“The apparent heir to House In-”

  Violet Indri pushed past the crier as she entered. It was up to the man to move quickly or be squashed by her.

  Violet gred at all of the nobles who watched her. She wore a gown of deep crimson, utterly devoid of the ruffles or ce that the other dies wore. The bodice of said gown was rather rigid. I didn’t need to enhance my sight with my Gift to know the silk was built directly over one of her pted corsets.

  Her skirt was made of a darker, thicker material, with a ssh that ran right up her left thigh. A noble Lady might wear something like that for seduction. To show off some skin.

  I suspected it was so that Violet could kick someone without tripping over herself. At least she was wearing slippers.

  Her red hair was pulled back into a single, thick braid that fell over one shoulder. Her gaze swept around the room, and everywhere she looked, people whispered or trembled.

  Violet’s gaze found me, and her expression softened.

  She took a step, paused, and awkwardly looked away.

  I wanted to be gd that she’d remembered we needed to keep some distance, but the oddly sad look she had on her face did make me reconsider.

  Violet reached out and yanked nervously on her braid as she surveyed the rest of the room.

  Given that left her unable to do anything...she looked nervous. Small.

  Duke Greenward finally spoke up. “Ah, good that you join us, Lady Violet.” He spoke, just as he had for me. “A tragedy what happened to your father, though he exalted himself by dying with Honor. I am sure you will carry on his legacy and make him proud.”

  It was the most boilerpte statement in the world, but he said it with charisma. Enough charisma that some people began to cp.

  Click. Click.

  I enhanced my sight. Violet zoomed into focus. She was yanking on her braid so hard her hand was starting to turn white.

  “I am surprised she hasn’t attacked anyone yet,” Damian murmured beside me.

  “She wouldn’t do that,” I said uneasily. I had coached Violet quite a bit for this day.

  Honestly, most of that coaching had really just revolved around one thing: no attacking anyone. Everything else, such as the political management I was doing today, could definitely wait for another time.

  Several Noble Men and Women began to walk towards her, people from her faction, I presume. Violet stared at them.

  The men and women paused mid-step and turned to look at each other.

  Click. Click.

  I enhanced my hearing, stepping closer to the group nearest to Violet. The sights and sounds from all around assaulted my ears; I tried to tune them out.

  “...looks more like a wild beast than a Lady…”

  “...just look at how she wears that gown!”

  “...House Indri is doomed at…..”

  My blood started to boil. Even if Violet wasn’t…Violet was still a girl who had only lost her father two weeks ago. Honestly, what the hell did they expect?

  For her to be normal?

  I didn’t want to interact with Violet too openly in public yet. That might provoke Greenward, Thalos, or Wardell in unpredictable ways and threaten the comfortable life I daydreamed of.

  “Girl, at least stop pulling your hair.” A Noble Lady, dressed in purple, said. She was one of the Indri retainers. A…Countess, I think?

  Violet gred at her, bit her lower lip.

  Defy.

  I took a deep breath and strode forward.

  “Esra, what are you-” I ignored Damian as I stepped smoothly between the Nobles and Violet, pcing my back to the Countess to block her view.

  Violet’s gaze found mine. For a moment, the tension in her shoulders went away. The white-knuckled grip on her braid rexed.

  She looked more confused now than she had before.

  I stopped just shy of her. "You look beautiful," I murmured, keeping my voice low enough that only she could hear. "And I really love the braid. It suits you."

  Violet froze. Her eyes widened, and a sudden, violent flush crept up her neck and across her cheeks. She dropped the end of her braid as if the hair had suddenly caught fire, looking pointedly down at the floor. "Shut up," she grumbled, in a simirly low voice.

  Her reaction felt a little odd, but at least she didn’t look so tense anymore.

  I dropped into a deep curtsy and projected my voice with just a little mana so the surrounding crowd could hear.

  “My Lady, it is a pleasure to see you. It has been some time since the incident.”

  “Uh…yeah. It’s fun- nice to see you too,” she said awkwardly. She reached up to tug at her braid again out of nervous habit. She paused, moved her hands behind her back instead.

  “...the girl has no css…”

  I smiled and nodded faintly. Violet took a deep, shaky breath and got into a curtsy of her own. An awkward one, but definitely one that followed the right form.

  We both rose.

  “How lucky that we have our debuts on the same day,” I said. “You, of course, have gone through far more than I. I just hope some people will be civilized enough to understand that you may still be under some distress. Only a beast in the skin of a man or woman would not understand something so basic.”

  Violet was staring at me, confused.

  Damian stepped to my side, made a half-bow with his arm in front of his chest. “Lady Violet. It’s good to see you. It’s been a long time since we’ve met.”

  Violet stared at him, folded her arms. “Good to see you too, rockboy.”

  Damian’s brow twitched. I tried very hard to school my expression. Violet had taken to calling Damian rockboy for…obvious reasons. It wasn’t exactly the most creative of names.

  Damian started to speak, then closed his mouth. Whatever he wanted to say was not fit for a young noble boy to utter before a noble girl and especially not at a noble gathering.

  I suspect he would have, if House Everstand had been under House Indri instead.

  There were those damned pin pricks again, from the Scrylens. I didn’t look at the reporter manning them. Violet stared right in that direction, shooting them a gre. The pin pricks vanished instantly.

  I suppose that was one way to solve a problem.

  “Come, why don’t we head further inside?” I offered, already stepping back. Damian stepped in next to me. I was a little relieved when I heard footsteps trailing behind me…Though I got the distinct impression that she was stomping.

  “I don’t fu- I don’t like this,” Violet grumbled loudly.

  We sat at one of the round tables tucked into a corner of the massive hall. Presumably, a pce for nobles to mingle and scheme without having to stand.

  The overwhelming heat of the chandeliers beat down on us, and the grip of my corset was beginning to make my ribs ache. Worse than all that were the damn noises.

  I was bad with rge, noisy crowds. Why couldn’t people just whisper?

  Click. Click.

  I reached for the knobs in my mind, turning my hearing down just enough to drown out the noise without deafening myself to my own table. I finally took a proper breath.

  “You didn’t attack anyone.” Damian cpped slowly. “Impressive.”

  Violet gred at him, reached for some of the cutlery in front of her.

  She picked up a fork. “Haven’t killed anyone yet.”

  “Please, do cause even more trouble,” Damian said sarcastically. “That is absolutely the best thing we need right now.”

  “You sure like to talk outside of a ring, rockboy.”

  “Don’t call me that, blood girl.”

  They both stared at each other. I tried not to sigh.

  All of their interactions over the st two weeks had been exactly like this. This was exactly what happened when someone was foolish enough to put a cat and a dog together.

  As it happened, I was that foolish. It had all worked out so much better in my head.

  “I do urge both of you to remember where we are,” I whispered. “If you want to fight, we have a lot of empty room back at my Manor.”

  Damian paused, remembered himself, and nodded an apology. Violet huffed, crossed her arms, and looked at me.

  “So…now what? You wanted me to bl- to come here. Now what?” Her gaze was sharp and steady. She was tugging on her braid again.

  “Nothing,” I said simply. “All you really have to do is show that you are here. That you’re alive and well. That House Indri is still standing. You don’t need to do anything more than that.”

  Violet nodded slowly, tapping her fingers in a rhythmic thump against the table. "Makes sense, I guess," she conceded. "Why the hell are you talking to me, though? I thought we weren’t supposed to…out here."

  Somehow, Violet managed to ask this question in a lower voice, one that wouldn’t be overheard.

  “You looked uncomfortable, I guess,” I said finally. “I didn’t like the things they were saying, so….” I shrugged.

  Violet’s gaze only grew sharper. “Like I give a sh- like I care what other people think.” She chewed her lower lip and turned away. “You seriously just did it for that, though? After all your whining about not ‘upsetting the bance’ and the ‘power structure’.”

  "Yeah," I said simply. It was true. This would probably make things more complicated, in ways I couldn’t foresee.

  It didn’t matter.

  Violet froze, stared at me from the corner of her eye. She proceeded to turn even further around, until I was looking at her back. As she did, she tugged again at her braid. I thought she was embarrassed. Odd.

  “Don’t you want to talk to more Nobles?” Damian asked after a pause.

  “Not this night,” I answered. “The Counts are going to converse with the Houses under them, and then those Houses may approach me of their own accord. Today should be peaceful. If we go to a smaller event soon, then I’m going to be swarmed by Noble brats and bratesses. Their parents have a bit more patience. Just a bit."

  If Duke Thalos or Duke Wardell had been here, I would have spoken to them. Duke Wardell, I understood. Duke Thalos, I did not.

  The only thing to really do now was to eat and leave with everyone else.

  Right, I had to get some sweets. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if I forgot. I made a mental note to have them pack something as soon as they set out food for everyone.

  The orchestra stopped.

  “If I may have the attention of all your fine Gentlemen and Gentle Ladies.” Duke Greeward’s voice was loud, cutting through all of the chatter as surely as a knife. He stepped to the middle of the Great Hall until all gazes were focused solely on him.

  “It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to this event. It is a tragedy what our city has faced tely. First, the attack at our beloved Auction House, then the attack on the Indri District.” Lord Julian looked genuinely sorrowful as he gazed at the crowd. “What use is there in keeping our walls safe from the monsters outside, when we find ourselves besieged from within?”

  I frowned, leaned forward on the seat.

  “I would understand most wholeheartedly if the men and women here have reason to pause when they step away from their own homes. I myself simply wished to take our minds away from what has happened, and yet I cannot forget it.” He let the pause linger, his gaze searching through the crowd.

  It settled on me.

  “It is for that reason that I am so very pleased to announce a moment of great joy.” He made a motion with his hand towards the crowd.

  A girl stepped forward, cd entirely in a gown of green, her embroidery moved up the gown in the shape of intricate, beautiful vines. There were gemstones on that gown, on the back and on the front.

  Cordelia Greenward looked just as I remembered her at the auction. Striking green eyes, long bck hair that fell around her in waves, and a heart-shaped face.

  She stopped just in front of her father. Julian Greenward beamed down at her before looking at the crowd. “My dearest Cordelia has been betrothed to Duke Garran Bulwark's third son, Alexander Bulwark!”

  He might as well have announced that there was a new Demon Lord at the gates of Aelheim.

  The mingling sounds, the orchestra, everything just stopped.

  Then, there were hushed, nervous whispers, starting from the tables around me, slowly spreading to the Nobles still standing. Then, the reluctant cpping began, getting more and more enthusiastic by the second.

  Lord Greenward’s eyes found mine again. “And with this, I am sure all of you feel a bit more at ease.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Damian muttered under his breath. “He oversteps.”

  “Yeah. He does.”

  “What the heck are you two talking about?” Violet hissed. “You’re even paler than normal. Who the hell is this guy?”

  “He….” I paused. “House Veyne is the shield and sword for the Western Provinces, the weakest part of the Kingdom.” It was hard to believe Violet didn’t know this. “A powerful House, but even in Aelheim, one of five, with one District and some minor holdings to its name. House Bulwark is the shield and sword of the Kingdom. They have an actual Province under them.”

  Indeed, House Veyne was a Ducal House because of their function, little more.

  Lord Greenward had gone and gotten military backing from the Capital. Not only that, but he was clearly trying to provoke me.

  It seemed to me that meeting or not meeting Violet had never mattered a damn bit. Julian Greenward had felt threatened, and then he’d gone and done something about it.

  “Sounds like he’s someone strong.” Violet grinned. “I’d love to fight him.”

  “It’s not about strength,” I muttered. “House Bulwark has authority over us. In other words, it can make my life much harder, if they were so inclined.”

  Julian, at least, wasn’t looking at me anymore. The appuse had finally died down. He smiled graciously and gestured towards his daughter. “And in honour of this great joining of Houses, let’s commence the Entwined Waltz!”

  He turned, lifted his gss toward the orchestra a dozen feet behind our table. There was no doubt he was solely making the gesture at me.

  “As, my Dearest Daughter’s partner cannot join us today. No matter. I would take this chance to foster cooperation and unity between our Great Houses once more. I have the perfect repcement in mind.”

  The music changed. The slow, steady rhythm of the orchestra turns into something a few beats faster, almost in an instant. I didn’t have the faintest idea what this ‘Entwined Waltz’ was.

  That just made it worse.

  I did, however, know just who he intended to join his daughter on this dance.

  Damn it.