Heavenly Bodies

Chapter Fifty

CHAPTER FIFTY

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ a man cried out, and Elara turned to see a jester prancing around a balcony above them, his voice enchanted to carry through the room. ‘King Idris of Helios and his son, the Lion himself, have arrived. Let’s give them a warm welcome!’

The crowd cheered and clapped as the music became deafening.

‘And don’t they both look dashing? I wouldn’t mind if that lion took a bite out of me.’

Elara looked in abject disbelief to Merissa and Isra. The seer sniggered while Merissa hid a smile behind her hands. ‘His name’s Alfonso,’ Merissa said. ‘And he’s arguably the best jester in Celestia.’

Elara squinted, trying to see Enzo’s face, and thought she saw some faint amusement upon it, and Idris had plastered on a brilliant smile, though Elara saw right through it.

A few plucking strings picked up, and Alfonso raised a hand exaggeratedly to his ear. ‘Oh? What’s that? Do we hear…an Aphrodean welcome commencing?’

There were screams and wolf-whistles from the crowd.

‘You know by now what that entails, Prince Lorenzo,’ Alfonso shouted, and Isra snorted. ‘And you too, King Idris, should you want it.’

Idris waved a hand through the air, and the crowd laughed as he pushed his son forwards.

‘Well, it’s always worth asking,’ Alfonso continued. ‘You know I like a silver fox as much as I like a virile lion.’

Elara scoffed.

Idris settled into an ornate chair by the queens upon their dais, as Enzo was led into the centre of the crowd, who parted and created a circle around him. Elara shifted, pushing so that she was near the front.

‘Now, ladies and gentlemen,’ Alfonso continued, ‘today is a special day. The summer solstice strengthens our magick, the Light in the sky blessing us all. And to commemorate it, we like to have a little fun.’

There were hoots and hollers in the crowd.

‘Now let’s see, which of our fine ladies is going to try and seduce our handsome Helion?!’

Enzo feigned embarrassment as he briefly put his head in his hands, before settling back in the chair. Elara looked on in amusement. She knew he couldn’t resist attention. The tune struck up fully, a heavy beat of drums and the trumpets, setting up a fast, carnal rhythm.

There were more shouts from the crowd, the jester riling them up.

Finally, a woman stepped out of the crowd.

‘And here we go!’ Alfonso shouted. ‘Rosa Signo, trained under the infamous Lady Salome. Let’s see if she can charm our esteemed guest.’ Rosa slinked forwards, brunette hair swishing, her barely-there dress grazing glowing skin. She swished her hips as she made her way to Enzo.

Elara narrowed her eyes. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as amusing as she had first thought.

When she turned, it was to see Isra smirking, Merissa peering over the seer’s shoulder with barely controlled glee.

Elara rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ She flicked her eyes back to the girl, whose hands were trailing down Enzo’s chest as she tried to seduce him.

‘Have some self-belief,’ Isra scolded. ‘I didn’t waste my time helping you prepare all week for you to balk now.’

‘You?’ Merissa asked incredulously. ‘All you did was sit and critique.’

‘Yes, and a fine chunk of my precious time it cost me,’ Isra replied primly.

‘And it’s a no from the prince!’ Alfonso bellowed as Enzo stuck a thumbs down in the air. Rosa huffed, storming back into the crowd as another enticing woman with wine-red hair took her place. The newcomer waved out to the crowd. ‘Emerald Adonis, ladies and gents!’ yelled Alfonso. ‘The firecracker herself. But will sparks fly between her and a flame-wielder?’ Emerald wound her waist, stepping between Enzo’s spread legs before spinning and lightly sitting in his lap, then bending forwards.

‘Well, subtlety certainly doesn’t seem to be Emerald’s strong suit, but Helions aren’t exactly known for it either,’ continued Alfonso. ‘You’ve seen how big Prince Lorenzo’s crown is, haven’t you?’ The crowd laughed. ‘And from a long line of seductresses, Emerald clearly knows what she’s doing.’ Emerald jumped up, facing Enzo as she undid a button of his shirt before sinking low. Elara’s hand twitched.

‘Easy,’ Isra warned. ‘Please don’t go all lady-of-darkness on her ass.’

Elara clenched her jaw as Enzo smiled down at the charmer, leaning towards Emerald’s face, before shaking his head. ‘And the Lion still isn’t satisfied. Next!’

Emerald only winked, before lightly pushing off him and blowing kisses to the crowd.

When the next woman stepped out, Elara felt like cold water had been poured over her. She recognized the goldenblonde hair of the woman from the night of Leyon’s Descent. She’d been playing with Enzo’s hair in the grove, and seemed determined to remind him as she smirked, reaching on tiptoes to rake her hand through his curls, then draping herself over him.

‘And what’s this, a reunion? For those who weren’t here last year, Melodi stole the prince on the last summer’s solstice. Will she seduce the prince for the second year in a row?’

She saw Enzo search the crowd, his eyes finally settling on Elara.

‘Enough of this,’ she snapped.

Melodi tried to pull him up to dance, but he pulled his arms away, still looking at Elara. The charmer’s brow furrowed, as she twisted around him. ‘Ooh! It’s not looking good for Melodi!’

Jealousy, hot and cold at the same time, curdled in Elara’s stomach. She squared her shoulders, looking at Merissa.

Merissa nodded. ‘It’s now or never, Elara. All eyes on you.’