The hall went silent, the grand doors opened and everyone bowed their head to great the king.
The crowned king and queen entered with majestic auras surrounding them while two knights shadowed the two rulers.
This was Valerian's first time seeing the queen and he admitted that she was slightly attractive.
"Please raise your heads." The king stated once he had basked in the moment long enough.
A sea of heads rose and the king and queen descended the stairs.
Instead of greeting the dukes of the kingdom first, which was an unofficial protocol at royal banquets, the two rulers approached Valerian.
Needless to say, those in the noble faction were not pleased by this. Not pleased at all.
****
The queen sat on the left side of the king at the banquet table while Valerian sat on the right.
Usually, the crown prince would sit beside the honoured guest but this time Finn sat beside his mother the queen. It was something that had not happened since he was a child.
Valerian could also feel the queen's hatred toward him but then again Val did not care. His most worrisome issue was that Thalia and Nicolai sat between him and Alexander.
In front of the nobility, it made it appear as though the royal family had a strong relationship with the vampire but Valerian felt annoyed. Oswald, the one who Valerian wanted to question, was no where to be seen.
"Lord Valerian, are you enjoying the banquet?" Thalia asked.
Valerian was about to make a less than flattery statement but remembered what Enoch said.
"It has been an enlightening experience."
"Perhaps you and I could have a dance later?" Thalia sent the question out as if it were the most insignificant thing ever but her heart was pounding in her chest.
Valerian could hear her, he raised his cup to drink and decided to give a response that did not commit him to anything.
Before he could respond, Prince Finn stood up with his cup of wine in his hand.
The king saw his son stand. His eyes, shot wide open and he whispered.
"Sit down, what do you think you are doing?"
Finn ignored his father. He signalled to the musicians to stop and they did.
The guests stopped and turned to look at the prince.
Seeing that the attention was on him, Finn walked down from to the floor. The guests cleared a path.
"I, First Prince Finn, wish a warm welcome to all our guests and one guest in particular."
The prince turned around and raised his cup to Valerian but Val did not raise his cup in return.
The queen looked at her son with deep concern while the king's eyes were filled with anger.
The anger in his father's eyes only seemed to solidify the prince's small act of rebellion.
The prince smiled malevolently and turned back to the crowd.
"I have prepared a small gift for our honoured guest. I have shown consideration for out visiting noble's appetite and acted accordingly." The prince signalled for the doors to be opened and they were.
Ten of his personal knights made their way through the doors while carrying full, blood stained buckets through a disgusted crowd. They set the buckets in front of the table where the royals and Val sat.
The buckets were full of blood and rat carcasses.
In a distant corner, Duke Raizen was smiling. This night had already taken a turn that he did not expect but he gladly welcomed.
The Duke wanted to make a grand scene with a noble army and an assassin from the Shadow Guild but he was told that the best assassins in the guild was already on an away mission. He had to wait even after paying a third of his wealth to hire a team.
If the prince's actions made Valerian lose some face or even made the vampire react poorly, he could make his plans even more grand and even create a power vacuum that he, of course, would fill.
The king balled up his fists. He did not know what to do. His own son had acted so brazenly in front of all the influential figures gathered.
Alexander, who did not care for the dignity of the Saras royal family, stood up in rage.
"You, little pissant, dare to...." He began to take action but before he could finish, he was cut shot when Valerian raised his hand.
The ancestor of the vampire race stood up calmly but his eyes were flashing red while his face turned dark and unreadable. Valerian walked down to the First Prince, he paused a moment beside the prince then silently past him to the buckets of blood.
His movements were not too slow but also not rushed. They seemed calculated and predatory.
He picked up a bucket and smirked. This offence was beyond what he excepted the idiot's brain to be capable of. He had underestimated the fool's vulgarity.
He turned to the First Prince who still felt arrogant and untouchable in the banquet.
After all, this was a social event, he had not acted violently so if Val acted in such a manner, he could establish a grievance with the empire.
Val walked up to him, bucket in hand and looked the prince directly in the eyes.
The entire room stayed silent. The temperature dropped drastically and the light seemed to be dimming.
The prince arrogantly smiled at Valerian and the vampire smiled back for a moment then threw the blood and corpses at the prince, drenching Finn.
Finn was stunned by the reaction and he was not the only one but Valerian was not done, he began to roll up his own sleeves.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The prince shouted.
In response, Valerian smiled and then
PAH!!!!
"????"
"???"
"???"
Valerian slapped the prince. Unlike last time, there was no decapitation but the prince's teeth were lost.
"AAARRRGH!!!!!" Finn stumbled backwards, scrunched down and held his face.
He was in pain and he straightened his body to look at Valerian but before his eyes fell on the vampire...
PAH!!!
...it happened again.
This time it was a backhanded slap and the prince instantly fell down on his ass, semi-conscious with both sides of his face swelling at a visible rate.
The king and queen instantly stood up, the first in shock and the second in dread.
Valerian walked to a table and grabbed a napkin, then wiped the blood off his hand.
Valerian then looked around the room, daring anyone to voice their opinion.
No one, knight, noble, merchant or royal dared speak. Some out of shock, perhaps fear or disbelief but all kept silent.
Valerian walked back to the prince and bent down to speak but he spoke loud enough for all to hear.
"The only reason I do not kill you now if because I am wearing white. Count your blessings but try this stunt again and the next time I see you, I will be wearing red."
He grabbed the prince by his hair and dragged him to the royal table.
"Where is Oswald?" Valerian asked. The king and queen were in shock. Before either one could speak a voice came out from the door.
"Was this necessary? The boy needed to be disciplined but is this not a little too much and a case of the strong bullying the weak? This is an affront." The voce came from a man standing by the door