Abigail and Matthias decided to share a room, like usual. David and Emma decided to also share, so I get my own room. My room was everything a room in castle should be. The sheets were soft, and warm. The canopy bed had curtains on each rail. The whole suite had color palette of blue and white, with paintings all around. There was a painting in my room of a rose garden, and a large castle in the back ground.

I got better sleep last night than the other night, so that's nice. I slowly rise from the bed, and let my feet dangle over the side of the bed before coming in contact with the nice warm rug. I open the door slowly, and see that Matthias already out in the sitting room, reading a book.

"Good morning." Matthias hums, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Good morning." I respond back before picking an old and weathered book on the side table. "Were you reading this one?"

"No, it was actually in our room when we got here." Matthias says. The book is emerald green, and has gold text that reads Macbeth. "It's a good one."

"I've heard good things about it." I say. "But people also said great things about Romeo and Juliet, and reading that was like gouging out my own eyes with a wooden spoon."

"It's better than Romeo and Juliet, trust me." Matthias advises. "And have you tried reading the Shakespeare to Modern English ones?"

"No, not yet. Maybe one day, though." I say, nodding a little bit. "Why, have you?"

"A time or two. They make it easier to look at."

"This one is probably not one of the modern ones, though." I peak it open and in fact seeing Old English.

"Probably." Matthias once more lifts the cup to his lips, and I soon swallow myself in Macbeth.

"Oh, good morning, Canada." Abigail says midway through the first act.

"Good morning." I say, nodding.

"I hope you slept better last night,"

"I did, thanks." I say, closing the book and setting it down.

"So, are you getting excited, you've got your big speech coming up." Abigail begins to fix herself a cup of coffee.

"I guess..." I say, trailing off and wishing everyone would stop asking me that question.

"I know you're going to do great. We're all really proud of you." Matthias encourages.

"Thanks, I try." I pick up my book once more in the hopes that they'll stop talking to me. I don't want to think about my speech anymore. Soon, I hear another door open, and two new sets of feet walk out, and sit on the couches. At this point, I'm beginning to scroll on my phone. I've already sent a text to Gayle, even thought there's a huge time difference.

A knock comes at the door in the middle of one of my news stories. Matthias, being the only person properly dressed, goes to the door.

"Good morning, Mr. Wayward, did you and you sleep well?" The voice of Harrison asks.

"Yes, we all did. Thanks to your hospitality, of course."

"Our pleasure, sir. We would like to advise you, at this time, that today's schedule is as follows, 9 AM, breakfast, and with your extended access, you will be dining with the Reigna Na'im, as you will for the rest of your meals during your stay."

A slow wave of heavy shock flows over the room. Harrison pauses to let the words sink in for a moment. Reigna Na'im is the ruler of all vampire kind. All around the world, people come to her to seek advice, or just for worship. She has been on the High Throne for over three centuries, now. I've only seen her portrait form. Never in real life, let alone be in the same room.

"Then, after that, you will be allowed to mingle with your fellow kind, Madam Canada will be allowed to converse with her fellow speakers, and then at 12:30, sharp, there will be the open ceremony. You Wayward's will be near the front, and Madam Canada will be on the stage, once more with her fellow speakers. Then lunch, in the great hall, then you will be free to take a number of courses on history, or self control, or whatever you choose.

"Madam Abigail, you will be teaching a seminar on the transformation process?"

"Yes, sir." Abigail says.

"Wonderful. Said class will begin at two. Then, at six, there will be dinner, and then all of you will be dismissed to either explore the castle, or spend the rest of your night in your room. On the back of the sheet is a page of all of the classes that will be available to you." Harrison says.

"Thank you, very much, Mr. Harrison."

"My pleasure, sir." Harrison hands Matthias the papers, and walks away.

A silent agreement of 'Oh shoot, we need to get ready now' falls over the room. We all quickly stand up, and go about our usual routines. This time, I pull a dress out of my suit case, a collared navy blue dress that displayed a few pink flowers on it. This one was Emma's pick. I come out of the room, hair done teeth brushed, and every other thing, to see that everybody has just finished doing the same thing.

"Canada, do you think you could take us to the dining room?" Abigail asks when Emma finally comes out.

"I mean... sure."

I open the door, and step back out into the now fully lit hallway. I think about the dining room, and focus on that, and only that. Eventually, my feet start moving along the way, pulling us, hopefully, towards the dining room. Eventually, we stumble upon another set of wooden doors.

"Wayward's?" One of the guards asks us.

"Yes, sir." Matthias affirms.

"Excellent." The guard says, and opens up the door. Inside, various different vampires of all creeds, colors, and walks of life sit a various different tables. They all look like a high school cafeteria with various different cliques. We find an open table of five seats, and sit down.

I see too many sets of silverware in front of me, at least three spoons, maybe four forks, and two knives. What am I supposed to do with these? When do I use these? How do I use these? Who was supposed to teach me this? Was I supposed to be taught this?

"What the heck am I supposed to do with these?" I whisper over to Emma.

"Just follow my lead, you'll be fine." Emma whispers back, leaning in a little towards me.

"And if I'm not?"

"Trust me, you will be. Maybe there'll be an etiquette class today. I'll go with you, so you won't be alone." Emma says. "Or, you could just use your instincts."

"There is that."

"Good luck."

"Same to you."

Our table sits in complete silence, and the other tables just keep it to a low murmur among just their table. I stare at the plates, focusing on the ornate designs around the edges. I play with the hem of my dress a little bit. Suddenly, a silence overcomes the room, as the two doors at the very front of the room come open with what looks like just the sheer force of a very strong wind, and a women in a black robe and a black hijab walks in slowly.

"Announcing, Reigna Na'im, ruler of all Vampiric kind, merciful to all, who has established the Novice Academies For New Vampire's." A voice calls at the back of a room. We all rise to our feet, and my instinct pushes upon me to curtsy.

"Thank you." Reigna Na'im says. Her voice sounds as though it was once smooth, but due to whatever reason, it's slowly becoming a little more horse. "Please, be seated, and let the meal begin."

We all sit down, and bowls of berries are brought to our tables. Reigna Na'im eats at the front of the room, and eats slower. In class, they taught us that when shes finished with her plate, so is everyone else. So, I, as well as everyone else at our tables, eat relatively quickly. The next course that is brought out is pancakes, topped with powdered sugar, of course, with a side of bacon, and a little bowl of blood.

I notice the absence of both bacon, and blood, from Reigna Na'im's plate. I know that Muslim's don't eat pork, but how can she not drink blood? Isn't that the one thing that we really need to live?

Nevertheless, the meal finishes, and we are off to our next adventure. I let my instinct lead us back to our room. Once we walk back in, I feel Abigail take my hand.

"Emma and I have a surprise for you." Abigail says, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, you guys didn't have to get me anything-"

"It's something that every girl should have- for artistic purposes, of course, not for oppressive purposes. Oppressing people isn't something I do, and I would never-"

"I get it, Emma, thank you, though." I say.

"No problem."

"Here it is," Abigail says, pulling out a makeup box that looks like it belongs on a Hollywood set.

"Oh, thank you." I say, taking it into my hands. I fiddle with the latch before finally opening it, and looking at all of the eye shadows and lipsticks and eyeliners.

"We weren't sure what you'd need, so we figured we'd get you a little bit of everything." Abigail explains with a proud expression on her face.

"I love it, thank you. This is great, because there isn't any makeup in my bag."

"Do you want some help putting it on?" Emma offers.

"I'd love some." I say. "Thanks, you guys."

Emma put on a little bit of everything, and then released me to finally go into the living room. We walk back into the foyer, and see a bunch of other people. The room is filled with various servants rushing around with trays carrying various things, some of them holding more than a few glasses filled with some blood.

"Madam Canada," Harrison says, approaching us as well try not to get separated. "You've been invited to come backstage with the other speakers, if you wouldn't mind."

"Not at all, sir." I say. He offers his arm, and I take it.

"So, are you looking forward to your speech?" Harrison asks.

"I suppose so."

"Or are you more looking forward to getting it over with?" He asks. I sort of cast my eyes to the ground. "It's okay if you are, the time leading up to your speech is quite hectic."

"Oh, then, a little bit, yes."

"Have you ever spoken in front of a crowd this large?"

"No, sir."

"I am sure you are tired of hearing this, and I'm sure it doesn't mean anything coming from me, but you'll do fine, trust me, I've seen a lot of bad speakers in my day. You do't strike me as the kind of person who will join their ranks."

"Thank you, sir." I say, nodding. We round one more corner, and we finally arrive at an oak door.

Harrison opens the door, and I step inside. I express my thanks, and he leaves. Now, I'm all alone, in what feels like a pack of wolves that haven't eaten in five days. Most of them are already deep in conversation, so I just make my way to the snack table, and lean against the wall. Several people pass by without noticing me, making me feel like I'm invisible, even though, that's exactly what I want to be right now. Invisible. When you're invisible, no one can criticize you.

"Attention, attention speakers," A voice calls out, leaving the room in silence. "Please, make your way to the stage. People will begin to organize you by first name alphabetical."

"Anna Sypholia!" A voice calls out. "Alfonso de la Cruz! Amia Hemming! Canada Wayward!" I push my through the crowd as best as I can to pass get to the third place in line. Once everyone is inline, I notice that I am just in the wings. The only thing keeping the audience from seeing me is a curtain. Eventually, the curtain rises, and they still have us wait in the wings.

I can hear a speaker saying something on the stage. "Welcome, welcome everyone to the 590th Feast of Restoration. The feast has been celebrated for a millennium and some change. It began to inform vampire's of ways to control themselves, and better the world that we live in. It has been a highlight of a decade ever since. It has also been a tradition to allow speakers to present information that they have learned while they were away.

"Some of these have prompted revolutions in studies, and others have helped us understand concepts that we otherwise would be clueless about. Some have even accomplished both. Now that I have further terrified them, please, put your hands together, for this decade's speakers!"

Slowly, we begin to walk out as some strings play in the back ground. Applause, however, is the most prominent noise. Cheers go on and on, some going louder than other as a person they like enters the stage. I let my instinct take over, unsure of what else I can do. I find my seat, in between Amia Hemming and Cassius Maldives. We remain standing, waiting for some sort of a cue to sit down.

"And of course," The speaker begins his speech again. "Please welcome the ruler of all Vampiric Kind, Reigna Na'im."

Reigna Na'im walks out onto the stage in the same outfit she did before. Even louder applause washes over the room, but eventually dies down as well bow.

"Thank you, thank you all for coming." Reigna's semi-hoarse voice says. "It is my honor to be able to host, and to see you all. I cannot express how much this means to me. I am also very excited to see so many speakers this year, it is truly wonderful to see such a thing. Stand tall, your kind is proud of you."

"I cannot also express how much gratitude I have for all of you, for cutting out your holidays of Christmas, and Hannakuh. I am forever in your debt because of this. Now..."

She keeps speaking, but I feel my phone buzz in my pocket, right, the time change, I think to myself. I don't need to look at it to know that it's Gayle. No one in my party has their phones out, and I have no one else's contact in my phone. I make a mental not to check, and try to focus back in on Reigna Na'im's speech.

"It is now, my great honor, to announce that this decade's Feast of Restoration, has officially begun." Reigna Na'im picks up a gavel, and hits a loud bell. A chorus of other bell's begin to echo through the halls. Everyone begins to cheer again, and then we are all dismissed to go about our day. I make sure I'm clear of the sight of Reigna Na'im to look at what Gayle texted me.

GAYLE
Me when you text my a tHrEe In ThE mOrNiNg

He then includes the blinking guy meme, and I stifle a laugh.

CANADA
Lol

GAYLE
Why did you text me at three in the morning?

CANADA
'Cause time changes

GAYLE
Big oof.
Anyway, how're ya?

CANADA
Good, you?

GAYLE
Pretty dang good. Life's kinda sucky without you here at HQ.

I can feel my heart grow faster after that last text.

CANADA
Thanks, bro
Sucky here without you, too

GAYLE
I bet, when's you're speech again?

CANADA
Day after tomorrow.

GAYLE
Rate your nervousness on a scale of 1-10

CANADA
15

GAYLE
You're going to whoop butt

CANADA
But what if I don't

GAYLE
You're going to because I say you are

CANADA
Uh huh. Sure I am

GAYLE
I'm serious, you CAN do this?
See what I did there? Because you're name is Canada, and the first three letters of Canada spell Can.
I'm sorry if your were offended by that text.

CANADA
Nah, I dig it

GAYLE
Whoop!
But seriously, repeat after me, in text form,
I, Canada Wayward,

I can't help but actually let a smile come on my face.

CANADA
I, Canada Wayward,

GAYLE
Will preform my speech with confidence,

CANADA
I'm not supposed to make promises I can't keep

GAYLE
Fine, I will TRY to preform my speech with confidence.

CANADA
I will TRY to preform my speech with confidence.

GAYLE
And even on the off chance that I do mess up,

CANADA
And even on the off chance that I do mess up,

GAYLE
I will recover quickly, and TRY not to worry so much about it.

CANADA
I will recover quickly, and TRY not to worry so much about it.

GAYLE
And once I am done,

CANADA
And once I am done,

GAYLE
People will leave that room more informed,

CANADA
People will leave that room more informed,

GAYLE
And I will answer the questions that they have about ways that they can help,

CANADA
And I will answer the questions that they have about ways that they can help,

GAYLE
My name is Canada Wayward,

CANADA
My name is Canada Wayward,

GAYLE
I am a kick butt,

CANADA
I am a kick butt,

GAYLE
I am smart,

CANADA
I am smart,

GAYLE
I am successful

CANADA
I am successful

GAYLE
I am brave,

CANADA
I am brave,

GAYLE
And I can do anything

CANADA
And I can do anything