“Join me for a drink after the show,” I insisted and her eyes snapped up to meet mine, a flash of something in them which could have been fear. And I quite liked that look on her.
“Just me, My King?” she breathed in confusion.
“Just you,” I purred.
“I have to work,” she said quickly, and for a millisecond there was a flicker of defiance in her gaze. But it was nothing I couldn’t easily stamp out.
“I am the king, and I command that you are unengaged.” I stroked a finger along her cheek before ducking into the car and she snapped the door shut after me.
I was driven to Tucana and I ran my palm down my crisp white shirt, adjusting my dark red jacket as the car door was opened. I stepped out into the chaotic light of camera flashes, the rush of anti-magic spells falling over me.
I indulged the crowd, offering photographs and perfectly designed quotes written by my PR team which would fill the papers tomorrow. I was the most popular man in the kingdom, everyone wanted a bite of me and I let them have it as I fed them my most winning smiles and basked in the glory of my reign.
They asked about my queen, and I told them she was overtired, but would soon be on her feet again. This was my night after all, and I’d had no intention of bringing her here to claim any of my triumph for herself.
When it was time to head inside, I walked up the red carpeted stone steps into the grand theatre set up for the event with my entourage in tow. The FIB remained close, but not so close that they blocked the photographers as I turned and offered a final wave to the crowd who cheered raucously. Then I was escorted inside and led down a glitzy corridor full of golden sculptures which called to the inner Dragon in me.
I was led backstage for a while, but it wasn’t long before it was time for my moment in the sun. The theatre was fit to bursting with my supporters, and as I waited by the stage to be announced by my good friend from The Celestial Times, Portia Silverstone, I bathed in the excitement in the air.
I was at the height of my career, this moment years in the making and tonight my life would be celebrated in an interview that would go down in history. It would be broadcasted live to the entire kingdom, all other shows cancelled in favour of it, and an order in place to ensure every Fae in Solaria had their eyes glued to it. To me. Their ruler, the greatest king to ever have lived.
“So without further ado, I welcome to the stage our most magnanimous, our glorious, our eminent and powerful, King Lionel Acrux!” Portia cried and I slapped on my best smile as I strode out onto the stage, the entire audience rising to their feet to clap and cheer me.
The seats rose up high to wide balconies above, and in the gold rimmed boxes were Pitball stars and celebrities, all watching me, their attendance non-negotiable after I’d sent the personal invites to their doors. In the front row of the closest balcony was the Councillors alongside the new Heirs to their seats, Ellis Rigel, Hadley Altair, and Athena Capella.
Portia was wearing a dark blue dress which clung to her curvaceous body as she bowed to me in greeting and sat down on a green velvet chair. I unbuttoned my suit jacket before dropping into the much larger, wingback chair opposite her.
A table sat between us with a glass of what was no doubt my favourite whiskey already waiting for me next to Portia’s glass of wine and I picked it up, sipping the fine nectar. The woody undertones rolled along my tongue as the crowd simmered down and took their seats once more and I placed the glass back on the table.
Behind us was a huge screen which filled the entire back wall of the stage; a black and white photograph was on it, the picture of me standing regally on the eastern balcony of The Palace of Souls, gazing off into the distance while I rested one elbow on the railing and my chin upon my fist. It was finery at its best. And beside it were the words, An evening with King Lionel Acrux. The man behind the crown.
Ah, the struggles of my life had finally paid off at last. I’d fought for this moment with everything I had. As a boy, I had acted out this interview in my room countless times, and now it was coming to fruition, all my efforts paying off. I was being celebrated as I ought to have been celebrated for so many years. They saw me now, they saw my power and they cowered beneath it. And I was sure this would be a night I’d never forget.
Portia started out with a few simple questions, warming the crowd up as I offered light-hearted stories from my youth, from the time I went hunting a near extinct species of desert hawk and mounted the last of their kind of my wall, to the time I’d had a hotel built in my name in northern Baruda that overlooked the most beautiful lake in Solaria. Of course, I’d had to grease a few palms to stop the townsfolk from trying to intervene with that project, their complaints of my tower blocking their own view to the water almost throwing a spanner in the works. But I was more than used to getting my way.