Leon couldn't say he was happy about being taken from the clinic. When Mahvash's servant had come for him, he had had to resist the urge to cling to his bed and make them drag him out of it. Instead, he'd bitterly complied to getting into a wheelchair. Idly, he wondered if Riccardo could or would back him up into being allowed to go back to the clinic. That hope was dashed when the prince had merely thrown him a confused look from up on the stage. Despite the crown on Riccardo's head, and the military decorations pinned to his breast, Leon was getting the feeling Riccardo didn't have a lot of power when it came to most things int he palace. After watching Riccardo fumble his way through a speech, Leon could see why. Leon wasn't well-versed in the ways of kings and nobility and especially not vampire nobility, but suffering from such anxious tremors did not inspire confidence from others.

"It seems the young prince still has much to learn in the way of public speaking," he heard one of Mahvash's wives quip behind him. He glanced back at her. The whole hall full of guests dressed in rich finery made him feel out of place, but Mahvash and her wives particularly so in the way they glittered with gold and gemstones.

"He is young. He will learn," Mahvash said. She rose from her seat and offered a hand to each of the two wives she'd brought with her for this journey. They took her hands and rose to stand with her. "Remember Frijella's first speech to other dignitaries?"

"Well, Demetri doesn't seem to be happy with the way it went," said the other wife, jutting her head slightly towards the stage.

Leon turned to look that way again, spotting the way the tall king had Riccardo by the back of his neck as he steered him off stage. That man had had no qualms starving Riccardo for great lengths of time; what else did Demetri do to his son when no one was around? Sons, Leon reminded himself, glancing to Riccardo's brother walking with his mother down from the stage. The little boy's eyes had followed Riccardo and Demetri off stage as well.

Leon didn't know Erik at all, but the child's worried eyes as he turned around to follow his mother couldn't help but remind Leon of his younger siblings: Louis and Celine. They were both older than Erik with Celine reaching the cusp of adulthood and Louis an adolescent. Leon could still recall when they were three feet tall, young and innocent and carefree - the way children were supposed to be. He could barely recall but a handful of times they were upset by anything bigger than a bee sting or being told they couldn't have a second cookie at dinner.

Leon felt his wheelchair grabbed at this point, and he glanced up at the same man from earlier who'd brought him to join Mahvash. The empress and her wives were following the rest of the vampires out of the room and Leon elected to remain quiet as he was made to follow them. He would have stayed that way, too, if Dr. Seavers did not suddenly join them out in the marble halls.

"Mahvash," the doctor greeted the empress with a familiarity Leon would not have guessed would be there. "I see you took my patient out of his bed," he said, glancing back at Leon. "I would have liked to have been asked first, you know?"

The empress smiled down at the little doctor. "Your patient here is my gift to the young prince," Mahvash said. "It did not do to keep him locked away."

Arthur huffed softly. "He was injured on the road and should be resting," the little doctor argued. "You've likely thrown his medication schedule completely off touting him around here for your own vanity."

"Vanity," Mahvash paused and Leon's chair was brought to a stop when she froze. For a moment, Leon thought she was going to have Arthur smacked or something of the like, but then she only laughed. "You are still as righteous as ever, aren't you, child?" She reached out and patted the doctor's head.

"He's not wrong, though," Leon piped up, seeing his chance to run from this party. "My leg's really starting to hurt. I was supposed to get more medicine soon for that, wasn't I, doc?"

"This is what I mean," said the doctor, gesturing to Leon as he looked up at Mahvash.

"Then fetch him his medicine," the empress said, still amused. "But he's staying with me. I will not let these other covens think I show up empty handed to parties."

Arthur threw Leon an apologetic look, but Leon, too, saw that they were defeated for the time being.

"Very well," said the doctor, his long ears turned back with the clear irritation in his tone.

"Do hurry back," Mahvash told him. "I'd love to catch up with you and learn what my brother's so busy with that he couldn't attend."

Leon watched the doctor leave at this point, finding himself once again alone with a sea of enemy faces around him.

"Arthur's such a fussy, little thing, isn't he," Mahvash asked as they started moving again. "Still, I wouldn't have you in anyone else's hands. My brother has an innate ability to collect talent in his family and that doctor will have your leg fixed in no time."

"Yeah, he's doing a great job," Leon said, one brow raising slightly at the empress. Who was her brother exactly? And what talent was she talking about? And why did she talk like he should just know these things? He didn't ask her these things, and without his further questions, she took her attention off of him.

When they entered the ballroom, Leon was glad to see it was a more casual experience than everyone facing the stage in the big room they'd been in before. The room was cavernous in size with high ceilings that were so ornately sculpted Leon's mouth fell open a little looking up at them. The room had a few chandeliers of glittering silver and crystal above that must have been gas fueled as low flames gave off slight and flickering light that he was just barely able to see by in the room. The light bounced into the crystals of the chandeliers and reflected in small flecks onto the ceiling and down onto the floor. It was so slight, that he doubted any humans could see where the light reached the floor. It was the best light source Leon had seen since Mahvash and her people had snatched him off the streets. He was dazzled by it and the reflections the crystals threw around the room. How was no one else as mesmerized by it as he was?

Leon looked around him, at all the long eared people with their fangs he could just glimpse as they spoke and laughed, and he sighed. Vampires. Of course they wouldn't marvel at the beauty of light, even if this particular light source was clearly intentional in the room. Or maybe it was just that these aristocrats were so used to rich marvels like the ones above that they saw this kind of thing on the regular. At the very least he knew Mahvash's kingdom didn't have this kind of thing that he'd seen. Looking at Mahvash and her people, though, they were not focused on the chandeliers above, but were beginning to mingle with the other vampires around.

There was the possibility that some of these other vampires were kind like the doctor or otherwise decent like Riccardo, but Leon didn't care to put his energy into talking to any of the vampires around him. He had enough scars on his neck from Mahvash and her people to think better of bringing attention to himself by talking to anyone, and so he focused his gaze onto the chandelier again rather than trying to talk to any of the vampires around him.

A little spark of light glittered off of one of the crystals in the chandelier in such a way, Leon noticed, that it landed besides his wheelchair. He took a quick look around, ensuring he'd been as forgotten as it seemed. Mahvash, indeed, was focused on her conversations and the man who'd been pushing him around was engaged in conversation a few feet from him as well. Feeling emboldened that no one was watching, Leon reached a hand low and out until the light was caught in his palm. It tingled on his skin, and with very little effort at all, Leon was relieved when he was able to make it bounce back off himself, too, as if he were as reflective as the crystals above.

Leon could have cried at the joy and triumph he felt at how easily he still bent light to his own whims. Despite months and months of living in darkness with these vampires, light was still just as much a part of him as ever. With a slight flex of his fingers, he concentrated the the reflection into a stronger beam upwards just for a second, just to see if he could. The vampires around him were so caught up in their own world they surely wouldn't notice. The beam was a soft flash directed upwards for only a split second and then Leon stopped at once. He barely had a moment to celebrate his intact abilities, however.

"How did you do that?"

Leon jumped. "I wasn't doing -" He cut off when he caught sight of Riccardo standing over him, looking curiously down at him. "Oh, hey," he said with a relieved smile.

Riccardo smiled weakly. He looked as polished and put together as he'd been on stage, but perhaps even more so without the stress of public speaking getting the better of him. "Hi," he responded back. "You were doing something there with the light, though?" He gestured down at the floor.

"Um... Yeah... Bending it," Leon said, softly. It wasn't exactly something vampires seemed overly fond of usually. "Hey, but are you doing alright," he asked, quickly redirecting the conversation. "You didn't look too happy going off stage with your dad there at the end..."

Riccardo grimaced. "I'm fine," he said. "Just... Um... Yes, I'm fine."

That wasn't exactly believable. Riccardo at least appeared to be fine, though. Besides that, this wasn't the time or place to press for answers, Leon recognized. "Okay, good. Some party here, huh? Lots of people." He gestured around. "Did all of them travel as far as I did?"

"Some of them came even further, I think," Riccardo answered, looking about at his guests.

"There you are, Leon!" Leon turned and spotted the doctor coming through the sea of guests to interrupt his and Riccardo's conversation. The doctor paused at seeing Riccardo standing over him, and then he smiled wider as he came to a stop. "And Prince Riccardo. Honestly, I'm glad you're here, too." He pulled a little bottle from his pocket and uncapped it. "You can take some more medicine as well."

"Oh, thank you," Riccardo said with obvious relief.

"How did you get hurt, anyways," yet another voice butted into their conversation.

Leon looked up at the owner of this new voice, and immediately felt something like dread hit the pit of his belly. He didn't know what deep-rooted instinct in him told him inherently that the vampire dressed in leather and furs joining them was bad news. While most vampires seemed to give him this feeling, Leon could feel this was different. The way Riccardo stiffened, too, didn't help.

"Lord Edelwolf," Riccardo greeted, bowing his head to the man. "I didn't get the chance to thank you for coming yet."

"Ha! Is this ya way of getting out of answering my question," Edelwolf asked, his red eyes narrowing suspiciously at Riccardo.

"No, no, of course not," Riccardo hurriedly said. "I would never disrespect our oldest ally that way. I was hurt in battle. It was why I wasn't here when you and the rest of our guests arrived."

"Hurt in battle?" Edelwolf looked from Riccardo's hurt arm and then up at Riccardo's face. From the intensity set in his eyes, Leon knew he was measuring up the other vampire. It was uncomfortable and, from the way Leon saw Riccardo shift, he could tell Riccardo thought so, too.

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"It's a rare our prince comes up injured," Dr. Seavers said easily at this juncture.

"I could see that," Leon added. "Even with that hurt arm, Ric - uh - the prince? - saved my ass on the road here. Lifted a whole horse off my leg, too." Fuck this Edelwolf guy.

"I just do what I must," Riccardo said, modestly, but threw the doctor and then Leon a grateful look.

Leon smiled softly back. I got you, he thought at Riccardo.

The conversation seemed to have bored Edelwolf, for his attention had turned down on Leon. Leon felt the hair rise on his neck again, and goosebumps threatening to raise on his skin. Instinctually, he knew Edelwolf was looking at his neck without actually looking that closely at the tall, bearded vampire.

"You're a fae," Edelwolf said as if just realizing it.

"Yep," Leon said, shortly, goosebumps finally rising.

"I've not had a taste of fae in over a hundred years," Edelwolf went on.

"And you're not gonna," Leon snapped at him, looking squarely up at him. He saw Edelwolf's hand swing up, and heard the doctor gasp as he flinched away. However, the blow didn't land.

"Don't hit him."

Leon looked up, spotting Riccardo standing over him hand having caught Edelwolf's in the air. He looked surprisingly calm despite the firmness to his voice belaying barely concealed anger.

Edelwolf yanked his hand away. "Then, you should teach your pet some manners," Edelwolf spat.

"And I will," Riccardo said, eyes still focused intently on Edewolf's. "But he is mine to teach. Not yours. In this case, though, he is right. You're not going to bite him."

There were these moments Leon looked at Riccardo and he seemed so delicate. His porcelain skin and thin frame made him look so breakable at times. And when Leon had had his arms around Riccardo on the back of Taizong, it felt like he - who struggled to lift sacks of flour for his family - could squeeze the life out of the man. And then there were moments like now where he'd grabbed Edelwolf's hand, and stared down the man who dwarfed him in height and build and Leon was reminded Riccardo could break him if he so desired. And yet, he hadn't. Sure, they'd had the scuffle in the hallway back in Jongvale, but even then, Riccardo hadn't intentionally hurt him.

"Let's all settle ourselves down now, hm?" The doctor smiled nervously up at Edelwolf and Riccardo. "We're all here to celebrate and have fun."

Edelwolf finally looked away from Riccardo, and Leon felt the relief that came off of everyone in the air as if it were tangible. The man didn't say anything more, merely turned and left them.

"Thanks," Leon said to Riccardo immediately.

Riccardo tore his eyes away from where they'd been boring into the back of Edelwolf as he left them. "You're very welcome," he said. "Just... Try not to get into too much trouble here?"

Leon wanted to argue that he wasn't the trouble. Vampires feeling like they were entitled to his blood were the real problem. Riccardo looked tired, though, and Leon thought back to the way Riccardo was walked off stage by the nape of his neck. His own healthy and comfort wasn't the only one at risk from his own so-called bad behavior.

"Yeah," Leon said, softly. "I'll try."

"I can help with that," Dr. Seavers promised. He huffed suddenly, and looked about. "Honestly, though, Mahvash shouldn't have dragged you out of the clinic, though, if she had no interest in keeping an eye on you."

Leon looked around as well, taking note that the empress had vanished, and the little doctor was very much right. She didn't seem to have had any investment in keeping hungry vampires away from Leon this night.

"You'll stay around Leon, Arthur," Riccardo asked to be sure.

"I will," he promised.

"Thank you," Riccardo said, relief evident in his voice. "I'm supposed to dance with someone soon, and I know my mother wanted to talk to me before I do. I should go find her."

"I'll be good for my petsitter and all," Leon said, failing to completely swallow the bitterness he felt at Arthur apparently being his designated keeper.

"I... Leon, I didn't mean -"

"Whatever," Leon said, waving a hand dismissively.

"I'm sorry," he heard Riccardo say softly, but by the time Leon looked up, he was walking away again.

"He didn't mean any offense," Arthur murmured besides Leon. "I dare say he was more worried about you getting into a dangerous situation again than anything about misbehaving."

Leon sighed. "Yeah, well, just getting tired of not being treated like a person. Whether he meant to or not."

"It's understandable," Arthur said. "Let's take a seat at a table, though, and we can finish talking there."

"Yeah, alright," Leon mumbled.

"Would you like help," Arthur asked, putting a hand on one of the handles of the wheelchair.

When Leon gave the confirmation, the doctor commandeered the chair and they began to circle the room along the edges, heading to one end of the room where there were tables covered in powder-blue cloth adorned with lace that barely brushed the marble floor in a light touch. Like everything else about the palace, this party was a display of extravagant wealth that Leon could barely comprehend. Every person tinkled with the sound of their jewels and precious metal necklaces and bracelets and earrings hitting each other. As he and Arthur reached the tables, he blinked at the tables of food and drink that lined the walls, people standing behind them ready to serve anyone who wanted anything. Leon had experienced some of this under Mahvash's roof, but this party was a whole other tier.

"Are you hungry," Arthur asked.

"Huh... Oh..." Leon realized the doctor must have seen him staring at the food. "A little, I guess," he said. "Was just thinking about all that food just sitting there like that."

For the most part, it appeared to mostly be soups and drinks of various kinds lining the tables. That was typical, as Leon had learned early on from Mahvash's coven that vampires could only consume liquids. Finely blended fruit smoothies were being kept chilled over ice, steaming broths and creamed soups of various kinds had flames flickering under them to be kept warm. Leon was surprised to see a few solid foods sprinkled throughout the spread of soups and drinks, though. There was a tiered display of hand pies and sandwiches that he eyed.

"Did you experience a lot of food scarcity where you were from," Arthur asked.

"No, no. Never went without food," Leon waved off. "But we never had so much food we could just..." He gestured at the tables. "It's barely being touched here, too. That's crazy!"

"This isn't an every night occurrence if that makes you feel better," Arthur said. "This party has been planned and prepared for for two years."

"I mean... I guess that makes me feel better," Leon said.

"Do you want something to eat, though," Arthur pressed again.

"Yeah," Leon admitted.

Arthur wheeled him along the tables to the tiered display of sandwiches and desserts. The people standing behind the tables soon served him out a plate, grabbing a few finger sandwiches at his request, a cherry hand pie, and fresh fruit. Arthur got a glass of sangquat juice that Leon studied curiously. It was red-violet in color, reminding him of the color of blueberry jam spread over toast.

"So that's the stuff, then," Leon asked, taking the drink from Arthur so that the doctor could take hold of the wheelchair again and steer them to a table.

"Yes," he chuckled. "That's sangquat juice. You're welcome to take a sip if you're curious. It's perfectly safe for non-vampires. It's mildly sweet almost like the coconuts it was hybridized from."

"Huh..." Leon's curiosity got the better of him. He lifted the doctor's cup to his lips and took a small sip of the red-violet juice. It was exactly as the doctor described. The juice was a little thicker than he expected, coating his tongue. Its taste was mild, but sweet and very hard to place. It almost reminded Leon of a pear, or maybe even raspberries. "That's... kinda weird, not gonna lie, doc," he said, lowering the cup from his lips. "Kinda good, though, too," he mumbled, thoughtfully.

"They're a life-changing blood subsitute," the doctor said. "And the trees are very hardy. They've been growing and producing fruit really well all through winter. Oh!" Arthur turned his wheelchair about. "There's Odsar! He's a good friend of mine, Leon. You must meet him!"

It was hard for Leon to figure out who Arthur meant, but soon he was being wheeled towards a mostly empty table where a single vampire sat with a drink of some sort in front of him. He had black hair that fell almost into his eyes and had on a loose-red robe that had the shine of silk about it. A golden dragon had been embroidered into it, the head of it coming from over one of his shoulders while the tail came over the other as if it were curled around his neck. Like the doctor, Odsar was pale as could be, but there was a warm hue under his skin and a certain look to his features that Leon wanted to place him as being from a different region of the world. He just wasn't sure where.

"You brought a friend back with you," Odsar noted said as they reached the table. His voice was so soft that Leon almost couldn't hear it at all over the rest of the party, and he had a feeling he only spoke as loud as he had for Leon to be able to hear.

"I did," Arthur agreed. "This is Leon," he introduced. "And Leon, this is Odsar, my brother."

"Thought you said he was a friend," Leon questioned the doctor, looking from him to Odsar and immediately following up with, "I don't see much family resemblance."

Arthur chuckled. "No, you wouldn't. We're blood-brothers; we hail from the same coven, not so much the same mother."

Leon placed the food and drinks he'd been balancing in his lap and hands onto the table in front of him. "Good to meet you, Odsar," he said, eyeing the vampire suspiciously, and hoping he was as good natured as the little doctor seemed to be.

"And you as well," Odsar said, and bowed his head. "I am honored to be in the presence of a fae."

Leon raised a brow. "Oh... uh... thank you?"

Arthur took a seat besides Leon and took his cup of sangquat juice to sip at. "It has been some time, hasn't it? Quite a rarity you are, Leon."

"Yeah... there's not many of us left," Leon said with a nod, still staring at Odsar as he pondered the bowed head gesture.

"Mahvash found him," Arthur told Odsar. "She gave him to Prince Riccardo."

"Gave him?" Odsar's gaze and tone remained so soft it was hard for Leon to figure out what he was thinking while asking the question. He picked up one of his sandwiches to nibble on instead.

"Yes," Arthur responded and then huffed irritably. "I thought she'd agreed to preserving balance. I had also left him in the clinic to heal and she had him brought out here against my wishes, too."

"I'm right here, you know," Leon said, pointing down at himself.

"I'm sorry, Leon," Arthur apologized immediately. "I'm all out of sorts over this."

"It's okay," Leon assured. "What did you mean about Mahvash agreeing to preserve balance, though? What's that got to do with me?"

"Well -"

"Thank you all, again, for attending tonight." An immediate hush fell over the room, and along with the rest, Leon's head turned, and he spotted Riccardo's father - the king - standing with his wife to address the room. "I am honored to share my family's special night with you. 50 years ago, The Night Mother blessed us with our first son." Despite his words, Leon couldn't help but notice Demetri's face or tone did not reflect any kind of joy of his so called blessing. Leon was beginning to think the king didn't have any emotions besides rage to share with the rest of the world. "And tonight that babe She gave my wife and I is a full grown vampire, ready to make his mark on the world and integrate fully into our society."

"We look forever into the future," the queen started at this point. "It has been many centuries since anyone was able to say their first born son came of age. It is a rare opportunity our family now has in looking forward to marriage; a marriage that will forever unite our coven to another and forge that future together. If you would all please clear the middle of the room and then share in a beautiful moment with us as our son chooses a partner to have his first dance of the night with."

There was a shift in the room as people moved away from the middle to occupy the perimeter of the room instead. Leon finally caught a glimpse of Riccardo as the man stepped out to join his parents in the center of the room. Even from where Leon was, he could tell Riccardo was nervous; he had a strained look about his face and his flatly back ears were the biggest give away. Leon hadn't seen him happy once at this thing despite it being a celebration of the young vampire. What kind of party would Riccardo have wanted, he had to wonder, because this clearly wasn't it.

After the crowd had moved away from center stage, Leon watched in the slivers of space between people as Riccardo looked around himself at the crowd, eyes scanning through it with a worried wrinkle to his brow until his eye caught on Leon's. Leon grimaced his sympathy for how clearly wired up Riccardo was, honestly wishing he could do something for him. Riccardo must have read some of that genuine sympathy for him in Leon's face, because Leon saw Riccardo's expression change in response. The wrinkle to his brow softened a little, and his posture shifted in the smallest of steps towards Leon. There was something like earnest and longing in his eyes that made Leon's heart skip a beat. He sat up straighter in response.

He knew Riccardo was going to look away again before he did it. He could practically see Riccardo realizing he needed to go forward with choosing someone to dance with, a tired resolve dimming the light in his eyes again. For all Riccardo had saved him during the ambush and defended him against Edelwolf's interest and been a genuinely safe person in this sea of predators, Leon wished fervently that he could do something for Riccardo.

Something's gotta give. How is no one else seeing your misery? How are they just standing around witnessing it? You don't deserve this.

A cracking sound could suddenly be heard above and everyone's heads snapped up in time to see the crystals hanging from the largest chandelier in the room jiggling slightly. It hung above the middle of the room where Riccardo was supposed to dance. Leon couldn't say what it was exactly, but something instinctually told him that chandelier was about to come down on top of his friend.

"Riccardo move," Leon shouted, looking at where Riccardo was standing looking up at it like everyone else was.

Riccardo looked away from it, and at Leon just as another sharp cracking sound echoed even more loudly through the room. Riccardo quickly dove out of the way as a cry went through the crowd and the chandelier came down with such a hard impact that it shook the floor beneath everyone's feet.