The Emperor (The Tarot Club 2)

Chapter Thirty-One : The Walkthrough

Corinne

The town hall spoke of old money and balls past. Zoey seemed to stick to the edges of the hall, keeping her back to the wall, which told me that the dead were bugging her - demanding she listen to their requests. I couldn't imagine how exhausting it must have been.

The crowd pressed in upon Dimitri and I, the very air thrummed with Magick and revelry as we were welcomed as a married couple, united in all things both in this world, and the next.

And although we attempted to weave our way through the crowd, we were halted every couple of feet by those bestowing their well wishes upon us. The Bratva was here in full force, nodding their heads in greeting each time one of them caught my eye. I supposed if ever there was a time to rejoice, it was now - their Pakhan had just married - the Bratva expanded by an Empress.

We finally made our way towards the wedding table, where only two seats remained atop a raised platform, making them look more like thrones than two seats at a wedding table.

A table sat before the chairs, giving one the illusion that the Bride and Groom would have the luxury of time to sit on their thrones and feast at their own wedding. I dipped my head in gratitude as Brenna led us towards the platform, parting the crowd as if she alone held the staff that once belonged to Moses.

The thrones were obscenely uncomfortable, but I knew better than most that this part of the ceremony wasn't about comfort - it was about image. The hall was packed with so many faces I did not recognize, and still I smiled, nodding my head in greeting with a grace that I did not truly possess.

Dimitri sat splayed in his seat as if he owned the place, and in many ways I supposed he did. My jaw ached from smiling, my head throbbed from the considerable effort it took to not frown at some of the idiotic uttering that fell from our guests lips. And when the call went up for us to open the dance floor with the customary first dance by the Bride and Groom, I felt nothing but knee shuddering relief - because even if the entire hall would be watching us, it meant that I wouldn't have to talk to anyone else - wouldn't have to smile at them. With Dimitri, I could be entirely myself, and I wondered how many people could say the same when it came to their partners.

He guided me down the dais easily, an Emperor among men, and when my foot hit the demarcated floor, he spun me around in a dizzying fashion, leaving me swooning in his wake.

The cool sounds of the classical song Canon in D Major engulfed us, transporting us to a place - a pocket of time that seemed to have room for only us. His forearms gripped me in a way that tainted my vision with memories from the night before, his steps both graceful and sure leaving no room to question whether he belonged in the upper echelon of society. But none of that mattered, not when my very being seemed tethered to his, and so we danced in unison, where he pushed, I pulled, each of us taking a turn to lead the dance. It wasn't a struggle of power, rather it was the collective dominance - the shared weight of responsibility that seemed to pulse with each graceful step we took.

And when it was over, when the strum of instruments seemed to fade into the background, Dimitri handed me over to my father, his hands lingering on my waist as if he too wasn't quite willing to pass me on - wasn't ready to let go.

Compared to Dimitri's grace, my father was stiff and uncoordinated. Worse still, he was determined to hold a conversation whilst he took his turn with me on the dance floor.

"You did well for yourself, Corinne." His cheeks were rosy from the wine, and I couldn't stop the cringe that flitted across my expression as he described my luck - as if my only value to him - to the family - had been in me finding a husband of worth.

"I like to think we both did well in finding each other."

"Of course." My father nodded once. "But Dimitri is going places, and it will be your job to support him - to heighten his success. That's the key to all of this you know, the wife is the support and backbone. Lord knows where I would be without your mother."

Probably a few rungs down the social ladder.

I sighed audibly, allowing my disdain at this very conversation to seep through.

"Don't become morbid on me now - not at your wedding."

Because of course I was morbid - of course it was me. But it was at that exact moment that the music seemed to die off, with Dimitri cutting in.

"Another dance with my bride?" His voice appeared cool and contained, his stance seemed as if he were entirely unaffected, but beneath his bored expression roared the flames of annoyance and outrage, as if he had been watching me the entire time, stepping in the moment my father became too much.

My father handed me back to Dimitri wordlessly, and just like that all was right in the world. We danced our way across the floor, and all I could pay attention to was the way Dimitri's back seemed to clench each time I dragged my fingers up to the nape of his neck. He was hating this as much as I was. He wrapped a hand around mine, discreetly gliding us off of the dance floor and towards the bar.

It was that precise moment that the door to the bathroom swung open, producing a mussed up Maxine, with Eli in tow. Her hair had that just-been-fucked coif, and lipstick seemed to be smeared along Eli's neck and shoulder. He smirked at Dimitri, as if sleeping with Maxine was somehow a personal victory of his - as if that act alone raised him above Dimitri.

Didn't he know who Maxine was? What she was capable of?

Without missing a beat, Maxine offered Dimitri a saucy wink. "You're welcome." She crooned the words at Dimitri, and I wondered if he truly understood what she had just done - how she had sought out to destroy Eli. Because after being with Max, anything he may have gained in this lifetime would come tumbling down. Just as quickly as she had exited the bathroom, so she glided across the dance floor, picking up a new partner very few feet, only to release them for someone else.

“Corinne.” My mother’s voice was filled with admonishment, as if Maxine’s bathroom sexcapades were entirely my doing.

“Lovely function, isn’t it, Emily?” Dimitri’s overly cheerful tone told me exactly what he was doing, but I had had enough of pandering around my parents.

“Yes, Mother.” I allowed every ounce of disdain to seep into my tone. “I’m taking it you noticed that Maxine fucked a fellow guest in the bathroom?”

“Corinne!” My mother seemed truly shocked by me simply stating the facts. “Honestly, sometimes I wonder what kind of people you associate with.”

I stepped towards my mother, even as Dimitri’s hand pressed against my forearm, cautioning me to stay - to leave it.