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Reece
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As soon as the Fae Queen asked us to join her for the banquet she had wrapped her arm around my Little Bunny and started out of the room. The movement that followed was quick and efficient. Her consort went to stand by her left shoulder and I went to stand by my mate's right shoulder. The guards in the room, ours included, went to stand around the two queens. The guards combined to form a protective circle. It was almost as if it had been communicated ahead of time, which it hadn't.
I listened in on the conversation between Queen Gloriana and Trinity as we walked. It seemed so odd to me to hear the way they were talking. I had never heard my Little Bunny talking so dignified and regal before today. It was different, but not in a bad way. It was actually kind of sexy. I wonder if she would let me use a fantasy role play with her Queen persona? Well, I guess we would have to wait and see later.
Finally our whole procession of guards, consorts, and queens made it to the banquet hall. There were once again guards standing at the door that opened them for us as we approached.
There were so many people in front of us that I knew Little Bunny couldn't see the room right away, even with the added height of those sexy shoes she was wearing. I was tall enough though, and I could see the whole room with ease.
There were dozens of very long tables that had several people at them already. The entire group, hundreds of people in total, stood as soon as the doors had been opened and they were kneeling before their queen was in sight.
Queen Gloriana didn't hesitate at the door. She just kept walking up toward the table that was sitting on the raised dais at the far end of the room. There were two very large and very lavish throne-like seats in the middle of the table. On either side of those thrones were two smaller yet still lavish thrones, one on each side of the middle two. Those four thrones were the only seats that were at that table.
While we walked I noticed Acacia stray from our group and go take her seat with her family among the other people that were gathered. She bowed along with them when she reached her seat.
The Fae Queen pulled my mate along with her until they got to the dais. Four guards moved forward and pulled the large chairs away from the table. When it was ready for her to sit, Queen Gloriana pulled Trinity right along to the large thrones in the middle. The Fae Queen sat herself in the one on the left, from my view, and indicated that Trinity should sit in the identical throne to her right.
"You sit here beside me, Trinity. And your consort can sit on your other side." Queen Gloriana smiled at me to indicate that I was allowed to go ahead and take my seat.
I was going to move behind my Little Bunny to push her chair in for her but the guard that was behind her did that before I could. With a little bit of disappointment that I made sure not to show, I went to my seat. Before I could even think of pulling it in, another guard behind us pushed the chair in for me. That was a little awkward for me.
I was starting to think that my Little Bunny wouldn't be the only one that needed to learn how to act like a royal. I needed to be more like a king. I may only be the king because I was married to Trinity but that didn't matter to me at all. I was a king and I was going to behave like one, at least when I had to.
Once we were all seated the people kneeling rose from their positions and took their seats. That was when Queen Gloriana addressed the group at large.
"Welcome my wonderful people. We have a special visitor today. She is the reason for this banquet this evening." The entire room was silent while she spoke, this was the type of command that I used to have as the Alpha. But that was before I had been outranked. "Our guest this evening is Queen Trinity Gray. She is the queen of all the shifters in the world as well as all the magic users. Both of these groups are large and include many different people. The magic users don't just include the witches and the warlocks, she is also the queen to the djinn and the genies. The shifter world is even larger and more vast than that of the magical world. I imagine that Queen Trinity is going to become a very important ally for us in the future so I encourage you all to be very welcoming."
That all sounded a little bit ominous to me. Was she implying that her people may have been aggressive, hostile, or somehow actively working against us without her warning? That would make me a very angry alpha indeed. And what exactly was she needing us as allies for? I didn't intend for us to rush to her aid all the time simply because she needs our help. My people were not going to be her personal army.
Still, we were in her territory for now so we needed to be careful. After that little speech it didn't seem like anyone was going to talk anymore. Instead, servants started to carry in large platters covered with food.
I was expecting more human looking servants but it seemed that these ones were what was known as lesser Fae. I had studied up on Fae culture before coming to this meeting, as had Trinity. We needed to make sure we didn't offend someone accidentally. These servants that were carrying the trays were known as brownies or broonies, they were said to cook and clean for their masters as long as they are being provided for and not mistreated. Apparently brownies were capable of being very mischievous and pulling pranks.
The brownies were small, about the size of a five year old child. All the brownies had a brownish color to them but that appeared to be caused by the thick hair that covered their bodies. The colors varied from a dark tan to the darkest of browns. Their eyes were varying shades of green, brown, hazel, and even pink. No blues though I noticed. They all wore very clean clothes for servants, not what I would have expected to see coming from the kitchen of a real life fairy castle. I think the thing that stood out most, though, was the fact that they didn't have noses. They had nostrils but no actual nose. At most, a few of them might have had a small bump under the skin where their nose should have been.
The brownies moved quickly throughout the hall, delivering platters to the table where we were first then distributing them all to the others. They moved very fast and didn't seem to be struggling at all with the weight of the heavy looking trays.
Once the food was distributed it was time to eat, but Trinity and I weren't just going to start eating the food right away.
"Please, Trinity, do enjoy your meal." Queen Gloriana invited my Little Bunny to eat her meal. With no need to prompt him, Gabriel walked over to Trinity's side while Vincent walked to mine. The two of them then pulled a black silk bag that was filled with an array of utensils. This package had been prepared by Gabriel for just this instance.
The two of them worked in complete synchronization while they used different utensils to taste test all of the food. No one said a thing while the job was being done. Once they had eaten a bite of everything and sipped the drinks that were offered, wine for me and juice for my pregnant wife, we would wait for a few minutes to see if they were affected by them at all.
"I see you are still wary of us here." Queen Gloriana still wore her smile as she spoke. "That is understandable. You do not yet know me. And I applaud you for being prepared to do just his."
Once the test time was over and there was nothing wrong with either man it was time to eat. I was just glad that the two of them had used napkins to clean the goblets we were drinking out of, I was quite thirsty and the wine smelled amazing.
The food was wonderful, and I was happy to see that there hadn't been any sabotage aimed at us. I know that both Trinity and I were very nervous about this trip, it wasn't likely to be as easy as we were hoping it would be.