The Enigma of Secrets: Chapter 3

A few weeks into the ordeal, Chase convinced Shannon to go to her mother’s- her real mother- castle to at least stay long enough to be fitted for a dress for some sort of ceremony she was now required to take part in. She only agreed because Chase promised to come with her- she couldn’t exactly remember the reason why Ryan couldn’t come. She could, however, remember exactly why she didn’t like being away from Ryan.
“Chase Sanders...it’s lovely to see you again,” a voice smiled as he got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side to help Shannon out. She was under strict orders not to get out of the car herself, much as she was accustomed to it.
“Thanks, Chase,” she muttered when their eyes met.
He just smiled and offered his arm for Shannon to loop hers through, “It’s nice to see you again too, Princess Johanna,”
“Hello, Shannon- it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,”
Shannon forced a smile at the brown-haired girl, “Hello,”
“Your mother is inside with the seamstress’ waiting for you,” Johanna took her other arm and smiled, “So...have you seen Ryan-Christopher yet?”
“Who?”
“The Prince,” Chase explained.
Shannon shook her head no, “Never heard of him.”
“Oh my god, Shannon, he’s gorgeous!”
She rattled on for a good five minutes while the three of them meandered their way inside and upstairs.
“Oh,” the head seamstress lamented upon seeing Shannon, “We will have to choose a color that compliments the colors of her hair,”
“Chase,” Shannon’s mother said, catching his attention, “Do you think I can trust you with the task of finding jewelry that suits Shannon?”
“Of course, Your Highness,”
The moment he was gone, Shannon felt her unease return and so started humming “What If” to herself, turning every which way as her measurements were taken.
“Shan?...Shannon?”
“What?” she asked, snapping out of her trance-like state.
“Ready to go home?” Chase repeated.
“When did you get back?”
He smiled and took her hand, leading her back out to the car, “A few seconds ago,”

She screamed, “Chase!! What the heck!”
“Yes, Shan?”
“Why is my bed full of grape life-savers?!”
“Because they’re better than apple ones!” he laughed before running back down the hall with Shannon on his heels, throwing life-savers at the back of his head.
“It’s nice to have things back to normal,” Jason chuckled, ducking a life-saver as Chase and Shannon ran through the kitchen.
Ryan smiled and nodded, “Yeah,”
“Shannon still has no idea, does she?” Tommy asked, entering the kitchen from the direction she and Chase had exited.
“What, that I’m the Prince she’s going to meet tomorrow? ...She’s got no idea.”
“You’d think she would have picked up on it by now, the way Johanna continues on and on about you,”
Jason laughed, “Well Shannon said she didn’t know him, so Johanna’s filling her in.”
“So uh,” Tommy continued, “When are we going to end the band ruse? I mean, it’s been fun and all, but don’t you think it should end soon...being that Ryan’s about to become King and all...and you, me and Chase are just his bodyguards...”
It was a peculiar task for Jason, as he was no mere vampire by any means, but none the less, he knew he, Chase and Tommy were the best suited for the job.
Jason shrugged, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,”
“You’re not just my bodyguards- you’re my best friends,” Ryan insisted.
“Better not let your mother catch you saying that Ryan-Christopher Landon-Michael Kyo Wylde Do’Urden,” Jason teased.
“Oh yeah, Jason-Alekzander Wylde Yaets?”
Yes, Jason was in fact, Ryan’s cousin, though few outside the royal family knew of the fact, Jason preferring the simple name of Jason-Alekzander Yaets when he was in Malichi. He didn’t like all the attention that came with being related to royals- then again, he was his father’s successor- his father being the Vampire King.
“So who are you going to choose?” Tommy inquired.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Ryan smiled wryly.
“Actually, I would.”
He laughed, “You’ll find out tomorrow along with all the others.”
“It’s Shannon, isn’t it? I bet it is!” Chase grinned, running back into the kitchen, life-savers still flying wildly at his head.
“What about me?” Shannon echoed, following him in.
“Nothing,” Jason quickly covered, already knowing his cousin’s decision, “We were just talking about tomorrow’s ceremony.”
“Are you guys going to be there?” she asked, a glimmer of hope or excitement- Jason couldn’t tell exactly- sparkling to life in her eyes.
“Of course- we’re to be your mother’s guests,” Tommy then lied.
“I’m scared,” Shannon admitted quietly, biting her thumb nail.
Ryan took the opportunity to wrap an arm around her shoulders, “You’ll be fine, Shan- no matter the outcome of tomorrow, The Enigma’s always gonna be here for you- on our honor as vampires...some of us more important vampires than others,” he added, shooting a wry grin in Jason’s direction.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that one of us is vampire royalty,”
Jason sighed and set his book down, “What Ryan says is true...I’m the royal- the heir to my father’s vampiric throne...Which is most of the reason I’m going to the ceremony tomorrow, though I was also invited by your mother after initially deciding not to go.”

“Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead!” Chase’s voice pulled her from slumber and she groaned, “Chaaaaase, go awaayyyy,”
“Sorry, Shanner bananner, but you have to get up and get dressed, it’s already ten.”
She was pulled from bed and pushed into the bathroom, giving her the incentive to start moving and get in the shower. When she got out again, a black garment bag was hanging on the back of the bathroom door and Shannon gasped as she unzipped it; inside was a dress that was almost the same shade of purple as was in her hair. She thought it was beautiful. On the counter was a stack of small boxes; as Shannon opened them, she revealed a silver necklace with a turquoise teardrop pendant and a vast expanse of earrings- also encrusted with turquoise colored gems- to replace the vast array of metal Shannon usually wore.
Once she was dressed and her jewelry changed, Shannon slowly opened the door back into her bedroom. Chase was waiting for her and his mouth dropped open, but he was grinning, “Wow, Shannon...You look...WOW.”
Someone knocked on the door and they were revealed to be Jason after he opened it and walked in, stopping when he saw her, “Who in the Nine Hells...? Is that really our little Shannon?”
She blushed under his gaze, but protested, “I don’t look that good,”
“On the contrary, if I had any doubts as to my cousin’s decision, they’ve just been destroyed by the sight of you.”
“Your cousin?”
“The Prince is my cousin- his mother is my mother’s sister.”
“Speaking of Prince’s and royalty,” Shannon smiled, once again becoming her confident self, “You’re looking pretty good yourself,”
“Why thank you, Princess Spiecer,” he smirked, his exaggerated, sweeping bow completely and unnecessarily amusing.
“You’re quite welcome, Prince Yaets.” she giggled.
Chase just shook his head and steered Shannon toward the dressing table in her room, “I’m no professional, but I’m all you got.”
His idea of applying makeup required less than five minutes work, but it made all the difference as it hid the scar on her forehead with concealer and made her gray eyes stand out against her wildly colored hair more with black eyeliner and glittering silver eye shadow. “There, now you truly look the part of a Princess of Malichi...even with your wild hair.”
“Shall we be off then?” Jason suggested.
It prompted Shannon to ask as she was led downstairs, “Where are Ryan and Tommy?”
“They left hours ago...when your mother asked to speak to them. They probably stayed at her castle and will be at Thornfield with her when we get there.”
Shannon nodded and asked no further questions, allowing Chase to help her into the backseat of his car, Jason getting in the passenger seat and Chase himself running around the front of the car and sliding across the hood before getting in and directing the vehicle down the long driveway.
“I would remind you to not open the door yourself when we get there, Shannon,” Chase mused, looking at her in the rearview mirror with a grin, “But since there’s only two doors...”
She rolled her eyes, but was grinning right back at him, “You’ve got it all drilled in my head, Chase, don’t worry.”
When they pulled up to Thornfield- which was bigger than her mother’s castle, but, she was told, smaller than the Royal Palace- Chase parked his precious Dodge Viper (if you know the other story this car appears in...KUDOS to you!! haha) and got out, opening the passenger door; once Jason was out, Chase folded the seat forward and helped Shannon step from the car. The former vampire then offered her his arm and she looped hers in it, leaving Chase to fall into step an arm’s length behind Shannon. It was only then, after glancing back over her shoulder that she saw her friend had a sword belted to his side along with his formal attire.
“A sword?” she almost hissed. “What is this? The middle ages?”
“Purely a ceremonial decoration,” Jason explained, smiling, “The only person here who has weapons that aren’t ceremonial are the Prince- he uses his. And very well, at that.”
She nodded, her curiosity satisfied.
“Prince Jason-Alekzander! I thought you weren’t coming,” a fair haired, pale skinned young woman exclaimed.
“I was persuaded otherwise and...due to an interesting set of circumstances surrounding my cousin, the Crown Prince, I couldn’t bear to miss the event.”
“Jason-Alekzander?” Shannon inquired, her curiosity now returned ten-fold.
“My full name is Jason-Alekzander Wylde Yaets.”
“What about the rest of The Enigma?”
“Thomas Jacob Halloway, Chase Sanders Robertson, Shannon-Rayn Aurora Spiecer and...” Jason hesitated a moment, “Ryan-Christopher Landon-Michael Kyo Wylde Do’Urden.”
“Long name,” she mused, to which Jason just shrugged.
He then discreetly pointed to a trio of small thrones where Johanna already sat, “See Johanna?”
“Yes...”
“Yours is the chair on the left, okay?”
Shannon swallowed hard, “Okay,”
“You’ll be fine, Shan,” he assured, smiling, “I’ll see you later.”
She smiled back before releasing his arm and slowly making her way over to Johanna, “Hi,”
“You’re here!” her new friend grinned, “And you look drop-dead gorgeous! If the Prince doesn’t choose you, I’m convinced that he’s crazy.”
“Oh I don’t know,” Shannon muttered, taking a seat in the chair Jason had directed her attention to.
Emily- the Ice Princess, as Johanna and Shannon had taken to calling her- arrived soon after in all of her platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyed snobbery.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Tommy announced from his place standing on a raised platform with two thrones on it, one occupied by the Queen, “It is my distinct honor- and pleasure- to introduce you to the Crown Prince, Ryan-Christopher!”
Shannon willed her eyes not to pop out of her head when her gaze fell upon the soft, yet secretive, brown eyes and short brown hair of Ryan. The Enigma’s Ryan!
She then spotted Jason standing to the left of the throne Ryan was now occupying; Chase happened to be on the right of the Queen’s throne and Tommy- ah, the ever serious and quick to reprimand her and Chase’s childish behavior, Tommy- descended three steps off of the raised platform where the others were and took a seat on the stairs, his jacket opening up just enough for Shannon to catch a glimpse of a silver gun holstered just behind the hilt of his decorative sword. Shannon decided then that there was still much about those four vampires that she didn’t know.
Ryan stood up again after several long and boring speeches made by people Shannon didn’t know and Jason just barely nodded, mouthing the words, “Stand up,”
She, Johanna and Emily all rose to their feet and Ryan descended the steps to stand before Emily; he only paused a moment though before he moved on to stand in front of Johanna. He muttered something to her then and she had to bite back her growing smile. Ryan finally came to stand in front of Shannon and his eyes met hers as they had so many times before in the past. His left hand came up just then and Shannon responded by placing her left hand in his, lowering her eyes from his brown eyed gaze for the first time since meeting it when she curtsied, hardly noticing the room erupting with applause and the pointy toothed grins that crossed the faces of her three vampire friends.
After Ryan had kissed the back of her hand, he let it go and more than anything, Shannon wanted her hand back in his- for Ryan to once again keep true to his promise that he would never let go...But she knew that there was now a rule of etiquette they both must follow when under the gaze of the public eye.
“We need to talk later, Shannon,” Ryan whispered to her, his hand once more resting on hilt of one of two swords belted to his sides, both of which were starkly different from the swords of all the other men in the room.
“Oh Shannon,” her mother swooned, sweeping in and grasping both her hands, “You look absolutely wonderful!”
Shannon made her forced smile look real and gently squeezed her mother’s hands, “Thank you...mother,”
“I told you he’d pick you, Shannon- and so he is certifiably not crazy,” Johanna smiled, looping her arm in Shannon’s.