Third person POV
The night was beginning to wind down, but the palace hall still hummed with music and the soft murmur of conversation. All of the formalities were dealt with, and people were just enjoying the party now.
Ellie had taken refuge near one of the tall windows. Alaric and Cassian had kept her company for most of the night, but they needed to take advantage of the networking opportunity the party presented just as much as Nolan and Lance did.
Both of them were keeping an eye on her, but they had been dragged into a conversation with the luna of a nearby territory who had concerns about the uptick in rogue activity near the border.
The rumors about Ellie had spread enough that everyone in attendance had heard some version of the story. This resulted in people watching her,
