Chapter 82 – Before the banquet

Matt was standing in front of the door and his hand was almost touching the knob.

On the other side, he could sense the guards waiting, probably ready to escort him to the hall where the queen had prepared her grand banquet.

His debut.

The word still disgusted him.

Matt lowered his gaze to his clothes.

The black suit was still well-fitted. The shirt had no wrinkles. The dark red brooch was straight.

His hair, after a lot of insistence from Iris, no longer looked like it had survived a fight with a pillow.

That was also annoying.

Iris was insufferable, but she was good at doing hair.

Matt felt like hating her a little more for that.

Behind him, Iris was walking around the room with total freedom.

She didn't seem to be in a hurry. She didn't seem worried. She didn't seem to remember that in a few minutes half the kingdom was going to gather to see Matt.

The temporary princess, according to him. The perfect daughter, according to the queen. The worst thing that could invade someone else's room, according to his patience.

Iris picked up a pillow from the bed, sniffed it a bit and then put it back where it was.

Matt saw her in the reflection of a nearby mirror.

His eyebrow twitched.

"Can you not do that?" Matt asked.

Iris turned her head slightly.

"What thing?"

"Sniff my stuff."

Iris looked at the pillow. Then she looked at him.

"I was just checking."

"That doesn't make it better."

Iris smiled softly.

"Your smell is still strange."

Matt closed his eyes for a second thinking about hitting Iris until he heard a voice inside his mind.

'Matt.'

Matt went still, his hand stopping before it opened the door.

Noxx's voice sounded low, but clear.

Not like other times. Not muffled. Not lost.

There was a strange determination in it.

Matt frowned slightly.

'What is it?'

Iris, behind him, was still tidying things nobody had asked her to tidy.

Noxx spoke again.

'I want to come out.'

Matt blinked.

For a moment, he thought he had misunderstood.

Then his gaze hardened.

'Now?'

'Now.'

Matt glanced sideways at Iris, who was checking a jacket he hadn't worn, running her fingers over the fabric with a judgmental expression.

Matt pressed his lips together.

'Why do you want to come out now? We're about to go to the banquet.'

Noxx didn't answer right away.

Matt continued, without moving his mouth:

'And in case you didn't notice, that annoying Iris is behind me.'

Iris looked up, as if she had felt she was being insulted.

Matt kept his face calm.

Iris watched him for a few seconds. Then went back to looking at the jacket.

Noxx spoke:

'I don't want to take control of the body.'

Matt stayed silent.

'Explain.'

Noxx breathed in deeply.

'We're close to the laboratory you used to separate from Iris.'

Matt felt something tighten in his chest and his hand dropped from the knob.

'No.'

'Matt.'

'No.'

'Listen.'

'I've heard enough.'

Behind him, Iris folded the jacket and put it on a chair.

"What's wrong with you?" Iris asked, in her usual arrogant tone. "You got very quiet."

Matt didn't look at her.

"Nothing."

Iris tilted her head.

"That was really unconvincing."

"Then pretend it convinced you."

Iris smiled.

"How difficult."

Matt didn't answer.

He looked at the door again.

'Why do you want to do this now?' Matt asked in his mind. 'Our plan was to live under the radar, watch how to rise, gather power and not hand over information to the queen.'

'This moment is better,' Noxx insisted.

'No.'

'It is.'

Matt closed his eyes.

'We're minutes away from walking into a hall full of nobles, vampire houses and probably people who want to see if I'm weak or easy to control.'

'Exactly.'

Matt opened his eyes.

'Exactly?'

Noxx spoke more forcefully:

'It's your coronation.'

'Don't use that word.'

'Your presentation.'

'That one doesn't help either.'

'It's the best moment for us to separate.'

Matt clenched his teeth.

'No.'

Noxx didn't stop.

'And also for me to present myself to everyone.'

Matt lowered his gaze to his hand.

His fingers slowly closed.

'Why?'

'Because from the outside I can help more than from the inside.'

Matt let out a very low sigh.

Iris noticed.

Of course she noticed.

She stopped touching the jacket and turned toward him.

"Matt."

"Don't start."

"I didn't even say anything."

"You thought it."

"Yes."

Matt brought a hand to the bridge of his nose.

He didn't have time for this. He didn't have time for Iris. He didn't have time for Noxx throwing out absurd ideas right before the biggest political event Elyra had prepared in days.

'The idea is rushed,' Matt answered in his mind. 'I'm not convinced.'

Noxx took a moment to respond. When she did, her voice sounded more serious.

'There's something Aurora, Moon and Sun haven't told you.'

Matt went still.

Iris looked at him more attentively.

Matt had to force himself to keep his face the same.

'What?'

Noxx spoke slowly.

'We all suspect the queen already knows I exist.'

Matt didn't answer.

For an instant, the sound of the room became clearer.

The fabric moving between Iris's fingers. The soft breathing behind him. The silence of the guards outside, and the weight of the banquet waiting for him.

The queen.

Always the queen.

Matt felt an annoying chill in his stomach.

'Why do you think that?' Matt asked.

'Because she only tried to enter your mind once.'

Matt pressed his lips together.

'She can't be sure just from that.'

'She can be close enough.'

Matt looked at the door knob. His reflection in the dark metal showed him his own face.

Calm. Too calm. On the outside, at least.

Iris stepped a little closer.

"You're making that face," Iris observed.

Matt turned his head slightly.

"Which one?"

"The one you make when you're thinking about something annoying."

"I think about you all the time."

Iris smiled.

"How sweet."

"How wrong."

Iris wasn't bothered.

She just kept watching him.

Matt looked at the door again.

'Noxx,' Matt thought. 'Even if the queen suspects, separating you now would be giving her exactly what she wants.'

'No.'

'No?'

'If we let her decide when I come out, she controls the moment.'

Matt stayed still.

Noxx spoke more clearly:

'She can lock us up in her laboratory. She can arrange everything her way. She can present me however she wants. She can say whatever she wants about me before I have a voice of my own.'

Matt didn't answer.

That was true. Annoyingly true.

Noxx continued:

'If we do it now, at your presentation, in front of the houses, the queen can't hide me.'

Matt looked at the floor.

'She can also kill you.'

'She won't.'

Matt felt the pressure on his chest grow.

Noxx was talking with more confidence. Too much for someone who, not long ago, wanted to sleep and let him handle everything.

'If I come out now, I can gain influence and power within the kingdom from the start,' Noxx argued. 'I won't just be a secret kept in your head.'

Matt closed his eyes for a second.

'This sounds like Aurora.'

Noxx didn't answer right away. Then she said:

'It was something we debated.'

Matt opened his eyes.

'You debated this?'

'Me and Aurora. Moon and Sun showed up too and agreed.'

'Great. You held a meeting without me in my own head.'

Matt felt like laughing.

He didn't.

Iris was still behind him.

Too close. Too attentive.

'The idea started with Aurora,' Noxx admitted. 'She explained it to me just now.'

'I should've guessed.'

'But I agree.'

Matt clenched his jaw.

'That's what worries me.'

Noxx went quiet and the determination from earlier started to fade.

It didn't disappear. But it dimmed a little.

'Is my idea that bad?' Noxx asked.

Her voice sounded different. Less firm. Lower.

Matt felt something in his chest sink slightly.

Iris spoke at the same time from behind.

"Matt," Iris insisted. "Seriously. What's going on with you?"

Matt turned his head toward her.

Iris was a few steps away. She had her arms crossed and a suspicious expression. Her white hair was perfectly arranged. Her red eyes were studying him with that annoying mix of arrogance and attention.

"You're standing in front of the door like you forgot how to walk," Iris let out.

Matt looked at her for a few seconds. Then went back to the knob.

Outside were the guards. Beyond, the hallway. After that, the banquet. The queen. The houses. The noblewomen. The announcement.

And now Noxx wanted to appear in the middle of it all.

Matt breathed in deeply.

'It's not a small idea,' Matt thought in his mind.

Noxx didn't answer.

'Besides, it's not safe...'

Nothing.

For a moment Matt remembered Eleonora's sad expression.

'I…'