It was rather instantly clear that Lukas’ dance partner knew what she was doing. The dance he pulled her into was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, and it could ever be considered rude to pull a partner straight into a dance such as that without simpler dances beforehand to warm up. That was, of course, exactly the reason he did so.

And she kept up. Marvelously so. Without missing a single beat, kept and carried by the eb and flow of the strings and horns and woodwinds, Lady Aria fell perfectly into step with him without complaint.

“You’re a wonderful dance partner, my Lord. You must enjoy it, if you’ve practiced as much as you clearly have,” she said.

Ah, there it is. A compliment, to cover a question for me personally.

“A good dance every now and then can be nice, yes,” Lukas responded noncommittally. “I could say the same for yourself.”

“It has its uses,” she smiled back.

As they turned through a spin, Lukas caught sight of Adlet with his partner, a girl different from the first, already, and his older brother shot him a sly wink. Lukas fought not to roll his eyes. A few moments later the song came to an end, only to pick back up again with the opening bars to a much slower tune.

Lukas stepped in closer, and felt a hint of enjoyment at the way she seemed to get flustered for the first time. Her cheeks were tinted just the faintest bit red as he began the slow spins and sweeps of a new dance.

“I must ask,” Lukas said quietly. “You waited until my elder brothers were gone to introduce yourself, but still had to ask mine and Adrian’s names. Was there a reason for that?”

“Is there anything that happens without a reason, my Lord?”

“You’re rather bold for someone still hiding their intentions,” Lukas said with a smile. “Do-”

A hand tapped his shoulder, and Lukas stumbled over his feet for perhaps the first time since he was seven. His mood soured with annoyance instantly, and he turned to look at who would dare even interrupt a dance at a time like this.

The dark blue eyes of Elias stared back at him, and Lukas also noticed dozens of other eyes watching them with varying degrees of subtlety. Lukas, Elias and Aria were now the only ones on the floor not dancing.

“We must converse in private,” Elias said, totally deadpan.

What?

“Elias, Brother, I am-” Lukas stuttered out, only to be interrupted again as Elias grabbed his shoulder and tugged him. Tugged him.

“Come, make haste, little brother,” Elias said quickly and under hushed breath.

Lukas shook himself free of his most peculiar brother’s grasp, straightening his suit coat with indignation. The eyes were all watching them now, not the least of which were Aria’s, burning into the back of his head.

Ah, this is going to be a problem if he keeps making a scene… Lukas thought with the faintest hint of embarrassment. Best to just get out of sight for a moment. Let’s see what he has to say.

Trying hard to keep a composed air about himself, Lukas turned with a forced, apologetic smile to his dance partner.

“My apologies, Lady Aria… it seems I’m needed elsewhere for a time.”

“Truly?” She asked, blinking a few times innocently.

“Truly what?” Lukas said, caught a bit off guard. She was supposed to just accept it when a young lord offered an apology. That… that was how it worked.

“That you’re truly sorry?” She asked again, eyes wide and round and with a slight pout to her lips.

“Oh, erm… yes, yes I am truly sorry,” Lukas stammered out, his etiquette lessons failing him at the sudden curveball.

“Then you can apologize by finishing a dance with me later,” Aria said, a perfect, angelic, innocent smile on her face.

“Wha-” Lukas said, before Elias grabbed his shoulder again and pulled him away.

“Come, little brother, I didn’t escape that fiendish hound of a dance partner Adlet found me to watch your courting,” Elias said, pulling Lukas quickly along through the crowd of dancers. “Make way, I say, make way! And make haste, Lukas, pick your feet up.”

Lukas was, of course, not dragging his feet in the slightest. Nor was he even being dragged anymore, but instead was walking quickly along behind his brother through an already sparse dance floor. There wasn’t even anyone in their way. Just what Elias was talking about was… a bit beyond Lukas.

They reached a staircase that led to a balcony, spanning half the length of the grand hall. To their right was the wall, extending up to the cathedral ceiling far above, and to their left was a railing that overlooked the hall. Both sides were lined with round tables, sitting areas for guests to dine or converse. Many of the tables even had heavy silk curtains blocking them off from the rest of the balcony to keep conversations private, and it was to one of those places that Elias soon brought them. He drew the curtains shut behind them, closing them off to the rest of the balcony, leaving only the ‘window’ that overlooked the hall open. It was a bit like being in a tent, really, though lavish and trimmed in expensive, dark hardwoods.

“What’s gotten into you?” Lukas asked bluntly, sitting back in the booth with crossed arms.

“A glass of table wine, two Hors d'oeuvres and a rather scrumptious roll of the finest milk bread, but that’s not what I’ve brought you here for,” Elias said intently. “Have you seen Kurtis and Leon since we arrived?”

“You had time to eat all of that before interrupting me? I thought you had only just escaped the… what did you call her… fiendish hound?” Lukas asked incredulously.

“Enough of what I’ve ate,” Elias replied indignantly. “Have you seen our brothers, Kurtis and Leon? The ones with the longer hair, and the-”

“Yes, I know what our brothers look like, Elias,” Lukas sighed. “No, I have not. I was enjoying a dance, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“I had, actually. I’m very observant.”

“Clearly.”

“Now, have you seen them?”

“I thought you were the observant one?” Lukas shot back, sinking lower into the cushion of the booth, since it was only his brother who could see him.

Elias paused, leaning onto the table that separated them with folded hands, staring intently down at the wood grain in apparent deep thought.

“...It seems our brothers are masters of stealth, to be able to avoid my perception.”

“Of course, of course… or they could be blended into the crowd. There are hundreds of people here, after all,” Lukas said, resting his chin in his palm as he looked over the crowd.

“We’re Lichtenwalds. We don’t blend in.”

“Touché,” Lukas said, then sighed in resignation. “Why are you so intent on looking for those two, in particular? What of Sarian? Or our other brothers?”

“I know where all the others are.”

“Really now?” Lukas asked disbelievingly. There was no way-

“Adlet is with a red headed woman, Lady Celine of house Mattherson, right there,” Elias said, pointing casually to the very centre of the floor. “Adrian has three old men, Baron Uhlsson of Orrchester, Baron Vyce of Kasin and Baron Ingerrson of Addiron holding him as a conversational hostage near that pillar. Given the redness of Adrian’s neck, just above the collar, they’re offering marriage proposals. You and I are seated here, and of course, Sarian is…”

Elias paused, finger pointed towards an area where several servants carrying the aforementioned Hors d'oeuvres were clumped together serving the guests.

“He’s gone,” Elias said after a few moments, eyes unblinkingly scanning the hall, frantically glancing about in all directions in a way that made Lukas dizzy just to think about. “Now we’re missing three.”

“I’m quite certain they’ve merely moved on to another part of the room,” Lukas said, now searching the crowds himself. The booth they rested in gave them a near perfect view of the entire hall, essentially everything except for what was directly beneath them.

“Who were you dancing with?” Elias abruptly asked after a few minutes of searching.

“Her name is Aria Krystia. Why do you ask?”

Elias paused again, a troubled look crossing his face.

“I don’t know that name,” Elias muttered. “Why do I not know that name?”

“It’s impossible to know every name with this many guests, brother,” Lukas said with a sigh, resuming his stare out over the crowd. Of course he didn’t share his brother’s paranoia, but Elais had him at least curious about where his missing siblings were.

“Something dire is afoot tonight, little brother,” Elias whispered gravely. “I can feel it.”

“I think that might be the milk bread,” Lukas dismissed, though Elias seemed not to care.

“Hmph, see for yourself then.”

A loud, blaring trumpet pierced through the gentler strings and woodwinds of the band, a harkening cry that froze the entire room in their tracks. This time, even the band stopped playing. Lukas felt a jolt go down his spine, and Elias leaned further onto his elbows, his eyes darkening as he watched the source of the commotion like a hawk.

“Now announcing!” A voice blared out, echoing off the room, hushing every whisper with the unnatural power of it.

“Did they enhance his voice with arcanism, for an introduction…?” Lukas whispered in awe. Magic, the arcane, was rare. Exceedingly so. And as such, it was not used trivially.

“Her Royal Highness, Princess Alyssia Kierland, His Royal Highness, Prince Cassius Kierland, and His Royal Majesty, Emperor Nathaniel Kierland!”

“Long live the Emperor!” The entire room roared back as one, and every knee in the hall was bent.

Even seated in a private booth so high above the proceedings, Elias and Lukas got out of their seats and knelt in the space between the booth and the table. One knee to the ground, forearm pressed tight to their other knee, heads bowed… just enough that they could still peek out at the new arrivals.

Two lines of soldiers marched into the room, their silver armour glinting in the torchlight. Each carried a decorated sword on their hip, and there was not an inch of their armour that wasn’t carved into ornation. Draped over their shoulders and hanging from their backs were scarves and half-capes of a dull teal, accenting the bright silvers and darker black trims of their armour. They stopped their march and turned to face each other, in perfect time, creating a lane of open space between the two lines.

As brilliant as they were, it was the three people who came through next that held every eye that dared glance up.

The Prince and Princess came first, walking side by side. The Prince was the shorter of the two, being only about Lukas’ age, though he carried himself with a practised ease even Lukas found impressive. He had hair so black the torchlight seemed to disappear where it touched it, and his suit was black and silver, though accented not with the teal of their guards, but a brilliant, shimmering amethyst colour.

And just as the guards had been unimpressive compared to the Prince, the Princess easily put her little brother to shame. She was tall, nearly as tall as the knights, and with hair just as black as her brother’s, yet so long it brushed against the back of her knees as she walked. Every detail about her was perfect; a more beautiful face could not be carved of stone if every sculptor alive worked their hands to the bone until they died in their attempts. She walked with an almost ethereal grace, her black and silver dress ending just above the ground so she seemed to almost float as she strode through the hall. A necklace glimmered with amethysts hung around her neck, though not one of them could hold a candle to her most striking feature. Her eyes, even from across the room, were a shade of purple deeper and richer than even the stones around her neck, a shade that Lukas had never witnessed in his life.

It was the signature trait of the Kierland family, those amethyst eyes. A trait the young Prince notably lacked.

So this is the lady Sarian will marry, Lukas thought, his heart racing. Before he could formulate another thought, his eyes were drawn to the final figure.

Strolling almost casually along behind his children was the Emperor, Nathaniel Kierland the Second. A portrait of him was hung in every grand hall of every noble in Kasin, so Lukas thought he knew what to expect… but he could not have been more wrong.

The Emperor wasn’t even standing at his full height, yet he towered over most of the knights, even in their armour. He must have been close to seven feet tall, with a broad, powerful frame that seemed not to have decayed with age in the slightest. Even under his thick, fur lined cape of deep purple and the black suit he wore under, the frame of a warrior shone through, at odds with the casual, almost bored expression on his thickly bearded face. His hair was every bit as black as his childrens’, but hanging down to his shoulders in wild yet regal locks. And of course, his eyes glimmered with the same amethyst as his daughters’.

This was the man once known as the Sorcerer King. Conqueror of the Arklands, and the first Emperor of Arkasia.

He was terrifying.

Lukas could faintly feel it in the air, from the very moment he had stepped into the room. An electric tingle, like lightning was saturating the air around them quietly and invisibly, seeping into every corner in the presence of the Emperor.

As the King took his seat far at the end of the hall, in a towering throne of grey stone and silver, the room collectively breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The Prince and Princess took seats just after, in smaller thrones on either side of the Emperor, leaving only two thrones empty. One for the late Queen, who had died years before, and a second which was more curiously empty.

“Where do you think the First Prince is?” Elias muttered as he and Lukas took their seats again. “Peculiar, that only the Princess and Second Prince are here. Peculiar indeed.”

“That is a fine question, I think,” Lukas said back, nodding in agreement.

The eldest of the Emperor’s three children, Prince Nathaniel Kierland the Third, was absent. His was the other empty throne, at the right hand of his father’s.

“What are your thoughts, little brother? On our good eldest brother’s betrothed?” Elias asked.

Lukas paused for a long while before he answered.

“They are, all of them, that is, as impressive as I’d imagined.”

“Hm, indeed. An odd feeling, to not be the most powerful family in the room,” Elias said pensively.

It was true… this was a first. There were many in the Empire who would say without hesitation that the Lichtenwalds were the second most powerful family on the continent, behind only the Kierlands themselves in influence and wealth. They had been the royal family of Selerica once, too, before Selerica had joined the Arkasian Empire centuries ago. Still, the two families mostly kept to their own cities, the Kierlands to Kasin and the Lichtenwalds to Selerica. For so many of them to be here in person like this may well have been a once-in-a-century event.

“Too much blue blood in one room, at one time…” Elias muttered.

“Hm? What was that?” Lukas asked, having not quite caught what he said.

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Say, have you heard the old myths behind the Kierland family, and those peculiar eyes of theirs?” Elias asked.

“Of course. What am I, some kind of wild beast? Who in this Empire hasn’t?” Lukas asked back incredulously.

“Ah, right. Nevermind then,” Elias said with a slight cough. “Well, if you happen to see Kurtis and Leon, or Sarian, for that matter, do keep me informed. Farewell, little brother.”

Then Elias stood up abruptly, brushed off his already perfectly clean suit, and walked out of the booth, leaving Lukas alone and blinking in surprise.

Maybe he’d have to give Adlet a break sometime. As annoying as he could be, at least he wasn’t… that.