The five of them climbed the stairs to the grand entrance. Elly glanced around and removed herself slightly to the side, clearly uncomfortable, so Jet drew up alongside her and offered her his hand. With a flourish and a half-joking bow, he offered, “Let me accompany you, milady.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t. I’m a Priestess, after all. I couldn’t accompany a noble. Perhaps… perhaps Ravenna?” Elly suggested. She nodded at the woman.

Jet glanced over his shoulder. Ravenna strode down the center of the carpet, shoulders square and stride slow, prowling as if she owned the place. At his glance, she tossed him a flirtatious look and winked.

A shiver ran down Jet’s spine. He quickly turned away.

Too late, however. Gideon drew up alongside him, smirking broadly. “Jet… are you looking to give me a half-brother?”

“Don’t be disgusting,” Jet muttered under his breath. The last thing I need is blood ties to Gideon.

“You think my mother’s disgusting?” Gideon asked loudly, mock-insulted.

“I never said that,” Jet hissed, narrowing his eyes. Don’t you dare get me in trouble with the former dragon king. I’ll activate the collar, I swear I will.

“My goodness, Jet. You know, a lesser man would have your head for that kind of statement. Luckily for you, I’m quite magnanimous,” Gideon tutted.

“Great,” Jet muttered.

Gideon nodded and held out his hand. “A few coin, and we can put this whole issue behind us… Jet? Hey, Jet!”

Ignoring Gideon, Jet scanned the crowds, searching for any sign of Kat’s group of assassins or the True Dragon. He’d be in human form, but it’s not as if dragons blend perfectly with humans. Look at Leo, for example. Or… Gideon. Then again, I’m not sure Gideon can be used as an example of anything except for…well, Gideon.

Then again, I wouldn’t have guessed Ravenna was a dragon if she didn’t reveal herself, and George… is probably a dragon? Is there even a way to tell dragons and humans apart?

As he mused, Jet fell back in the group unknowingly. White scales glittered from beside him. Startled, Jet jumped, only to find Ravenna standing beside him.

Fan raised to her lips, she cast a look at him from the corner of her eyes and smiled. “Don’t fret. When the time comes, they’ll find us.”

“Can you tell who the dragons are?” Jet asked her quietly.

Her smile turned enigmatic. She arched a single brow.

“How? What’s the secret?” Jet asked.

“Mmm? Is the young officer looking to kick off another Dragon Inquisition? I’ll warn you, the peasants don’t care much about dragons. They’ll simply use the dragon hunt as an excuse to kill off their undesirables, the physically weak and mentally ill… ah, I do adore humans,” Ravenna sighed, shaking her head slightly. A second later, she shrugged. “Though it’s not as if humans lack methods to kill off their harmless undesirables within their complex social structures… you know, us dragons simply kill off our weak. We don’t bother to accuse them of crimes first. It’s an innovation I strongly support dragons adopting.”

Jet coughed. How on earth did she find a way to insult human social structures from such a simple question? “Er… I was simply concerned for His Majesty’s wellbeing, with dragon assassins in the area.”

Ravenna flicked her fan shut and nodded. “It’s intuition.”

“Intuition?” Jet repeated. What? Isn’t that the same as saying it’s so obvious you can’t miss it?

“Give it another hundred years, and you’ll be able to tell a dragon at a glance, too,” Ravenna nodded.

“I won’t live that long,” Jet said, blinking. Another hundred years? Are you telling me to give up, it won’t happen in my lifetime?

“Oh,” Ravenna said, and nothing more.

Jet stared at her for another second, then grit his teeth and pushed ahead once more.

Up ahead, Leo froze, eyes locked on the guards. He trembled, unwilling to take another step.

Elly drew up alongside him. “What’s the problem, Leo? There’s no danger. No one knows.”

Leo shook his head. He pointed at the guards.

Gideon wandered over. “Eh? Oh, the dragonkilling weapons? Don’t worry. Those are mostly just a myth. Mostly.”

Leo trembled harder, staring at Gideon with wide eyes.

“They’re weapons with a lightning enchantment. Naturally, they do bonus damage to dragons. There’s nothing more to them than that, no curse, no dragon poison. It’s mostly a load of bullcrap. If you’re going to be scared of something, you might as well be scared of me instead,” Gideon replied, rolling his eyes.

Leo’s mouth formed into an O. He took a hesitating step forward, then halted again.

With a gentle smile, Elly offered him her hand. “Why don’t you escort me?”

Leaping directly over, Leo clasped her hand as if he grabbed onto a life raft in the ocean. His trembling settled, and he took a deep breath, striding ahead toward the guards.

“Huh? How come Elly gets an escort? Jeeet,” Angel called. She held out her hand toward him and pouted, popping a hip.

Jet looked at her, then away. “You’re an escort. You don’t get an escort.”

“What? What is this discrimination?” Angel protested.

“Ugh, nobles,” Gideon sympathized.

Jet glanced back. “First off, you’re a higher ranking noble than me, Master Rudine. Secondly, she’s your whore. You escort her.”

“Oooh, did I touch a nerve?” Gideon gloated.

“I’m no one’s whore,” Angel protested. She crossed her arms, then added, “You aren’t paying me enough for that.”

“Gideon, darling, come escort mama,” Ravenna called, holding her hand aloft.

Gideon leaped toward Angel, eyes wide, but Jet got there first. He took her hand and knelt, planting a kiss atop it. “My apologies. How could I call an Angel such as yourself a whore? My lady, would you permit me to escort you tonight?”

Angel giggled. She glanced at Gideon, weighing her options, then nodded. “Certainly, Sir Jet.”

“Hey! You just told me to escort her. You can’t take that back,” Gideon replied, crossing his arms.

“Are you going to ignore your mother?” Jet replied, clicking his tongue. He put a hand to the small of Angel’s back and led her delicately up the stairs.

Gideon’s nose wrinkled. He glanced back at the exquisite Ravenna, then ran after Jet and Angel. “Angel, hey. He called you a whore just now. Surely you aren’t going to take that?”

“Eh, it’s not like he’s wrong. Besides… what girl’s dream isn’t to get escorted to the ball by a prince? Jet might only be a lesser noble, but he looks the part,” Angel replied smugly.

“What? This… how dare you discriminate against mages!” Gideon blustered, brandishing the tome at her. “I’ll have you know, mages are much more impressive than some mere princes. And besides, in a certain light, I am a prince!”

“That terrifies all of us,” Jet replied darkly.

Ravenna stopped and held out her hand. “Gideon, darling,” she repeated, though with a dangerous edge to her voice this time.

Gideon swallowed. He glanced back, then scowled at Jet. “I’ll remember this.”

“So will I,” Jet sighed, grinning. Thank goodness. The last thing I want is to escort that monster! Compared to her, Angel is… well, an angel!

“I haven’t forgiven you for the whore thing, just so we’re clear,” Angel replied.

“That’s fine. My apologies for my coarse language,” Jet replied.

Angel snorted. “You want to call a working girl a whore, that’s your problem, but at least pay her first, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jet replied, stiffening up. Anything, as long as she doesn’t kick me down to Ravenna.