"Do you think you are ready?" the Princess asked, stretching out some of the invisible folds in my dress.
"No." I scoffed.
It had only been two weeks of tutoring. Two weeks of training to prepare me for a terrible, potentially lethal battle that lay ahead. Flirting. I wanted to hurl at the thought. The things Princess Aria had taught me were the bare minimum of what I needed to know for this. My first Ball, ever. My hands fidgeted by my side; my heart fluttered in my chest: I had to force my chest up and down in slow breaths to hide my agitation. The Princess being with me didn't make me feel much better. She could rat me out for being a thief at any time, sentencing me to isolation and, most likely, execution.
I hadn't spoken to any of my family members since the fight, not even my father who had to rush off to deal with some problems on his land. Attending the family dinners was still firmly off the table, at least until Lord Orion returned and his b*tch wife stopped being in charge.
"Neither, if I am honest. These things are so stressful." Aria sighed and we linked arms, as I had seen the other ladies do when walking together. Sometimes they would link arms in a chain of eight people; watching them attempt to go through doors was hilarious.
We joined the stream of excited Lords and Ladies making their way to the New Winter ball. In preparation, the halls were lined with carved ice and glass in sculptures of endless beauty and skill. Drapes and banners of black, silver and blue hung from ceilings and windows. The air was warm, but fresh and somehow wintery in the most magical way I had ever experienced.
I entered the ballroom to find a room bursting with life and fun, not the kind of ball I expected. Pulsating music filled the room with a sense of freedom that I had never experienced before. Lords and ladies danced freestyle together in the centre of the ballroom. Others chatted with uproarious laughter and large smiles. Some stayed glued to the buffet feast on the edge with their friends.
Willingly, I allowed the scent of the food to fill my nose. Spices and chocolate, meat and dessert. Every dish smelt like the spirits had blessed us with their presence but it was obvious that a most was going to be sacrificed after the ball. The New Winter celebration is meant to be an almost temporary farewell to the Spirits during their time of rest, the winter. It is also when their connections to our souls is the weakest. To me and my mother, this celebration would consist of a few slices of bread and a game of cards, also coming much later as we believed they only rested during the week of midwinter. I didn't really mind to much, though, I could've just had a private ceremony instead.
"Ok, we need to pretend we are deep in conversation, like we are actually friends." Aria whispered subtly into my ear.
"Yeah, I thought that as well." I said in my normal speaking voice before adding in a feigned-polite 0whisper, "Like that, your majesty?"
"Well, it is rather unfortunate, I suppose." she replied with a chuckle so warm and so real, I forgot for a second that she was acting.
We then joined up with a large group of seven or eight ladies who were wrapped in conversation. They all came from different families and different ranks. A few were core family, like me, most were just regular ladies. They welcomed Princess Aria with open arms, even curtsying once she had reached them.
"Hello ladies, I would like to introduce my friend, Lady Amara Relanos, the new Relanos Ward." All eight hands flew towards me and greetings filled the air. I was completely unable to grasp a single name.
"Guys, don't overwhelm Lady Amara. So, I have never seen you before, are you some kind of distant relative of the Relanos House?" One of the Ladies asked. Judging by her family seal, she was party of the core family of Hamone, a House known for their widespread marriage connections, even going into Myraria and Dowesdom, and their obsession with Purist Torianism, the worst kind.
"Yes, I was raised by my mother off the Relanos Lands. Sadly, she... passed away. So Head Lord Orion sponsored me and offered me the wardship, which I accepted." I kept my backstory purposely vague, not mentioning the fact that I am half human or that I was born of wedlock. Rule 1: Keep your background mysterious, so every man will want to know about you.
"Sorry about your mother," she said, not very sympathetically," You know, there have been some awful people spreading rumours that you are a... bastard child of Lord Orion. I don't believe it, of course, but I thought I would be proper to warn you."
"Yes, some of the women here are such gossips." I said, not really answering her silent accusation. Princess Aria gave me a subtle nod, telling me I had done well.
"Excuse me, my name is Lady Evelyn, could I ask what religion you are?" another woman chimed in. The group fell into an awkward silence. If I told them I followed Lesser Torianism I would probably be ripped limb from limb, so I recited what Aria taught me. Rule 2: If anyone brings up religion, deflect and change the subject.
"Well I am a Torianist, of course," I chuckled in a sickly tone that made me want to hurl, "Anyway, isn't the food here amazing?"
Everyone else immediately took my route out of the conversation of Religion and we got into a debate over which meal was the best. One or two looked at me with raised eyebrows, trying to decipher why I had deflected but most looked grateful not to have to discuss it. I felt just a little bit of pride in my stomach, I had successfully controlled a conversation and evaded scrutiny, for the first time.
Though, my achievement felt quickly overshadowed by someone else's mastery of the art of conversation. Princess Aria wrapped the Ladies around her finger so easily they practically worshipped her. They agreed with everything she said, and even if they didn't, after a short debate they were convinced. I don't doubt that if she asked anyone of these Ladies to kill the person standing next to them, they would. Also, I don't think any of them realised how devoted they were, how much they would give to keep the power that comes with being friends with a princess. The way she covered them in invisible, social chains was so subtle, I barely noticed when she began to place some on me. Luckily, Aria gave me an escape from her own capture
"I see a few guys eyeing you up. Go to the drinks table so that they can approach you when you are alone." Aria told me under her breath. I nodded and obeyed. I spent a few minutes very deeply invested in what drink to choose, not daring to look over my shoulder to see of her plan worked. After the few minutes were up, I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and turned to walk back to the group, relieved.
"Excuse me, my Lady." a voice said behind me.
F*ck.
I gracefully turned my body, as Aria had taught me, with fake bright smile plastered on my face. A young man stood behind me, average in height, average in attractiveness. His head was covered in a mop of dull brown hair that complimented even duller brown eyes that were devoid of any sparks of originality. His skin was slightly blemished, not too much to be ugly, not so little as to be attractive. His face was so generic that I felt if I looked away I would forget it immediately. He seemed like the kind of guy who favourite animal was a fox just so he could brag about liking an unpopular and 'misunderstood creature' and wanted to be a knight because he thought it made him macho. Comparing him to the vibrant, bright and unique appearances of the other nobles was like comparing the varied assortments of dishes that surrounded the Hall with bread. No, stale bread. No, unbuttered stale bread.
"I have heard many a rumour about you, my lady, and I was wondering if you would enlighten me to the truth." a flirtatious smirk grew on his face as he inched a little closer.
"I would love to but- umm, I, err..." I stuttered looking for an escape from this social torture.
"Oh, nervous, are we? Perhaps I should start. My name is Duke Luca Whitefire, nephew to the King." He raised his eyebrows up and down, obviously trying to flirt but instead causing my stomach to ache from hiding in laughter.
"That's great for you." I said, dropping about a thousand hints in my tone of voice, body language and expressions to go the f*ck away. Unfortunately for me, the only area he was not average in was intelligence, and not in a good way.
"So Lady..." he continued.
"Amara."
"Lady Amara, what a brilliant name. I think Amara and Luca go brilliant together. Care for a dance?"
No. I wanted to scream in his default face, but Aria had told me that rejecting an offer to dance from someone higher in status than you. Rule 3: Always accept a dance. I surveyed the room for an excuse.
"Oh no! Looks like the Princess is calling me, I've got to go and check on her."
"Ummm, I don't think she's calling on you." he said, pointing to a distracted Aria in the distance.
Spirits, how stupid is this guy?
"Well then, I think it must be my step-mother, Lady Carina. I should probably go check to make sure she's okay." This time he nodded and I half walked, half ran away, until I slammed into a woman. I looked up to see a furious Lady Carina with a wicked smile upon her face.
"Sorry for the confusion, your Grace," she called out to stale bread boy before I could stop her, "I was not calling my daughter. She would love to dance with you, wouldn't you, darling?" her glee-filled eyes drilled into my skull, daring me, begging me to refute her. I have never wanted to murder someone as much as I did then, I wanted to wrap my fingers around her neck and watch as the life left her body. Excited at the prospect of a dance, he grabbed my arm and dragged me to the centre of the room.
Just like that, the music changed abruptly, and the dance floor turned from freestyle to a perfectly coordinated battalion. Circles began to form, bending and breathing to accommodate the flow of people moving in and out of the dance floor. They spun and spun in a calculated mayhem.
Thankfully, one of the circles picked up bread boy and I opted to an escape. I tried to weave between the circles of elaborate dance moves but soon hands caught mine and I was dragged in. The orchestra strummed the music louder and louder, so much so that I couldn't think. Faster and faster the circular prisons spun, making it ever more difficult to unlatch myself from each circle.
Panic began to fill me again, as I saw the Duke making way towards me. Desperately, I unhinged myself from the people that held me in place, causing them to yelp in shock. When yet another pair of hands engulfed mine, I audibly groaned and tried to pull away. The hands remained firm.
"Hey, my name is Trinity! Is it true that you are a bastard?"
I didn't answer and instead tried to pull away, harder this time. Griping tighter, she looked deep into my eyes and said, "It must be so hard to be a bastard. You should tell me if anyone bothers you about it."
As she spoke, I could see the boy getting ever closer. I thanked her through gritted teeth and yanked myself out of her grip. Dodging the outstretched, grasping arms, I ran to the edge of the dance floor. The music intensified and royal boy got swept up by a particularly large circle. I'll never see him again.
Proud with myself, I tried to find me way back to the group. A man grunted and tapped me on the shoulder. Thinking it was the bread boy, I groaned and edged around, preparing myself for some sh*tty pick up line. But when I looked at the man , I realised it was not the child Duke.
His trimmed and kept hair was stained by the greys of once golden blonde hair. Icy blue eyes stared into the deepest parts of my soul, judging me with a ruthless accuracy. He cast a dark shadow over me. His presence was suffocating, as if he was hanging me by my neck. I felt my hands tremble and my heart beat flutter. I could barely breath, let alone think. With a skip of my heart, I soon realised who he truly was. The King himself.
"If it were from an outside observer, it would seems like you were running away from my nephew. Do you see how that could be embarrassing to the Royal family?" His voice was strong and deep, commanding in a way that I had never seen before. No wonder he controlled an entire Kingdom.
"Yes, your Majesty. I will return and dance with Duke Luca." I said, trying not to let him hear my shaking voice.
"Oh, there is no need. I just need to know. Do you have any family members outside the Nobility? Alive ones preferably."
"No, your Majesty."
"Good. What of your mother's family?" he asked, a malicious gleam in his eye.
"The Nykral Family. A family of bakers in the southern villages of Dracur Diven."
He smirked and beckoned something to a group of guards, who nodded and marched out of the room. The King leaned down and whispered in my ear,
"Step out of line again, and what's left of your family will die. You may be safe until your eighteenth birthday, but they are not."
My head span, my stomach jumped and my heart battered against my ribcage. Nausea dragged through my body. I didn't know my family, and I had always hated them for kicking my mother out. Yet, I knew the Nykral family was huge, probably fifty people overall, with ten children, at the very least. They were all innocent, I couldn't let them die.
"Of course, your Majesty. I won't step out of line again."
He walked away, so casually, with a polite smile on his face, as if he didn't just threaten the lives of innocent children. I felt the colour drain from my face as I remembered what I was up against. Just one word from his mouth and he could kill anyone he wanted. I was safe, for now, but who knows when he finally snaps and commands my death. If he found out of my deal with Aria, we would both be dead faster than a sparrow flaps it wings.
"Hey, are you okay?" Aria walked beside me, a concerned look upon her face.
"Yeah, I am completely fine."