Zelde, Sarah, and I departed from the others and took the elevator over to the third floor.
"Iah's dragon sure is cute," Zelde said as she leaned back on the elevator back wall.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"It thinks that Ny's its mommy," Orcy said as she continued to ride on my head.
I blushed. "Orcy!"
"You didn't want me to share that?"
I pouted. "Well, it's only because I was the first one it saw when it hatched."
Sarah giggled.
"Does it think that Iah's the daddy?" Zelde asked, trying not to laugh.
I grumbled. "Y-yes," I said as my face warmed up. "But that's because he was the other person he saw first!"
"You two did look like parents just now in the lobby," Sarah's voice echoed in my head. Orcy had used her powers to help her communicate with us.
I lowered my head.
Zelde patted my back. "Relax, we're just teasing you. We know that you like Lei."
"I-I don't like him!" I snapped, my face had become redder. "A-at least not that way that you're implying!"
Sarah shook her head. "Why can't you just be honest? It's obvious to everyone."
"I-I... Well, you like An!" I yelled.
Sarah's face reddened. "I don't like that peeping tom!"
Zelde sighed. "Sarah, isn't it about time that you forgave him for that? Based on what I've heard, he didn't do it on purpose."
"The ones there were him and I," Sarah mumbled. "There's no way to tell if he was telling the truth."
I smiled. "So, is the one that you like Kun?"
"I don't like that clown either," she said, turning away.
"You're lying," I said, chuckling.
"If I am, then so are you!" she snapped.
Well, I knew that I was.
"Girls, stop arguing," Zelde said. She sighed. "I didn't think that you two would become this serious. Though both of you should try to be more honest."
"What about you?" Sarah asked.
"Huh?"
"Don't you like Wanikiya?"
Zelde closed her eyes. "You've asked me that before. Whether I like him or not, it doesn't matter in the end. The two of us are engaged."
"Oh, right," Sarah said.
"Does Nahimana know?" I asked.
"Of course she does. She's been trying to shift the engagement."
"Shift it?" Sarah and I asked in unison.
Zelde opened her deep red eyes. "Yes. To her clan. You see, Wanikiya has to marry one of the heiresses of the other key tribes who harbor the other female spirits. I was chosen out of all of them due to my powers complimenting with his."
"Wait, hold up. Nahimana has a spirit too?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. The twin spirts of light and darkness."
"She has two?" I asked, eyes wide. I'd seen what Zelde's single spirit could do. To think that there was someone with two beings with similar power was mindboggling.
Zelde nodded. "It's because she has two that most think that she should've been the one engaged with Wanikiya instead of me."
"is it to sire a powerful child? Because if so, then they sound no better than the Higher Evolutionary Hierarchy," Sarah said.
"That's a part of it. But together, the two of them would have three spirits, making the royal family more secure."
"is the royal family threatened?" I asked.
Zelde glanced at the floor. "The king has been in power for centuries now, but his family is young. He only has two sons. If anything were to happen to both of them, it would be the end of the dynasty."
Sarah gulped. " I know exactly how that feels. After all, the only members of my dynasty, outside of my older brother, are myself and my kid nephew, Ecelaph."
Right, they had to take Ecelaph to Wahkan too in order to keep him safe. I wonder if he wanted to come with us but couldn't do our proximity to Sera.
The princess of Sera shook her head. "Enough about me. That Nahimana, she sure is mysterious, isn't she?"
I crossed my arms over my chest. "How so? She's pretty much an open book."
"Only when it comes to her love for Wanikiya," Zelde said as the elevator door opened. She strode on ahead of us and sighed. "That girl is a descendent of the Shadow Guard, so it stands to reason that she would be hiding things."
"Shadow Guard?" Sarah asked.
"It's a group that protects the royal family. It was founded by Grand Chief Makiya."
"Should I be told this?"
"They're not really a big secret. Most in Wahkan know of them," I said.
"Oh, so they're like the Seven Hills in Kuroriku."
"Seven Hills?" I asked. I felt as if I had heard that name before, but where?
"Yeah, they used to be a secret order of knights that protected the royal family, but now they're no longer hidden. I learned about them during my short stay in Zionia. Hmm, I wonder if my brother and I should transform our leftover knights into one."
"The issue with secret order is that they can be hard to control," Zelde said as we arrived outside of our room. "Sometimes, they try to seize power for themselves."
Sarah and I gasped.
"Did Nahimana's tribe attempt to do that?' I asked.
"A few did, but they were countered by loyalists within their ranks. It resulted in a shadow civil war. People would disappear, and no one would know why. They were very dark times in recent Wahkanian history," Zelde said as she unlocked the door and pushed it open.
"How long ago was this?" Sarah asked.
Zelde entered the room and sat down on the bed. "It was around the time that the grand chief married Macha, Wanikiya's mother."
"Were they afraid that he would continue his dynasty after a millennium on the throne?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. They had long thought that the chief would die without siring an heir." She stood up. "Anyway, we should save this conversation for later. We better hurry up before the triplets return and eat all of the honey foods."
I laughed. "Yeah."
"Ny, get my luggage from underneath the bed. I got a few dresses there that you can pick from," Sarah said.
I scratched my neck. "Are you sure that you still want to lend me one? Aren't you mad from earlier?"
"No. I allowed it to get heated too. We're lucky that Zelde calmed us down before it got worse. Even though she was the one responsible for us fighting. Indirectly that is."
Zelde gave us a shy smile. "Sorry about that, again."
"Well, the past is the past," I said, squatting down near the bed. "We should pick out a dress for you first, Sarah. You too, Zelde."
"I already said that I'm fine with something simple," Zelde said.
"Oh, come on. Wear a fancy dress for at least a day. If you do, Sarah and I will forgive you. Right, Sarah?"
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, even though we already did," she said.
I sighed. I forgot that Orcy's ability is just telling us her thoughts.
Zelde laughed. "Oh, alright. I'll do it, but just this once."
***
After we had changed, the three of us went back downstairs to where the ballroom was. It was decently sized, but it paled in comparison to the ballroom in the hotel where we had stayed back in Rios.
Zelde squirmed as she stared at her deep red dress. "Why did I go through with this again?" she mumbled.
I patted her back. "Because you felt guilty!" I said, smiling.
Zelde narrowed her eyes at me. "You sound like Lei."
I jumped back. "What? I do not!"
"Maybe more like Kun," Sarah said, smiling.
I grumbled. I didn't want to be compared to either of those two boys.
"You look beautiful in that dress," a voice called out. I looked straight ahead and saw Iah walking over to us. He had changed into a white tuxedo. I was sure that he was going to wear that gaudy gold tuxedo that he had back in Rios. Hmm, maybe he did take my advice after all.
"Well, you don't look half-bad in that tux," I said, averting my eyes.
He laughed. "Thanks."
I stared at the marine-blue dress that I had picked out. Sarah even let me put on a pair of pearl earrings, which went well with it. To finish it off, I wore the silver cross necklace that I had made in Tool Synthesis class with Yuuta. It went well with the blue of the dress, in part because of the sapphire in the center.
"Hmm, maybe I should make you a necklace to replace that one," Iah said as he stared at my cross.
"What? No. I like this one." Even though it reminded me of Yuuta from time to time.
"Sorry, I'm late! Hope that you haven't eaten all of the honey chicken," a voice called out from behind us girls. I turned around and saw Lei running over to us. He had on a gray suit. His green dress-shirt was still open, and his tie was messy. The same went for Kun, who had on a white suit.
Sarah rolled her wheelchair over to Kun and fixed his tie. "Seriously, you're like a kid."
Kun's cheeks turned red. "I-I'm not a kid!"
I laughed. "You certainly act like one. Seems that you left Yen behind too."
"She's still getting ready. She said that we could go on ahead, that way we can save her some food," Lei said as he finished buttoning up his shirt.
"I already saved you some," Iah said, snickering.
"Really?" Lei asked.
"Yeah, just in case you were the last ones to arrive," Iah said as he turned around. "Follow me, you two."
"Yay, you're the best, Iah!" Lei said, swinging his arms into the air.
"Like I've said before, tell me something that I don't know."
"Someone is conceited," Sarah said.
I nodded.
Iah laughed as he looked over his shoulder. "It's call confidence."
I smiled. At least he was holding up a lot better than this morning.
"Say, where is Nahimana?" Sarah asked.
Kun stopped and turned around. "She went to get ready too. She should be here in a bit."
Zelde glanced at Wanikiya who ran over to greet Lei who had already reached the dinner table with Iah.
"Want to ask him for a dance?" Sarah said, smiling.
I nudged Zelde. Her face had turned almost as red as her hair and dress. "Go ahead."
Zelde took a deep breath and walked on ahead.
Sarah smiled. "She's a lot braver than us."
I glanced at Lei. "Yeah." I slapped myself. If Zelde can do it, then so can I!
"Uh, would you like to dance," Kun asked Sarah.
"I can't really dance in this chair," Sarah said.
"Not true. I saw a video of some 'wheelchair' dances once. I can teach you some."
Sarah smiled. "Okay."
I sighed. Now I feel more pressured to ask Lei to dance.
"Hey, Ny!" Lei yelled as he dashed back over to me. "I got you some carrots!" he said, handing me a plate of carrots.
"T-thanks," I said, keeping my eyes on the plate.
"Are you okay?" he asked, putting a hand on my forehead. "You're burning up. Don't tell me that Iah got you sick."
Was he playing dumb? Or did he really not know that I was blushing?
"T-that's not it," I said, forcing myself to look at him. He sure looked cute in that suit.
He smiled. "That's great, but eat these just in case. They'll help you feel better," he said, nudging the plate at me.
I took it from him. "T-thanks again."
I noticed Iah staring at us. He smiled slightly and turned away.
"What are you two up to?" a voice called out.
Lei and I jumped as Yuzuki stood between us.
"Hey, Yuzu!" Lei said, waving. "Y-you look really nice in that dress."
Yuzuki wore a silver gown.
Yuzuki grinned. "Thanks. So, uh, would you like to dance?"
"I was about to ask the same thing." I turned around and saw Adela standing behind me. She had changed into a crimson qipao.
I leered at them. Getting to dance with Lei wasn't going to be easy.
Lei backed away. "I, uh. I'm going to go eat. I'm famished." With those words, he turned around and ran back to the table.
Iah snickered as he walked over to us. "Seems that someone is shy."
Was he secretly waiting for me to fail?
"If you want, I can dance with you until he's available," Iah said, smiling.
Yuzuki walked away. "No thanks, I'll go over and eat with Lei."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to go get some food too," Yuzuki said, walking away.
Iah sighed. "Tough crowd."
I leered at him. So, the question wasn't only directed at me.
Iah held his hand out to me. "Though, the one I truly want to dance with is you."
I averted my eyes. "F-fine, but just this once," I said, taking his hand. I stared at my plate of carrots. "Wait-"
"Orcy will take these," she said, telepathically snatching my plate away and flying off. She had been quiet until now, so why did she have to say a thing?
I gulped as I tried to keep up with Iah. I didn't really have much experience with dancing.
"Just follow me," he whispered into my ear.
I looked up into his golden eyes and nodded. I wondered if Lei was watching us. If so, then was he as jealous as Iah was earlier?
I could kind of see why Lei didn't want anything to do with romance for the time being. Feelings were confusing.
**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^. I would love to hear your thoughts on it**