Turning around, everyone in the room was slowly making their way back into the foyer, with Kathrine standing just off to the side, watching us as we made our way over.
“Whoever organised Crisplet’s brazier, thank you,” I said as I got close enough.
“Surprisingly, that was Luis who suggested it. They made a cushion for Lily also, but she wasn’t with you,” Kathrine laughed.
I looked at Kathrine for a long while, stunned by that revelation. However, I had to know. “Can I see it?”
“I don’t have it myself, but I’ll be sure to show it to you when I can,” she smiled.
“I’ll let you know if it has Alira on it, she might not sit on it,” I chuckled as I led the way to the door, hearing Liane laughing behind .
“I will have to check it and make sure,” Kathrine said nervously.
Quickly, everyone caught up. Kathrine and myself, with Crisplet, entered the hall together, followed by Liane, Luis, and Elijah.
Apparently, even entering the hall was causing a stir, as all heads turned to us; there were hushed conversations happening everywhere.
Instantly, I felt nervous and excited. The room had completely changed from when I walked in over an hour prior. There were now red banners hanging from the walls and off the balconies above. The mural was now lit up. It was practically glowing.
Moving through the crowd were dozens of staff mbers, carrying drinks and food.
Already I noticed groups were forming, but sothing that stood out even more was the space that everyone was providing for us. Even as we moved into the room, the crowd seed to shift like water, moving away.
“Is there an actual dinner for this?” I asked, following Kathrine as she made a path across the hall.
“Yes. This is just pre-dinner drinks for people to mingle and to show off,” Kathrine explained.
We made our way to the opposite side of the hall, where three waiters arrived at our corner with drinks and food.
“So many people want to co over but are too scared to approach,” Liane chuckled.
“It is a pleasant change. Usually, we get sward with people trying to improve their position through our approval. It’s exhausting,” Luis laughed.
As I looked out over the crowd, I saw dozens of people looking at us, either directly or indirectly, before a man who I was very familiar with broke the stalemate, as Reginald Fellwood made his way towards us, followed by a lady who looked incredibly elegant in a sleek red dress and so much jewellery I was amazed she could walk.
As he approached, they both bowed.
“Your Highnesses, thank you so much for the invitation to this lovely event,” he said, still in a bow.
“Hello, Lord Fellwood. You’re not scared off by our newest house, I see,” Kathrine said with clear mirth.
Reginald let out a soft chuckle. “Scared? always, but not enough to avoid my business partner. Lady Ashmoon, congratulations.”
The ntion of the business partner was clearly loud enough for the surrounding people to hear.
Liane blushed imdiately before waving it off. “Please, just Liane,” she attempted to say.
“If I’m not allowed to say that, you’re not either,” I quipped.
Elijah and Luis both held back laughter.
“Lord Ashmoon, I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to introduce my wife to you. This is Scilla.” He gestured to the lady next to him, who just bowed again.
“It’s a pleasure to et you, and thank you for doing business with our house,” she said softly.
“Pleased to et you,” I said, nodding my head.
“It seems you’ve emboldened the others,” Kathrine said.
Looking over the shoulder of Reginald, I caught sight of what Kathrine ant. No longer was there a large gap between us. The crowd had seemingly shuffled closer, now with only a couple of feet between us and the groups.
Reginald let out a chuckle. “I’m truly sorry for that.”
The next to arrive was Nicholas Fairmont, with a lady I assud was his wife. However, he never introduced her to us, instead loudly thanking for visiting him at his residence, and ultimately just putting on a show.
Being used as a pawn like this was frustrating, but I’d play along. Hari and Milo both warned of this.
Liane wasn’t free of it, either, with everyone moving on from , visiting her and congratulating her on becoming a mber of House Ashmoon.
At this stage, the regular crowd had been emboldened and was making its way towards us, with three small groups walking directly towards us, never making it to us in ti. Instead, a short, stocky man with a beard that went to his waist pushed through the crowd.
“Greetings, Your Highnesses. Lord Ashmoon,” the man said.
“Hello, Lord Blackre. Not scared off like the rest, I see,” Kathrine comnted.
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The man laughed. “Absolutely not. I’ve been wanting to et Lord Ashmoon for so ti now, but he’s notoriously difficult to see.”
I felt embarrassed by that. I knew Blackre was on our list to have a eting with. We just never got around to it with everything that had happened.
Kathrine stayed composed, while Luis held back a laugh, turning to appear as if he were in conversation with Liane.
“Well, let introduce you properly. William Blackre, et Trevor Ashmoon, Crisplet Ashmoon, and Liane Ashmoon,” Kathrine said.
Holding out my hand, the short man took it and shook, pausing for a mont as he looked at my neck.
“That’s quite the piece of cloth you have around your neck there. No normal scarf, and the armour it hides, incredible,” he said, not letting go of my hand.
“Thank you. They were gifts from friends of mine,” I simply said.
Letting go of my hand, “You’re a hard man to get a hold of.”
I awkwardly laughed, but Liane joined the conversation. “Intentionally so, especially with the events that have occurred.”
William appeared to spit at the floor, while not actually spitting. “Curse their nas. The scheming types always end up the sa way. Short-term power for a ssy end.”
He said this loud enough that a couple of groups noticeably shrank back behind him.
“I believe we had planned to have a eting with you already. We were just waiting to organise a ti,” I said.
The man’s face split into a giant grin. “Excellent! I represent a large number of crafters in the city, and a growing number of alchemists now that Valrith has been removed. I would love to have a working relationship with you.”
"I won't set anything in stone today, but please speak to my party and they'll set sothing up." I smiled
Smiling, and nodding he shook my hand again, then moved on and spoke with Liane montarily, congratulating her and trying to work out so finer details.
Next, I was approached by a man whom I had not seen until now, an elderly man wearing very plain-looking and tattered brown robes, with long grey hair and a beard. He stood out clearly from the crowd, yet no one seed to notice him as he made his way through.
Even as he approached, Kathrine didn’t even acknowledge him.
“Greetings, Trevor. We et again,” he said with a crooked smile.
Crisplet certainly sensed sothing was wrong, although it seed like he didn’t know what, as he just flared up, and people around us reacted to that, but not to the man standing in front of .
“We do? I don’t rember you,” I said.
He laughed. “I’ve altered my appearance a little, but yes, we spoke in Farnox. I do hope you’ve been enjoying the books.”
“Morlin?”
“One and the sa. I always enjoy events like this. It’s a great way to catch up with the goings-on of the kingdom,” Morlin stated.
“Why can nobody see you?” I asked.
Morlin smiled, as if it were a joke. “I wouldn’t say nobody. Lily is glaring at , you’re talking to , and Sylverith appears to be on her way here, though I’ll have to stop her before she crashes the party. Don’t fear. I just wanted to say hello and thank you for providing so much change to the kingdom in such a short amount of ti. It’s been very entertaining.”
My mind was reeling at the information, but I had so many questions I needed to ask the man.
“The cookbook. How did you get it?” I felt stupid that this was the first question, and probably the one I wanted to know the most.
Morlin even laughed at that. “Creating a copy of that text is fairly simple, and I apologise about the journal; I made so alterations to it. There is information in there that I would like to not beco common knowledge, so the book needs to stay bound to you, and you alone.”
“Who are you, really?” I asked the question that probably should have been first.
He didn’t answer, just smiled. “Your friend is about to arrive, so I’d best leave and speak with her. Farewell, young Trevor.”
Not a second later, it felt like ti had rushed to catch up. Crisplet was up to my shoulder in height, a raging storm of black and red fla, with the ember crown rotating around his head, while the group that had previously inched closer now had people frozen in fear, and falling back as they stared towards .
Kathrine acted first, realising sothing must have happened, starting to shout orders. The Royal Guards were only a split second behind as they surrounded the group, creating a wall of guards around us.
Liane grabbed by the shoulder. “Trev, are you okay? What happened?”
“I don’t know. The man… the man from Farnox just visited again,” I said, shaking my head.
“Morlin?”
“Yes, though he looked different,” I said.
“I didn’t see anyone?” Kathrine said, looking concerned.
Elijah let out a small yelp, and turning back, I saw Lily was now sitting on the ground next to Crisplet, staring into the distance.
“It’s okay, I think. He said he just wanted to say hello? And to thank for the entertainnt.” I intentionally left out the part about changes to the kingdom, as I really wasn’t sure what that ant, but saying that to the royal family, who probably didn’t want changes to happen, likely wasn’t the best idea.
Looking over at Crisplet, I smiled. “Thanks, Crisplet. We’re okay now, though, and thank you, Lily. Maybe check on Sylverith, as he was visiting her next, though?”
Lily didn’t even wait, vanishing in a mont into the nearest shadow.
“Are you okay?” Liane asked.
There was a shout from the other side of the line of guards. “Let through. I must see,” a man’s voice called.
The guards didn’t budge, but Kathrine let out a sigh.
“Let him through, Liam.”
A man who looked to be middle-aged, wearing perfect red robes, appeared in the circle of guards, looking around.
“Who cast the magic?” he asked, not introducing himself.
“An individual who has already left,” Kathrine said simply.
“Left? How? Where did they go?”
“You tell . The palace is supposed to have the best wards this kingdom has to offer, yet he makes it in and out without anyone noticing,” Kathrine sternly said.
“I… it’s not possible. How? He must still be here.” The man shook his head.
“He’s not here, or Lily would still be here,” I stated.
The man just looked at but said nothing.
“Damien, you’d do well to trust what he says, especially since half your library is currently sitting in his ho and you’ve not reported a single book missing yet,” Luis said with a laugh, clearly stirring trouble.
The glare from Kathrine seed to agree with that.
He looked startled, but carried on like nothing was said, “Who is this man then?”
“That’s a good question, but one we can’t answer. We don’t know ourselves,” Liane said.
There was a mont where it looked like Damien didn’t want to drop it there but clearly didn’t know what to say. I was saved by Kathrine as she cleared her throat.
“I think it’s best we carry on with dinner, don’t you? Let’s make our way to the dining hall. Liam, would you mind escorting us?” Kathrine said.
Liam bowed in his full plate armour before the group of guards that had surrounded us, escorting us through the crowd towards the dining hall.
I heard Luis behind speaking with Liane. “I expected sothing interesting to happen, but I thought it would be a silly noble making a scene.”
“When it cos to Trev, it’s never that simple,” Liane said, and I looked back to see her grinning at .
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