Chapter 5 - Ester Will Go To the Ball!
“The fine manners and chivalry of the Empire’s nobility set an example for all. Whether they be commonborn or from outside the Empire’s borders, everyone knows that the charm of the Empire’s nobleborn stands out.”
Two Thousand Years of Empire by Jahangir Amini
=====
Two weeks later Ester stood outside the Starfall Palace, House Velia’s seat. Its imported white stone contrasting with the black granite that almost all of the city was built from, even the other grand residences on the Palatine Hill.
Ester resisted the urge to nervously adjust her new dress. She knew it fit, it was even comfortable. She’d been worried that Master Cutlis would impose something beautiful, but monstrously impractical, on her. To surprise and relief he’d actually listened. He’d certainly be getting more business from her. As soon as she had some more money anyway.
There were guards at the entrance, of course. Their tabards were dyed with House Velia’s blue, but it was a smartly dressed servant that stepped forward to meet her. His fine woollen coat marked him out as relatively senior, perfect to hold the door. He glanced over her after taking her invitation, a slight twitch being his only show of surprise at Ester having come unescorted. She resisted the urge to shift from foot to foot as he studied the invitation.
After a moment, perhaps slightly longer than she’d have liked, he looked up again and bowed low to her.
“Please, enter Lady Mazar. House Velia welcomes you.”
“Thank you,” Ester murmured. She steeled herself and stepped through the gateway, into the short corridor that led to the courtyard and palace proper. As she stepped over the threshold she paused. Wards crawled over her briefly, their magic leaving a tingling sensation on her skin. She’d have liked to have stopped and examined them, they weren’t much compared to the Academy’s, but they felt interestingly complex nevertheless.
A grey-haired, scarred man in a neat blue coat lazed against a wall. Ester’s eyes snapped to him. Hopefully she hadn’t shown… No, the smirk on his face said he’d seen her react.
She resisted the urge to scowl at him and pressed on. They weren’t that impressive anyway and neither was an ageing Adept.
As if having the only white palace in the city wasn’t enough. Wards, Adepts, money. Ester forced her mind onto a different track. She was going to enjoy the ball. Not get annoyed about things she couldn’t control. She’d have liked to have stopped and studied the wards though. Maybe, if the Velias weren’t criminals, she could make friends with them and then they’d let her.
Another white-gloved, blue-coated servant pointed her through a grand archway and then Ester was inside.
The palace’s lobby was framed in pale, green-veined columns. The floor was patterned in Velia’s blue with white. Everything seemed to be polished marble, except the painted ceiling. Ester only allowed herself a quick glance, but that was all she needed to see it was exquisitely done. Some grand battle. The forces of the Empire beating back vile monsters. She’d need to look at it longer to work out what they were. Hopefully something long eradicated.
It was certainly pretty, but, compared the Academy… Ester was reminded that this was ultimately a provincial lord’s palace, even if the Velias were powerful. The Academy was said to be second only to the Imperial Palace and, while it was bordering on blasphemous, Mages might even whisper that it was the other way round.
She couldn’t help but give herself a wry smile at her reaction. She was in what was probably one of the most impressive buildings, in one of the largest cities in the Empire, and the first thing her mind went to was that it was a bit provincial. If only her parents could see her now!
Ester’s dress swished around her legs as she walked in. No, strode. She needed to seem confident. The short steps of a dainty noblewoman might be what people expected. She wasn’t here to simper and giggle, she was here as a power in her own right. Well, that and it helped to cover her nervousness. She forced her hands into stillness at her sides. The Academy provided some lessons in how to behave, but scant few.
She reached the top of the stairs and the entrance to the ballroom. Another servant, clad in Velia colours stepped forward and bowed. “My lady. Who shall I announce?”
“Huh?” Ester gave herself a mental kick. “Ester Mazar…”
He nodded, not waiting for her to finish her sentence before taking a step into the huge ballroom. A pause as he took a deep breath and then, before Ester could follow, his voice boomed out.
“The Lady Ester Mazar, Chartered Mage.” With a bow he stood aside.
=====
The Vass Karan night was rarely silent, even up here on the Palatine Hill, where the nobs could look down on their lessers. It was full of noise now though, as House Velia’s party spilt out of the ballroom and into the Starfall Palace’s gardens.
Aliana of course was nowhere near the guests. A low-ranking servant like her, particularly one with no appealing attributes, was to be neither seen nor heard. That was why she was hurrying through the gardens, clutching a bundle to her chest, eyes down and feet moving. Just another servant on one errand or another.
She passed a patrolling guard who didn’t even spare her a second glance. Why would he? A plain face and a servant’s outfit were all he saw.
It didn’t take Aliana long to reach her destination, an innocuous point along the walls, mostly concealed by an artfully trimmed bush. A glance around her and then a quick step off the path and she was ready to begin.
She took a moment to glance around her one more time and then cupped her hands and blew into them, making a bird’s quiet call ring into the night. Moments later another answered her, almost identical. Perfect. She placed her hands on the wall and focused, forcing her mind into razor-sharp clarity and opening it to what underlay reality. The wards sprang up into her vision. Golden lines of runes lazily running through the walls. She took a moment to study them, realised she couldn’t even tell what half of them did and then shrugged. It hardly mattered, this was going to be unpleasantly difficult either way.
She flexed her will, imposed it on the world around her. The wards would flow away from this part of the walls. She knew it was going to happen. It was inevitable. She couldn’t risk glancing away again. This needed her full attention.
“Dachaid’shich ai’valige vlidsich dechlaid fa’gesinn.” The words burnt their way out of her lips, helping to shape her will. She held her focus, forced it through the words, onto the wards. For a moment there was nothing. They just had so much weight behind them, such smooth, almost inevitable flows. She pushed harder, they would move. Then she felt it, in between ragged breaths. The wards were bending, golden lines fleeing to leave a patch of bare wall. Parting in the face of her will, but most importantly not breaking. Perfect. She did her best to ignore the flickering green glow of the weiryd illuminating the wall in front of her. There was no one around to see.
Moments later Ruben came scrambling down the wall, somehow finding hand and toeholds where she’d have sworn there was only bare, white stone. As soon as he hit the ground she let the wards go, with a faint gasp of relief. The weiryd vanished the moment she did and the golden lines snapped back into place. She resisted the urge to slump as she released her focus and tried to catch her breath, the golden lines fading from her sight.
“Hard one?” Unlike her Ruben didn’t sound the slightest bit out of breath, despite having practically run up and over a fifteen foot wall.
“Mmm.” She took a gulp of air. “Hardest yet. They’ve paid a lot of money for those.”
He shrugged. “Shows we’re moving up in the world, eh? See you there.”
With that he was gone, almost instantly vanishing into the darkness.
With a huff Aliana picked up her burden and continued on her way.
=====
The ballroom thronged with people. Men and women, young and old, servants flitting between them. They moved in little clusters. Calling it a soirée had grossly downplayed the event. It looked more like a major ball than an intimate social evening, but then she had no idea what these things were really like.
It was all Ester could do not to stop and stare. Women in dresses that would have paid for a small village’s food for a year. Men in tight silks, lace at their collars and sleeves. All of them that she could see had at least one servant standing behind them. Sometimes two. Had she made a mistake by coming alone without attendants? It hardly mattered whether it was a mistake or not, she didn’t have any. She grimaced to herself. She was a Mage, not a pampered noble. She didn’t need attendants. Her position spoke for itself, as the Commander had said. Like they’d taught her in the Academy. She could only hope they were right.
There was no point in holding back. At least the announcement didn’t seem to have pulled much attention towards her. Chin held high Ester clenched her fists at her side and strode into the melee. She didn’t really know what to do in there of course, but she bloody well wasn’t going to let that stop her.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
The fashions of Vass Karan were clearly different to those of Trevayn. Well, clearly might have been an overstatement, Ester was hardly an expert in high fashion. However, the colours were generally darker than those that she’d seen the nobleborn boys and relatively few girls at the Academy wear. Rather than the brightly embroidered colour that she’d expected, blacks and dark blues and greens seemed to dominate here. That didn’t stop them from being ornate of course. Flashes of lighter colours accented dresses and coats and dark embroidery spiraled across all of them.
At least her own dress didn’t stand out too much. It lacked the crinoline of most of the women’s, but that just made it more practical. The fit was perfect and the silk moved easily with her steps. It was probably the simplest item of clothing in the room, even the servants had more decoration on them. Nevertheless, the deep blue lacked the decoration of the other women’s, but the simple, deep blue matched the colours on show. The only adornment on her dress was the belt drawing it in at the waist and the silver crossed lightning bolts on each side of its high collar. In reality she hadn’t been able to afford anything more decorative, it was probably still the most expensive thing she’d ever owned, but she still loved it. Even if it looked a bit plain compared to the styles of Vass Karan, or Trevayn for that matter, that was alright. Its simplicity was a statement in its own right.
With a shake of her head Ester refocused on why she was here. The Commander wanted her to be making contacts. She wanted to see if she could start finding useful information on House Velia. The Commander might have given up on them, but she hadn’t. They might think they were safe, powerful enough to attack agents of the Throne like that, well they were wrong!
Ester put her sweetest smile on her face and looked around. She wouldn’t recognise anyone from House Velia anyway. Maybe they’d be introduced later. She’d need to speak to someone though. The question was how to do that… She faltered and couldn’t help but look around nervously.
=====
Abiel made his way smoothly through the crowd of overdressed nobleborn, noting down faces, clothing and behaviour as he went. Knowledge was power after all.
He still had a few minutes to go before he was needed. Just hanging around would make him stand out and that would never do. So, time to find someone to fill that gap.
A younger woman, well-dressed, but not quite as richly as some, caught his eye. A pretty face and a well-filled bodice. She’d do nicely. After a second she looked down, her pale cheeks brightening slightly. Abiel’s smile widened as he changed course towards her.
He ignored the warning glare from the woman’s chaperone and gave her a low bow with a flourish. “Sir Deris Nerang of Colonin. I had heard that Vass Karan had many stunning sights to see, but I had not realised one of them would be right here in this ballroom.”
She giggled, her cheeks flushing almost as red as her hair, before pulling herself together. “Pesna Talce, of Vass Karan.” She giggled again. “But of course you know where I am from.”
She did have the typical look. Presumably Esten Talce’s daughter. Abiel made a point of keeping track of at least the heads of Vass Karan’s Houses. For both professional and personal reasons.
“Of course my lady, a true rose of the north. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. Now, I am new to the city and I was wondering, perhaps you could tell me…”
As Abiel spun a tale for the simpering woman he gave her only a small part of his attention. Sometimes it was just too easy. With the rest he surveyed the room, using occasional glances aside while he pretended to focus on her. It was surprising how many of Vass Karan’s great and good were here, or maybe not. House Velia was one of the Great Houses after all.
As the woman started to tell him about her embroidery he ruthlessly stifled a sigh. Of course she loved embroidery. An easy platitude and she was off about her father’s mansion.
It really didn’t take much thought keeping the woman entertained. Another parasite who’d never had to work a day in her life, not that she could help that. If only all of the nobility could be as vapid as she was his life would be much easier.
She did have a pretty face though, he’d give her that. Suitably diverting to look at until the real fun started.
Inevitably she insisted he call her Pesna and so he had to insist she called him Deris. Perhaps Deris could pay her a visit after this was over…
Abiel nearly faltered as his eyes landed on someone unexpected and then flicked away again. A Chartered Mage, one he hadn’t expected. He knew there were two others in the room, but this one was a surprise. It was obvious who she was though. Velthur Savate’s newest acquisition. A disappointing one by all accounts.
As Pesna suggested yet another tedious sight he assured her that he’d be delighted to visit, particularly if they could go together. A small part of his mind enjoyed the way she flushed at his grin, but most of it was on the Mage.
He’d have to look into her more later, but she certainly didn’t look like much. Particularly not with the way she was just standing there awkwardly looking around. Then there were the docks… He’d heard about that little incident, not the kind of performance bards ended up singing about.
Too young, too inexperienced. Vass Karan would eat her alive and spit her out. It was almost a pity. Almost. What was important though was that her presence at the ball didn’t change anything. An inexperienced girl, barely out of the Academy was nothing.
“Is that so?” He made himself gasp theatrically. “You truly have the most fascinating stories Pesna.”
=====
Ester’s eyes fell on a beautiful young woman, perhaps the same age as her, who was standing alone staring pensively out at the crowd. Well alone other than an older, plainer woman hovering behind her. Probably a chaperone of some kind? Ester could understand chaperones in the abstract, but they’d never really been a part of her life. A commonborn 12 year old hadn’t needed one and a Mage certainly didn’t.
It seemed like as good a start as any. Ester mentally double-checked her smile and moved towards the young woman.
“Hello. Quite an impressive party is it not?” A polite lie of course. Compared to some of the events at the Academy it was a bit of a dull affair. No one had even started flying.
The woman turned her attention to Ester, blonde ringlets swinging with the movement. Cold blue eyes flicked up and down, froze at the crossed lightning bolts on Ester’s collar, and then went back to her face. She offered Ester the briefest of curtsies. “Welcome my lady. I suppose it might be to some. I confess it seems fairly normal to me.” She sniffed. “And you are?”
“Ester Mazar, I just moved here from Trevayn, now serving her Eternal Majesty in the Watch.” The woman sniffed again. Louder. Ester had to resist the urge to cringe as it brought memories flooding back. But no. She wasn’t going to give way, not now. She’d graduated, she was at least the equal of the vast majority of people here. “And you?” She kept her voice light and friendly despite the tension she felt.
“Metli Velia.” She paused, clearly expecting Ester to recognise the name, but got nothing more than a polite smile from her. Metli’s lips turned down at that. “I am the oldest daughter of Count Arnos Velia.” Ester clamped down on the anger that bubbled up at Metli’s tone.
“Oh, I am pleased to meet you,” Ester lied. “I very much appreciate your father inviting me to this...” she searched for the right word, “soirée.”
As Ester spoke she desperately tried to think back to the lessons on this sort of thing at the Academy. She’d paid less attention than she should have. It was hardly a focus and there were so many more interesting things to learn. And if she was honest with herself she’d been more worried about being thrown out than about social niceties if she graduated. Of course most of the students had already known exactly where people stood. Still though… The daughter of a count. Ester was fairly sure that made them rough equals, it wasn’t like Metli was even his heir, there was no call for rudeness.
“I am sure.” Metli gave her another sniff. “My apologies, there are many people I must speak to. I hope you continue to enjoy the party.”
With that she turned and walked away, trailed by her frowning chaperone and leaving Ester standing there a little stunned. It was all far too close to how things had been in the Academy. Painfully so.
=====
Ruben carefully tensed and untensed his muscles as he clung to a rail above a window. Really he spent far too long hanging upside down from things. Now if only those bloody guards would stop talking to each other and move on!
If they didn’t hurry up he was going to be late and then Abiel would be annoyed. Sometimes he thought the man just didn’t understand that a pretty smile and an easy word couldn’t get you out of every situation. It certainly wouldn’t help him explain why he was outside Arnos Velia’s study if Ruben didn’t manage to get there first and deal with the guards.
====
Ester’s moment of shocked introspection was broken by a cheerful voice from beside her.
“Why, you are a pretty one. You must be Ester Mazar.” Ester jumped, just managed not to squeak with surprise and spun wide-eyed to face an aging woman. Tall, thin and grey haired, her solidly black dress gave her an imposing look. Or it would have if not for the open smile on her face. “Hmm yes, I am Lady Caia Rutane and you look rather stunned.”
Ester offered her a small bow, still not quite sure what was going on. Rutane was one of the Great Houses in Vass Karan, she knew that much. “Pleased to meet you Lady Rutane.”
“Oh just Caia, I do not wish to stand on ceremony.”
“Oh.” Ester blinked. “Ester then.”
“Of course. Now, you look a little put out my dear. Was it that Velia chit?” Ester didn’t answer that, the last thing she wanted was to start inserting herself between Great Houses. That didn’t deter or even slow Caia. “Of course it was. The girl thinks the Sun shines out of her backside just because she was lucky enough to be born into an important family and blessed with a modicum of beauty. Fool girl, once she has been married off she will see that insulting those she thinks are lesser will not get her far. Particularly when she thinks everyone is below her…?” Caia made it sound like a question and paused to give Ester a searching look.
After a moment Ester realised it was her cue to speak. She chose her words carefully, trying to keep her voice light, as if she hadn’t minded. “She was… not overly interested in making my acquaintance.”
“Ha. Of course she was not. I expect she was very rude to you. No, no need to answer that. I can see that you are a little overwhelmed here. Straight out of the Academy?” She didn’t give Ester time to answer. “Of course you are, well do not worry. You will grow into your role. Not everyone is as blind to what those lightning bolts mean. Ha, not everyone is as arrogant as some.”
“Uh.” Ester forced herself back into eloquence. “Thank you Lady C… uh Caia. You are too kind, but why are…”
Caia cut her off again. “Oh well, sometimes it is nice to help someone when they are looking lost.” She paused, possibly seeing the scepticism Ester hadn’t quite been able to keep off her face. “Or if you wish to take a cynical view, you are a new Chartered Mage in Vass Karan and I wish to work out whether you will be a threat, an asset or a non-entity. Not that the last is likely, goodness no. Pick your poison.” She did not giggle, she just laughed. A friendly, open laugh. It was hard not to like her. “Anyway, you will no doubt be the talk of the ball by the end of the evening. Have you been approached by any handsome young men yet?”
“I…”
“Ha, you certainly will. Lesser houses of course, but the thinking is common. Throw a second son at the Mage, get some magic into the bloodline. Your children cannot inherit, of course, but they can still be brought into the family. Useful for marriages and all.” Caia looked her up and down like a choice cut of meat. “Yes they will certainly be interested. You will have some fun choices to make, no doubt. If you are that way inclined. My, the freedom you have, it is enough to make an old woman jealous.” Ester couldn’t imagine much stopping this woman from doing exactly what she wanted. “Now my dear, tell me about you. A female mage who has not stayed in Trevayn, let alone one that has been sent to the Watch. That is a rare and interesting thing.”
By the time Caia was pulled away by a bevy of older women Ester’s head was spinning and she felt like she’d been wrung dry. She wasn’t sure if she had a new friend or had just been pumped for information. Either way, it was time to move on.