The mana watch wasn’t worth nearly as much as the tunics, but Elora had seen her sibling with one, and that meant she needed one. It was a sign of Elora’s immense wealth that she barely seemed to think about making such a disproportionate trade.
I’d remembered that the dress she’d worn was made from the same material as a dueling tunic, and I’d guessed — correctly — that it meant she knew a tailor that worked with the materials.
The truth was even more impressive. House Theas owned one of the largest suppliers of Ironweave and Steelweave Silk in the city, as well as a number of tailoring shops.
It had been a simple thing for Elora to clear a few hours in the schedule of a tailor and have tunics adjusted to fit each of us. If we had a little longer, she claimed she would have had the tailor make them for us from scratch, but we didn’t have the time.
Once the tunics were adjusted, she had them dyed the blue and white colors of House Cadence.
She also provided us with matching trousers, made of the same silk. Those were free, simply because Elora wouldn’t imagine providing us with anything less than full matching suits.
Even Sera, who had been previously quite excited by a freshly-purchased dress, was happy to cast it aside for the matching outfits.
I didn’t care much for how they looked. I just felt better in the comforting weight of a dueling tunic, and the knowledge that it could stop at least a few blasts from a dueling cane.
It was nearing evening when we finished, which was important, because it was the night of the ball.
And all of us, including Elora, were going.
We arrived at the ball a few hours later, traveling at first by train and then taking the rest of the journey in a carriage that Elora provided.
The ball was being held at the estate of Archduchess Lanoy, the current ruler of one of Valia’s four archduchies. I’d met a few members of her family, but I hadn’t met her personally.
Her son, Councilor Gerald Lanoy, was one of the council members that I’d seen fighting against Keras in the memory crystal that Jin had brought me earlier in the year. I wondered if he’d be in attendance.
Councilor Lanoy had called himself Tenjin’s adjutant in the vision, which implied that he worked for Tenjin personally. If it wasn’t a ceremonial title, I suspected he might have answers to some of my questions.
Our carriage moved into a line of dozens — maybe hundreds — of other arriving carriages.
The winter ball was a celebration for all the students who had managed to finish the year. Most of the school’s students would be there, as well as many teachers and important political figures. Thousands of people in total.
In a group of that size, some of those people undoubtedly worked for groups that had reasons to hurt me. More followers of the Tyrant, or people who had worked with Orden, for example.
I would have felt better if Derek or Keras was going, but they were both staying behind.
Keras had a good reason — his last encounter with Councilor Lanoy had been when the man had lured him into a meeting to have him arrested. I could see why he wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of going to Lanoy’s home.
Derek was a little vaguer, simply claiming he had “somewhere else to be”. Moreover, he was still healing from his injuries from his fight with Saffron. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who had walked out of that with a few broken bones.
We passed dozens of outlying buildings, each flying banners of House Lanoy. Up ahead, our destination could not be described as a simple mansion like Derek’s house had been.
“Palace” would have been a better term.
We approached through a garden lined with crimson flowers and bronze statues depicting heroes of ages long gone.
When we finally made our way through the gardens, we found our way up a marble stairway wide enough for hundreds. Ahead of that, we could see the main entrance. Titanic doors that appeared to be wrought from solid gold were flanked by tall white pillars that held aloft the rest of the structure.
It was a monument to opulence that made me supremely uncomfortable.
A single, cylindrical tower loomed above the rest of the structure, with an artistic rendition of a serpent wrapped around it and resting its head at the top. That, at least, I could appreciate.
Marissa, Patrick, and I approached the line to the entrance. I felt awkward, constrained in the press of hundreds of bodies.
Sera had chosen to go separately, along with her date, and promised to meet us inside. I still didn’t know who she was going with. She clearly was hoping to make it a surprise.
I hoped it’d be a good one.
As we stood in the line, Marissa and Patrick made idle conversation with each other and a few other students. I made a few replies when prompted.
I was too distracted to say much, since I was spending most of my attention looking for Jin.
I didn’t find him.
We made our way inside. Guards in golden mail, holding ceremonial glaives, checked us for weapons.
We’d anticipated that, and I’d stored all of our weapons in the Jaden Box. I had that in the pouch on my side. Fortunately, they didn’t ask to take the box, otherwise I would have been in a difficult situation.
After determining that we were unarmed, the guards pointed us toward the main ballroom.
Because, obviously, a place of this size had several ballrooms.
Apparently, the first-year students were being sent to the main ballroom because there were more of us.
I presumed there would be separate events and ceremonies in each room, and that the most important guests were going to be moving back and forth between the ballrooms for speeches.
There were no assigned seats for the students, only for important guests.
The interior of the ballroom was just as gaudy as the exterior of the building. It was divided into four quarters, each with a different color of tiles on the floor. White for student seating, black for adult guests, blue for dancing, and green for refreshments.
In the center of everything was a smaller square which contained a raised stage. At the moment, it contained a group of musicians, who were playing a classical tune.
I could also see a podium on it, where I assumed speeches would take place later in the evening.
I wasn’t looking forward to those. They always ended up being terribly boring.
The ceiling was made of glass or some sort of transparent crystal, allowing the light of the stars to shine down from above.
The walls were lined with portraits of people who were probably famous, but who I didn’t know or care the slightest bit about.
Now that we were inside, theoretically we had gotten to the part of the party that was supposed to be fun.
I…just wasn’t sure how I was supposed to make that part happen.
Marissa, Patrick, and I found an open table. The other two sat down to wait for Sera to arrive, but I was feeling too jittery to sit.
I glanced around at my options.
Dancing was terrifying.
Politicians? Who wanted to talk to them? Certainly not me.
Other students?
Nah.
The last section was food.
Eating it is, I decided. Eating forever.
“I’m going to go get food,” I declared as I left the others, bravely delving into the massive crowd.
This was a mistake. There are people here. I should have just sat down.
As I attempted to navigate through the press of bodies, I searched the area for any familiar faces that I needed to avoid.