Introduction Ceremony Pt. 2
At 11:30 AM sharp, Cyrus saw his parents enter the room, to which everyone turned and bowed, with the exception of Zoey, so Cyrus followed her lead and walked up to their parents.
Cyrus looked at his father, who was around six foot, rather pale since turning into a vampire but had kind eyes and was muscular with black hair that he kept neatly tied up. Unfortunately, because he was turned, his eyes were always red. He was the Alpha and the King.
He then was awestruck at the beauty and resemblance between his sister and Mother.
They were both 5'8, with black hair and perfect bodies. Both of their eyes were a light blue, until they activated their vampire form, then would turn red. They would be considered beautiful in any nation.
His mother was the first to speak, as she approached him and gave him a giant hug.
"I promised your Father I wouldn't cry and ruin my makeup but my dear Cyrus, I am so sorry you're finding out this way. Not a day has gone by I have not missed you," she said as she released him to see a smile on his face.
"Son, it looks like you have grown into quite the strong young man. I hope you have trained hard and by the looks of it, have kept good company. I'm looking forward to retiring, not anytime soon, but it will either be you or your sister who inherits our position," his Father said, while reaching out and placing a firm hand on Cyrus's shoulder.
"Let's introduce you and our honored guests to Haven!" the Father exclaimed.
After meeting his parents, Zander could see that Cyrus's aura had flared up for a few seconds, but then began flowing more naturally and then looked to be relaxed again.
Two guards brought the King and Queen their large, Golden crowns with ruby and pearl jewels.
Another set of guards showed Cyrus where to stand and gave him a smaller crown, white in color with ruby and gold jewels while his sister wore a more feminine crown, smaller than her parents as well, although it was white with gold and ruby jewels.
"Just follow my lead, brother," Zoey whispered.
"It is time, my lord," Ethan had said and opened the castle doors to an eruption of cheers, screams and posters.
The route they took was barricaded off, but Cyrus was in awe of the detail and pageantry of the ceremony.
Ethan led the group, followed by the council, which was made up of 6 members, with their leader being the princess. Behind the council walked Cyrus and Sophie, who waved and smiled to the people while holding hands.
Next, Cyrus and Zoey walked side by side and Zoey encouraged Cyrus to shake hands with the crowd, say hello, and be very friendly.
Cyrus wasn't used to being in the limelight, but he was enjoying every second of it.
Finally, on a chariot pulled by two gorgeous horses, the King and Queen rode, hands held, smiling and waving to the crowd.
Zoey whispered to Cyrus, "when we get near the school, be prepared for a surprise and make sure you accompany our Father,"
When they arrived at the school, the King stepped down from their chariot and gracefully held his wife's hand as she got down. Zoey went over to her Mother, and Cyrus to his Father, and to Cyrus's surprise, his Father was with all the 12 and under children, giving hugs, words of encouragement and Cyrus joined in.
Zoey and her Mother were with the older students, and Zander and Sophie just enjoyed the scene.
The parents and children, then swapped places, and Cyrus was amazed the only guard needed was Ethan. Everyone was so nice and respectful, whether it was a human, vampire, werewolf, chimera or Minotaur.
Everyone then walked to the town square center, where a giant podium had been erected overnight.
The King gestured for Sophie and Zander to come up top, to which they did, and sat next to Zoey and Cyrus.
Cyrus and Zoey had miniature thrones, while the King and Queens were quite elegant and large, fitting the medieval theme.
The crowd was shooting off fireworks of magic, cheering and almost all of Haven was watching from their homes balcony, the town square or school.
There were also monitors throughout Haven showing the platform.
The King raised his hand and waved down the crowd to quiet down, before standing up and approaching the center podium.
"Haven, it is so wonderful to see all of you today! This is a joyous occasion for all of Haven, but for myself, my wife and daughter, it marks the day our son has returned home!" the king exclaimed.
After large roars, the King continued.
"He also returned home with Zander Elrod, yes, thee Zander Elrod, blessed by Solace as the chosen one, and his beautiful, yet unexpected wife Sophie!"
After the crowd roared again, the King waved for silence.
"Due to this joyous homecoming, I have brought everyone together to share a nice meal, enjoy a wonderful day, and with that, my wife if you would."
The queen stated an incantation while moving her arms in a circle, then a heart within a circle, and magically, everyone had food floating in front of them.
"Let us enjoy this meal and celebrate 100 years of a safe Haven for all souls dedicated to Solace. Cyrus please come here my son."
Cyrus nervously looked around, as he saw the thumbs up from Zander and a push from his sister.
"As you all saw from his graduation, he, Zander and Sophie showed no fear in their statements against Theo and Phantoms Keep. For his bravery, we have given him the benefit of a month off before taking the noble trial! Zander and Sophie Elrod, you have the option of taking the regular beast hunting exam or the full noble trial, but if I know anything of the Elrods, they won't take the easy way out!" The king said with a large smile.
"A month?!" the Queen and Princess said at the same time as their jaws dropped.
"That's why I fell in love with the man," the Queen thought.
Because everything was prepared beforehand, everyone could sit down and enjoy a meal. At the head table, the King and Queen made special accommodations for Zander and Sophie to sit.
"Cyrus speaks very highly of you two," Zoey shared with a smile.
"Well we think really highly of him, he was the best man at our wedding and was there for me when my parents died. He's actually the reason Sophie and I met," Zander said.
Zander and Cyrus shared all the tales of the two of them growing up, always competing, how they had met Sophie, the wedding and more.
Cyrus' parents enjoyed every minute of their conversation and shared all the good news and progress Haven had made.
After a long day of eating, followed by a beautiful dessert, the crowd began to say their thanks and eventually everyone had returned to the castle.
Cyrus was given his special card, a black and gold card with "CPH," on it, and his bedroom was finally ready.
He invited Zander and Sophie over, and to their surprise, his bedroom was more of a house than a bedroom. It had two floors, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a master bathroom, a full wall in closet, a retractable roof, tv, study, hot tub, sauna and it was all decorated in the ruby and pearl royal colors.
"Today can't be real!" Cyrus said with a smile.
"That's how I felt when I thought I lost Zander when he was engulfed in flame," Sophie laughed and Zander smiled and said, "that's how I've felt these last 6 months. It's going to be July soon."
A knock was heard, and after a come in, Zoey joined in. Sophie was thankful to have another woman to talk to, even if she was 17 and Zoey was 23.
"Do you miss your other parents?" Zander finally asked.
"Absolutely and it's kind of like you and Sophie. I have royal parents and I have normal parents just like you two have Tej and Soraya and normal parents," Cyrus said with a smile.
To his surprise, Zoey had walked in with a special tablet that needed a hand scan, eye scan and passcode to activate it but when it did, Cyrus could see his Aunt and Uncle via video chat.
"Mom! Dad! I miss you guys so much I wish you could come here and see it all with me!"
With tears in their eyes, all worries had left Cyrus's aunt and uncle's eyes.
"You still consider us your parents, Mrs Hart said wiping away a tear?"
"Of course I do, like I just told Zoey, Zander and Sophie, I have regular parents and I have royal parents, just like they Phoenix parents and regular," Cyrus explained.
After catching up and making sure everything was ok at Zander and Sophie's house, they disconnected the call.
"How can I contact them again?" Cyrus asked.
"A lot of preparation went into that one, short, secure call. This tablet will now be destroyed and the passcode wouldn't even work again. They had their own process to follow," Zoey said.
"Least I have all of you," Cyrus said with a smile.
"So Father gave you three one month to train. I would suggest starting Monday. Take tomorrow, attend church if you'd like but Monday, you three will begin rigorous training for a month, so rest up," Zoey said while giving everyone a hug, the biggest one to Sophie.
"You and I will become great friends and maybe you can give me some dating advice," Zoey had whispered to Sophie.
"I'm glad you want to become close because I love my husband and Cyrus but it's been a lot of testosterone over the last few months," Sophie chuckled.
Meanwhile, in the King and Queen's Master bedroom, the King had surprised the Queen with a walkway of roses, leading to a nice, warm bath with a robe hanging up for her.
"Aw my darling after all these years, you're still such a Romantic," she said with a kiss.
"For you, always. That's why I gave them a month. I don't want to rush them out of here. I would like to enjoy some time as a family, wouldn't you," the King asked.
"That's exactly why I fell in love with you. You literally pleaded with the Father of Solace to let me turn you so we wouldn't lose each other," she said with a big kiss.
Sophie and Zander had also gone to their room. It seemed like romance was in the air that night.
Cyrus laid on his new, king size mattress that adjusted and automatically adjusted temperature to his liking and laid with excitement.
"I'm going to pass the trial with flying colors and I'll beat Zander and Sophie to prove I'm #1," Cyrus thought, practicing what his sister had been teaching him about chi until he fell asleep.