Clarity

Chapter Three

By the time we returned to the throne room, the feast had already begun. Thousands of people were crammed along the tables and I had a brief flash of the first Harry Potter movie before I realized that one of the creepy redheads had horns.

I took a step back and Jack put his arm around my waist, towing me forward. The entire way people looked up just to us and I gasped as one of the men slid his hand beneath my skirt and thrust it up.

Only, I was not longer wear my skirt. I wasn’t wearing any of my clothes.

Somewhere between the bedroom and the throne room, my wear had changed from my corset, skirt and boots to a white, spaghetti-strapped sundress. I had no shoes and I realized that I didn’t mind since the floor felt warm. What I did have a problem with was the lack of undergarments.

So when that creepy man thrust up my dress, everyone saw everything.

I bit my tongue to hold the words in my mouth as I shot the man a dirty look. He raised his eyebrows and made a comment to his friend. The entire time, I could only think about how they were no different than the daily drunks I met.

“Amasa!” the King bellowed. “You’ve done well with this one, my boy! Quite the charmer!”

Jack chuckled slightly, squeezing my waist and I tried as best as I could to look like the sated little girl I thought they expected. I could definitely say, I was not the best actress when it came to being pleased.

“You could say that,” Jack replied, grinning widely. The change was disturbing but I tried my best to go along with him. “But I definitely enjoyed myself.”

The two men laughed and I tried as best as I could to ignore my desire to hit them both. So far I was succeeding. So far.

The King said something I couldn’t quite make out before Jack was suddenly pulling me towards the other end of the room. It didn’t take me long to realize what we were heading to.

At the end of the room was a small, cut out space of sorts. The entire inside looked like something from India and there was so much read that it looked like a fire engine had parked in the space.

Several women gave us giggles as we walked by and men laughed. When I wasn’t glaring at the females, I was trying to avoid another dress slip up from the men. I was nearly exhausted by the time we reached the back table.

“This is Hell,” I hissed lowly. “Why do I have to be here?!”

“I honestly do not want to get into this,” he growled back viciously. “I don’t want to be here, either. But we are. Just don’t eat anything!”

“But I’m starving!”

Jack shot me a firm look and I crossed my arms angrily, glaring at the man who smiled my way. He squirmed uncomfortably beneath my cruel gaze before getting up and heading across the room. I smiled a little at the fleeing form, feeling slightly better than I had before.

Several events occurred as we sat in the back but I couldn’t quiet tell what past the heads of people stretching before us. Music filtered through the room and I found myself smiling at familiar rave beats. The sounds I often heard at the Raven comforted me and I moved a little to see what was going on.

“Stay still,” Jack said, squeezing my hand. “Don’t look and don’t dance. Trust me and stop being so curious.”

I opened my mouth to make a sharp comment until I realized that he was trembling. His eyes and face were placid but, beneath the table, his body trembled ever so slightly. I frowned instead and found myself squeezing his hand gently.