Yunara carried a tray of mussels teeming with bright vegetables in the shell to the table of party goers. They all conversed amongst each other in their own language, Yunara surprising herself with the amount she was beginning to understand. But only surface level conversation. When the conversations got deeper, it was harder for her to comprehend.
Lucia was right that mostly none of her guests asked her for anything. She mainly took all her orders from Julio, who spoke enough English from his own travels to Caorfi.
Lucia was a natural magnet for attention. All of her guests were completely enthused by what she had to say. She seemed to be telling stories, mostly, the other guests listening as she spoke, Lucia laughing at her own tales before she could even finish them. When she laughed, everyone just seemed to naturally follow.
One would never guess she was at a table of all enemies.
Julio came out of the kitchen and approached Yunara. "Yunara, Kailu, ven aqui," he said.
Kailu came from the other side of the table and followed Julio into the kitchen with Yunara.
"Listen," he said in English. "Lucia will do what she can to get the guests talking. What you both will have to do is just listen and most importantly observe. If you find someone suspicious, give Lucia a signal and let her know. She'll take it from there."
"What do you define as suspicious?"
"Carlos Ruiz supposedly died in his bed in Granada, but a week before that, he was investigating the mountains in Basque country following a lead. Look out for anyone mentioning having been in that area, or having seen Carlos before he died. Now, take these trays out." Julio gave them more plates full of delicacies to bring out to the dinner table, and Yunara and Kailu went their way.
The two of them monitored the table, but nothing out of the ordinary was transpiring. Yunara felt unsettled being at a table with so many members of the Aracs here on earth, but she supposed since they were humans, she had nothing to worry about. They couldn't see her. But knowing that fact didn't make her any more comfortable, and she noted Kailu looking perturbed as well.
But Lucia's plan of disguising them as servants seemed to be working. No one paid them any mind at all, something Yunara was already used to. The invisibility of being a maid was going to serve to their advantage tonight.
"Sometimes I think that being rich must be the most boring thing in the world," Kailu commented at one point. "Look at how everyone is together, yet none of them have any actual interest in one another. It's all just a grand show."
Yunara knew what she was talking about. Though Lucia was the one putting on an act, the truth was all of them were. She knew first-hand from Cadri that the pretenses they had to put on were constant and miserable, always pretending to be pleasant, proper, and correct. Which was why Cadri found refuge in shedding the facade with Yunara.
"I suppose looking at it like that, it's no wonder Lucia can play her role so well," Yunara added. "It's only one more trick of light to add to the rest."
Kailu shrugged in agreeance, crinkling her nose. "Well, I for one, hate role-playing as a servant. Look at how they pretend we don't even exist. It's good that the plan is working, but also quite obnoxious at the same time."
Yunara understood her annoyance, but at the same time was used to it. She spent her whole life in this role. She was used to it now.
Then Lucia changed the tone of the conversation she was having with her guests, and Kailu explained to Yunara in a low voice what she was saying. "Oh, have you all heard about Carlos Ruiz?"
"No, what happened?" Asked a tall blonde woman next to her that had been talking to Lucia most of the evening.
A man that was sitting on the other side of Lucia said, "You haven't heard that he died quite recently?"
The blond woman widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand in a very pretend look of shock. "No! When did this happen?"
"A few weeks ago. He died in his bed, I hear."
"How terrible,"
"Yes, and he was a friend of mine," Lucia lamented. "I just don't understand how he died so suddenly. He wasn't a sickly man at all. Yes, he was well off in his years, but he was always so vibrant and full of life. And to die so suddenly..." Lucia trailed off.
"Yes, but at least he is in a better place," commented a man that hadn't said anything yet. He was a rather short man with dark hair and a thick beard, a pair of rounded glasses over his small green eyes. "As you said, he was well off in his years, and I don't think he would have wanted us to be here with sad faces when we should be partying, wouldn't you say?"
Lucia's face flashed with rage, but as quickly as it appeared, it was replaced with a smile. "You're right," she said as she raised a glass to her lips. "We should be enjoying the party instead of sitting here lamenting all evening long. I apologize."
Lucia shot a look at Yunara and Kailu, and they got the hint. Keep a close eye on him.
Later the party moved to Lucia's ballroom, where she had a group of musicians playing light music and her guests began to dance. She used the opportunity to steal a moment with Yunara and Kailu. "You noticed the little man with the beard, yes?"
"Yeah, who is he?" asked Kailu.
"Luis Romero. He is a very cold and callous man, that I already know. He is a member of the Aracs, but like the other members here at this party, he has no idea that I know that. But I have a dozen other members of the party of that same description, though he does have an alibi. He was in northern France at the time. But it's possible he knows who did. Watch him."
Yunara and Kailu nodded in affirmation and Lucia rejoined herself with the members of her party. They neared Luis as instructed. He was surrounded by a few other people, and they were laughing about something. They followed him wherever he went, though from a distance. But according to Kailu, no one speaking with him said anything worthy of attention. Then, the blond woman that was sitting next to Lucia at the table before approached him, and they started talking. Luis offered her his arm, and they directed themselves towards where the other party goers were dancing and started dancing together.
Yunara and Kailu neared themselves to the dance floor, but as they did, Luis started looking in their direction, seeming like they had caught his attention for the first time.
"Stop," Kailu said to Yunara. "Let's watch them from the corner of the room instead. We won't be able to hear them, but this way he doesn't suspect anything. The music is louder here anyway, it would be pointless to try to listen."
"You're right. Let's go."
They discreetly made their way to the corner of the room and watched the odd couple from there, Luis being at least a head shorter than the blond woman that danced with him.
As they danced, the woman whispered something in Luis' ear, and Luis gave a slight nod. When the dance was over, Luis and the woman went two totally separate ways.
"Let's follow her," Kailu said, already heading towards her.
The woman made her way to the crowd of people that surrounded Lucia. The woman certainly had a charm about her. Her guests were enchanted by her. She had just let out a loud giggle when the blond woman had joined the conversation.
"What are we talking about?" Kailu explained to Yunara that the had woman said.
"Oh Carmen, do join us! I was just telling everyone about an embarrassing trip I took to the Basque mountains last year. Have you ever went? It's absolutely lovely there."
"Basque country? No, I don't think so. I don't quite like it there, myself. I've heard it's awful."
"Awful? How could you say such a thing? It's delightful there, with such funny people! Have you heard them speak their language before? It's quite interesting."
"You've always had an affinity for odd things," said a tall dark man with a startlingly deep voice. Yunara hadn't noticed him standing there before.
"Oh, Roberto, don't say such things, you make it sound like I'm odd!" exclaimed Lucia.
He chuckled, revealing a mouth full of pristine white teeth. "You? Never!" he said sarcastically.
The entire crowd about her laughed at that, and Lucia feigned annoyance.
"Well, I would love to stay, but I must be off now. It's getting late and I'm starting to feel a bit dizzy," the blond woman Lucia addressed as Carmen excused herself.
"Must you leave so quickly, Carmen?" asked the man.
"Yes, I really must be going," she said, seeming a bit flustered, Yunara noticed. She left the group to themselves, and Lucia subtly glanced in Yunara and Kailu's direction. Her message was clear. Follow her.
Yunara and Kailu kept an eye on her, navigating through the crowd of people chatting in the ballroom with difficulty. She moved quickly.
Just then a crashing sound went out. Yunara turned and saw that someone had knocked over a vase of flowers that was standing against the wall on a table, the shards of the ceramic spread across the floor. A woman was standing over it, seeming to be apologizing over and over. Someone indicated to Yunara and Kailu, looking like they were expecting them to clean it up.
When Yunara looked for Carmen again, she was gone. Kailu looked at Yunara knowingly. This had to have been planned.
The party goers were looking antsy, implying that Yunara or Kailu hurry to clean up the mess. To keep up their cover, they would have to do it, though Yunara was beginning to worry. Someone helped Carmen escape for some reason. But why?
After they were done cleaning, Kailu and Yunara went about trying to figure out what to do next. Carmen had escaped. The best thing to do now would be to warn Lucia.
They made their way back to where Lucia was, and even before she saw them, she looked distraught. Something was wrong. When she did lay eyes on them, she opened them wide for a moment, as if a warning not to say anything to her, then turned her attention back to her guests in an instant.
"What do we do?" Kailu asked Yunara.
Yunara didn't have any idea. But Lucia was looking like she didn't want them there. "Lucia knows what she's doing. She knows we want to talk with her. She must be handling something. Let's walk around for awhile and wait for her to find a moment to talk to us."
Kailu nodded. Without any other option of what to do, they followed Yunara's plan. They wandered around the room without any real idea of anything they were looking for, and carried on for a good while like this. Later, Kailu touched Yunara's arm. "Have you noticed? That odd looking short fellow's gone too."
Yunara looked around and realized Kailu was right. She didn't see Luis anywhere either. Now she was sure. There was something definitely wrong. She didn't know what was happening, but first Carmen disappeared and someone covered up her escape. Then Lucia started acting strange, and now Luis had disappeared. There was something strange about this party, and she feared what it could mean.
Yunara jumped as someone grabbed her and Kailu from behind and dragged them briskly to the corner of the room. She calmed as she spun around to see Lucia standing holding them both, looking around to see if she was being watched. "I am sorry I startled you," she apologized. "But Roberto hasn't stopped following me. I believe he suspects us. He has been watching me very closely. I was only able to get away pretending I was going to ask Julio something. But he's disappeared now, and I don't know where he went."
Yunara looked amongst the crowd of faces in the room, and with a sinking feeling in her stomach, realized that Julio was no longer one of them.
It was Kailu that said, "Carmen disappeared! We were following her, but then someone broke a vase and we were distracted. Once we finished cleaning up, Carmen had vanished."
"I'm not surprised. It was my mistake. I led you both on to follow Carmen. But I was wrong. It's Roberto. There was something about him that was bothering me, but I didn't realize it in time. It wasn't until the both of you left while we were talking about Basque country did someone mention what I had forgotten. Roberto has family in the Basque mountains. He has a Basque last name. It was definitely him that killed Carlos. And he somehow knows I know that, because from that moment on, he hasn't left my side. He doesn't want me alone with you two, and I believe he is working with other members of this party."
"Then what do we do?" Yunara asked.
"Keep an eye on me. I don't want to be alone with Roberto, for I fear that's how they got Julio. But keep your distance. Wander around. Separate from each other, if only slightly. Don't let the other members of the party notice you. I will have to find a way to lose Roberto. I don't believe all the party members are working with him. As long as I stay in the crowd and within your sight, I should be safe out in the open."
Yunara nodded in agreeance, but inwardly was crossing her fingers in hopes that Lucia was right.
--
I know this is a longer chapter than usual, but I felt like this chapter was better presented whole.
So, I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! Things are getting intense for the Chosen and Lucia. What do you think is going on? Put down your predictions in the comments!
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