The Last Realm: The Blood of Clans

8: The Winter Ball

I woke up to a soft knocking on the door, groggily rubbing my eyes as it swung open hastily. Chang was rushing into the room full speed, going through my pack and unloading all my clothes out on the bed next to where I lay.

“Slow down man, what's the rush?” I asked sleepily, sitting up finally and swinging myself out of bed.

“Really? You've been asleep almost to noon. We're nearly out of time to get you ready and going. Only just a couple hours until the ball.” Chang pushed me to me feet and glared at me.

It took me a couple moments to realize he was fully dressed in dark green robes. He was shaking his head as he stared at the clothes I had pre-picked out for me back at the tower in Kyzekia.

“That's a lot of purple.” He said with a chuckle before darting from the room and bringing Vahn back with him.

“Holy.. that really is a lot of purple.” Vahn laughed as well this time. “You'd think the holy nation would find a more masculine color of attire to parade around in.”

“I don't feel like I've done much parading.” I replied back shortly.

“Hmm, not what I heard.” Vahn laughed some more. “You paraded around to a bunch of wolves and nearly got eaten. You took the bite out of Greeley, parading up the gates unannounced. You paraded yourself quite nicely for the princess Kelicia, especially that show you put on with Kokin nearly mugging you.”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” I threw my hands up defensively in surrender.

“Good, then hurry and get ready. We'll be in my room when you're done.” The both left a midst a flurry of more jokes poked in my direction.

I pulled on the deep purple heavy dress robes, which I thought clashed somewhat with the white shirt and beige pants that luckily were mostly invisible underneath. I had to take a couple deep breaths for motivation before leaving the room and heading into the corridor. There was quite a lot to think about, especially everything learned within the last day. I was trying to put it all together still, one huge puzzle with more than a few missing pieces.

I ran over everything as I did last minute checks on the robes. A ruling family from the jumble of clans on the other side of Altamira's mountains, had an internal dispute that has affected Kreshia, the western continent. The oldest son, Naren, was overlooked for the crown in favor of the middle son, Tajima. This led to a feud and eventual outright fighting, once Kokin became a regular fixture. Vahn had explained about the scar and the clan quietly picking sides behind the scenes. That put me up to current events.

Tajima had fled from his country, which seemed to be a hot dispute in itself. Did he run away, was he chased away, and why exactly was he hiding. There were still plenty of information that I was obviously now unaware of, but the puzzle was finally taking shape. Now we had Naren in a race to find Tajima against us, and he wasn't taking a loss here. This was causing unwarranted stress on the Azhade family of Tasard, who seemed to know where Tajima might be. So we were now conveniently trapped looking for a missing prince while his crazed, sadistic brother hunted him for his head.

It was a rough idea of what I knew, but it would have to do for the moment. I didn't really see how we would have any wiggle room to look around for more information or clues, with us under a protective lockdown. As far as I was aware, once the ball was over, we could very well be sent back to our respective countries. There just seemed to be too much of a large chunk of information missing, and it was starting to frustrate me.

“It's about time to go.” A gruff voice sounded outside the door, pounding on the frame in thudding knocks.

“C'mon man. We're losing time.” Vahn called as well from out in the corridor.

“Sorry, sorry.” I replied back as I opened the door to find Isidro waiting with Chang and Vahn.

“Luckily you don't have a long walk to the throne room.” Isidro chuckled gruffly. “You three are almost running late though.”

I paled at the thought of my few arrivals in this new-to-me world, had all been late, or nearly late, arrivals. I took the moment glance at the two boys with me, and noted the attire down as superior.

Apart from the green robes that Chang was wearing, Vahn was in an earth-brown set of robes that looked much more stunning than either of ours. Then the previous comments from last night hit me. 'Wait til you see the girls.' had been Vahn's jest, but something told me that all of the royals participating would all be in some quite elegant evening wear.

Isidro led us back the way we came to the door of the throne room that Kelicia led us hastily out of just the night before. The halls were deadly quiet until the sturdy wooden door was pulled open towards us. The noise wasn't by any means loud or overwhelming, but it had the chatter from inside seemed to spread a warmth into the halls the longer we paused at the back entrance of the throne room.

“It still might be a little bit before we start, but go ahead and relax a little until then.” Isidro offered in a commanding and not exactly asking kind of tone.

So the three of us marched ourselves in the “ballroom” that had about twenty people packed into neatly. There was still more than enough room to move around in, but it was obvious that the the ice white throne room didn't fit more than a hundred at most. The three thrones were empty, but there were small clusters of teenagers all around the room, most huddled up and quietly talking in familiar groups.

“Check out the decorations. That's pretty sweet looking.” Vahn nudged both Chang and myself, as my eyes took it all in.

Aside from the long tables that were set against the each side wall, most holding trays and platters of various foods and drinks. They had snow white tablecloths over them, but they were obviously similar to the same dining hall like tables from the tower. The whole room was lit up, in complete contrast to our previous visit the day before. The ceiling had natural light filtering in from the large window-like glass panels. The light made the room have a cool, fresh and iced over type of look.

“Oh wow..” Chang lightly gasped in amazement as he pointed at the array of banners that hung all around the room, much like Tasard's banner that was still behind the thrones.

“Ah, yes. The country banners. Father told me that they make a grand showing of displaying everyone's colors during the ball.” Vahn interjected with a smile.

“That beauty would be ours.” Vahn pointed out proudly, as he began to show us the rest and explain them each a little. He had started with the brown banner edged with gold trim, that had nine golden fleur-de-lis symbols in a three by three pattern. It had an understated type of elegance, but I couldn't help a small chuckle as I glanced at the formal robes Vahn was wearing and how they matched the brown banner exactly.

“Ooh, ooh. Those are ours.” Chang said excitedly, pointing to the next five banners.

“Each head family has their own unique banner, and then they also have the banner for all of them united.” Vahn stated matter of factly, as Chang started explaining the clan banners.

“The yellow banner belongs to the Masatane family.” Chang said as we looked at the first of the clan banners.

It was a bright, sunflower yellow that covered the entire banner. In the middle of the yellow hanging cloth was an enclosed circle and a series of a flower similar to a three leaf clover. One clover was in the dead center of the circle, while a thick ring of half-clovers sat inside the circles border. Chang explained that the clans were the emblems of the banners on the backs of their clothing.

“The red banner with the sideways double squares, belongs to the Anayama family.” Chang explained next about the solid red banner, next to the yellow.

It was just as ordinary as the Masatane yellow flower banner, but it was without any circle or black border in the crest. He added a little more information about the Anayama family though.

“Their villages are the closest to ours, compared to the rest. My mother is also the oldest of her siblings. Their lord is grandpa Kinkata.” Chang finished his thoughts of the red clan banner.

“Grandpa Kinkata?” I asked with a slightly raised eyebrow, earning a smirk from Vahn.

“Well, grandpa to me. Ha ha, sorry.” Chang apologized.

“The heads of the Anayama and Toshezo family paired their oldest children together. So you have an alliance between the two. Lady Rana Anayama and lord Torlend Toshezo.” Vahn elaborated, still smirking.

“Okay.. so what about the next banner, the blue one.” I asked, wanting to progress the topic as much as possible as I noticed the dozen or so banners all hanging up.

“The banner of the Yamamoto.” Chang replied with a hint of annoyance.

“The are arguably the strongest family, right alongside the Toshezo.” Vahn remarked casually. “The two families don't really agree on a lot.”

I nodded thoughtfully, as we all stared and examined the royal blue banner with a black circle crest and a compass-like flower in the middle. That brought us to the forest green banner of the Toshezo. I didn't really need much explained about this one, I had seen it for a while already. The boat, the outfits, it seemed to be in a lot of places.

The banner was by far the most interesting yet though, of the clans that is. It looked like four of those iron fans with a flower in the middle, which Chang said the emblem was called quince. I whistled to myself lightly before we looked next at the final clan emblem.

“There is our true banner.” Chang said, indicating the multicolored banner. “Each color represents the four head families, and their geographic location to the clan.”

It was almost like a crude map, the green being on the left and the yellow to the right. The blue on top and the red on bottom. Each color had one die-like piece, and all four of the dice were encircled. And a thin black 'x' separated each of the dice, likes lines of territorial borders.

.

“That's an awesome banner man.” I looked on in amazement at by the far the most intricate banner we had discussed so far.

“Unfortunately, with all of the turmoil, there's no telling if those colors will get raised again or not.” Vahn added with a touch of sullenness.

We all admired the clan banner, before the thought struck me.

“Hey.. uh, sorry to seem uneducated here, but what exactly is the name of your country?” I lightly tried to laugh at the awkward question. “Nobody has ever said anything beyond just the individual families, at least to me.”

“What? Seriously?” Vahn nearly face-palmed at my remark.

“Our country is called.. Cherden.” Chang lightly said no louder than a whisper.

“Cherden, hmm.” I said out loud as I thought it over.

“Not so loud, seriously.” Vahn said while elbowing my lightly in the ribs.

“Okay, sorry. So which one is next?” I coughed lightly as I asked.

“Reysbel, it's the three striped blue banner there.” Vahn pointed out.

They seemed to be getting more elaborate again. Reysbel's banner consisted of a large royal blue stripe that took up the top half of the banner, and two lightly blue shades of stripes below it. At the bottom center of the banner was a yellow triangle with a blue center. At the peak of the yellow triangle stripes, was a red cross.

“The Reysbel banner and the colors of their guard and knights, are the same. Which concludes the Kreshia banners, onto the rest.” Vahn added in, before we moved onto the next banner.

We spotted a faint green colored banner, almost a turquoise kind of shade, that held a silver round shield in its center. Behind the shield, was a sword and axe, and resting atop the shield was a viking like helmet. It was fairly obvious this was the Leontyne banner, thought it varied slightly from the colors Gareth had been flying, it was similar enough for me to recognize.

“The helmet and shield are the emblems of the islands, while the sword and axe represent the Hokuten and Nanten both.” Vahn explained the banner in its entirety.

“That leaves us just four to go.” Chang said excitedly, learning just as much about the varying banners and tidbits of other countries as I was.

“Yes, only the countries of Elsdan, the eastern continent.” Vahn smirked as he started on the first banner for the east.

It was a solid white banner with golden trim and each corner had small golden crosses. In the center was a silver knights head with red plumes. The banner right beside it bore the same golden trim, with with a crimson red background. It held a white, armored horse as its emblem.

“Those are the banners of the Empire, Dohania and Fedella.” Vahn started in with the information. “Dohania is the white banner, known as for their heavy knights and being the largest country in the world. Fedella is like a servant country, and works exclusively as the cavalry of Dohania. Fedella is usually ruled by the Dohanian royal family, when they send down the younger princes to avoid struggles for the throne.”

Just looking at the two banners made me slightly nervous, and it wasn't long before we turned our attention to the last two banners.

“Southwell, the merchant country.” Vahn explained as we looked at the flashy green banner.

The green banner of Southwell, had a double white stripe that ran from its top left corner to the bottom right. In its center were a pair of weight scales, gold in color, that were being supported by a silver sword. The sword was the backbone of the board that held the scales together.

“The merchants might present the idea of peace and no ruling family line to dictate how they operate, but they have both in truth.” Vahn explained. “The merchants and knights both have an equal say as to how the country operates, and both are considered extremely dangerous.”

The last banner on the walls to observe was a dull orange banner with a small white section in the left corner, that held a burning red sun inside it.

“Ah, Villaluz.” Vahn commented dryly. “They are one of the more simple and practical countries. Even a simple banner of a sun burning over the desert.”

“Wow, talk about all the information intake.” I laughed after glancing back through all the banners again, amazed and impressed by the varying details and information I could piece together for the world.

“Holy.. you gotta see this one.” I was pulled out of the thoughts when Chang tugged on both of our sleeves.

Hanging behind the thrones, to the left of the Tasard banner was a deep set purple banner, similar to my dress robes.

“Is that?” I started to ask, getting quick nods from both Vahn and Chang.

“I believe so. Never actually seen it myself before, either.” Vahn answered as he stared in amazement at the banner of Kyzekia.

It was a brilliant deep purple, with silver trim on the edges, and had a large golden eagle covering it completely. The banner had just finished being hung and had drawn not just our attention but everyone else in the room. It was a just a few moments after finishing looking at all the banners that the queen came into the room.

“Alright everyone, it's time to get our winter ball underway.” Queen Chiara called out to us with a smile.

She had on a long, flowing, icy white dress that seemed to sparkle in the natural light that shone down into the room. The dress had a long slit that ran up the left side to her hips and she wore black stockings with silver heels. She had matching black fingerless gloves that ran up to past her elbows and disappeared under the sleeves of the dress. Her beautiful red hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and flowed down her back loosely from there.

“The Queen might steal the show tonight.” Vahn lightly chuckled in my ear, snapping my attention from the unattainable beauty.

“Yeah, she's a knockout.” I smiled and jested back with him.

“Can you believe that she's just barely over twenty also?” Vahn laughed quietly with me. “This is her second ball, but first one hosting.”

“What? Seriously man?” I asked, completely shocked by the news.

“Yeah man.” Vahn smirked and nodded his head towards the crowd of royal guests, indicating we had to start mingling soon.

I was stunned about the revelation in regards to the queen. She did look still like a young woman, but I would have figured her to be a little bit older or something. I felt a light hand on my right shoulder, figuring it was Vahn again I tried to brush it off lightly.

“I don't think you're gonna win anybody over with that attitude.” The voice whispered in a light, airy tone.

“Wait.. what?” I turned to spin around and look at the culprit, finding the princess Kelicia smiling at me.

“Don't just stand there mouth gaping, come on your dolt.” She laughed at my expression. “The first dance is about to start soon, I wanna snatch you up before anybody else tries too.”

She had shorter hair than the queen, it being cut short just above her shoulders. It was still the same shade of deep, fiery red but her eyes were more of a caramel brown, instead of the bluish-purple Chiara had. Kelicia had on a silvery, metallic like sleeveless dress that stopped just at her knees. It accented her lithe figure, but I couldn't help a small chuckle at the black boots she had on.

“Well, c'mon already.” Kelicia laughed as she extended a hand out to me.

“C'mon for what?” I asked stupidly, just before the announcement was made.

“Everyone grab the person you're most familiar with, for our first dance of the ball.” Queen Chiara said with a bright smile.

The music fired itself up quickly at that and people everywhere were starting to partner up. I accepted Kelicia's hand and noticed that Vahn was starting to dance with his sister. Many other pairs were based on similar groupings of comfort or familiarity.

“Everyone seems to be partnered with somebody they know.” I made the obvious statement, earning a faint grin.

“The first dance is usually about information. We dance about and observe the others, relaxing and sometimes learning about the other guests.” Kelicia smiled back in reply.

I gulped as the Tasard princess placed my free hand on her hip, never breaking her eye contact with mine. My face was flushed and nervous would have been an understatement at the moment.

“Relax James.” She sweetly tried calming my out of control nerves and hormones. “The dances are simple, just follow my steps, okay?”

I nodded and swallowed the knot that was in my throat. The music was soft but a decent pace, as we broke into the rhythm of movement that was slowly overtaking everyone else. This was the first dance of my life, that didn't include my mother when I was younger, and my nerves eventually gave way as I kept eyes locked with the older girl who smiled at me lightly.

“I thought that perhaps dancing with me, would give you a chance to learn about some of the royals attending. That is what the ball is for after all.” Kelicia offered.

“Wouldn't we eventually run out of time in the dance though?” I asked back, as we waltzed around the room.

“There will be breaks and pauses, so no worries there.” She laughed softly at my question.

“Okay.. well, I already know the people I came with.” I tried to laugh but only earned myself a playful eye roll.

It was true that I did know a few of the people though, but I was still taken back by all of it. I stole a glance towards Vahn and Aurelia. She had on a golden, strapless trumpet style dress that hugged her body tightly until it flared out dramatically at her knees.

“She does look stunning, doesn't she?” Kelicia whispered softly where only I could hear.

I tried to smile and laugh it off, as I switched our attention to Chang and Rose, who were dancing together and seemed to be chatting up a storm. Rose had a simple black cocktail dress on, something easy and simple like she couldn't have been bothered with too much effort.

“I didn't think Chang and Rose were that close.” I couldn't help wonder aloud.

“They're not really, but information is important right now.” Kelicia smiled as we twirled and waltzed more.

This led me to asking about the various couples dancing around the room. First were the pair in matching blue, who I quickly figured must have been the Yamamoto twins I had heard about before. The girl had a white flowery strapless dress in blue trim, while the guy had on sea blue robes in white trim. Both the twins had short dark brown hair and dark eyes. Eiji having a mix of spikes and curls, and Emi having her hair cut at her jaw line.

“The blue crew, over there, would be Eiji and Emi Yamamoto.” Kelicia informed me as we swept around the room more. “The twins are the the oldest two here, but they almost didn’t make it.”

“You mean they almost missed the age limit or something?” I looked a little puzzled.

“No, ha ha. The clans are awfully close to going to war. They were persuaded to come here anyway, sort of like a little insurance and extra information gathering.” She replied back, in midst of a twirl.

“What about the red couple, then?” I nodded in the direction of another set of what I assumed were clan kids.

“Oh, those are the Anayama siblings. Don't worry, they aren't twins though.” Kelicia replied with a small giggle. “You could say they are the youngest duo here.”

“I thought Gwen was the youngest though?” I scrunched my brow as I asked.

“By herself she is, but Kojiro is just about thirteen and his sister Kosho is maybe a few months older than Guinevere.” Kelicia informed me more.

Kojiro had on red dress robes that perfectly matched the red, satin dress that his younger sister wore. Neither had a secondary color and both were a stunning red shade, but both were basic and simple. The only difference was Kojiro had spiked, out of control hair, while Kosho had straight, long, reddish-blond hair.

“I think you're running out of couples.” Kelicia laughed before she commented about the olive skinned pair. “Those are the Casalino siblings, from the desert of Villaluz.”

“Who are they?” I asked curiously.

“Adela and Kye.” She said with a growing smirk as she watched the dance and laugh together.

“I take you have have a small crush going on here?” I playfully poked at the way she was admiring the older boy.

“What? Uh.. of course not.” She defensively shot back as she turned her attention back to me quickly.

“So tell me about them already.” I laughed at her reaction and blushing.

“Kye is just slightly older than me and is the middle child to the ruler of Villaluz. Adela is about eleven or so and they are like most from the desert, gorgeous and deadly. They get trained for combat almost as soon as they can walk around and do chores.”

“Sounds a little extreme.” I frowned in my reply.

“That's life in the east though, especially with their kind of neighbors.” Kelicia lightly glared at a different couple, but I stole my attention back to Kye and Adela.

The young girl had on a long, layered olive-gold dress that made her deep olive skin seem even darker. She had deep green eyes and platinum blond hair, that was pulled back into two pigtails. Kye on the other hand wore black robes, and his skin seemed a little lighter than his sisters. He had bleached white hair and burning red eyes. At least I could have swore they were red from here.

“Now who's staring?” Kelicia laughed and teased lightly, showing me the last couple as the first dance started to wind down.

“Yeah, yeah. So the mismatched couple.” I replied back, looking at the pair I knew weren't related.

“Oh, those two.” She replied with a little disdain. “Chey Valora from Southwell and Alexander Valda from Dohania.”

The girl, Chey, had short red hair in length between her neck and shoulders and light brown eyes. Her dress was the most over the top, showy and ridiculously stunning. It was light green, almost a lime color and seemed thin like a bed sheet. It had one strap over the left shoulder and the sides were connected by a clasp that left gaping spaces at the hips, with a huge slit that run right up the middle of the dress and ran up to her waist. It left little to the imagination and my face was deeply flushed now.

Kelicia coughed lightly, squeezing hard against my hand. “You done yet?” Her glare was nearly murderous as I tried to smile.

“Sorry, but I'm sorta floored at her outfit.” I replied back sheepishly.

“She's from Southwell and they save no expense to remind anybody of their wealth and luxury.” Kelicia softly grumbled.

I wasn't sure how to exactly cheer her up from the flashy couple. Alexander didn't seem much better in his arrogance or attire. The blond prince of Dohania had white dress robes and seemed to attract even more attention to the pair, which made me feel out of place compared to most in the room.

“Uh.. who is that?” I paused and blinked in shock at the mysterious dark haired guy who was dancing with Guinevere.

Kelicia looked where I was staring at and instantly blushed a dark crimson shade as she quickly turned her face back to me.

“Oh gods, he's really here.” She stared at me in a mixture of panic and excitement.

It took me a moment to process what she meant as I surveyed the two. Guinevere had a cute red gown on and looked much like the shy little princess, but the mystery man dancing with her seemed familiar. He had on black robes with dark green trim, that just made his nearly pale skin stand out more. His eyes looked almost silver from here, and his hair kept brushing occasionally down into his eyes and face. It was when he smiled and turned that I saw the scar just above his left eye.

“No way.. that's..” I couldn't bring myself to say the obvious as Kelicia squeezed my hand hard.

“Shh you. Keep your voice down.” Her blush was slowly retreating as she forced a smile as the first song ended and we went to get drinks and some snacks like most of the others.

We didn't really approach the topic again, but I was grateful for all the help she gave me with the who's who and everything. I sipped at some punch and munched on some of the food as Vahn, Chang and Aurelia came up to where I was standing.

“Hey man, so you get in good any with the ice princess?” Vahn asked with a chuckle.

“James isn't like you, brother.” Aurelia said with an exaggerated eye roll.

“We, uh, mostly talked about everybody. She was a big help.” I smiled, slightly blushing.

“Oh, that's good. There were a few people I didn't know myself too.” Aurelia said with a light smile. “I think most of the tension is broken now though.”

“Yeah, everybody was definitely nervous before we started.” Vahn laughed as I noticed Chang being suspiciously quiet.

“Why so quiet? Did little Rosie scare you that much?” I teased, giving him a pop in the arm.

“No.. just.. you saw who Gwen was dancing with, right?” He barely raised his voice to bring up the topic.

“Kelicia seemed to have a weird reaction about that guy also.” I started to say, before being cut off by the queen and general.

“Our next dance is meant to be unfamiliar. The ball has long practiced a random dance to its routine. This encourages a pair with someone unexpected and gives you all a chance to learn something new.” Isidro boomed out into the room.

“Each of you come up and get a number, and then find the matching partner.” Chiara said with a light smile.

We each went up and grabbed a piece of paper from different hats. The boys drawing from Isidro and the girls from Chiara. Then we were told to go and mingle to find out proper matches. My numbered paper had an eight written on it. I watched as the pairs piled up quickly. It took me a moment to realize I was being tapped on the shoulder and turned to see the queen giving me an expectant look.

“Yes, your majesty?” I asked timidly.

“Please, you don't have to be quite so formal.” She smiled as she took a careful moment to look me over. “I'm pairing you up with the young Reysbel girl.”

“I'm sorry. I thought you had said these were random though?” I asked back, a worried expression on my face.

“True, but we think it's best if you switch partners. Emi Yamamoto I believe has your matching number, but we discourage multiple dances with the same person. So just humor me please?” She beamed a radiant smile at me that I couldn't possibly refuse.

“Oh.. okay.” My reply was buried behind my embarrassment and blush.

“She'll be along in just a moment.” The beautiful, young queen replied back. “So are you enjoying yourself so far?”

“Yeah, but there's just so much to take in.” I answered honestly, with a nervous laugh. “Aside from the distractions.”

“An unfortunate set of events I'm afraid, but don't you worry any. Just do your best to enjoy yourself.” Queen Chiara patted my shoulder before going silent and just observing, eventually moving over to whisper things with her uncle Isidro.

I stood their examining the new randomized pairs. Aurelia was with Kojiro and Chang was with Adela. Rose was standing with Alexander, and Eiji and Kosho were paired together. I fumed lightly to myself as Vahn chatted up Kelicia, a small touch of jealousy at the sight. That only left two couples to sort out. I spotted the first easily enough, the overly gorgeous couple of Kye and Chey. It seemed a little ridiculous, but then I spotted Emi and her partner. It was him, the mystery man.

“Hi..” came the soft call and faint tug on my sleeve.

I turned to my right to see Guinevere standing to my side and looking nervous, almost horrified.

“Hey, again. Glad to see you made it here safely.” I tried to put on my best brotherly smile, as I offered my hand while the music started up.

It was a bit of a faster tune that first but still good waltzing, ballroom music. She accepted and we proceeded to dance, like the others around us. It would have been easy to say that we both were terrible dancers, but the reality is it was just me. Gwen was really quite skilled on her feet, like a mini ballerina or something.

“I heard about the trouble on your way here.” She gave a nervous smile as she commented on our adventures by the river.

“Oh, that..” I hesitated a moment. “It's been pretty hectic lately.”

“Sorry..” She said with a light apology.

“It's not your fault or anything, things have been crazy for me since we found out about the ball really.” I laughed and earned a slight smile back.

The question was still burning in my head as we danced more and Gwen didn't seem nearly as relaxed as anybody else in the room. The others were talking and laughing loudly as the music picked up more.

“I'm curious a little, as to the guy you danced with earlier.” I stated simply.

“Oh..” Came her timid reply back.

“That's Tajima, isn't it?” I asked, glancing at the mystery man who was dancing and talking quietly with Emi.

“He.. he's not a bad person..” She stumbled out slowly, her eyes cast down at the her feet. “I've missed him.”

My eyebrows shot up quickly at the response from the girl. Sure Reysbel was the closest place to the Toshezo clans, but I didn't figure she'd be familiar with any of them. My curiosity overwhelmed my thoughts and I knew I needed to piece together more of this new puzzle.

“Have you known him long?” The words slipped out of the own volition.

“Father and brother have always been so busy..” She started in before looking up at me. “Tajima used to travel to Amarna and visit me a lot. He'd stay a lot to keep me company.”

I nodded thoughtfully to her response. “Amarna is your capital, right?”

“Yes. Mother is buried there.” Guinevere replied back sadly. “They used to come see me every week up until the accident.”

I wasn't sure I could hold this conversation while dancing and a glance around the room showed a few others had bowed out early as well. The ones that did were mostly talking and getting snacks or drinks.

“Gwen, is it alright if we sit down to talk more?” There was no way to tell if she would, but I asked anyway.

“Oh, that's fine. You're not very good at this anyway.” She gave a faint smile at her joke.

I was slightly hurt by the remark, being told by a girl who didn't much seem to like interacting with people that I was bad at dancing and talking both. It made me laugh really. We ended up sitting down away from as much of the crowd as possible, before resuming our conversation.

“You said he used to visit a lot up until the accident?” I asked. “Your mother's death or a different accident?”

She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them for a long minute. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to get a reply back about it before she finally started to speak.

“After mother's death.” Gwen replied softly, just above a whisper.

“Was it the one with his brother?” I pressed a little more, hoping I wasn't pushing it too much.

“Yes, out on the lake.” Came the quiet reply.

“The lake?” This wasn't a story I had heard before, maybe Vahn didn't know or think it of importance to the current problems.

“A few years ago.. before the girl and when Chang was still allowed over.” This reply began a missing story that helped start the current state of problems.

Guinevere started into detail about how Tajima had gotten a boat for the three of them to go sailing, and how he had taken them down the river and out to the coast towards the sea. Gwen and Chang were about three years younger when it happened. That would have put Tajima just about twelve, right before Vahn had mentioned him finding Kokin.

As her story progressed, the storm nearly shipwrecked them. Tajima was able to crash them into a couple of caverns along the coast. Inside they tried to dry up and wait the bad weather out, but things weren't so fortunate. Deeper inside the cave was a mother and younger girl, the mother seriously wounded. Tajima made the effort to share the picnic supplies they had and stayed awake the whole night keeping watching and constantly checking the mother's wounds.

As it turned out, early in the first hours of light a group of slavers crashed into the caves and stumbled down into the cavern. They apparently were hunting the mother and daughter. Tajima tried to intervene, but being still much younger and on nearly no rest, it didn't prove difficult to overwhelm him. The mother intervened and fought off the slavers and made the trio promise to take the girl back and protect her.

Guinevere leaned in closely to whisper the one thing missing, the accident. “Tajima has a scar from that.. it runs from his right shoulder and all the way across his entire back.”

I winced as I thought of the scar from his brother and now this other one from only years earlier. Fate sure did have a weird way of operating with some people.

“So after that trip, Tajima was sick for a long time and I saw him less and less. Neither myself or Chang have really been permitted to travel very far either. With the exception of today, that is.” Gwen finished her tale, looking back around nervously as the song winded down.

“So that really is him, isn't it?” The question was risky but needed asking.

“Yes.” She nodded faintly but smiled as she looked towards his direction, earning a protective glance back in our direction.

“I'm sorry to trouble you with asking so much about that.” I told her kindly. “Is it okay if I tell you my own secret?”

She nodded with an eager expression. “Please.”

“I'm here with some friends, to help bring him back home safely. So we can put a stop to his brother and make things peaceful again.” My reply earned a big grin from the young girl, just a moment before another announcement was made.

We all went back up to the front to hear what might be coming about next. The light from outside was starting to darken a little and some of the lighting in the room was coming to life now, giving things a more ethereal glow.

“Our evening dance. The grand, romantic event of the winter ball.” Chiara beamed with a smile as she started to explain. You may pick any partner you have not already danced with so far. When the dance is over, you will be treated with one final special announcement before you'll be allowed to either retire for the day or explore under supervision.”

Isidro clapped his hands loudly to indicate the start of the evening dancing. The food had been changed out to more dinner like meals and we made our final matches. Some of convenience and some for more romantic purposes. I found this to be the dance where the boys picked the girl they wanted, and I watched for a moment before making my decision.

The older boys made immediate claims at the girls they fancied who they could dance with still. Alexander went straight for Kelicia, Kye headed for Aurelia, Vahn went over to Emi and Tajima went to see Rose. The odd choice was when Eiji went to talk to Guinevere. I figured it had more to do with politics and war than anything else, since Tajima had danced with both Emi and Gwen, it seemed logical.

“Uh, hi there.” I tried to casually smile at the girl I was trying to ask to dance.

“Hey yourself.” Came the reply back as I couldn't help but gulp a little bit.

“I was wondering if you'd be up for dancing with me?” My voice struggled to free itself from my throat, as the girl looked around to see who the other pairs were and eventually shrugged.

“I guess, don't see what it'd hurt.” She gave a flippant laugh in her response.

I wasn't sure if I made a good selection or not, but it was either her or Adela. I needed information about the east, so that meant Chey was my best option. This had absolutely nothing to do with how beautiful, stunning, or any other absurd thoughts running through my head at the moment.

“I'm James.” I said while extending my hand to her.

“Chey. You're the Bishop's boy, aren't you?” She asked bluntly, cutting straight to the chase as she accepted my hand.

The music started up with what would be a slow, romantic song. I could have died right then. This hopefully wouldn't be torture or anything else terribly awkward for me, as I noticed some of the glares the girls were sending me. As I went to place my hand on her hip, she surprised me by leaning in close and smiling, our bodies in tight for a dreaded slow dance.

“You're kinda cute, you know.” She whispered to me softly with a chuckle. “You also haven't answered my question, despite it being obvious.”

“Yes and no. I'm not sure you could call me the 'Bishop's boy' but something like that.” I nervously laughed. “What about you though?”

Chey smiled more, directing me to put both my hands on her waist as she rested hers over my shoulders. She wasn't very much shorter than me and used the position to cover having anyone trying to read her lips or anything. Clever girl.

“I'm from Southwell, but I don't have anything to do with the merchants or those vile guilds.” She coldly remarked.

“Wait.. then what's with all the show?” My question slipped out quickly as I almost forgot to keep dancing, her movements guided me along though.

“My father would be the ruler of the country, if not for the merchants.” Chey viciously spit the words out in disgust.

“That really doesn't make a lot of sense.” I couldn't help but stammer back.

This caused a slight smile as she whispered. “Good thing you're cute, because I can't exactly say your bright.”

I couldn't help but laugh at the playful stab at me. We kept the dance up more as she shielded her words and information more. As if inviting more trouble, Chey proceeded to rest her head on my shoulder as she got even closer to me during the dance.

“This should be even easier to talk now.” She smiled, whispering softly into my ear.

“Some of the girls might get a bit upset though..” I tried to come up with whatever excuse I could grab onto.

“The only girls who might get jealous, are occupied. Trust me.” She whispered sweetly, making me shudder.

I nervously danced with my hands around her waist as I tried to keep calm to actually talk. It was proving slightly challenging as I struggled to concentrate on the topic, avoid the glances and looks from some of my friends.

“So is there anything you could maybe tell me about your side of the world?” I asked nervously, self conscious of every little movement.

“They don't teach you anything in your tower of knowledge?” She playfully jested but with the same serious undertone that I was getting annoyed at hearing.

“We never got out much.” I tried to sidestep that wormhole of a conversation.

“So anything specific you're interested in?” She asked with a teasing whisper.

“I'd just like to know more about the countries really. The Bishop doesn't like talking about your continent, Elsdan, very much.” I made another sidestep attempt.

“What's to say? There is a desert in the northwest, a forest in the southwest, and nothing but Empire to the east.” Chey laughed bitterly at her own comments.

“So you really don't wanna tell me anything useful, huh?” I quipped back.

She pulled back a little to study my face carefully. “Listen, James. You're a cute enough guy and definitely exotic. This is the only ball I get in my life, at least the only one like this. When I get to return home, it'll be to a country run by a council of money grubbing, power hungry merchants. If I'm not married or sold off to some lord or up and coming who-knows-what, I'll be stuck slaving away as a lowly knight and trying to sort through backroom politics. Please let me have one moment without all the crap.”

I was totally shocked as she sighed and I just pulled her back closer towards me and tried not to say anything for the remainder of the dance. The dance didn't have much longer to go luckily, Chey just lightly whispered and talked to me about things around Kyzekia and on the way here. Nothing important, just casual talk, jokes and little flirts. As the dance started to wrap up, she pulled back again to look at me and smiled softly before mashing her velvet lips against mine. Leaving me in completely shock.

“Thanks for shutting up, doll.” She playfully laughed and smiled, glancing purposefully at where Kelicia stood.

Most everyone went to the tables to grab food and drinks, leaving me standing in the same spot for a few moments before Vahn came up punching me in the arm.

“Man, that was awesome. Nearly everybody saw Chey kiss you.” Vahn pulled an arm around me and guided me to the tables, where most of the older girls promptly ignored me.

“We have some serious issues man.” I sighed as we sat and ate.

“Tell me about it, but you gotta admit this was sorta fun.” He smiled back, obviously having enjoyed his day.

A few minutes later into our eating and picking at the food and Chang sat down by us looking worried. “James, the girls seem to be pretty upset with you.”

“By girls, you mean?” I studied Chang for a moment.

“His sister for one.” Chang laughed, earning a frown from Vahn. “Kelicia for another and even a few others.”

“Wait wait.. what few others?” Vahn couldn't help but ask.

“I overheard from Rose, that Chey has a bit of a reputation.” His face showed no sign of joking around as I sighed to myself and finished eating in silence.

Towards the end of our meal later, the queen began tapping on her goblet to get our attention. We all gathered back around, but she waited a while before making any statements. After a little bit of silence the back door opened and her father, lord Andres came into the room carrying something covered and on a cushioned pillow.

Chiara began to speak once he arrived and got settled. “Our big final announcement tonight, is the private coronation of someone in this very room.”

The room was deadly quiet. While most everyone was some form of prince or princess, not many were actually in line for their titles yet. She took the cover off the pillow to reveal a small silver crown piece. It was small enough to fit into your pocket or carrying pack, but it looked like it had some weight to it. Underneath the mini-crown was a ring, when they adjusted the pieces the ring had a deep violet glow to it. That was when Chiara stood aside to let her father make the announcements.

“Master James, please come here.” Lord Andres beckoned me forward, holding out his staff out lightly and tapped the top of my head with it.

The room was still as quiet as could be. I knew that with such a personal, royal audience, this couldn’t be contested any. So the truth about the extra envelope made a bit more sense to me now.

“By the order of the Bishop DiNoss of Kyzekia, you are hereby crowned as the successor in line to the holy island. In front of all of your peers and witnesses present, stand and accept your position as Monk, the bishop-to-be.”

I was handed the violet ring, it had a golden eagle in the center of it. It was slipped onto my right hand as the small crown was handed to me for safekeeping.

“The crown and signet ring are your two of your three seals of power. The other is an item already in your possession. Congratulations to the new heir of Kyzekia..”

Vahn and Chang both were the first to congratulate me, then surprisingly Chey ran up and threw her arms around me in a hug, and kiss on the cheek. Rose and Guinevere both smiled and made small talk with me for a only a few seconds before disappearing. I got a few greetings from the other boys and younger girls, but Kelicia and Aurelia both avoided me.

After a short moment, Chiara cleared her throat and smiled, resting a hand on my shoulder as she talked. “As tradition, tomorrow we will be holding a ceremonial tournament in honor of lord James's new coronation.”

“Your attendants have already been informed of this, and spent the last two days getting ready. At noon tomorrow we will begin with the first matches, and will run them until the winner is declared.” Isidro bellowed out, an amused expression on his face.

“I'd most appreciate it if you didn't try staying up late and conversing too much.” Chiara remarked with a very slight giggle. “We’ll come to collect you all in the mid-morning. Good night.”

She turned and strode out, as we all waited for the queen to depart before slowly leaving in our groups, with escorts. Nobody had seen where Tajima vanished off too at the end of the party, it seemed slightly suspicious to all of us. I filled Vahn and Chang in on the way back to our corridor and trio of rooms. Chang confirmed Gwen's story about them and the caves, but alluded more to the who the girl was. Kokin. I wasn't really surprised by it, though I was in for another shock as we reached our destination and Isidro dropped us off and wished us well. An odd sentiment from the large, gruff general.

“Miss me?” A cheery voice called from around the corner, the girl propped up against the wall.

“Chey, what are you doing here?” Vahn asked with a smile and look of suspicion.

“Came to check on the crowned lord. Thought maybe of asking him to take a quiet walk with me, maybe.” Chey smiled brightly and took a step closer to us.

“Oh, like hell you will be!” Kelicia walked briskly past us and grabbed Chey by the arm and dragged her along with the group of girls who were walking behind us just a ways.

We all burst out laughing at the scene, finding it more than a little comical and myself personally being relieved somewhat. We each decided it was best to try and turn in for the night, all having way too much excitement for the day. I also needed to wrap my head around what had just happened. Martel had made another play, far in advance of what anyone had seen coming, at least to my knowledge. It was a little unnerving about it all, but there was no direction to go by forward. My head hit the pillow and my thoughts started to scatter as sleep began to take me.

The next thing I was aware of was the pounding on my door as Vahn shouted for me to wake up. “Man, seriously? Do you always sleep in late? This tournament is for you, so get up already. You're not a queen, stop acting like one.”