The Embassy ball

After a long and well deserved night’s rest, we regrouped at Erna’s wish in the morning. As expected, the others had also each received an invitation for tomorrow’s ball. Meaning that it promised to be an even grander event then I first anticipated. However before we could turn our attention to such festivities, we had more pressing and unpleasant matters to attend to first.
 
According to Feyris, while he hadn’t seen Robert in the last few days, he was still renting a room at the inn. So with Feyris’ permission, we decided to go and take a look inside, hoping of finding some clue as to what drove him to such madness. Fortunately as we approached the room, It was a good thing that Dadroz was with us, as he prevented us from triggering a nasty trap that Robert had set on the door. Once inside, we were sadly disappointed by the room being mostly empty. Still having come this far, we gave the room a thorough search. With Luke and Hayley even using a few spells to ensure that nothing was overlooked. Though in the end, we didn’t find much. The only thing of note that we found was a backpack that he had left behind. In which rested a key ring with around ten identical keys. Though with no idea as to their purpose, we sadly found ourselves at a death end.
We then turned our attention to the next issue at hand, namely the remains of the dragon golem that we had to leave behind. After discussing it amongst ourselves, we agreed that the Briar Circle was most likely the best equipped Circle to handle this particular situation. So we, with the exception of Hayley who wished to check in with the refugees, we returned once more to the headquarters of the Circle. And upon explaining the problem that we were facing, they assured us that they would handle. Which was huge relief for us, as I otherwise had no idea on how we could handle this ourselves.
 
And so, we were finally free to prepare for the feast. Or at least, that's what I’d like to say. But the truth of the matter is that none of us really knew how to properly prepare for a ball of that magnitude. Even Allistan and Liliana, whom you'd expect to have some experience as nobles, were completely out of their dept. So, and honestly I don’t really remember who made this suggestion, I think it was Liliana, it was suggested that we might ask Elsa for her help.
 
Though when we got to her home, we were informed however that she was not in at that moment. But as we turned around to leave, Luke and I spotted a might warhorse in one of the stables near to the manor. This wouldn’t have been that unusual, were it not for the fact that this particular horse was still glistening with sweat. Indicating that it had only just arrived. Our curiosity piqued, we asked one of the servants to whom this horse might belong to and were informed that it in fact belonged to Elsa’s brother Sir Edward Colline jr, who had only just arrived.
 
Excited, Allistan asked if it was possible to see lord Colline and after a few minutes, we were having a tearful reunion with our old friend. It turned out he had also received an invitation to the party. Though the short time that he in order to reach Keralon did mean that he had to leave his family behind back in Tarn. But as we were reminiscing, we were suddenly graced by the appearance of Elsa entering the room. She was most surprised to see us there, as she had only taken a short break from her duties in order to welcome her brother, but was delighted to see us nonetheless.
 
When she heard we had come to her for help with party preparations, Elsa was more than willing to help us. The issue, however, stemmed from the fact that she was currently to busy with the preparations for said party. Meaning that she sadly couldn’t go shopping with us at that time. Instead, she generously offered to lend Hayley and Liliana some of her dresses and jewelry, ensuring they’d be well-prepared for the party. As well as giving us a few addresses to shops and tailors that might be able to assist us on short notice.
 
Another suggestion of Elsa was that we might attend the party as a group. A notion that we all agreed was a good one. Which led us into her next question. With her time consumed by both the event preparations as well as her duties at court, she hadn’t given it much thought as to whom might accompany her that evening. Which is why she asked if either Allistan, Luke or myself would be willing to act as her partner for the evening. Flattered as I was for the offer, I decided to take a step back for Luke. You see the poor guy still carried a large torch for her. Something that was quite obvious to anyone if you knew what to look for.
 
Now in order not to embarrass him too much, I’m not going to go and list every little giveaway Luke has he is interested in someone of the fairer gender. But I will share about two and a half ways in which you can tell. The first that happens whenever he spots someone that catches his eye is that he immediately straightens his posture. The second telltale sign, and again don’t tell him that I told you this, is that he gets this subtle, cheerful grin on his face. Which also causes the dimples in his cheeks to get slightly highlighted. So I gave him a discreet nudge and he graciously asked if he could have the honour of escorting Lady Elsa to the ball.
 
With that settled, we agreed to meet back up at half past seven the following evening, allowing Elsa to return to her duties as we headed into town to find something suitable to wear. Now I will admit that most of my knowledge for these things come from books. In particular some rather interesting romance novels that I sometimes read when I have a free moment. Afterall, one needs a hobby. And one of the things that I learned from these is that an event of such scale was not unlike a battlefield. Where a single misstep might cause you your doom.
 
The best way to arm yourself for such an event is with a proper suit. After all, a good first impression can make or break you. But even here you must tread carefully, as there are many pitfalls to avoid. Spend too little, and you risk looking cheap and common. Spend too much, and it can quickly appear tacky, especially if it’s beyond your station. So, I spent the better part of the day hunting down the perfect tailor-made suit, and I do think that I succeeded in this. That said, I must confess to a small faux pas of mine, as I decided to wear my chainmail underneath. After all it is rather discreet and the feeling of protection that it offered did temper my nerves somewhat.
 
We reunited the next morning to finalize our preparations. During which I was surprised to see that Lady Sofia De La Roost, the mother of Allistan and Liliana, had joined us. Apparently she had returned to Keralon in order to both attend the party and to ensure that her children were on their best behaviour. Unfortunately it also became quite clear that she wasn’t particularly happy to see that they were still friends with the rest of us. And I can’t really blame her for that, considering the words that were exchanged last time. And in hindsight, I will admit that we might have judged her and her family a tad bit too harshly last time.
 
Afterall, while it is true that Lady Sofia and her husband continued the dealings with King Ulther, in the end it was not them that made the original deal. Instead they inherited it from their ancestors. And while I will never say that making a deal, especially with a being as powerful as King Ulther, is either a goor or wise idea, they are often made in desperation. And also tend to contain harsh punishments for unilaterally breaking them. Which actually makes the fact that they lost their home in Keralon, which they got for making that deal in the first place, to political manoeuvres even more maddening. So out of respect for both Liliana and Allistan, I decided to hold my final judgment for the De La Roost family for when I actually know the details of said contract. In order to have the full picture of the situation.
 
But that would be for later, for now Lady Sofia brought up the very important question of who would accompany each of us to the party. Granted she was mostly focussed on the partners of Allistan and Liliana of course . In fact, she seemed rather pleased that neither would choose one of us as their partner. Instead, Allistan informed her that he would be taking someone else to the party, though he was rather vague about who it would be. As for Liliana, she admitted that she sadly did not have a partner for the dance. Which is not to surprising, as she has not been in Keralon for that long. In fact I’m starting to think that after she returned from her service to Lady Vivienne, she spent more time outside of Keralon than inside. So she agreed with the suggestion that Lady Sofia would use her connections in order to arrange a partner for her.
 
As for the other set of twins, as previously stated, Luke would be escorting Lady Elsa. And to our surprise, Hayley revealded that she would be taking Dan from the Restoration Society to the party. To be honest, I wasn’t aware that they had gotten that close to each other. Which left just me and Dadroz. Both of us decided to go to the party without a partner , though I’m not sure what his reasons were. As for me, I did consider it. I suppose I could have asked either Karley or Yesda,, but quickly realized that for various reasons that would be a bad idea. Another option would have been Liliana, but I feared that that might make things a bit weird. And besides, there are benefits to going solo to a party. As just you arrived alone, does not mean you have to stay alone.
 
The rest of the day was spent with some minor preparations. But following Elsa’s suggestion, we each arrived on time at her manor. And I can safely say that each of them would be turning heads that evening. Which isn’t to surprising as each of them possesses qualities that make them attractive beyond the physical.
 
Allistan’s partner was a young girl by the name of Galiene, a priestess of the temple. And based on the glances that they were stealing from each other, I’m guessing that there is indeed something between them. Or at the very least, something that might be growing between them. But with all with us gathered, we took a carriage towards the embassy.
 
The embassy was housed in a renovated old fortress in Trusesilver, located beside the Lorerun River. Upon our arrival, Lady Sofia introduced us to Liliana’s partner. A young man by the name of Samuel Veilborn. And Judging by the look of sheer disdain exchanged between him and Luke, they were already acquainted. As they started bickering for a moment, I couldn’t help but hope that Luke wouldn’t make the mistake of focussing too much on his grudge and not on his partner. Thankfully, it seemed that my concerns were unfounded as they quickly started ignoring each other.
 
We each entered the main hall one by one as our names were announced. The hall was magnificently decorated, blending elements of both Keralon and the ancestral home of the Dragonkin. The guests looked as though they had stepped straight out of the stories I’d read. And the guests themselves each seemed like they had leapt out of stories that I had read before. Truly the atmosphere was magical. To our surprise, however, we spotted our missing friend, Robert Talespinner, among the crowd. There was little we could do about it at that moment however, as we couldn’t just confront him in the middle of the party. Instead, we decided to keep a close eye on him.
 
We made our way towards the banquet hall, where we offered our greetings to the hosts of the party, ambassador Rachnar Ergoll and his son Norgar Laar. Who then gave us the great honour of announcing us as the guest of honour for party. In thanks for the actions we had previously taken in order to halt the attacks of the cult against them.
 
When we rejoined the party, we noticed a sudden commotion near the entrance. It quickly became obvious as to why, as we noticed that Lady Vivienne entered the banquet hall in order to greet the ambassador. She introduced herself as the emissary of High King Ulther, who expressed his regret that he could not make it there himself. Upon spotting us, she gracefully made her way over, as poised as ever and expressed her delight in seeing us again. I can’t explain why, but whenever I meet her, I always feel like a mouse under the watchful eye of a cat. Unsure of wheter or not it is going to pounce, or continue to play its game with me. Thankfully, all those books I’ve read did teach me a thing or two about handling such moments. Most important of which, is to smile. if your outfit is your armor in this social battlefield, then your smile is your greatest weapon. it conceals your thoughts and keeps people guessing. And in the end, there’s nothing to gain from being rude. Politeness always pays off.
 
After a short while, Lady Vivienne turned her attention to some of the other guests.. And while Liliana gave Samuel a short explanation on her relationship with Lady Vivienne, I decided to go and mingle a bit myself. This led me into an engaging conversation with several leaders of the knight Circles, as well as the heralds, Ildan Aspental and Vern Skald. In no small thanks to Ambassador Rachnar proclamation which allowed me to express my own interest in joining on the circles one day.
 
Not wanting to take up to much of their precious time, I eventually excused myself As I did, I noticed a rather curious sight. Luke and lady Elsa were dancing right next to Liliana and her partner, Samuel. Or rather, they seemed to be dancing against each other. As whenever Samuel picked up the tempo, Luke matched him and vice versa. It took all my willpower not to cringe at the spectacle. Although I don’t know Samuel well, I had hoped Luke wouldn’t fall into his trap. And unfortunately, under the watchful eye of Keralon’s elite, there was little I could do to intervene. Either for his or Liliana’s sake. Apart from cursing my lack of religious knowledge in order to know which god to pray to make both men come to their senses. In the end however it seemed that Luke had come out ahead in this confrontation as he and Lady Elsa gracefully left the dancefloor. could only hope she would forgive him for this childish display. Unlike Liliana who seemed entirely fed up with her partner.
 
A short while later, I suddenly found myself being escorted to the ballroom. Lady Vivienne had linked her arm with mine and, with a graceful yet determined stride, led me to the dance floor. Her warm yet firm gaze making it clear that she wouldn’t take 'no' for an answer. And I must admit, she was an exceptionally skilled dance partner. Gliding effortlessly across the room, while making it seem as we were the only ones there, as I tried my best to keep up with her pace.
 
As we danced, she expressed her regret for the fate of Sylvaris. Though I was taken aback by her mention of his name, I would like to think that I kept my composure and offering her a subtle smile as I thanked her for her concern. She then asked if I ever had the pleasure of attending a party in the Feywild. And as I answered her by saying I never had the pleasure, I instantly realized that I had walked straight into her trap. She smiled and remarked that we would have to change that, hinting that she would arrange for me to be invited in the future.
 
Forget comparing her to a cat, she was more akin to a spider. Weaving her web with such skill and grace that you willingly walked into it without even realizing. And before I knew it, the dance had ended and she disappeared into the crowd. Leaving me wondering as to how I could escape from this honour with being rude.
 
As the night went on, a servant approached me, asking that I meet with the ambassador in his office. When I entered the room on the second floor, I instantly noticed that the others, minus their partners, had also been invited. Though the moment that the ambassador entered, we were instantly alerted by the worried look on his face that something was wrong. Which was confirmed when he told us that his son had gone missing.