Chapter 36: 13.4: The Royal Ball IV

We weren’t alone at the castle. A number of nobles had arrived before us, and there were still bound to be more behind. There was a small queue forming in front of the opened double doors, guards checking them in.

Well, “doors” was a bit of a misnomer. The entrance to the castle was more of an arch, its gates stretching maybe twenty or thirty meters high. It was partially open right now, leaving a gap wide enough for a carriage to travel through. There had to have been a team of people dedicated specifically to opening and closing it, I was pretty sure. It looked heavy, so thick that the Crown probably could’ve built a new village out of this gate’s wood and steel alone, and I didn’t see an obvious mechanism for it to be opened by.

There were maybe four or five groups ahead of us, each of them two to six people strong. The noble Houses were coming in pieces, it seemed, no single delegation from the same family. There was probably some level of court intrigue that related to the order in which people arrived to the ball, but if there was I wasn’t familiar with it. Maybe I would ask Jasmine about it at some later point.

“We’re a little late,” Jasmine said.

“You can tell?” I asked. “Also, I got to your manor earlier than you told me to. How did we end up being late?”

“Lady Margaret Tempet is three groups ahead of us,” Jasmine said, lowering her voice and glancing away from me momentarily to ensure she wasn’t being overheard. “She’s typically in the later group of guests to arrive. Not the last, she would never be so disrespectful, but enough to make a statement.”

“And the second part?”

“I did not anticipate us taking so long,” she admitted. “I rarely have guests over, so I had to call for the dressers to split up. They did an excellent job as usual, thankfully, but it was a little slower.”

“I couldn’t tell,” I said. “I’ve never had that experience before.”

“Was it alright?” Jasmine asked. “Not too much, I would hope.”

“It was fine,” I said. Not that I’d been paying attention to most of it. “They did a good job.”

“Do you like the hairpin I chose for you?” Jasmine asked, smiling coyly. “Be careful with it. It’s a touch sharp.”

I touched the pin in question where it had helped secure my hair behind my head. Now that I felt it again, I could tell without a shadow of a doubt that the grippy decorative part that would be displayed to any onlookers was a disguised hilt.

“It’s perfect,” I said. “Is it supernaturally sharp, or is it a regular level?”

“A little bit of magic,” Jasmine said. “Made by two oathholders, one to Aedi and the other to Ditas.”

“Hell of an effort to put in for a hairpin,” I commented. “What does it do?”

“Speed, strength, the usual,” Jasmine said. “It’s a very special hairpin. It extends, once you take it off.”

We’d been walking slowly while we spoke, the queue advancing as the guards finished examining group after group of nobles. The Tempet lady that Jasmine had pointed out had already passed through the gates.

“Ah, we’re almost there,” Jasmine noticed. “Do not be too carefree with the hairpin. It’s a family heirloom and rather important to me.”

“Understood,” I said.

She didn’t sound like she was lying. I knew she trusted me—I wouldn’t have placed any trust in her, otherwise—but did that really extend to a noble freely handing over family possessions?

Jasmine had entirely too much trust in me for her own good.

There wasn’t too much of a wait. The nobles two groups ahead of us passed through, then the ones right in front of us, and then it was our turn.

“Apologies, my ladies,” one of the guards said as we approached. There were a solid dozen of them, two of them unarmed and the others wielding various blades and firearms. “The Crown insists on strict security today.”

As much as his statement tried to convey the gravity of the situation, the search was almost lackadaisical. Sure, it might have been uncomfortable for a noble who was used to always getting their way, but it was nothing more than a light, brief pat-down. Nothing like the brutal, dehumanizing checks that I knew for a fact some Houses did to commoners entering their premises.

They didn’t even go below my knees or above my shoulders, perhaps for fear of offending a thin-skinned noble. I was a little disappointed in them, to be honest. There were so many places that I could have hid a knife or revolver in that they hadn’t even thought of checking.

Just like that, we were in.

It had been a long time since I had been in the royal castle, but it had left such a deep impression the last time I was here that I still recognized parts of it.

The foyer was massive, almost a great hall on its own. The place was covered from the floor to the ceiling in art, complex paintings depicting people, places, and deities plastering every flat surface in sight while elegant tapestries unfurling down from the ceiling, some forty meters up, told the story of the great continental war in glorified artistic detail. Massive pillars held the entire place up, and the ground was marble or some similar substance, infused with magic so that it glowed lightly even after the sun went down.

I wouldn’t have faulted a commoner for thinking that this was the great hall of the castle, but it wasn’t. If memory served me correctly, it wasn’t even close to being the grandest area of the structure.

“The ball is being held in the east ballroom,” Jasmine said. “That’s not too far, I think. There should be someone who can guide us.”

Sure enough, servants dotted the place in spades. One of them spotted us and joined our pair, indicating that he was to lead us to the ball.

I didn’t bother processing the opulence of the place as we walked. After all, even if it’d been a long time, it was all sights that I had seen before. Right now, there was someone prettied up in a way that I had never laid my eyes on before, and she had all my attention.

Soon enough, we were at the indicated ballroom, and the servant left to join the masses of uniformed attendants hurrying about the area after escorting us in.

The ballroom was very clearly a noble creation as well, but it was in a less boisterous way than the entrance hall was. No, the nobility in here came from the quality of the architecture, the price of the materials in the arches and pillars along the walls.

That, and the absolutely massive number of nobles inside. This, too, was something that I had not borne witness to in quite a long time, and I couldn’t say I had missed it much. There had to have been at least a hundred of them, mostly chatting or dining on small bites of food at the moment. There were so many of them, all of them done up in some fashionable style or another, but even if I ignored the very offputting fact that they were all nobles I had no eyes for them. They paled in comparison to the woman I was with, and I didn’t really want to have anything to do with them.

“House Varga should already be here,” Jasmine said. “You want to say hello to Alex and Lukas? Their House has been investigating too.”

“Briefly,” I said. “They’re good, competent teammates, but…”

Jasmine nodded. “I know what you mean.”

“If it wasn’t for the fact that they might have information we don’t, I’d be inclined to say no,” I admitted, unsure why exactly I was being so brutally honest. “I’d rather spend more time with you, I think.”

“I appreciate it,” Jasmine said warmly. “Though this does hold some import to it.”

“I agree,” I said. “Do you know where to find them?”

“Events are rarely held at the Crown’s royal castle,” Jasmine said. “There’s no typical spot for most people. At most, there might be typical areas of the room where a certain House tends to congregate, but I am unfamiliar with any of the norms and Alex has largely spurned his household.”

“So we’re just going to wander about for a while, then?”

“I believe we will be,” Jasmine said, taking my arm. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“I’d be happy to,” I grinned.

I had all but forgotten how one of these parties went, even if I did have enough vague memories of etiquette to keep from making a total fool of myself. As a result, our path was mostly decided by Jasmine pulling me along. We stopped for a bit at a table laden with tiny platters of delicacies. Jasmine picked two, and we each ate one. Mine was some kind of waterfowl drizzled in warm sauce, wrapped in a buttery pastry, and impaled by a fine wooden stick. It was rich in flavor, made all the better by the company I kept.

“Hy—Jasmine,” a man’s voice said from behind us, somehow managing to sound grating while also maintaining the telltale noble lilt. “You finally got a partner?”

“Aster,” Jasmine greeted him coolly, not bothering to turn around. “I can’t say I was expecting you.”

She extricated herself from me lightly, deigning to face the other noble after she was done speaking.

“Look, Jasmine,” the man said. “I know we didn’t part on the best terms, but—“

“Lily, this is Aster Tayan,” Jasmine cut in. “Fourth in line to the throne. Third, now, after Kiri’s death.”

“Lily, is it?” the noble asked, extending a hand. “Of what House?”

I ignored his outstretched hand and stepped over to the table to grab another one of the pastries.

“Of no house,” Jasmine said. “She’s an adventurer on the guards list for House Rayes.”

“Look, Jasmine,” Aster said. “I would never seek to besmirch your reputation, but…”

“Oh, come on, Aster,” Jasmine said. “You used to hate the way so many nobles flaunted their names too. What happened to you?”

“I grew up,” Aster replied seriously. “I learned my responsibilities. I know that we’re not to associate with those beneath us. And I can perceive that—“

“That you’re never going to be as smart or as strong or as tough as any of your siblings, and nor will you ever come close to the crown,” Jasmine bit back. “Leave me alone, alright? Cut the courtspeak, find some damsel to decorate your arm with, and let me have one night.”

“Gods above,” Aster said, irritated. “I’m just worried for your reputation, is all.”

“You cannot treat me like your ward just because we were once together,” Jasmine said. “House Rayes can deal with our own issues. I appreciate your concern, but respectfully, fuck off.”

The noble threw his hands up and left, huffing in exasperation.

“Who’s he?” I asked. “Former partner?”

“No, nothing like that,” Jasmine sighed. “He and I used to be good friends, and my parents were considering trying to partner us when I was younger, but both of us refused. We drifted apart, over the years, and now we’re practically strangers.”

There was a hint of a lie in that statement, I was pretty sure, judging by the way she glanced away while she was speaking, but I didn’t press. She and I both had a litany of skeletons in our closets, and now wasn’t the time to try to break through the veneer of lies over them. There would come a day when the two of us would have to face the other’s truth, but that could wait.

“Sorry about him,” Jasmine added. “I was hoping that with my relatively recent arrival, the most irritating nobles wouldn’t notice that I’d returned.”

“You sure seem to get around,” I teased. “And it’s fine, truly.”

“I made a bit of a name for myself,” Jasmine nodded. “Let me introduce you to some less irritating nobles.”

“You’re sure those exist?” I asked, only mostly joking. “I haven’t seen many. You, Alex, maybe Orchid…”

Jasmine took a second to think, apparently taking my question seriously. I hadn’t intended it to be interpreted like that, but it was nice of her to listen to me in earnest.

“There are a lot of us that hew too closely to the traditional ways, I can admit that much,” she said after a moment. “However, there are quite a few that are coming around to the modern day.”

“I guess it’s a step,” I acknowledged. “Given that there’s a rebellion brewing in the streets, I’m not sure it’s quite enough.”

“It isn’t,” Jasmine said. “It will take time to pass the old establishment, and it’s time that we might not have. Despite that, I believe that we still need to try.”

“I suppose that’s true,” I said, a little surprised that she actually acknowledged that there even was a problem. “So you say you know other nobles like you?”

“A number,” Jasmine said. “Worry not, we will not be spending too much time with them.”

“You’re going to introduce me to them here?” I asked. “Right now?”

“Are you opposed?” Jasmine asked, pausing midway through reaching for some refreshment or another. “I promise it will not take much time.”

I shrugged. “I’ve never been to a ball, but I’ve read before that it’s an important aspect of noble politics. Is this part of that?”

“Not quite,” Jasmine said. “I suppose you wouldn’t know, since you haven’t been to one before. Balls are where people form and strengthen connections, whether that is through forming hidden deals at a dance or simply making small talk with an ally.”

“Ah, so this is expected,” I said.

“Essentially.”

“By all means, then, lead the way.”

Jasmine nodded silently, then reached for a tray laid out on one of the tables. The gilded, overly styled tray held an assortment of glass cups with various colors of liquid in them. Jasmine selected two thin, delicate cups, both filled with a pale golden drink.

“Here,” she said, offering one to me. “Don’t drink it too fast.”

I took it, catching the faint scent of pears amongst the stronger smell of alcohol as I brought it closer to my face. “What is it?”

“Pear wine from the Liju region,” Jasmine said. “It’s quite sweet, and it’s not too strong. This particular vintage is a favorite of mine.”

I wasn’t a frequent drinker, though from the rare few times I had indulged I knew I had a decent tolerance. I had just never acquired a taste for the bitter swill that they had called beer back in Syashan, and while I’d heard that students at the University often went out drinking, I had yet to do so.

This drink had a nice aroma to it, though, and an experimental sip revealed that the flavor was as sweet as promised, a slight sour tinge to it from the alcohol. It was pleasant enough to drink, and it left a little warmth in my throat afterwards.

“Show me the way, then,” I said.

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Jasmine started walking, looking back at me to ensure I was with her. Since both of us had drinks in hand, we didn’t chance linking our arms, but we were still rather close together.

We walked our way through a gathering area full of chatting nobles, and I didn’t miss the way that we attracted a few gazes as we made our way. I didn’t particularly like the attention, but it was nice to know that I wasn’t alone in thinking that Jasmine was an absolute knockout tonight.

“Mother, Father, this is Lily,” Jasmine said, coming to a stop.

I stopped next to her. I hadn’t been paying too much attention to where we’d been heading, so I was a little blindsided.

We stood in front of two nobles, a man and a woman that I could’ve believed were barely older than us. The advantage of having a noble House’s wealth and prestige to your name, I supposed. They didn't resemble Jasmine all too much, their faces more square and more pronounced than hers, but then again she’d had a body change when she’d been younger so I supposed that was to be expected.

“Lily Syashan, at your service,” I said with a small curtsy. I’d forgotten most of what I had known of court etiquette, but I still knew how to do this properly. I wasn’t planning on pissing off Jasmine’s parents unless they gave me cause to, so I was mustering all the politeness I could.

“Carla of House Rayes,” Jasmine’s mother introduced herself. “And this here is Colt.”

“Hello there,” said the man, flashing me a small smile. “Jasmine’s told us a lot about you.”

“Has she now,” I said, turning to look at the woman in question. “Not bad things, I hope.”

“She has nothing but praise for you,” Jasmine’s mother said. “She talked a lot about how she lucked into having the best adventuring partner she could find at the University.”

“I still would much rather Jasmine stayed out of danger,” her father said with a frown. “Adventuring isn’t a job she should be doing.”

“Father, could we not have this discussion again?” Jasmine asked, speaking in a tired manner like this exact conversation had taken place a number of times before. “I know you want the best for me, but I’m a grown woman now, and a powerful one at that.”

“I suppose that’s true,” her father said. “Sorry to bring it up.”

“That aside, have you finally decided to start courting people again?” her mother asked.

“Perhaps,” Jasmine said, looking moderately embarrassed. “I didn’t bring her here as a date, though.”

I was a little disappointed at that, but trying to argue with her about it would have been beyond humiliating.

“From the way the two of you act, that doesn’t seem to be the case,” her father said, his voice brimming with youthful amusement that didn’t seem to suit a man of his stature.

“Father,” Jasmine warned.

“Fine, fine, it’s your choice in the end,” her father said.

“If she ever asks you to, please accept,” her mother told me. “It’s up to you, of course, but you have no idea how long it’s been since I’ve seen Jasmine act this way around, well, anyone.”

“Mother!” Jasmine complained.

“What? It’s the truth!”

“I’ll think on it, my lady,” I said.

“Ah, don’t call me that,” Carla Rayes said. “I hate it when commoners feel the need to supplicate themselves to us. We’re only humans, you know?”

“Understood, uh…”

“You can call me Carla,” she said.

“Lady Carla,” I said, keeping my face carefully neutral even as I injected levity into my tone.

The noblewoman laughed, putting her hand over her mouth. “My, Jasmine. You’ve picked well.”

“It’s not like that, Mother,” Jasmine asserted.

“Sure, sure,” her father replied. “Along with you now. You don’t need to spend too much time with us old fellows. Go enjoy yourselves.”

Jasmine seemed to be a bit of a loss, so I gave them a goodbye and headed off. Jasmine wasn’t far behind me.

“Your parents seem nice,” I said. “You were telling the truth, then.”

“They’re embarrassing,” Jasmine said, one hand covering half her face. She was blushing fiercely, it looked like. “So embarrassing.”

“They appear to be good people,” I said. “They do also seem to think that I’m your partner.”

“Agh, sorry about that,” Jasmine groaned. “They tend to be a touch overbearing.”

“I don’t mind,” I whispered, quiet enough that Jasmine couldn’t hear me.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” I said, my voice at a normal volume again. “Would you like to take their advice?”

“Huh?” Jasmine took a moment to recollect herself, taking a deep breath and a sip from her glass. “Oh, you mean to dance?”

I tipped back a little more of my drink, enjoying the mild burn of the wine as it went down. “Would you like to?”

“I should probably be the one inviting you, but yes, please,” Jasmine said. “Do you know how to?”

“Nope,” I said gleefully. “You’ll have to teach me.”

That was a bit of a lie, but I had forgotten most of what I’d once known. My knowledge of ballroom dances was awfully limited, since I hadn’t figured it would be useful to me as a commoner, but I did still remember some.

“It shouldn’t be too hard,” Jasmine said, finding a table and setting her half-emptied glass down. “There’s a basic dance we can do that’s just a few simple steps. All you need to do is follow my lead.”

“I learn quick,” I said, downing the rest of the wine in a single gulp. I winced a little at the heat in my throat, but it was a pleasant burn nonetheless. It wasn’t polite to do, but who was going to seriously go after a commoner for violating court etiquette?

“Come along, then,” Jasmine said, taking my hand.

She took me to the dance floor, an expanse of smooth off-white marble that was currently rather sparsely populated. There were a few pairings dancing now, elegant practiced movements to the beat of energetic strings being played by a group of uniformed violinists off to one side. The sound was being amplified somehow, I noted, significantly louder here than it had been in the other section of the ballroom. Probably an Aedi oath who made the violins, or maybe even an Und oath who had increased the volume in the area.

Jasmine led me onto the floor itself, and I tamped down on a sudden surge of nervousness as we made our ways towards the center. I didn’t give a damn about the nobles around us, but I didn’t want to disappoint with this particular one.

“Follow my steps,” Jasmine murmured, bringing her lips to my ears so I could hear her. The skin on the back of my neck tingled at that, hair raising. “Mirror me.”

She took one of my hands in hers, wrapping the other under my shoulderblades.

Oh. I recognized this dance, thankfully. Jasmine had picked a rather simple dance to begin with. While there wasn’t much of my former education in the art left, I did still know how to follow along with a waltz.

She seemed a little surprised that I was following along with her, my movements incorporating the cylical rise and fall that I knew was proper for this dance.

“For one who doesn’t know how to dance, you are awfully good at this,” Jasmine said, meeting my eyes with a smile.

“Why, thank you,” I said, smiling back.

I could’ve easily gotten lost in her eyes, in the warm way they crinkled when she smiled, in the thousand minute details that made up Jasmine. She seemed particularly suited to dancing in a dress, not missing a single step as we moved together as one.

I, on the other hand, was struggling a little on my feet, trying not to step on my own dress, but we made it work. It wasn’t the prettiest dance--all on time with the beat, though not exactly what one would call musical--but it was me and her and that was what was important. For a precious few minutes, the outside world faded away, the harmony between our bodies everything that mattered in the moment.

We weren’t perfect on the floor, far from it, but it was more than enough. Every moment spent dancing with Jasmine was an eternity, and yet when the strings faded out to end the song and we finished the dance, breathing hard, it felt as if it had not nearly been enough.

I was light on my feet and light in the head as we made our way off the dance floor, not bothering to stay and dance with the others. It was a breach of etiquette, I was pretty sure, but I really didn’t care.

“That was fun,” I breathed, clasping Jasmine’s hand like it was natural.

“It truly was,” she said, squeezing mine. “Would you care to do another later?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Later, though.”

My heart was pounding at a mile a minute, its beat pulsing through my body. Adrenaline raced through my veins, and I felt heady and light in a way that I wanted to blame on the alcohol but knew I couldn’t.

“You need a moment?” Jasmine asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “We can go to Alex and Lukas now. See what information they’ve got.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jasmine said.

“So long as you promise to take me on another afterwards,” I said, trying to control my breathing.

“Of course,” Jasmine assured me. “It would be my pleasure.”

For a day spent among nobles, tonight has been rather nice, I thought.

We spent a minute or two calming down in a corner, shoulder to shoulder, before we started searching for Alex and Lukas. She didn’t know where they were, but they weren’t too hard to find.

Jasmine spotted them soon enough, and as we made our way there I saw House Alzaq.

There weren’t many of them here. It looked to just be Orchid, his father nowhere in sight. Beside him stood the jester, who had dressed up for the occasion but still wore bright clown colors. Kyle was the only one who noticed us, and he cocked his head before giving me a small wave. I nodded and waved back, and that was the end of that.

The Varga noble and his soldier were chatting together in a secluded corner of the ballroom, unwilling to join the party proper.

“Hello, Alex, hi Lukas,” Jasmine said as we came closer. “The arm doing alright?”

Lukas had gained a mechanical replacement for his arm, I saw, a flesh-colored metal construct extending from the stump where his elbow had once been. Runes were carved into it, and the whole thing glowed with power as he moved it around, waving back.

“You’re here?” Lukas asked, directing his question at me. “And it’s doing fine, thanks.”

“I am,” I said, not elaborating further. “I’ve heard you two were investigating the murder as well. Any news on your end?”

“Are we allowed to discuss it with you?” Alex frowned. “Not that I have anything against you, Lily, I’m just not sure—“

“I’ve already heard quite a bit,” I said. “Fought off a rogue strike team leader for the nobles I was protecting.”

“You can tell her,” Jasmine said. “Besides, I was meant to be exchanging information with you anyway.”

“I… suppose that’s true,” Alex said. “You know best.”

“I suspect our information is much the same,” Lukas said. “It’s someone from House Tempet. We do not believe that the entire House is involved, but one or two rogue agents who are misutilizing its resources.”

“That’s about the same as what we found, though the latter information was unexpected,” Jasmine said. “Did you—“

“Back away from the doors!” a scratchy voice shouted. I whipped my head around, recognizing it.

Green.

“Does anyone know that man?” Jasmine asked, the question open for anyone to answer.

“Yes,” I said, already backing towards the center of the room. “Follow his—“

The doors at both ends of the room exploded open, and the jeers and shouts of a rabid mob filled the ballroom.

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