The Call to War

Chapter 13

Tess groaned. "I don't know how to explain what I want any better. I know he would think of my personal honor as a woman, and wouldn't try to bed me even if I stood in front of him naked. And yes I want to one day marry him, but I don't want to pressure him into that either."

"Women are too damn complicated," Theo commented from the doorway.

"What took you so long?!" Claire scolded.

"Wait, where was he?" Tess asked.

"I sent him to get Arthur for you so he can escort you to the party," Claire replied.

"Yeah well, a lot of good that did. He wasn't in his room," Theo replied. "But I did find someone else." He then stepped aside, and Ellie walked into view wearing a golden yellow dress.

"Hello everyone," Ellie greeted as she curtsied.

"Everyone, this is Arthur's little sister Eleanor," Tess introduced as she curtsied back. "Ellie, I don't suppose you know where Arthur is?"

Ellie shook her head. "I heard a bunch of noise coming from his room while I was getting ready, but he was gone by the time I was done."

"Where could he be? He should know that he should be escorting Tess tonight," Claire thought out loud.

"Yes, let's just forget how his sister said there was a bunch of noise coming from his room," Jerry commented as he rolled his eyes.

"What if an Alacryan spy attacked him?" Stannard suggested.

"If someone was strong enough to capture Arthur the whole castle would have known about it. No way Arthur would have gone down without a fight," Tess stated dismissively.

"Well maybe he's supposed to be with the council like your mother?" Jerry suggested. "What's this party even for anyway?"

"I heard a retainer was defeated," Theo said.

"My brother did come back hurt," Ellie added.

"Do you think Arthur defeated the retainer?" Caria suggested.

All eyes moved to Tess, since it was clear Ellie didn't know.

"I don't know. When I asked him about his injuries he only said he got careless," Tess replied. She had suspected that there was more to it than he was just careless, and she had trouble even believing that. She knew Arthur wasn't perfect, and could make mistakes, even in combat, but to have been hurt so badly that he slept for an entire day was pretty hard to believe.

"Well if this party really is about one of the retainers being killed, then I'm sure they'll reveal who did it soon enough," Claire stated.

With that they all joined the procession of nobles up to the top floor of the castle, which was used as a ballroom. They proceeded up the spiral staircase, following behind an angry looking bear, who helped the line move a little faster. After less than thirty minutes they had arrived. The sun was setting, creating a beautiful backdrop of red and orange, as light emitting artifacts glowed while floating in the air. A small orchestra played various wind and string instruments as nobles of all three races dressed in their finest attires mingled.

"It's so beautiful," Caria said as she admired the scene.

"Yeah, they really went all out," Darvus commented as he grabbed a champagne glass from a server walking by while carrying a tray of glasses.

Claire glanced back down the spiral staircase, and could tell there were still plenty more people coming. "How about we get some drinks and enjoy the view on the balcony while we wait for everything to begin," Claire suggested.