People clapped at the success of yet another gala. Duke Bastion addressed the crowd and said "Thank you for joining me for this evening of music and dancing. I tell everyone that will listen that music and dance is the way to experience the full range of human emotions." He then had a hiccup. His cheeks were red again from the drinking he had done. He did not notice and said "It is my favorite time of these galas. We will now announce the Lords and Ladies of the Dance. I throw this gala once a year to honor the new cadets that receive commissions. We have been watching all night and we have picked the male and female cadet that have done the best and the most numerous dances." It was the same speech as last time. It was pretty nice and I guessed that it was a rehearsed speech that he would give. I knew that I liked hearing it the first time. Going again, it had less much less impact for me somehow. It made me sigh as Suzie came up to me. "What are you doing with your kids? The kids are going to be monsters." she asked. I just shrugged knowingly. She pouted as I grinned.
Everyone murmured amongst themselves. I knew that my kids would be chosen. They listened and had danced at every opportunity. Duke Bastion continued with his speech. "For the cadets that had danced the most, I now call upon Ken, Kenny, Timothy, Danni, Kim, Kathryn Davids. Because of this unprecedented situation, I will call on Davie Davids to speak for them." he said. We stepped forward and knelt in front of him. A sergeant-at-arms came into view with a ceremonial blade. King Gervis took the blade and dubbed them Lords and Ladies of the dance. "Ask for a boon. Speak and I will hear." he said. I said "I request you induct my children into the Order as knights." King Gervis said "That is in my power. I, the sovereign of Wendalia, use the power vested in me by blood to dub thee Dames and Sirs Davids." He dubbed them again with the blade. We were then told to rise and the others clapped. They went into the crowd and were surrounded by peers and siblings. "The next Lords and Ladies of the Dance will be determined by the best dancer of each genre." Duke Bastion said.
I was surprised when Cheekclapper 69 was also knighted. His waltz with Travis at some point put him over the top. I rolled my eyes and Travis was furious. I had to physically restrain him from attacking him. "Don't do it! You're a bastard son of an upstart noble. He's a knight of the realm! You can not win against him anymore. All you can do is escape to the Air Force." Travis struggled before he began to sob. "It's not fair! He keeps on abusing me and I'm the one who gets blamed. He even said he'd join the Air Force just to get with me. Do something!" he said through tears. I thought about it. "Hey. You don't have to stay in the military if it's painful. Kenneth and Theo want to be singers and entertain people. That is a beautiful wish and goal. You can join them and no one would blame you." He shook his head and said "No! I was at the top of the Omega class. I was even higher than most of the Alphas. I wanted to join the Army!" "Then do it. Find a kind Alpha or Switch from your old group and be with them. They will become a shield for you." I responded. He nodded and it was just sad.
With that, Travis went slack in my arms as he gave up. I hugged him from behind and whispered affirmations in his ear. The other Lords and Ladies of the Dance were selected and I smiled as they were all celebrated together in front of the audience. I spent the last hour before the cadets were dismissed with Travis. I tried to keep a gloating Cheekclapper 69 at bay. It still did not prevent him from following us around. He smiled and said "Thanks for that waltz. I'm very happy that you're actually good for something other than spreading pheromones around and being a cum dumpster." I stopped and turned to him. "Sir 69, It is not considered nice to be a sore winner. If you can't take a win for an answer, people won't want to deal with you." Cheekclapper scoffed and said "Stop it! You had 15 kids for you to use for yourself. You shouldn't even care that much if I take one of them." "If you want to use a kid and use them, you can have your own." I said. "Maybe I will with Travis. He's an Omega Prime and has a womb after all. Let me marry him." he answered.
