. His eyes were black too; the pupil seemed to cover up his whole iris, even though it was probably just a trick of the light, Lila was entranced all the same.
She wanted him to come over and ask her to dance but apparently he was oblivious to her. She sighed, lifting the egg up to her eye level and examined it, looking for cracks. There was a small one right in the side.
He or she would be hatching soon, hopefully that night. The egg was getting pretty heavy and a little one would be much easier to carry around.
Suddenly the male naga looked up and caught her eye, and winked. She blushed, knowing he knew she had been watching him. She went back to studying the crack intensely, hoping he would forget her, hoping he wouldn't.
Someone cleared their throat. She started and looked up into the face of that attractive male. He smiled at her. She blushed again and looked away asking, "Can I help you?"
He laughed and said, "Yes, may I have this dance princess?"
She looked up at him, studying his face. "You know the egg has to come with me right?" she asked him, testing him.
He laughed again, "Of course I know that. I would expect nothing less than the princess taking care of her responsibilities. The whole kingdom already knows of what happened in the woods," he paused, looking into her face intently, "I hope to get to know you better. Not for your position in the kingdom but because I have had my eye on you ever since the king paraded you around the city right after you were born, I was only 3, but as I gazed at you, I knew that you were mine."
She blinked, wondering if she should believe him, wondering if she should even consider him sane.
He grew somber, saying, "I should probably introduce myself. I'm Zekeriah"
Lila studied him closely, knowing she had seen him somewhere, yet she was not able to figure out where. She shrugged her shoulders slightly and took his hand, carefully laying the egg down in the curl of her tail, and glided out onto the dance floor with him.
Dyremus glided over to Emma, taking her hand and helping her stand. Then he cleared his throat and gained everyone's attention after a few minutes.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Emma and I would like to announce our engagement," he said, smiling the whole time.
Everyone broke into applause including his--no their--children. Emma was just as much their mom as he was their dad. She blushed prettily in embarrassment, not really liking the spotlight on her but enduring it for him. He kissed her, showing her and everyone in his kingdom how much he loved her.
Ian looked over the top of Crystal's, the albino female naga, at his younger sister and her dance partner. The naga was a prince from a neighboring kingdom and apparently had come in disguise because his tail was black; completely and totally black. Ian thought that royals only had rainbow colored tails.
Ian shrugged and looked down at Crystal, smiling gently at her puzzled look. "I was just keeping an eye on my little sister," he told her.
"Ah," she said with a smile, glancing over her shoulder at the couple, "He seems nice."
Ian scowled, then ground out, "Nice my tail, his royal family is composed of many outlaws and scoundrels. He was probably the spawn of a rapist and his rape victim."
Crystal looked up at him then said softly, "Do you really think that's true; that he could be the product of a rape?"
"It's a possibility," Ian said, distracted as the prince led his sister out into the moonlit garden.
How did he know his sister's favorite place on the castle grounds was the garden? Ian didn't like what answer came to that question. He looked down at Crystal's confused face and smiled, saying, "Let's take a walk in the garden? What do you think?"
She brightened and took his hand, eagerly leading him out into the fragrant smell of the shrubbery. He glanced around quickly, searching and finding his sister and her beau sitting on a swing, talking quietly; the egg, he noticed, was between them, gleaming in the moonlight.
Crystal sighed, following his gaze to the young couple. "You know," she said scowling beautifully, "if you're no longer interested in me just say so and I'll go."
Ian jerked his sight back to her, his features becoming apologetic. "I'm sorry Crystal; I'm just worried about her is all."
She smiled and led him into the maze, their laughter fading off into the night as they went deeper and deeper into the confusing and backward shrubs.
Lila was actually having fun. Zeke, as he liked to be called, was a very interesting male naga. He liked poetry and was good at math. He adored reading and knew almost everything about plants. He even knew then ins and outs of how a kingdom was run, explaining to her some of the more confusing points.
She looked into the ball room where everybody was. Upon seeing that it was almost empty because everybody was headed home for the night, she stood, taking the egg and curling her tail around it once more.
"I think the party is over," she told Zeke, "it's time I go in and get to bed."
Zeke glided off the swing too, taking her hand and walking her inside. He even took her back to her seat, kissing her hand and saying, "Good night princess, I hope to see you again," before leaving. Lila gazed after him, hoping the same thing.