Chapter 155

That night, Andrew and I attended a feast in honor of his re-election. It was held on the Victorian floor of the building where Lisa’s wedding was to be held—the same floor, in fact. The same floor where Andrew and I once made love.

I blushed at the memory as Andrew and I walked by that very spot.

“Such wonderful memories here, right, Crystal?” Andrew whispered in my ear.

He smirked at me and winked, making me blush harder.

“Yes,” I whispered back, squeezing his bicep, “some of the best.”

“Onlysomeof the best?” he teased.

“Well, I have so many other amazing memories with you to compare them to.”

I bit my bottom lip suggestively when no one was looking. He chuckled and pinched my side playfully.

“Behave, love,” he mock-scolded me. “Wearein public.”

I pretended to pout, then bumped my hip against his gently.

“All right, no more playing around,” I said reluctantly. “Time to show me off to all your allies.”

Andrew guided me to a group of gathered dignitaries from all over the world.

“Crystal, this is the President of the Werewolves Republic of China, Wang Chao. Your Excellency, this is my girlfriend, Crystal Blanchard,” he introduced me to the first gentleman we came upon. “And this is the Werewolf Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Marsha Thurman.”

We continued on this way through the throng, with Andrew introducing me to several werewolf and human diplomats and me greeting them according to their countries’ customs. They all smiled at me and made small talk, laughing at whatever stupid joke I attempted to tell, and I returned the favor. The whole time, Andrew’s grin grew broader and broader, his pride in my budding diplomatic skills shining through.

By the time the feast officially began, I held my head high and my shoulders back. My confidence soared with each hand I shook, every bow of my head, and each curtsy I took. I had almost forgotten about the catastrophe of the coronation ceremony, and no one dared to bring it up.

Andrew and I were placed at the head of the long, ornate wooden dining table. On Andrew’s right sat Head Wolf Antoine. To my left were the king of the human world, Frederick Heinrich, and his current wife, Johanna.

As our gazpacho was set before us, Andrew introduced me to King Frederick and Queen Johanna.

“King Frederick, Queen Johanna,” he began, “I would like you to meet my beautiful girlfriend, Crystal Blanchard. Crystal, this is King Frederick Heinrich and Queen Johanna Bauer-Heinrich of the human world.”

As if I would have not already heard of them. King Frederick had the worst reputation when it came to handling the homeless. “Let them sleep with the vampires” was his motto.

Poor Queen Johanna was barely older than King Frederick’s own daughter, Princess Aurora. Of course, I could not speak against that age gap myself, being only a few years older than Lisa. Still, Queen Johanna always seemed so shy and like she could jump out of her skin at any moment.

It made me wonder what went on behind closed doors.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Your Highnesses,” I said, raising my glass of wine to them. “I have heard such wonderful things about you.”

Queen Johanna returned the gesture.

“You as well, Ms. Blanchard,” she replied.

“Yes, it is good to see you out in public after this morning’s…incident,” King Frederick said, taking a sip of his wine.

I cringed.

“Well, this morning was so long ago,” I replied, scooping a spoonful of gazpacho.

“Everyone was very worried when you ran off the stage like that.” King Frederick swirled the wine around in his glass without so much as looking at me. “We all thought that you might be having a fit or something.”

I gripped the handle of my spoon tightly. “Fit” was not the word that I would have used to describe it, but it was not too far off.

“I had a little emergency to handle, that was all.”

“What kind of emergency?” King Frederick asked bluntly.

Queen Johanna gasped quietly.

“My love, I don’t think that’s the kind of question that you should be asking someone after they have been handling an…emergency,” she said softly but firmly.

King Frederick silenced her with a wave of his hand.

“Come now,Crystal, I’m sure that it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he insisted.

I sipped my gazpacho, trying to buy myself more time. My eyes shifted to Andrew, imploring him to jump in and defend me, but he was lost in discussion with Head Wolf Antoine. I flushed, furious that he was distracted and would not be able to speak up for me.

“Well, it really was nothing to worry about,” I replied.

I decided that a change in subject was desperately needed.

“So, how are things between you and Queen Johanna?” I asked.

Queen Johanna tried her best to not shrink in her seat, but I saw her shifting uncomfortably regardless. King Frederick, however, did not so much as flinch.

“Very well,” he said. “Incredible, in fact. We just took a trip to the Alps.”

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

“Have you ever been there?”

I shook my head.

“No. I don’t get to travel that much, with my obligations to Ever After Weddings and my recent commitments to Andrew’s re-election campaign.”

“Ah, yes. I’m sure that your relationship with Andrew keeps you busy.”

I tried to muster a smile, but with my anger at Andrew still simmering, I was certain that it came across more like a grimace.

“It does, but it has other perks,” I replied.

Andrew grabbed my hand and gave me a kiss on the knuckles. I should have been happy for the acknowledgement, but instead, it made me angrier that he might have actually heard part of the conversation and still had not defended me.

“I am sure that it does,” King Frederick said slowly, thoughtfully.

He took a long drink from his wine, and I started to wonder if he had eaten any of his gazpacho at all.

“I must say, I am jealous of your relationship,” he continued. “It seems almost perfect.”

Taken off guard by this comment, I placed my spoon in my soup and tilted my head curiously at the king.

“Oh? You think so?”

“Certainly. With all of these attacks on you, you’re the epitome of a damsel in distress, and Andrew is the picture-perfect knight in shining armor.”

King Frederick glanced at me again, a smirk dancing across his face. He was challenging me, I knew it, and I was not about to turn down that challenge.

“At least I don’t leave homeless humans and hybrids out to die in the cold,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Crystal,” Andrew said, raising his hands between us, as though that gesture could bring peace, “Your Highness, I think that—”

“I think that I’m leaving,” I said, throwing my napkin on the table.

With everyone’s eyes on me, I charged out of the Victorian-style ballroom and down the stairs. Tears stung the corners of my eyes, but I did not let them overwhelm me.

Outside, I immediately saw Andrew’s gold Aston Martin. I stormed up to the car and pounded on the window, startling the driver awake. When he saw that it was me, he quickly rolled down the window.

“Ms. Blanchard? Is something the matter?” he asked. “Where’s His Highness?”

“Never mind that,” I said. “I need you to take me to my apartment. Now.”