Crowns of Flame and Ice - Book One

(14) The Ball

I take my seat on the dais and as feel six faces snap in my direction. Unbothered, I take a glass of champagne and settle into my seat. A few minutes pass and they're all still staring at me. I lift my glass and toast "to the fallen" while holding my father's gaze. To my surprise, Quilo lifts his glass slightly. Barely even a lilt of the glass however the movement had not gone unnoticed, his father scowled. Had Quilo lost someone too? Perhaps a friend? "You know that thieving little girl and her scrawny mother are just going to sell that right?" my father whispered angrily. I sigh, swirl the champagne around the glass and watch as it laps up the sides. "Then they'll sell it, I only hope they use the money wisely" I reply blandly. My father lets out an exasperated sigh that was more of a grumbling huff and leans back into the chair.

I enjoyed watching the party and enjoyed seeing the happy faces of the guests swirling a whirling with their partners across the dance floor. Hope kept skipping between couples showing off her new tiara to them with the biggest smile on her face. They offered her small smiles and a few words were exchanged before returning to their dancing. What was the highlight of my evening was the neverending stream of girls who kept trying to get Quilo's attention by either dancing in front of the dais, batting their eyelashes at him or just shouting his name. One girl actually threw herself in front of the dais screaming "I love you Quilo!" before she was hauled away by the guards. I'd burst out laughing until champagne came out of my nose, the girl had glared at me and turned away but not fast enough to hide the red creeping into her cheeks. Quilo offered them all bland nods, probably to keep his father happy I realised. When I hadn't stopped laughing my mother had banished me from the dais and I was told to go and join the crowd which felt more like a gift than punishment. My muscles were getting sore from sitting on that uncomfortable wooden chair for well over two hours.

I made my way over to the huge buffet table that no one was touching and piled a plate high with chocolate cake, brownies, shortbread and fudge cubes. I was about to shove another brownie into my mouth when someone snatched it from my hand. I whirled on them fully intending to demand what on earth they were thinking when I saw Quilo in a green suit. "You brownie stealing bitch!" I screech trying to get it from his hand. Quilo scowls and puts the whole thing in his mouth. "Just stand here a second" I murmur pointing to a spot where it would be difficult for the crowd to see him. then I swung forward and punched him straight in the face. Quilo's head whips to the side and the expression on his face looks positively murderous as he looks back at me. "Now now, daddy wouldn't be too happy if you started killing people in public now would he?" I whisper "just smile and wave." Quilo kicks me in the leg as he turns to face the curious crowd before murmuring "I'm going to kill you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a hooded male figure with his attention fixed on me. when he notices my gaze he starts walking toward me. Deciding I was done with Quilo and this party any way I excuse myself and hurry out of the door. Noticing the man was still following me I lift the skirts of my gown and run down the halls, now empty during the ball. Surely this person wasn't going to hurt me right? Wrong I realised as something dark and sleek embedded itself in the wall just as I was about to turn a corner. A dagger. "Missed me" I shout over my shoulder and continue running. There were two sets of footsteps now but I didn't dare glance behind me to see if I recognised them. Who were they? what reason could they possibly have to want me dead? Assassins weren't my father's forte, he's more of a get a guard to lock them up and then forget to feed them or something kind of person. Surly Quilo hadn't made good on his threat already, right? Quilo wasn't my problem right now, the arrows firing at my head were.

Just as I came across a fork in the hallways I noticed two more heavily armed men came running towards me from the left, I'll take the right turn then. I felt no fear, no worry but my heart was hammering uncontrollably in my chest and my legs were starting to feel wobbly. Sending curses to the too many glasses of champagne I've drunk over the past two hours I sprint faster down the hallway. My dress was a torn mess, large rips going up either side of my thighs and it was no longer floor length. I needed to come up with a solution and soon. I was unarmed and the giddy flush running through my head told me I was drunk too. There were four large and heavily armed men running after me and if I didn't find a way to escape soon I'd become wall art. James would be shouting at me right now for not bringing a weapon, but I wasn't exactly expecting an assassination attempt at a ball.

Real fear hit me when I realised that I was running straight into a dead end and that there was another bow-wielding man running straight at me from the end of it, fantastic. "Look this is hardly a fair fight" I pant, bending over and placing my hands on my knees. An arrow pings past me and bounces harmlessly off the wall. I roll my eyes and tare a strip of black fabric from the bottom of my dress. "Don't worry little lady, we'll go easy on you" a gruff voice teases, not one I recognise. They were surrounding me now, all with weapons raised pointing directly at my head. "I meant for you" I growl before lurching at one of the bow-wielding men. Grabbing two arrows from the Quiver on his back I use the black fabric to choke him and he falls to the ground.

A second man ran at me with a sword clutched in his fist, he tackled me but didn't get me to the ground quick enough to avoid the arrow I slammed into the side of his neck. He fell into the third man, forcing him to stagger back and I threw the second and last arrow at him. It found its mark in the centre of his forehead. Heart-pounding, head fizzling and weaponless I raise my fists to take on the fourth attacker. My first punch landed on his jaw causing him to stagger back slightly. Just as I was about to lurch for the knife at his side something cold and hard hits me in the side of the head and the corners of my vision start to blur and flash. well, this was fantastic. A combination of the alcohol in my system and the blaring pain hammering on my head had me swaying and stumbling on my feet but I needed to keep fighting.

Another hit on my head forces me to the ground and blood trickles down the side of my face. no, no,no this couldn't be it. Words, words could be weapons too. I went to speak, to ask who they were but my mouth filled with blood from a wound I didn't realise I had. With my back pressed up against the cool brick, I stare up into the faces of my attackers. They pulled down their hoods, rounded ears I realised. Not the usual choice of killers for the king, money must be tight. "All this trouble just for me?" I choke spitting the blood from my mouth. I didn't have time to register the sound of approaching footsteps before one of the men lunges forward and everything goes black.