Swords Bound

1. When Light is Born

The voices gathered in the thick, dry air and mingled with each other as she spooled them towards her on a light breeze of wind. They tickled as they reached the outer curve of her ears.

She heard the voices of the men standing closer to the glass doors leading into the small, but stately gardens of the manor. And those of the women across the ballroom who held glasses of bubbling liquid as they stood by the large tables laden with pastries and drinks.

"May I take your cloak, miss?" A servant with downturned eyes extended a hand towards her as she quickly shrugged off the light, silken fabric and reluctantly handed it over. It was one of the few extravagant things Rae owned. A favor from Malakai reserved for use during such occasions.

"Messer?" The servant turned to her escort, Bedyr, who was nearly unrecognizable in his current attire. His wooden peg leg concealed by well tailored pants and shiny boots; another favor from Malakai. As the servant shuffled away, Bedyr offered his arm to her.

"Wipe that sour look from your face or you'll ruin the entire night for us," Bedyr grunted at her under his breath. She grumbled, but schooled her features into a look of awe, easily managing the mask of a downtrodden merchant's niece given a glimpse into the high society of the Kingdom of Torgovets.

Bedyr and her walked forward into the ballroom at a much slower pace than she'd have liked, to mask his limp, allowing the nobles to look more than their fill. She sent a small current of wind his way to ease the limp further. The pair of them already stood out quite enough being the newcomers they were. Lord Perlan's special guests for the evening. The last thing they needed was to explain how a supposedly lowly merchant from rural Torgovets had lost his right leg.

He glanced her way, his small brown eyes softening as he mumbled a gruff thanks. She nodded and continued to survey Perlan's manor.

The ballroom was simple but ornate. The white marble columns arranged neatly about the room held up shadowed balconies that overlooked the grand space in the center that was clearly meant for dancing. It seemed, however, that most of the guests preferred common chatter to dancing this evening.

She glanced up to the balconies, directing her wind there. An invisible lasso wrangled the words of the shadowed figures and carried them back to her. She sifted through the voices before settling on one conversation.

"Lord Perlan, forgive me for saying so, but are you certain you should sully yourself with those who are lesser. Especially now that we—,"

"I've heard quite enough from you, Olfared. We will meet with the Mires family and I will make my decision then," a deep, gravelly voice said. Lord Perlan was in the balconies, then.

A moment passed with no response, save for the small pulse of air of an exasperated sigh. And then the nasally voice from before spoke again. "Of course, my lord."

Rae leaned in towards Bedyr as they made it to the tables with food and drink that lay mostly untouched. The blatant waste left a bitter taste on her tongue as she whispered, "Lord Perlan is upstairs. The fourth balcony from the main stairwell."

"Excellent. Don't make any trouble and I'll find you when I'm finished. Stay close," he whispered back before turning to face her fully and then said louder, "I have business to attend to Nicolette. Will you be alright if I leave you here?"

Rae made a show of fidgeting with the deep rose sleeves of her velvet dress and glancing about towards the nobles nearest them, pretending they weren't listening. "Yes, I think so, uncle," she said, keeping her voice meek and small. As if on cue, one of the young nobles sauntered their way.

"Good evening Messer. Miss," a young man said, dressed finely in a coat of dark blue brocade. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dorn Perlan." He inclined his head to them.