Carriage after carriage rolled up to the palace gates. Polished footmen approached the doors, releasing ladies in ballgowns and men in fine suits onto the red carpet toward the palace. Extravagant masks adorned in feathers, fur, and gaudy colors disguised them, matched by exquisite costumes. A pirate escorted a woman in a white fur dress and a rabbit-eared mask. A man with feathery wings and a spiral-horned mask chatted with a woman in an armored dress and a man in professor’s robes.

Thank goodness, Jet thought, looking at his own attire. He took a deep breath and smiled at Ravenna. “Ladies first.”

Ravenna beamed back at him. “But how could I? You darlings are here to make your debut. You first, you first.”

“Oh, no, we couldn’t possibly…” Elly said, shaking her head.

Gideon kicked open the door and jumped out, slamming to the ground. He stood up tall and straightened his shoulders, eyes on the castle ahead. Strangely, his eyes shone with a mysterious light. “Let’s go!”

Jet narrowed his eyes. Something about his excitement concerns me… He shook his head and followed Gideon, turning back to offer the girls a hand down.

Gideon wore old-fashioned mage’s robes in black and gold, complete with a tall black-and-gold pointy hat. The robes swept the ground, embroidered with lightning bolts, the inners a brilliant gold to offset the black outside. He clutched a gaudy gold tome in one hand, his real tome hidden at his hip as usual. A small black mask barely covered his eyes.

Armor clattered on Jet’s arms and shoulders, richly etched and gilded. A mirrored chest plate gleamed under the sun. Skintight blue hose and a matching codpiece cut a striking figure, while a blue coat with bulky, tied sleeves and frothy lace cuffs finished the look. His enchanted sword hid away in an ornamental sheath covered in silver. Blue and silver coated his mask. He moved stiffly, uncomfortable. The pants are too tight and the shirt is weirdly loose. How did anyone ever move in this stuff?

Angel leaped out of the carriage. A small bodice and bottom encrusted in crystals were almost hidden by layers and layers of pink and white chiffon, which floated around when she moved. Scarves draped from gold cuffs and flowed around her back. A veil passed over her nose and barely hid her jaw. She spun, grinning. “How do I look?”

“Like a dancer,” Gideon replied.

“Like a rich dancer,” Angel replied happily, spinning again.

“Come now, let’s not draw all the eyes,” Jet murmured, gesturing for Angel to stand still.

Angel stuck her tongue out at him and spun around, sending her scarves to fly on the wind.

Leo glanced around shyly, tugging at the deep hood he wore. The long velvet cape with its red, evil-looking embroidery and deep hood looked nothing like a real cultist’s robes. Eyes and dragons featured boldly in the embroidered designs, all of it in blood red or dark purple. A few nobles glanced at Leo, murmuring to themselves.

Jet scoffed, casting a long look over Leo. “Do they really think cultists walk around announcing themselves like that?”

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Leo shrugged and tugged at his hood again, clearly uncomfortable.

“Leo, don’t worry. It’s a costume party. No one will think you’re actually a cultist,” Jet sighed reassuringly.

Leo nodded, but still hid under the hood.

Elly stepped down from the carriage in a priest’s full ornamental robes, matched with a pure white mask. She dusted down her outfit, slightly uncomfortable. “I made a vow of austerity, this is a bit…”

“Don’t worry, darling. I loaned it to you, after all. You didn’t pay a cent,” Ravenna purred. She climbed out of the carriage on her own.

Her dress glimmered with layers of white scales, each one handcrafted and shimmering with a faint bluish light. Clawed gloves stretched up past her elbows, likewise clad in white scales. A pair of white wings stretched from her back, splaying wide behind her. Silver wires wound through her black tresses, culminating in where her hair twisted up into horns, traced through with the same wires. A scaled mask circled her eyes.

“Isn’t it a bit obvious, coming to the palace as a dragon?” Jet asked, looking aside at Ravenna.

“Allow an old lady some fun,” Ravenna replied, gently fanning herself with a scaled fan that matched her wings. Even the tips of the fan’s ribs were capped in claws.

“If she doesn’t drop some hints, how will they ever figure it out?” Gideon said, rolling his eyes. “Besides, she’s been coming to the palace like this for centuries, and no one’s discovered she’s a dragon. The royal family is a bit dull, honestly.”

“Hmm… I tired of revealing myself centuries ago. However, I maintain my status as a noble so they continue inviting me to the palace. I do enjoy a good party, after all,” Ravenna said.

“How do you explain that?” Jet asked.

“Explain what, dear?” Ravenna hummed.

“You… being so young for so long,” Jet said.

Ravenna shrugged. “The Rudine ladies spend a few years in the limelight, then retire to the country with a terrible disease, just terrible. When the next Rudine lady appears a decade or so later, some of the old men remark how much like my mother I look, but everyone else simply welcomes me to the palace. And then, oh dear, another Rudine lady has come down with a terrible disease, that family is so unlucky, what a pity that she has to retire to the country, and in the flower of her youth, as well.” Ravenna shook her head, sighing at her own story.

“Mother has some weird hobbies,” Gideon said.

“You’re one to talk,” Jet shot back.

Gideon gave Jet a look. “Me? Hobbies? What strange hobbies do I have, Jet? I’m an ordinary, healthy young man.”

“I don’t know, killing dragons, reading erotica…” Jet listed.

Gideon frowned at him. “Ordinary, healthy young man, Jet! All young men read erotica and kill dragons. It’s simply the nature of the world!”

Leo frowned at Gideon and shook his head slowly.

“Except for squares like Leo. Leo just kills dragons, which honestly, between the two…” Gideon raised his eyebrows at Leo.

Leo scowled at Gideon. He shook his head solemnly.

“Look, I know you had a lover, but that’s not an excuse. That Rosy girl has nothing to do with you reading erotica,” Gideon replied, shaking his head.

“Gideon, please, let’s not make fun of people’s dead lovers?” Elly said gently.

“What’s Leo doing with dead people?” Gideon asked, shocked.

Leo crossed his arms and shook his head, turning aside.

“…starting criminal enterprises…” Jet said, continuing down his list.

“Hasn’t everyone dreamed of starting a criminal enterprise, at least once?” Gideon said dreamily.

Angel nodded and pointed at Gideon. Even Leo turned back around and made a noncommittal grunt.

“…writing your own tome…”

Gideon sighed and shook his head. “Oh, now we’re making fun of all mages, huh? ‘Look at me, I’m all muscle and no brains, smart people are lame because I’m jealous that they’re smart,’ that’s what you sound like, Jet.”

“…petty crime…”

“Who hasn’t done a little petty crime? What kind of joyless person hasn’t jaywalked at least once in their life? Jet, you’re the one who’s starting to sound strange,” Gideon returned.

Jet took a deep breath. He rubbed his face and shook his head, then turned and strode toward the palace. “Let’s head in.”

“No, no, Jet, come on. What are my crazy hobbies? I need to know,” Gideon insisted, chasing after Jet.

Exchanging glances, the others followed the two of them into the palace.