The various guests descended upon the dancefloor. As Smutisha said, they stuck to some nice slow songs, which was a lovely way to wind the evening down.

  Rosario and Phoenix were the first from our table to hit the dancefloor. Chlamydia requested Damecus’ presence on the dancefloor at one point… which was an amusing thing to watch. Not that he was bad at it… more that other dancers kept tripping over his tail.

  Tadwick even insisted that Alexi dance with him… which was sweet. Tadwick has absolutely no coordination though, so Alexi just seemed bewildered by pretty much everything that Tadwick was doing. I do like the way Tadwick seems to be putting a lot of effort into playing with Alexi and getting him involved in things. I bet he’s really happy to have a friend his age.

  I stayed at the table eating the candied fruit. Until… of course… Kiyui insisted that I have a go. I managed to avoid the dancefloor at the ball the last time… but unfortunately, I didn’t have the convenient get out of a horrifying monster attack this time.

  So, after a couple of songs I caved in and let him drag me out onto the dancefloor. I sucked, as I knew I would. I kept tripping myself up. I accidentally headbutted Kiyui’s chin at one point. I was not graceful at all. Kiyui tried to help me by telling me that it was just like being in combat. You just need to move your feet in time with the movements of your opponent… well, partner in this case. But I still can’t seem to get it right.

  Luckily the dancing section of the evening doesn’t seem to be going on for very long. There are certain diplomatic matters that need to be attended to. The music stopped and Smutisha stood in the centre of the room once more.

  Smutisha: “Well everybody. The time has come for the part of the evening that I am most certainly looking forward to. The bedding ceremony!”

  A cheer went out across the room.

  Smutisha: “I can only hope that my wonderful husband is as excited about this as I am.”

  I looked over at Thomas. He looks absolutely terrified. Almost as if his heart is about to beat right out of his chest. But I think that is due in large part to his level of excitement. The guy has been half man half erection since he slow danced with Smutisha two songs ago.

  Smutisha: “Feel free to stay and enjoy the open bar for a bit longer. There are several carriages waiting out front to take those of you home who are not staying on the premises. Now if you will excuse me, I have a husband to get acquainted with.”

  Smutisha glided over to Thomas and gave him a large kiss before leading him out of the room. They were followed by Keith, the duke, and some guy that I’ve never seen before, who was carrying several documents… the duke must be acting as Smutisha’s witness… and the other guy must be the independent party in charge of maintaining the record keeping. I still find this whole ceremony unsettling. I can’t think of anything worse than people watching me have sex… the whole idea gives me goosebumps.

  We didn’t stay much longer after that. We sat and ate the rest of the candied fruit and chatted a bit. Rosario and Phoenix were the first to leave. Mainly because Gentle came over and started irritating Phoenix. So, Rosario said he was tired and asked if they could leave. They really are very mindful of each other. Phoenix puts up with the irritation of being around people that she can’t stand, for his sake. But he is clearly aware of this and uses his status as both a child and a prince to remove them from situations when he can tell she is uncomfortable. It is a nice little dynamic.

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  Tadwick fell asleep in the carriage on the way back. It was such a beautiful night. The stars were shining so clearly in the sky. Not a cloud in sight. After Kiyui climbed out of the carriage I passed Tadwick to him and he went to carry him to his bedroom. That was when we noticed Nomius sitting by the front door. He’d clearly been waiting for us. Probably just wanted to make sure that the kids got back alright. He is a tad protective of them… it is very sweet really.

  I helped Alexi out of the carriage. He wasn’t asleep like Tadwick or anything… he’s just so short that he struggled with the big steps. When we got to the door Nomius stood up. He looked… concerned.

  Nomius: [Signing] “Alexi…bed.”

  Dwynfel: “Is everything okay?”

  Nomius: [Signing] “Cocoon… open.”

  As soon as he said that, Damecus burst past all of us. He rushed through the house on all fours and disappeared up the stairs. Kiyui looked at me.

  Kiyui: “You go with him; we’ll sort the kids.”

  I rushed off after Damecus and straight up the stairs to the room where we had placed the cocoon. Damecus was stood warily just inside the doorway. I gathered myself, took a deep breath and entered the room.

  My mother was sat on the bed… cradling that sweet boy that had helped us cross the sea. But he was not the same. The light had left his eyes. He was terrified… no… more than that… traumatised. He remained curled up in my mother’s arms… staring at nothing… not acknowledging our presence.

  My mother had wrapped him in a blanket but he was covered in a horrible green slimy substance. Almost like he was coated in some kind of vile monster’s afterbirth. He still had the tendrils sticking out of his back… as well as the flower. His jaw, arms and legs had healed, but they were scarred.

  I know she said they would be scarred, but I was expecting the scars to be smaller… Flora’s healing magic does not normally leave scars… so the damage that that transformation did to his body must have been horrific.

  Damecus: “When did he emerge?”

  Indira: “A bit over an hour ago.”

  Dwynfel: “Has he said anything?”

  Indira: “Not a word. It has taken most of this hour just to slow his breathing down.”

  Damecus moved over and started to inspect the cocoon. He lifted the petals and more slime slid out of it. He wrapped it back up as delicately as he could, before carrying it out of the room, trying not to spill anymore slime on the floor.

  Indira: “What the hell did she do to this boy?”

  Dwynfel: “I really don’t know… when we left him, he was a normal human boy… then when we returned… he was like this. She said she infected him with something… but that he won’t remember what he did after he transformed.”

  Indira: “After? AFTER?!”

  Dwynfel: “What?”

  Indira: “You said after. So, he will still remember the actual transformation! Look at him!”

  Dwynfel: “Gods.”

  Indira: “Go run a bath for him. We need to get this horrid goo off him.”

  Dwynfel: “Mum…”

  Indira: “What?”

  Dwynfel: “I’m sorry… I keep bringing you so much…”

  Indira: “Don’t do that, Dwynfel. Don’t you dare apologise for being a good person. I know I had a go at you for this before… but this boy needs us right now… we don’t have time to dwell on how difficult things will be. So just go and run the bath.”

  I left to go and run the bath. The entire time all I could think about was what my mum said… if he remembers the transformation… no wonder he’s a wreck. His limbs split open… his jaw too. Tendrils and a large flower sprouted from his back… and fuck knows what happened internally. The pain he must have gone through. This isn’t something that he is just going to get over in a few days… is it?