“I sent Ellyesce to get her thirty minutes ago,” Jaax snarled, glaring down the long hallway once again. “What could possibly be taking them so long?”
Sapheramin rolled her eyes and let out a breath of smoke-tinged air. “Your Jahrra may be as capable as any man when it comes to fighting off a contingent of mercenaries, but she’s still a young woman, Jaax.”
Jaax stopped his pacing in the quickly emptying hallway and cast his Korli companion a querulous look. Sapheramin just shook her head. “Never mind. Perhaps, they are being held up by the other nobles and diplomats who are to attend tonight’s feast. I believe the king invited all of those who are in residence at the present.”
Jaax arched a cynical brow at that. Surely, the burgeoning mass now making their way to the assigned seats in the dining hall had been the entirety of those who would be attending the night’s feast. When he returned his attention to the corridor once again, however, he realized Sapheramin might be right. Several groups of formally dressed people and dragons were still making their way to the king’s dining hall.
Jaax clenched his jaw and tried to calm his irritation. He realized Sapheramin was just trying to ease his worry, but he was an impatient creature by nature. It was so important for Jahrra to make a good impression with Dhuruhn. The king of the Creecemind was not known for his magnanimity. True, he was a good king, but he was not easily persuaded to take up a cause he believed had no effect on him or his people, and despite how many times Jaax had tried to convince him over the years that eradicating the Crimson King was a goal every Ethoen should strive for, Dhuruhn had stubbornly stuck by his decision to attend to affairs only taking place within the borders of his realm. Jaax was counting on Jahrra to somehow change the royal dragon’s mind.
“Ah!” Sapheramin cried out. “This must be them now! And look, it appears they found Tollorias along the way.”
With her usual grace, Sapheramin slinked past him and approached the darker Korli dragon. Jaax swiveled his head around, immediately catching sight of the other dragon. Tollorias strode forward with purpose, his characteristic scowl plastered on his face as he scanned the crowd for anything that looked out of place. Like his mate, he wore chains of silver set with blue stones and a small, woven circlet of silver leaves sat upon his head. Beside him, Jaax noted Ellyesce, looking fine and regal in clothing he must have borrowed or bought here in Nimbronia. Dervit strode beside the elf, his head swiveling from side to side as he took in the nobles and fine diplomats walking around them. He wore the fine vest and shirt he had worn to the Spring Solstice celebration in Cahrdyarein, and his eyes were wide with bemusement. When Jaax finally glanced at his ward, however, he felt himself go utterly still.
She was wearing one of the dresses he’d commissioned in Lidien. He had only ever seen her wear the gown he’d given to her for her birthday, and maybe a few of the others at various Coalition meetings. This one, he had never seen before, but he remembered asking the seamstresses in the City of Light to create not only the everyday semi-formal gowns, but to make one Jahrra could wear to a royal court. He remembered their stunned looks when he said as much, and he recalled smiling in his confident way and telling them that Jahrra would one day walk before kings. He had been thinking of this very night when he’d asked for the finer dress, and now that he was seeing it for the first time, he couldn’t quite look away.
Jahrra, his stubborn, adventurous ward, a young woman not afraid of getting dirty or using a blade to defend those she called her friends, looked like the embodiment of Ethoes herself, stepping from the Great Beyond to grace them all with her resplendent presence. Even her dependence on the crutches to get around could not detract from the image she made.
Compared to all the brilliant gold, scarlet, emerald, teal and violet silks and satins the high born ladies of Nimbronia wore tonight, Jahrra’s own dress was a subtler display of color, but no less stunning. The deep green bodice and overskirt hid most of the pale silks beneath, yet the real beauty wasn’t in the fabric itself, but the fine needlework and tiny gemstones applied to create the vines and flowers of the bloodroses. Yes, the other women were painted brightly, like the tropical flowers of Torinn bursting into full bloom compared to Jahrra’s elegant, barely budding rose. Their flaws might be smoothed away, their dull features accentuated with rouge and kohl. They would be wearing chains of gold and silver and maybe even augrim, and jewels of every color and size would glitter at their wrists and throats. But not a single one of them could compare to Jahrraneh Drisihn. She may have come from common roots, grown up without wealth or privilege, and despite the queenly dress she wore, her spirit was far brighter than all the rest; she was by no means in need of any extra adornments.
As if detecting her guardian’s intent gaze, Jahrra turned to regard him, smiling and waving her hand in greeting. Jaax returned her smile, and ducked his head once. Before he could so much as take a step to move closer to her and the others, an elvin man dressed in the king’s livery moved from the open doorway and tapped a standard against the ground three times. A hush gradually fell over the outer hall as the guard proclaimed it was time everyone take their seats.
Sapheramin moved toward the door, beckoning the others to follow her.
“I know where we are to be seated,” she told Jaax as they entered the grand dining chamber.
Jaax moved to stand beside the door, allowing the others to go ahead of him. Jahrra was the last one to enter the dining hall, and as she passed, Jaax said in a low voice, “You look lovely tonight, Jahrra.”
She smiled up at him, her face gaining a little color. She reached up and toyed nervously with the pendant around her neck, the scale she had once knocked free of his finger. In all the chaos of the past several weeks, he had forgotten he’d gifted it to her several years ago. How ironic that he should have been thinking about that missing scale mere minutes ago. Jaax drew in a deep breath as he followed Jahrra and the others into the king’s hall. His mood had shifted for the better, and he allowed the feelings of contentment to take root. Perhaps if he went into this banquet with a positive attitude, negotiations with the Creecemind would work in their favor.
As they came free of the long passageway into the dining room, Jahrra gasped and came to an abrupt halt in front of Jaax. Puzzled at her behavior at first, the dragon followed her line of sight, and then let one side of his mouth curve into a small smile. She would appreciate this room. About the same size as the king’s throne room, the dining hall stretched for nearly five hundred feet or more, and boasted a ceiling nearly half as high. Flying buttresses carved from solid ice supported the walls, and great open windows ran from one end of the room to the other, a narrow terrace lying just on the other side of them. Beyond the terrace, the endless sky beckoned any creature with wings, and drew the attention of those who could not resist gazing upon the beauty of the Great Hrunahn Mountains and beyond. Above them, hundreds of crystalline chandeliers glittered like diamonds, their enchanted lights emitting a soft, yellow glow.
“Look at the size of that table!” Dervit exclaimed beside Jahrra.
Jahrra tore her eyes from the ceiling and gaped at the massive table taking up the center of the room. If one could even call it that.
“It was constructed especially for this room, so that dragons and our smaller allies might dine together.”
It was Tollorias who spoke, his deep voice rumbling through their corner of the vast room.