The Lycan King's Healer
The Lycan King’s Healer – Chapter 41

As Aldrich’s entourage led us in, an ocean of eyes washed over us in a tidal wave, and there was a roar of applause. Despite our concerns, I was glad Aldrich was receiving the recognition he deserved. He seemed to perk up at the positive reception, flashing his women melting smile. Emily, Elias, and Benjamin stood up, but seemingly reluctantly. They applauded with blank expressions. I accidentally met Emily’s gaze and she glared at me, her perfect lips curled in disgust. They looked hateful, but not menacing. I took a deep breath.

The King and Queen sat upon their thrones, watching us with a smile. The love the Queen had for her son overpowered any loathing she had for me; she seemed genuinely happy.

The ballroom was glorious, unlike anything I had ever seen before. The floors were of glossy marble, sparkling like the white grand piano playing revelry music along with the orchestra. The thick velvet drapes were folded on the sides of the French windows, letting in the dim moonlight, for the room was dark besides some fairylights and table candles. I looked up at the vaulted ceiling, where a giant tiered crystal chandelier hung, reflecting the moonlight and the warm candle light. Everyone was dressed in their most fancy attire, in ball gowns or elegant waistcoats, either seated at their tables or dancing on the gleaming dance floor before the thrones.

“I haven’t seen anything like this since our wedding,” I said, looking around in wonder. Theo looked delighted, holding onto my hand as if he was scared to get lost in all of it.

“I’d like to properly introduce you to my world,” Aldrich said, chuckling. We strode up to the thrones, and I did not avoid the Queen’s gaze; if she had the nerve to meet mine, so be it. But she did not look away from her son. My suspicion of the stalker being her faded.

‘I am delighted to have you back, my son,” the Queen said once we stood in front of her. Aldrich leaned down to k**s the back of her hand.

“Ladies and gentleman, I thank you for joining us in our royal banquet for Prince Aldrich,” the King announced. He looked more happy to see us than he did this morning; he even seemed smug, like he was showing off to us that the banquet would go well. “Decorated army general, a brilliant warrior, and excellent Prince, I celebrate with thee the victory he had over our enemies.”

Everyone lifted their champagne flutes, golden bubbles rising in their glasses, and toasted to him. I felt suddenly uncomfortable standing with him, as if I didn’t deserve it. But I reminded myself of the Moon Goddess, how she told me even a war hero is less important than me. We are on the same level, regardless of who knew it. This was going to be our first time in public together as a couple, and it terrified me.

We dispersed into the crowd who now scattered up the aisle onto the dance floor. Alan stood by the entrance to the grand balcony, in front of the towering windows.

“I’ll take Theo to the dance floor if you’d like,” Alan offered when we approached him. He looked rather handsome in his fancy attire, his auburn red hair slicked back to revel some of his forehead. Despite this, he still looked young due to his small perky nose and sprinkle of freckles.

“I can do that, actually. Wouldn’t want to traumatize the child with your awful rhythm.” Danika swooped in, taking Theo’s hand. I grinned at her; she looked beautiful, her blonde hair piled up elegantly with two whisps framing her face. She wore a blue, icy gown, adorned with crystal jewelry.

“Thank you, Danika,” I said, and she smiled at me.

“You look even more beautiful than usual,” she said, her gaze diverting to Aldrich. She seemed to blush a little when she realized her stare was slightly too lingering.

Theo happily went off with his aunt, looking very excited to dance.

“Shall we?” Aldrich offered his large, calloused hand, and I nearly laughed at how an army general was asking me to dance.

I took it and looked at him nervously. People were watching us already; I could not imagine how prone to us their gazes would be when we’re dancing in the middle of everything.

We walked underneath the dazzling chandelier. The orchestra was playing a song that was neither slow nor fast, a song that seemed to caress the moment instead of flicking it by or freezing it.

“I don’t dance,” I warned him, looking around. Danika was twirling Theo around as he giggled, and even dancing with a toddler, she looked elegant.

“You don’t have to,” Aldrich shrugged. I raised an eyebrow in confusion before he grabbed my h**s and pulled me to him.

I gasped, pressed against his chest. He swayed our bodies back and forth, moving his head to the rhythm while laughing at me in amusement. I merely grappled onto him, not moving an inch, just moving with his body. I was terrified, more terrified than I did in the woods. That feeling of not feeling significant or worthy enough to be with him was still nagging me, anchoring me down.

We danced a bit more under the chandelier, and more people joined us, less eyes scrutinizing our every move, for they were busy having their own fun.

As we were dancing, a young woman came up to us–she couldn’t be any older or younger than me.

“Aldrich, you’ve returned,” she said as if they had known each other for decades. I turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Hello, Marie,” he said, then turned away, as if hoping a greeting would suffice.

“Last time we spoke, you said you were too tired from war to dance,” she sneered, “but you somehow have mustered the energy to dance with average werewolf scum.”

He tensed, stopping in the midst of our dancing to glare at her. “You’re not about to speak to my wife like–”

“It’s okay, Aldrich, you don’t have to defend me,’ I snapped. He looked down at me, confused as I pulled away. Some innate, instinctive urge came over me, as if I was a puppeteer and something else was handling my movements. It felt like a thin daze.

“You’re going to regret saying that,” I whispered to her, hoping Aldrich would not hear. I flicked my fingers behind my back.

She stared at me blankly, not understanding. “I’m so scared,” she said sarcastically. I glared at her until she walked away, uninterested. The girl must have been hoping for a scene.

“What did you say to her?” Aldrich asked, pulling me back into our dance. As he swayed me for a bit longer, I realized what I had done, the realization slowly impaling through the thin fog.

My eyes widened as I looked over his shoulder. I had let my insecurity of not being royal overwhelm me so much, that when someone voiced it, I snapped.

I had cast a spell on that girl out of anger. And even worse, it was a disease where the lips clamp together, eventually mending together as one. A disease only concocted and created by witches.

“I need some air,” I abruptly told him, sliding my arms away from his grip. As he stood there confused, I slinked through the crowd, making a beeline for the arched doorway. I passed through it into the mostly empty corridor, walking past the guards.

I took some heavy breaths in, feeling each ounce of air float through my lungs, trying to remind myself I was not an evil person. What overcame me? I never used any sort of fatal spell on anyone, not any that drastic. I was feeling insecure, but not lethally insecure. Did I suspect that the girl had something to do with everything going on?

“Getting some air?” a nasty, feminime voice sneered. Except it wasn’t the one I had just punished.

I turned to Emily standing in the shadows, her once beautiful face gnarled with scars.