Unknown territory

I cleared my throat as soon as she got it in the correct placement. When she looked up her eyes were purple with green swirls and her skin shined. She didn\'t have an embaressed look on her face, but then again someone as beautiful as her probably didn\'t care about what someone else thought...

"Oh, hi," she said as looked at the butler who was looking to the floor his face was flushed. "You going to go see your mother Charles?"

"Yeah, I asked him to help me because I didn\'t know where to go."

"Well, follow me, your right on time, I was just about to go meet the queen in the foyer..."

She said thanks to the butler and he bowed and walked off. As we walked off she asked me something, "Have you seen Yeiri?"

"No, I was actually about to ask you the same thing... I mean I saw him a hour ago..."

We started to walk down the hallway, and she asked me, "So how\'d you sleep?"

"Pretty good... Was all this stuff suppose to happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like my skin looks polished, I can see colors out of my right eye, I mean my body is huge everything has improved tremendously...."

"Yes, that\'s all normal... Now you look like a true fae..."

As we got to the last step we passed through the kitchen and stepped into the foyer where my mom sat on her chair. Yeiri was already in the foyer.

Clairissa bowed and I kneeled and as I righted myself so did Clairissa. She went to stand next to Yeiri as I walked over to my mom.

"Is there anything we need to do before we flash step to the place?"

"No my lady," Yeiri answered, "At least not to my knowledge..."

"Alright, lets go."

She stood up grabbing my hands, "You ready?"

"Sure, why not..."

She laughed and I felt afloat for a second and short of breath.

The next moment we were standing in a field of grass. She put her arm through mine holding onto the inside of my elbow like I was her escort. As we stepped on to the sidewalk I noticed that Yeiri and Clairissa were waiting for us at the door. They also had three of the guards with them that always stood next to my mom. It was obvious they werent here to enjoy themselves.

As we walked up the sidewalk I noticed some people getting out of cars, some people were arriving just like we did but they didnt look like Fae.

"Are those men fae?" I asked my mom in a low voice.

"No they\'re vampires..."

"Oh."

She laughed at my response, "don\'t worry honey, they dont drink the blood of the Fae it can kill them... And plus, it\'s forbidden by the Vampire king..."

"Uh huh," I said to myself as we walked up the steps. We walked into the place and it was huge. There was tables everywhere with chairs that had signs on the tables where people should sit. Music of all kind was playing: some of it was recent and some of it was very old. People were dancing, and drinking and having fun. There was some beautiful people in here also, but some pretty gruesome ones as well. I guess you could call them goblins, and there were so many other different species that I couldnt keep track of the people who came up to us to say hello and what not. And as we sat down I started to notice some of the people from last nights ball. There was the same woman that came up to Yeiri the night before and kissed him on the cheek, but tonight she looked a little more aggressive. It was like she wanted something from him, but it was something that he didn\'t want to give her... Not because he was incapable, but because she was barking up the wrong tree and she probably didnt believe he wasn\'t straight.

"Who is that mom? She was at the ball the other night too..."

My mom looked down the table where Yeiri stood with the female.

"Oh, thats the sister of the princess of the elves. She\'s been after Yeiri for years, but she doesn\'t have a clue to take the hint that he\'s not into females..." She laughed as the woman walked away the expression on her face unchanged but I could feel the madness brewing below the surface.

I noticed the young man that came up to me the night before, and the other boy that he was talking to was here as well. They were standing across the room and for some reason I could hear them talk about the night before.

"He\'s suppose to be dead..." One of \'em said in a low voice, "What the fuck happened?"

"The bomb went off on the wrong person..."

"Fuck. I knew this was gonna blow up in our faces..." He pushed his hair back, "they\'re gonna address this to the courts tonight. And there\'s nothing we can do, because we cant leave nor can we do anything now... He\'s already a full blooded Fae..."

A waiter came around with a tray of wine glasses filled some sparkly red liquid. And as I went to grab one my mom grabbed my hand, "dont ever grab something off of a tray in here... Who sent this over?"

"Uhm, that young gentlemen in the unseelie seat." He pointed to the man.

And as we looked over at the table my mom said, "Unseelie king..." He waved at us while holding his drink up. He mouthed the word cheers and took a sip. Then he looked to his left at what seemed to be his daughter because they looked so similar he laughed and then carried on.

"Take these back and bring us both a long island ice tea... And make sure its somewhat tasteful..." The waiter disappeared: like he went poof.

"I\'m never gonna get used to that..."

My mom laughed and Clairissa came up to us with a pina colada in hand.

"So what are we suppose to be doing?" I asked, "Is there a special occasion?"

"Yes, were addressing the council tonight... So we can get this blood feud put to rest... And I\'m sure we\'re not the only ones wanting to talk to the council about some of the changes to the council\'s guidelines... And some people have problems of their own to address with the council... There is probably some duels to be fought." My mom said quietly as the waiter brought out our drinks.

"Duels? What do you mean?" I asked as he set them down in front of us and my mom said, "hold up."

She put her hand over the top of the drinks hovering there. Some type of mist formulated at the bottem of her hand she flipped her hand around and she blew on it lightly as it dissipated.

"You need to put up your defenses... Someone in Unseelie court is playing tricks on you..."

"Yes, my queen... Thank you..." The waiter walked off and she answered my question.

"Duels are the way we challenge one another in front of the council. It\'s a way to settle conflicts among the different bloodlines. The duels are a battle to the death, and you must accept the challenge. Or someone can step in for you, and if you don\'t accept the duel the council will give you a punishment for the actions on whomever they see fit after you state your claim. But for there to be a duel you must have a reason behind it."

"What happens if you try to kill someone without claiming a duel?"

She smiled, "we\'ll just have to see, but you were human when it happen so I\'m not really sure. But the usual punishment is death..."

A waiter walked up to my mom, "my lady The Council is here..."

"Thank you," she scooted her chair back and stood as the waiter walked away. "Stay here and don\'t move."

Everyone started to take their seats: everyone on the dancefloor, everyone that was up talking, everyone that was up walking around, and even the waiters took their assigned seats.

But at every table someone stood up and went around the front of their table and kneeled on one knee. I noticed that the waiters were setting up thirteen chairs in the middle of the room in a circle. Each chair was facing towards a table and when they finished they went and sat down.

A few moments later the doors opened showing thirteen people in black cloaks; the hoods shadowing their faces so you couldnt see their features. They took their seats and one by one they stood addressing their respective kings or queens. And when the person who addressed my mom spoke the womans voice was elegant, and flowed just like a stream not faltering, and unwavering.

"Yuna Erien Saronnius Jaspen Terra, queen of Seelie, my queen, for I am honored to be under your rule... For you may rise and take your place..."

She stood up gracefully and grabbed the middle of her dress and curtsied. As the woman sat back down my mom took her seat. The rest of the people on The Council addressed their kings, or queens respectively. After they were done they all stood up at the same time untied the tie at their neck and pulled off their hoods and pulled their cloaks off their shoulders setting them down on the chair they were sitting in. They all looked magnificently beautiful. They had on elegant gowns and suits that looked amazing. Plenty of different styles from many different eras some recent, and some from the 1800\'s, and in between those eras. They all looked mesmerizing, and I couldnt seem to keep my eyes off of them.

Moments later they all joined their respective tables and then the waiters stood up brought out more drinks. After the council settled into their seats the waiters started to bring out plates of food.