Amaury
Amaury was nervous.
He had not yet decided whether or not he wanted to sit in the stands as part of the family. He didn't want his colleagues to start treating him differently. But he didn't want to disappoint his aunt either.
Hallie and Tiw were currently glued to Amaury's pant legs, while Benjamin and Chloe were chatting with Shay. Aethel and Lea played cards. With a small, shy girl sitting next to Lea. Florentine. Lea and Shay's adopted daughter. The five-year-old had a round face, black curls, and gray eyes. She watched Amaury, and Benjamin's children shyly.
"Come on! You're our horse!", shouted Hallie. "Come! Come on!"
"We want to ride!" Tiw agreed. "Come on, pleahease."
"No. I have back pain", he grumbled.
Hallie clung all the tighter to his pant leg. "But I'm going to be four!"
Tiw nodded. "And you always say that!"
Sighing, Amaury ruffled through her hair. "I'm a baker. It hurts your back. And Hallie? Today is not your birthday. It's not until next week."
Hallie pouted. "But I want to ride!"
"Hallie? Tiw? Your cousin said NO!", her mother shouted at them.
Offended, the two elves looked for another occupation. Now they held a race in Lea and Shay's short hallway. Florentine watched them. Lea laughed softly. "You can play with them", she said to her new daughter.
Florentine shook her head again.
"Do you want to play cards with us?", asked Aethel.
"No." Florentine's voice was barely audible. She spoke very softly.
Amaury sat down next to her and Lea. "And if we play as a team? Against Lea and Aethel?", he suggested.
"Together?" Florentine looked at him with interest.
"Yes. Together!", he repeated.
Now she nodded and climbed onto his lap.
"Then I'll probably redistribute the cards!", said Lea, smiling gratefully at her nephew. Florentine didn't want to play at the moment. Instead, she followed Lea and Shay everywhere. She needed some more time, and Hallie and Tiw seemed too turbulent for her. The two were real rascals. Cute rascals. Amaury hoped to introduce Florentine to Ethan soon. After all, he was only a year older. Lea and Shay wanted to invite his parents and siblings to tea soon. So that Florentine could get to know them. It was more than just exciting. Lea was already nervous, but she hadn't sent the invitations yet. Florentine needed time to get used to her new environment and her new family.
Today the girl would meet the queen for the first time since, in two hours, the big jubilee celebration started. And that was shortly after she arrived at her new home. Something else that made Lea nervous. But at first, they played cards. Well, Amaury played. His new cousin was watching.
Aili avoided him again. He and Chloe had told Lea about what had happened. And about what Aili said after a long silence. Lea then questioned Aili and her friend again. But there still wasn't much to get out of Aili. Nevertheless, Lea had the two boys, Arne and Nio, suspended. And this was even though participation in the magic class was compulsory. For the first time in the history of the academy, students were excluded from classes. Arne's parents now sued the academy.
According to them, suspending their son was against the law. And besides, they belonged to the nobility. The nobility shouldn’t get suspended. Nio's parents, on the other hand, had written a long letter of apology to Lea and Aili. Lea had the letter forwarded to Aili. Both families now had to look for private tutors for their brood, then Lea did not plan to let them back into the academy. No matter how much Arne's family complained.
Amaury and Florentine were about to win when Shay reminded them that the queen and her entourage would soon arrive. Therefore, the whole family now went to Gate. Shay carried Florentine, who hid the face on his neck. The whole thing was scary to her. They were waiting in front of the school gate. Amaury could almost smell the tension in the air.
It took some time, but soon they saw several carriages. The Queen's carriages. Florentine stared at the magnificent horses pulling them. First, the guards got out. A werewolf ran towards them. He was wearing a fancy uniform. Marko von Sonnenhof. Bodyguard and elective family of the Queen. He hugged everyone stormily until he stopped in front of Shay and Florentine.
"Good afternoon, Mini-Princess!", he greeted the little one. "Ready to meet someone very important?"
Florentine glanced at him and nodded as servants of the queen opened the carriage door. Florentine stared open-mouthed at the girl who got out of the carriage, while Marko strolled over to Amaury and put his arm around his shoulders.
"How's it going, kid?" he asked.
"Good. And how are you? Old man?", Amaury replied dryly. His uncle loved to tease him.
"I'm not that old yet...", Marko muttered, ruffling his hair. Then he hurried back to the queen of the country. She looked like a teenager.
The queen was followed by her husband, Leopold von Sonnenhof. He did not bear the title of king, as it was his choice. After that, servants helped a second werewolf out of the carriage. Finn. Prince Peter, his husband,d and his niece got out of another carriage. Fiete and Josefine were dragons. And Josefine seemed annoyed. Amaury was more than used to this sight. Presumably, she had been forbidden to eat naughty students or something like that. Amaury smiled. Two more dragons got out of the carriage. Pelle and Alwin. The two flirted as usual, ignoring everything around them.
Queen Julia von Sonnenhof ran happily towards Lea, much to the chagrin of the guards, to fall stormily around her neck. Leopold followed her amusedly. He wore a long vest over his white shirt, which covered the remains of his dragonfly wings. He had lost parts of his wings and had been hiding them ever since. Julia somewhat awkwardly resumed her royal posture and reached for Leopold's hand, somewhat staggering. Her exuberance had thrown her off balance. "How nice to see you all!", she said with a friendly smile. "And I see there's a new face!" She winked at Florentine.
In contrast to Leopold, who was in his thirties but looked a little younger, Queen Julia was an eternal teenager. She looked like sixteen. Seventeen at most. And sometimes, especially in private, she behaved accordingly. Amaury's aunt had once told him that she had had to learn to copy the rigid and lofty behavior of the adults at court in order to be taken seriously as a queen. First, she was accused of being too grown up for her age, and then suddenly she wasn't grown up enough.
Marko hugged Finn, the two had been married for three years and chatted with Benjamin. They, too, looked older than the queen, who had remained young. The two wolves were in their thirties, but unlike Julia and Leopold, they looked like that.
The welcome round continued, and Amaury used the time to chat with his favorite uncle. Prince Peter von Sonnenhof, who, as usual, was dressed very dazzling and striking. His clothes perfectly matched the color of Her Majesty's robe. This was usually the case. Sometimes the two also wore the same dress. Leopold was also dressed in matching colors but much more simply. Not nearly as dazzling as Prince Peter.
Florentine wriggled in Shay's arms, as she didn't want to be carried anymore. He dropped her off. Immediately, she clung to his legs. However, she finally found her voice again. "Are you really the queen?", she asked Amaury’s aunt. "You look pretty!"
"Oh! Thank you!" Julia bent down to her so that they were at the same height. "My name is Julia. And your name is Florentine, right? Lea told me about you in a letter!"
The girl nodded. The next moment, Tiw and Hallie did their best to run over Julia. Benjamin and Aethel couldn't stop them. Florentine laughed when the three actually fell over.
"That's how you greet a queen!", exclaimed Marko, laughing.
