The inside of the compound was just as impressive as the outside, and just as richly decorated while not being in-your-face gaudy. They walked through a foyer with two massive spiralling staircases leading upwards, all of them being very careful to not track any mud on the bone-white carpet laid across the centre of the room and up the stairs. Rowena came to a stop between the staircases, turning to face them all.

“The ball will be held up these stairs. Warriors will be stationed around there and any entrances. Priests will be at a medical station. Bards will be performing in the ballroom. When not performing, bards will be in an intermediary area with food.”

A few discontented murmurs from warriors travelled around the crowd, and while the priests were able to not react on the whole, more than one of them had look of someone who just smelled sewage.

Rowena ignored it, continuing. “Warriors and priests will work in shifts, and between shifts they will also share the intermediary rest area.” The murmurs and looks relaxed instantly. Her eyebrows lifted slightly, refraining from smiling. “However, if an incident occurs, all hands will be on deck. That includes all non-performing bards. I’ve seen you all fight.”

Serious nods all around, but Finn did nudge Jade with his elbow at the last sentence…or at least tried to. She caught his jab and shoved, sending him off balance and bumping into Drew next to him. Rowena’s eyes flicked over, eyebrows narrowing, but otherwise ignoring the shenanigans happening meters away.

“In case of things going wrong in a less serious way, the scheduling may shift. In that scenario, Felix will be the one in charge of co-ordinating and keeping people updated to make sure plans are still copacetic.” She gestured to a stick of a man who was suddenly standing in front of her, bowing.

He wore a blue suit, so deep it was almost black. Gaunt face and grey slicked back hair, Felix looked through everyone in a way that made it clear he would be equally as comfortable serving tea, and disposing of bodies. It was the way he held himself, as if he was intimately aware of his surroundings and ready to act at the slightest provocation.

Theo would put gold on Felix being a warrior of some kind.

“You are all welcome to attend the opening of the ball, and to enjoy yourselves responsibly. You are assisting me tonight, so you have my thanks and my hospitality.” And finally, for the first time today (and frankly, since she started stressing about this whole endeavour), Rowena smiled. “So, before we sort out schedules and uniforms and show you where everything is, let me give you a tour of the ballroom.”

Rowena began walking up the stairs…and everyone hesitated. As she reached the top, she realised nobody else had followed.

An awkward silence followed, as everyone looked at each other to see who would bring it up. “What do we do about dirty shoes?” Finn called out, to relieved shoulders everywhere. Rowena looked over, and saw the tracks of dirt everywhere except the carpet. With a wry smile, she looked at Theo. “Surely some of the bards here know how to manipulate earth.”

In all their magic classes, most of the bards had focused on either performing or fighting. The number who used it for utility were him and Finn, and Finn only learned what would help with fishing. And if there was one thing that was lacking in the waters of a lake, it was earth beneath your feet.

Theo hummed, and the dirt collected itself into a ball, that rolled backwards to the doors of the Flakes estate. Some people in the crowd jumped as they felt something tickle the soles of their feet, dirt unsticking itself even from their shoes. Jenny jumped as well, taking the opportunity to lean on Theo.

Rowena nodded at him, then turned to enter the ballroom, gesturing with her head for them to follow, now that the problem had been resolved politely.

The ballroom was enormous. Far larger than it would have seemed possible from the outside, but that was a trick of geometry and perception and high ceilings. There were many mana lights hanging from the ceiling on long strings, as well as other odd shapes and crevices. But otherwise, it was rather bare. The fact it was almost empty didn’t help.

There was a border of elaborately upholstered chairs along the wall, tables filled with the kinds of food Theo imagined at an event like this, and what looked like a stage, but otherwise, it was a completely empty room. Their footsteps echoed through the massive space, bouncing and muddy as it reverberated.

Theo took a closer look at the food. It was plate after plate of individually portioned bites, intricately organised but barely enough food to feed a fly. A procession of staff carried more and more plates to fill up the tables, stacking them intricately to maximise the number that could fit (each table having a sum total of enough food to feed two people).

“This will be the ballroom. That is the stage, where you will be performing. Warriors and priests will be stationed nearby. Any questions?” Rowena took in the awed and surprised looks of her gathered peers, satisfied.

Astor coughed, and raised his hand. He paused, listening as the echo came back. “This room has so much echo. How will people hear the music?”

Rowena merely tilted her head. “Leave that to me.”

---

“It has to be magic.” Jenny whispered to Theo, as they stood in the ballroom, waiting for guests to arrive.

“I think the guests being here will soften it, as much as they’ll add other noise.” Theo whispered back, discussing their own personal theories on how Rowena planned to reduce the reverberation.

They were wearing the tailored uniforms now, which Theo would freely admit was very comfortable. Bards, warriors, and priests all had variations on the same uniform – bards had a garish bright blue, warriors a deep dark blue, and priests had white. It was a tailored suit, but made in such a way to allow for flexibility and a full range of movement.

They had stayed in the rest area for an hour before getting prepared. Felix had briefed them on their duties, and showed them the literal mountain of food in the rest area. If anyone had any complaints about seeing such fancy food out there, it was quashed and stuffed in a bag that was thrown into the sea. Mountains of bread, fresh fruit, pastries, and hot stews. It wasn’t fancy, yes, but it was good.

Jenny had been assigned near the rest area, presumably so she could be near Theo. Which was very considerate of Rowena when organising the shifts, especially considering how obnoxious they had been the past week. What was a bit more surprising were the other couples that had obviously been paired together, judging from how they turned red at Felix’s instructions. While considerate, nobody had any answers on how she could have known subtle relationships at the College of War. Nor the (apparently very secret) relationship between Ellis and Astor.

If anyone wasn’t excited for the night before, they were definitely now.

Anticipation built, as guests started to enter the estate, walking up the stairs to mingle in the ballroom. Theo caught a glimpse of Edgar and Gerald and a few other of the nobles that were in his class. Edgar looked a little embarrassed, out of place even.

Once the ballroom was packed enough that Theo wondered how they were going to dance, Rowena came up the stairs once more. She was wearing a rather subtle, plain white dress. She opened her mouth, and began to sing.

All the conversations hushed as her voice rang out, and with each step towards the centre of the ballroom, ice started to grow out of the dress, forming intricate snowflake pauldrons and a trailing, glittering train.

Someone gasped, pointing towards the ceiling, and as everyone craned their necks up they saw all the hanging strings growing icy fractals. It dispersed the light, caused it to refract and dim and throw scintillating specks all around the room. It started growing from the walls itself, and within moments the ballroom had been entirely transformed into a world of crystal.

Rowena finished her song, now encased up to her neck in a localised snowstorm formerly known as an article of clothing.

“Welcome, to the Flake Ball!”