** Harper **
Harper had never heard of a venue named Garden Royale for all the four years she lived in Davenshire. Now she understood why. The place wasn't a lounge, a restaurant, or even a nightclub, but rather an enormous rooftop ballroom overlooking the harbor and the entire city's skyline, accessible only from the VIP entrance of the hotel below.
She took a deep breath as the maître d'hôtel led them out the elevator and through the tall double doors, stepping into a great hall dazzling with classic painted ceilings, gilded walls, carved marble pillars, and huge crystal chandeliers hanging throughout the space. A mahogany grand staircase curved down from the entrance foyer to the dance floor, where guests had already gathered in small crowds of black tuxes and beautiful evening dresses. Somewhere in the background, a duet of piano and violin was playing, the music drifting softly above muffled conversations and the clinking of wine glasses.
