Chapter 46

The ball continued for hours, and there was absolutely no way that Tom was going to remember everyone that he’d made the acquaintance of that evening. It seemed to him that Rowena knew all of them, however, and she cheerfully introduced him to dozens fo people, always with their title and occupation.

“How do you remember who is who?” Tom asked Rowena. “You seem to know everyone.”

“I’ve been going to parties like this since I was five years old, Tom. I’m not certain if you’re aware, but there’s a separate party for the children in another part of the palace going on right now. They’re probably just waiting for the sky lights, then it’s off to bed for them,” Rowena said.

“That doesn’t answer my question. How can you remember so much about everyone you meet?” Tom asked again.

“Doesn’t it?” Rowena said. “Tom, to me, the people in this room are like the villagers you just spent time telling the Worths about. I know them because I grew up around them. Many of them have children whom I’m friends with, or acquaintances at least. Add in the fact that my tutors have been drilling me on some of them since I started my education, and honestly I don’t think it becomes that surprising.”

“Oh, I see,” Tom said.

“Speaking of the sky lights, I think they’re going to be starting soon,” Rowena said. “Let’s go find some place to watch them from.”

Jessica, whose second subclass was Illusionist, had agreed to put on a performance of her ‘fireworks show’ for the celebration. She intended it to be something that everyone could enjoy, however, not just the elite at the ball, so the performance was to take place at a nearby park rather than the palace itself.

They stopped by King Fenard’s group before they left to say their farewells, and the king insisted that they bring a pair of guardsmen with them on their journey to find a good vantage point. Tom was still getting used to the fact that he was important enough to warrant a bodyguard, but Rowena accepted the instruction without fuss.

They arrived at the park in time to find Jessica setting up for her performance. Tom was worried about disturbing her, but Rowena insisted that it would be rude not to say hello.

Akira was helping set up a series of screens. Tom moved to help, and the two teens quickly set the stage.

“What are the screens for anyway?” Tom asked. “She hasn’t used them the previous times I’ve seen her do a performance.”

“Ah, well, it seems she’s expecting more people than usual,” Akira explained, “And she’s worried about performance anxiety if too many people are watching her. She wants the show to be in the sky, and is worried that people will be watching her instead.”

Tom shrugged and continued to help with the preparations. Rowena spent a few minutes speaking with Jessica, asking her advice on where she expected the best vantage points to be.

“I actually advise against standing too close,” Jessica said. “I think that hill over there will be packed with people, but you should actually go out a little further than that. Maybe that clearing over there? It should give you a good line of sight and it will be far enough off to really appreciate the show.”

“Thanks,” Rowena said, and once the boys had finished setting up she led Tom out in the direction Jessica had suggested. As dark fell, the park became crowded as hundreds of people turned out for the promised light show.

Tom and Rowena were joking around, waiting for the show to start, when a sudden “Halt!” from their guards interrupted their conversation. They turned to find an older woman looking very surprised as the guard blocked her path.

“What right do you have to tell me where I can go and who I can speak with?” she demanded.

“You have been following us since we left the palace,” the guard said. “State your business.”

“I mean to speak with that young couple over there,” the woman said. She motioned behind her, and a man of an age with her stepped forward to join her. They were both dressed well, although not so fancifully as the ball attendees. Tom estimated them to be in their late fifties or early sixties.

He thought that the woman looked familiar. Her hair was graying, but what hair hadn’t lost its color was an auburn color, while her husband’s hair was black.

“It’s alright,” Rowena said to the guards. “Who are you, and why did you want to speak with us.”

“You’re princess Rowena, yes?” the woman said.

“That’s right,” Rowena agreed. “What business do you have with me?”

“I simply thought that it might be a good time to introduce myself,” the woman said. “Seeing as I’m soon to become your grandmother-in-law.”

The familiar appearance of the woman clicked into place. She looked like Tom’s mother. His heart sank as he realized the older couple’s identity.

“Rowena, this is Stefan and Margaret Lowry,” he said. “They’re, well, they’re my grandparents. On my mother’s side. I didn’t know that they were in the city.”

“Is that so?” Rowena said. She perked up with interest, but noticed Tom’s body language and picked up that something was off. “To be honest, I’ve heard almost nothing about you!”

“That’s because they tried to marry my mother off to a man she despised, and then disowned her when she married my father instead,” Tom said.

“That’s a very one-sided description of how things happened,” Margaret said. “I assure you that we loved your mother very much and only wanted what was best for her. You weren’t born yet and--”

“And I wouldn’t have been born at all if you’d had your way,” Tom pointed out.

“Things would have been very different if your mother hadn’t stood by her decisions,” Stefan admitted, “but she was as much responsible for closing the door on our relationship as we were. She left with your father without telling us where she was going, and we never knew until we heard the rumors of our grandson founding an Adventurer’s Guild. We might not have supported the man she chose to marry, but we still loved her.”

This gave Tom a moment’s pause. He’d always heard his mother’s perspective on this story, which had painted his grandparents in an unfavorable light. “You were trying to use her as a stepping stone for your own social advancement,” he argued. “You arranged her to marry an unpleasant--”

“You are yourself in the process of entering into an arranged marriage, are you not, Tom?” Stefan said, interrupting him. “We thought that given a bit of time, Sue and the man we had picked out for her would become close. Instead she fell in love with another boy and eloped. We were upset, and handled the situation poorly. We freely admit this.”

“You cut her off from her inheritance,” Tom argued. “My parents had to start their business from scratch.”

“And by the accounts I’ve heard they’ve done well for themselves,” Stefan argued. “As I said, we handled the situation poorly. But your mother is partly to blame for the lack of reconciliation. Time cooled our passions, but when we were ready to make amends we had no way of finding your parents to ask for forgiveness.”

“I, for one, am sorry that you were made aware of that entire drama,” Tom’s grandmother said. “Has your mother been badmouthing us this entire time?”

Tom frowned. “I asked about my grandparents, and they told me the truth about why you weren’t in our lives.”

“They told you their side of things, I believe that,” Stefan said. “Tom, look at things from our perspective. Norman had no class when they got married. He was but a weaver’s apprentice, and his parents had recently died. He had gained some coin from his inheritance, but that was it. We wanted the best for your mother, so yes we opposed that relationship in favor of the one that we’d attempted to arrange for her.”

“Korkran was an Earl,” Margaret explained. “If he would have married into the family, we would have had a number of doors opened to us and--”

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“And so you were using your daughter to advance your own careers,” Tom argued.

“You say that like Sue wouldn’t have benefited from the arrangement!” Margaret argued. “Being married to a noble, being the mother to his children, that would have been a boon to her own career. Instead, she failed to even unlock the true Merchant class, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Must we really argue this with our grandson?” Stefan asked. “Couldn’t we possibly finally attempt to move past this? Your grandmother and I are willing to admit that we were wrong in the past, Tom. We just want to reconcile with our estranged daughter and a grandson we’ve never met. Is that so terrible?”

Tom frowned. He hadn’t expected to meet his grandparents this way.

Rowena, who had been silent in the conversation while she tried to read the currents, asked “How did you find us?”

“We followed you from the palace, of course,” Margaret said. “We knew that you were going to be attending the party. We tried to obtain tickets ourselves, but the business has not been doing so well lately and we were unable to afford admittance. But we knew that you were going to be there and that you and Tom are engaged, so we followed you from the palace.”

“It was after you founded the adventurer’s guild that we first heard of you, Tom,” Stefan explained. “Tom Weaver, son of Sue and Norman. Imagine our surprise when we finally found a lead on our estranged daughter because our grandson was marrying into the royal family!”

“I’d very much like to know how that came about,” Margaret agreed. “For that matter, I’m curious to know how you can afford to found such a powerful organization, Tom.”

“That’s--”

“I don’t think that now is the right time to discuss those matters,” Rowena interrupted. “Some of the matters related to our engagement relate to state secrets. As does the source of the funds which Tom is employing to found the adventurer’s guild. After the fireworks show, why don’t we return to the palace. I’ll introduce you to my uncle, and he can decide for himself whether or not to bring you into the circle.”

“You want to introduce us to the king?” Margaret asked, her eyebrows rising in shock.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Rowena asked. “He’s my uncle after all. We’re all going to be family.”

Tom glanced at Rowena, who made an expression like she was trying to tell him something. Unfortunately their relationship hadn’t proceeded to the point of telepathy yet, and he had no idea what she was trying to say.

“I guess Rowena’s right about that,” Tom said, deciding to back her up even if he didn’t understand what she was trying to suggest to him. “But let’s wait until after the light show. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Jessica has improved her performance since the last time I’ve seen her put on a show.”

“I’ve only seen her perform once, but it was really quite marvelous,” Rowena agreed, seizing on the opportunity to change the topic. “Her light shows are far better than the ones I am accustomed to watching. I think this is her largest performance yet, and I’m really looking forward to hearing what people say about it afterward. Compared to an average sky-artist, Jessica is really in a league of her own.”

“It’s been some years since the last time I made a point of watching a light-show,” Stefan admitted. “You say that the artist is quite good?”

“Just wait, you’ll see,” Tom assured his grandfather. “Jessica is amazing.”

At this time, a sudden flash of light filled the sky, followed by a thunderclap. The small group turned their attention toward the park, where the light show was beginning.

The lights flashed and thundered, images in the sky forming and chasing each other before fading back to darkness. Orbs and streamers of all colors burst into existence and swirled about each other in fanciful patterns. Rainbows and faux lightning filled Tom’s vision as he stood next to Rowena, absently aware that they were holding hands.

Jessica had really upped her game; this was more than just copying a fireworks performance from Earth. It was more than imitating a light show from Welsius for that matter; the illusions performed by mages who made their profession lighting up the sky fell far short of her display. This was an artistic performance that Tom would equate to that of a skilled musician.

It was art in a medium that nobody else was quite capable of, Tom realized. He’d never seen anything like it because nobody else had Jessica’s unique skillset. It wasn’t just her class, however. She was putting her heart and soul into the performance, and her effort was showing.

Tom and Rowena were not alone; Tom’s grandparents were nearby, absorbed in the performance, and there were others who had selected this vantage point. But everyone had their eyes in the sky.

“Tom,” Rowena said quietly, pulling his attention away from the heavens for a moment.

“Yes?” he said, turning towards her.

The kiss was almost chaste, catching him by surprise on the lips. Tom almost jerked back in surprise, but caught himself. He blushed. It lasted for just a few seconds before Rowena pulled back.

“I’ve been waiting to do that,” she admitted. “I wanted it to be someplace or sometime special. I guess I got my wish.”

“Yeah,” Tom said cleverly, his face burning crimson.

Rowena glanced over at the Lowrys, who were absorbed in the show. She leaned in close to Tom, but instead of kissing him again she said “Tom, we really need to talk about the engagement.”

“We do?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Oh. What about it?”

“Is it what you want?” she asked. “I know it wasn’t our idea, but we do have some say in the matter. My uncle doesn’t get to get everything he wants just because he’s king. You can say no. So can I. Technically all that Uncle Ferdy can really do is ask us to try to get along, which we’ve been doing. But nobody can put a knife at our throat and force us to marry.”

“I know that,” Tom said. He bit his lip. “Rowena, I do like you. I’m not sure that I love you or not. I’ve had a few crushes, but I’ve always gotten over them before pretty quickly. What I feel for you is different. You’re pretty, and you’re a good friend. I’m not sure if that’s love, or the start of love, or whatever. I don’t really know if I want to marry you or not. I don’t not want to marry you, but I don’t know if I’d be for it if the king wasn’t telling us to.”

“Yeah,” Rowena sighed. “I kind of thought so. It’s a little disappointing though. Because I actually do want to marry you, Tom.”

“You do?” Tom asked, his pitch rising in surprise.

“Is that so surprising?” she asked.

“A little. I thought you’d feel the same way that I did.”

“I do feel the same way that you do, Tom,” she said. “You’re handsome, and you’re clever, although you are pretty quiet most of the time. I have you to thank for awakening my Class, and aside from that like you said, you’re a good friend and fun to be around. The truth is that I was pretty annoyed with my family when they decided to arrange our marriage, but now that I know you I’m also a little grateful for it. If the choice was up to me, well, I don’t know if I would have found someone half as good as you. Because I think I do love you, Tom.”

“You, oh,” Tom said, fumbling for the words.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Rowena said. “Not until you actually mean it. You’ve told me how you felt and if you said it now it would be dishonest.”

“It’s not that I don’t love you,” Tom protested.

“I know. You’re pretty closed off with your feelings sometimes, Tom. It took you months to admit to anyone how guilty you felt for mistakes that weren’t even really your fault. It’s fine. I’ll take the lead on this, Tom. I love you, even though you’re still sorting out how you feel about me. I’m hoping that you come to the realization that you love me too, but I’m willing to wait however long that takes.”

“What if it doesn’t happen?” Tom asked.

“I’ll worry about that when it becomes a problem,” Rowena answered. “Until then, I’ll just hold out hope that your heart comes to the right conclusion.”

“Okay,” Tom said, feeling like a complete idiot.

“And Tom, don’t marry me just because my uncle asked you to. Don’t marry me just because I love you either. If we’re going to do this, then we should either do it right or not at all. Figure out how you feel, and decide for yourself if you want to marry me or not.”

“I will.” Tom said. “Think about it, that is,” he added quickly. “I do like you, Rowena. A lot. I’m just--”

“That’s enough for now, Tom,” she interrupted him. “You’re the type who needs to think things through, not talk them through. And hearing ‘I like you but I’m not sure I love you yet’ isn’t nearly as romantic as you might think. I love you, Tom. I can say that without reservation. But I don’t want to hear you say it back until you can say it without reservation or qualification. Understand?”

“Yeah,” Tom said.

“Good.”

The teens’ attention returned back to the sky, where the flashing lights and sounds filled the sky.