There wasn"t enough time for Anya and Xiao Mei to introduce the three girls that accompanied them from the Emei sect, even then there didn"t seem to be a reason too because as soon as they left Alex"s resident all three of them excused themselves and took a different route to the party, evidently it might seem hat they were not too keen on meeting the princess. So Alex and with Anya and his sister in tow, along with Louis, Yun Fao and the triplets with a haughty looking Khan walking right besides Alex, met the princess and her entourage, which for some reason was filled more with men than women. The thing is they weren"t dressed as subordinates, rather they seemed more like n.o.bles, men with power or the son"s and daughters of families who had power."You kept me waiting." The princess said as she looked at Alex with a bored look, and he replied to her with the same time.
"I was busy." Short, precise and straight to the point, if she wanted to ask what it was he was doing Alex was going to make sure it didn"t end to well for her face l, especially in front of a crowd that he was sure we"re mostly her suitors, suitors who had no idea that the arrogant looking and sounding kid in front of them was going to be the husband of the object of their affections, Alex couldn"t help but feel a little bit as a bead of sweat broke out on his head.
He might be different, but he knew exactly when he was being surrounded by a pack of lions, and this scenario was such a case. Obviously regardless of what position he might now hold in the empire, even if he does get engaged with the princess, the moment it"s announced that Alex was to get engaged with her, he would have a target painted on his back, and none of these guys would care who he is, the position and the power that comes with being the husband of the ninth princess was worth offending even the emperor for, as long as they succeed.
Victoria turned her eyes to look at the group of people behind Alex"s back, they were dressed well, all too well. So even if she wouldn"t say it, they all made an impression on her, especially Alex.
However his sister and the girl besides him was just as eye-catching, the silver dress the princess was wearing with diamonds encrusted in it made her look like a fairy G.o.ddess. Xiao Mei with her purple dress looked regal, enough to match the finesse of a queen, but brown skinned girl besides Alex on the other hand, with her right fitting black and white dress, and bountiful a.s.sets, and me that Victoria was afraid that in a few short years she wouldn"t be able to compare too, after all last she heard this girl was just seventeen.
"Zhang Xiao Mei, it"s quite refreshing to see you again, I trust your been made aware of the arrangements, and in light of that I trust I can count on your support in the future?" Alex almost groaned in annoyance, here she goes again, going over his head to talk to the people following him, though his sister couldn"t be considered his follower, but still! She was his sister!
"Your majesty it is good to see you again and in such good health, and yes I"m aware of the arrangements that"s been made. All I can say is as long the wind I love flows in the direction you choose to lean, then this Flower"s blades shall belong to you."
This was basically the same thing that happened with Louis, but apparently Xiao Mei and princess had history together, but none the less the gist was the same, "be loyal to my brother and I"ll be loyal to you" even if she didn"t say it out loud.
"And you must be Anya, I"ve heard a great deal about you and your talent, and also recently learned of your betrothal to Childe Spirit Wind, that definitely came as a surprise to me, but in the end you"re not a threat to me any manner whatsoever. I trust I can count on you to not get in my way, things tend to get unpleasant for those that do."
Alex felt his heart stuck in his throat as the only thing he could say in his mind was they"re dead. Anya was all brawn and no brains, no finesse and no political no how. Sure she knew what"s up, but she"s a girl greatly led by her heart, and right now she was being threatened...…Alex knew what happened to people who threatened her, but the thing is the princess was too powerful and Anya with her wild and ferocious manner might cause an incident. However she gave an answer that shocked everyone who knew of her character.
"Sure no problem, I mean come on! You"re the princess what could you possibly have that I want or be doing that I"ll want to get in your way. Please your majesty, in this life all I need is food and water in my belly, and Alex by my side, nothing else matters, so I don"t see how I"ll get in your way when I don"t care about you or what you do."
Louis had to pick his jaw up from the ground with the help of Yun Fao, Nezha was laughing his a.s.s out and Ébié chuckled softly and muttered about how much she liked Anya. This girl was just too simple and too straight forward, she knew this was not a time for a fight, and she wasn"t really good with politics, so she was as honest as possible when she gave her answer. But no matter how you look at it, her answers made her seem condescending, not caring about a princess that had the entire world hanging on the lapels of her dress, Anya had guts, and those around the princess thought she had too much of it.
"How dare you, you filthy low born dirt....."
"Enough!" the princess called out, shutting the over eager young man, and eventually preventing Alex and Khan from pouncing on him. The others might not have noticed, but the princess did, both master and spirit beasts looked prepared to tear a person apart if any I"ll was mentioned of Anya. Victoria didn"t understand why, but it left a sour feeling in her mouth and eerie turn to her stomach, it made her jealous...…she didn"t like it.
"Very well Anya, it seems you"re as honest as the reports say you are. Please can you and Childe Zhang Xiao Feng walk with me to the banquet, it would be my extreme pleasure to get to know you more on the way." The princess offered an olive branch that Alex didn"t see coming and Anya took it.
"Really? That"s great! I"ve never met a real princess before! Come!"
Then she dragged Alex behind her almost as if he weighed nothing. She placed Alex between her and the princess as they walked forward, it was a fifteen minute walk to the hall where the banquet was being held, however the got there after 40 minutes, with both Anya and the Princess asking each other questions and Alex was drafted after them, helplessly stuck in the middle. As for the people following them, they could only watch on helplessly at what was happening in front of them, it was...…. Unexpected.
< =="">>>>>>
Soft music was being played as a life band entertained everyone, the banquet could be said to already be in full swing as all of the royal family with the exclusion of the emperor and empress and the three Imperium concubines.
The ninth princess was also not here, but everyone understood that the princess was quite a figure, she came and left as she wished and the Emperor won"t fault her for it. Cliques were formed all around the banquet hall, representatives from the six main schools were there.
The Shaolin temple monks had on their traditional monk robes, the people from the beggar"s sect we"re properly dressed for once, though they still looked out of place with their weird hair ornaments.
The imperial academy were in formal military wear looking all serious and poised. The Tang sect with their black and purple suits probably hiding a lot of poisons and hidden weapons grouped themselves in the darkest part of the banquet hall, only the bravest of waiters and lot foolish of people could Walk up to them to either serve or talk to them, rumor had it that they could poison with a look.
Next was the Emei sect, obviously they had the most amount of people around them, mostly makes who could not resist the slide and beauty of the females of the sect, every time there was a function like this, females of marriageable age were the ones that always accompanied the representative, that way the sect could make more connections and with more power, most people just think it"s an elaborate front for prost.i.tution and slave trade, but then again only people without strength thought so, none of the girls were forced to marry someone they didn"t want to, so it was all a matter of perspective.
The Wudang sect had as much people around them as the Emei sect, but it was split between two camps. One that followed the current sect head and the other that followed Zhang Sanfeng, the acknowledged strongest man in the world. Basically it was quite a conundrum who to curry favor with, but apart from the side powers of the east, there were also powers from the West.
But none of those people were In the spotlight as a page opened his mouth to announce the arrival of new guests.
"Introducing the ninth princess of the empire of heaven, the next Lady of the lake, keeper of the sword Excalibur, Blood of Royals, Blood of Magic, Blood of Merlin; Her royal Highness Princess Lu Victoria Albion!
Accompanied by Daughter Of Fire, Anyaja Omakpe Of the Wudang sect!
Also accompanied by The Young Master of the Zhang clan, Childe Spirit Wind of the Empire of Heaven, Zhang Xiao Feng! Of the Wudang Sect!"