The President of the United States had on a long black dress with a flowing collar. A choker of white pearls and diamonds was around her neck. Every guest had taken to wearing some mix of white and black to celebrate the two marrying Dragons. She smiled warmly at Barbara and Ken.
“Madam President!” Barbara cried out. “Do you have a moment to tell the audience your thoughts on this auspicious day?”
The president nodded. “I could not be happier. I remember the day that I met King Caden for the first time. I could tell then and there that he was going to be a force for good in the world.”
“Is it true that you knew the identity of the White Dragon Shifter before the rest of us did, Madam President?” Ken asked with a wink.
She let out a laugh. “I’ll never tell, Ken! But I can say that things have certainly improved since King Caden has come on the scene.”
“Our grumpy King Valerius is certainly a much happier Dragon Shifter,” Barbara chuckled.
“Indeed he is and who wouldn’t be when you find your true mate?” President Goodfellow pointed out.
“That aspect of their relationship has been much talked of. Our network has two movies in the works as well as a mini-series!” Ken enthused.
“I do hear that King Valerius is not terribly pleased by the actor chosen to play him,” Barbara gossiped in front of her audience of millions.
“Well, he was offered the role himself. Both he and King Caden could have played themselves, but they ruled that out,” Ken sighed.
“I cannot imagine King Valerius… acting,” Barbara admitted. “Though he is handsome enough to be an actor. He is almost a little shy.”
“Shy?” President Goodfellow blurted out. Then as if realizing that this was live, she quickly amended, “He’s definitely a very serious person and acting would be too frivolous in his eyes, I’m sure.”
Ken and Barbara moved on from the President of the United States to several other members of state. The leaders of every country in the world had been invited to attend and all had shown up. All of them wished the couple their best, but even if the reporters hadn’t wanted to speak to all of them, the hallways and rooms were beginning to fill so heavily that it was hard to get through without running into someone important.
“Ah, there are Rose and Wally! King Caden’s Councillors! They are escorting around the winners from the Below who won the right to be here among the powerful and important,” Barbara said.
Rose was already giving her a narrow-eyed look as she approached, likely having heard Barbara’s disparaging comments about the rather wide-eyed group of people that she and Wally were chaperoning.
“Rose! Wally! Won’t you say a few words about your thoughts on this glorious day?” Ken thrust a microphone into Rose’s face.
In the past, Rose would have given him her infamous Swarm Shifter glare, but instead, she smoothed her expression out and gave a smile instead. She was dressed in a white sheath dress with a crystal bee necklace and stunning black and white makeup. Wally was in a white tuxedo with a black dyed rose pinned to his coat. His hair waved wildly above his head.
“I can’t be happier for King Caden and King Valerius,” Rose said easily. “Both of them are so deserving of a happy ever after.”
“I’ve always believed in true love,” Wally rhapsodized as his hair waved. “But seeing the kid and Valerius together just confirms that fate is real.”
“Such lovely sentiments! And you all, back there, who were given the chance to attend this great event, what do you think?” Barbara thrust the microphone towards the people from the Below.
The oldest woman in the group answered for everyone, “How could you not be happy for such wonderful people to have found happiness with one another? We’re so glad to be here to celebrate with them.”
“So you believe that King Valerius is wonderful then? I know many people in the Below have ill--”
“No one in the Below has anything but love and respect for Valerius, Ken,” Marban said, stepping over.
He was dressed in a black, silk robe with white stitching at the collar and cuffs. His hair was firmly held back in a knot on the top of his head and his facial hair was neatly trimmed.
“Marban! Well, we now have three of the four Councillors!” Ken cried, looking a little wide-eyed.
“No, you have all four,” Chione said, appearing behind Marban.
She had on an off the shoulder black, velvet dress with white silk underlay. Her long hair fell in shining waves over her shoulders and halfway down her back. She had a small smile on lips tinted a deep red. Her eyelids glittered with white and black makeup.
“I believe that you are supposed to be making your way to the dressing room where our Dragon Shifters are getting ready,” Chione said smoothly. “I’m certain that your audience is far more interested in that than manufactured drama.”
Her smile was wide and welcoming, but the reporters cringed as the force of Chione’s personality overtook them. They knew that she would make them pay for bringing up such ugliness during the wedding. So like two lambs to the slaughter, they allowed her to lead them past Captains Simi and Ngoye who were guarding a hallway that led to the dressing room.
Chione reached the double doors and knocked discreetly. One door was pulled open and Anwar’s handsome face was revealed. She whispered something to him and he nodded. The doors fully swung open and the camera was blinded for a moment by sunlight streaming through floor to ceiling windows.
