Marcus groaned loudly, feeling far too annoyed to care if anyone heard him.

Luckily right now he was alone in his rooms, waiting for the banquet to start, so no one else was present. Despite this he still couldn't force himself to relax, not when he could be called to join the celebrations at any minute. So he just stood still, not-so-silently burning with frustration.

The last three days had been incredibly stressful for the Vex Queen. While his friends had fun visiting the city, he had been stuck in the palace, either studying etiquette with Eisen and Trakk or posing for the tailors in order to get his dress ready, which had proven to be much worse than he could have ever expected. Instead of just making him try new clothes or taking his measures, the tailors had actually sewn the dress from scratch using him as a living mannequin, requiring him to stand still for hours on end every day. Moreover, the head tailor was an arrogant jerkass who wasn't keen on making conversation while he worked, nor allowed his assistants to do so either, which meant that Marcus had to stand still and silent. All in all, it had been one of the most agonisingly boring experiences of both his lives, and the Vex Queen's patience had been worn dangerously thin by the end of it. It was only thanks to the luxurious bathroom and the delicious meal that were provided to him that he hadn't reached his snapping point.

Still, even he had to admit that the tailor’s arrogance was somewhat backed up by his skills, as the quality of the dress he had made almost justified all the crap that he had made Marcus go through.

It was a sleeveless dress with a long gown, much like the one he had worn during the celebration in Brettholz, a design which had the advantage of not getting caught in the chitin of his limbs. But unlike all previous dresses Marcus had tried on, this one looked elegant and sleek enough that he didn't feel completely ridiculous in it. The tailor had actually made this dress to compliment the Vex Queen's non-human features rather than hiding them. The fabric was of a deep purple that matched the chitin of his limbs, adorned with black and silver lace decorations with a dragonfly motif, while the gown didn't cover Marcus's tail but actually put it on full display, leaving most of his back naked in the process. Moreover, the fabric was incredibly light and pleasantly comfortable on his skin, allowing the Vex Queen to easily move around in it.

All in all, it was probably everything Marcus could have wished for given the circumstances. He still would have preferred wearing masculine clothes, sure, but if he absolutely had to wear a dress he couldn't imagine something better than this one.

The only drawback was that he wasn't used to wearing something so elegant and expensive looking, so ever since he had finished getting ready he had basically done nothing but standing still for fear of ruining the dress, which also kinda explained why he wasn't able to relax.

In order to distract himself, he shifted his attention to the copy drones that were looking after Tiny. The ogress had behaved quite well as of lately, to the point that Marcus had even sort of started to appreciate her company —probably because it was the only interaction he could have during the tailoring sessions of the last days. In a way, it was sort of like looking after a child, albeit one that could easily crush him by accident while hugging him. But since it was the copy drones rather than himself that had to endure Tiny's bone-breaking gestures of affection, he was mostly fine with it. In fact, the only habit of the ogress that Marcus was a bit worried about was that she had started to hide herself in various places around the rooms, like inside the closets or behind couches, in order to have naps. She was surprisingly good at this, even managing to elude the surveillance of three different drones, and since she was a heavy sleeper Marcus couldn't wake her up just by calling her and had to actually find her and shake her up. However, since there was literally no exit from their rooms apart from a single door that was locked at all times, the Vex Queen didn't think this was anything too serious, and in fact had started treating this as some sort of game of hide and seek.

However, right now the ogress was sleeping on the bed, and since he’d rather not wake her up there wasn’t much entertainment to be derived from her company, apart maybe the hilariousness of her loud snoring. So, not having anything better to do, Marcus sighed and grabbed a book that Yasen had lended him, skimming it while waiting impatiently for someone to come and take him to the banquet.

Luckily he didn't have to wait long, as only a few minutes later someone knocked at his door. The Vex Queen immediately dropped the book and opened the door, finding himself face to face with one of the palace maids.

“Sir Marcus.” The woman bowed respectfully. “Sorry to bother you, but dinner is about to start, and I'm here to accompany you there if you’re ready.”

“I am.” Marcus nodded. “Lead the way.”

He then followed the maid through various corridors, until they finally reached a small, mostly empty room. Eisen and Trakk were already there, both dressed elegantly for the evening. The marquis was wearing a loose blue tunic with a few golden embroidery, held tightened around the waist by a red sash, while the goblin had opted for a rather sober tight suit with only minimal decoration, which gave him a rather martial look. They immediately turned towards the Vex Queen as he made his entrance.

“Sir Marcus!” The marquis cheerfully greeted him. “Good evening. It's a pleasure to see that you decided to join us.”

“Eh, it's not as if I had much choice on the matter.” Marcus thought somewhat bitterly, but out loud he said: “Likewise. What are you two doing here?”

“We've been waiting for you.” The nobleman replied. “As representatives of Brettholz, I think we're supposed to make our entrance together.” He turned towards the maid. “Is that right?”

“Yes.” The woman replied. “Another servant will take you to the great hall in a few minutes.”

And with another bow, the maid left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Great. More waiting.” The Vex Queen sighed. “This is why I can't stand this kind of social event. It's 90% waiting, 10% useless chatting and 100% being bored out of your mind!”

He’d have gone on with his inner ranting, but he was forced to stop when Eisen spoke to him.

“So, how do you feel, sir Marcus?” He asked. “Are you ready for this banquet?”

“As ready as I could ever be.” The monster girl replied. “I spent three days preparing for it after all, and I’d hate to think that I wasted time. Though truth be told, I’d be much more relaxed if I didn’t have to show up at all.”

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“Don't worry. I’m sure everything will be fine.” The nobleman tried to reassure him. “Just stay close to me and Trakk and we'll do most of the talking for you, if you're worried about making a bad impression. As for the rest, just try to relax and enjoy the banquet. Who knows, you might even have fun!”

“That's very unlikely.” Marcus thought. Out loud, however, he replied: “Thanks, milord. I'll try my best to stay quiet and not make you lose face.”

“I couldn't ask for more.” Eisen nodded. Then, after looking at him, he added: “Also, I must say that you look especially lovely tonight. That’s bound to be helpful when making first impressions.”

“I agree.” Trakk chimed in. “From what I know about human beauty standards, I'd say you do look particularly attractive in that attire.”

Marcus groaned internally. These sort of compliments to his feminine appearance irked him quite a bit, but sadly, given the circumstances, he had no choice but to take them with good grace.

“Thank you.” He said, trying not to show his irritation. “Though more than attractiveness, I'd actually be more interested in looking harmless, as we discussed. Do you think that I achieved that?”

“Well...” The marquis hesitated a moment. “For the most part I'd say yes. But...”

“But?” The Vex Queen insisted, starting to feel a bit worried. If it turned out that he had posed all those hours just to end up with a dress that made him look scary, he was definitely going to kick the tailor's ass.

“Well, the dress kinda emphasises your non-human features, which could be unsettling to some people.” The nobleman elaborated. “But despite that, I’d say that the majority of people won’t really have a problem with your appearance. After all, that dress does really look good on you. It gives you some sort of predatory grace, so to speak. So I think you're probably going to be fine.”

“I get it.” The Vex Queen nodded, though he wasn't entirely reassured.

Then, before anyone could add anything else, an old palace servant suddenly entered the room.

“Excuse me, milords and milady.” The man said. “The banquet has begun, and they are ready to receive you. Would you be so kind as to follow me, please?”

“Of course.” The marquis nodded, gesturing for the others to come along too.

“Excellent.” The butler said as he guided them out of the room. “Oh, and by the way, I should tell you that the celebration this evening will be a tad more informal than usual. For starters, due to the huge numbers of guests, the dinner will be a buffet instead of the usual banquet. I hope that will not be a problem.”

“Don’t worry.” Eisen replied. “It’s fine for me, and I’m sure my companions won’t have a problem with it either.”

Both Trakk and Marcus nodded in confirmation, and in this instance the Vex Queen was actually completely honest. The more informal the event the better it was for him, and besides he preferred buffets to banquets, since he could take as much food as he wanted by himself, without having to ask the waiters for seconds. So, with his mood slightly improved, he walked right behind Eisen and Trakk as they finally entered the great hall of the royal palace.And what Marcus saw there immediately made his mood go back to sour.

The great hall was a very large room, with huge windows on the courtyard that occupied almost the entirety of the right side. From the walls, to the alabaster columns, and even the marble floor, everything was of an immaculate white, interrupted only by golden decorations and some typical Toathal ornaments like red leaves and candles. A fresco depicting scenes from a hunt covered the ceiling, and huge chandeliers with magical lights instead of candles illuminated the whole room. A large table, covered in all sorts of delicious looking dishes had been put near the wall on the left side of the room, and finally an elevated platform was right down the hall, with two big thrones over it.

However, the detail that had caused Marcus to start feeling nervous was the fact that the room was filled to the brim with people. Hundreds of guests, all dressed in different bright colours and with such a variety of exotic styles the likes of which Marcus had only seen during Mardi Gras, though the clothes in this hall were considerably more elegant and of better workmanship. Though, more than their choice of clothing, what really made him uneasy was the fact that they were all staring at him right now.

For a moment, the Vex Queen struggled to keep calm. Though the Crown of Silence shielded him from the assault of the collective mental noise he just wasn't used to such crowds anymore, especially not when he himself was in the spotlight. He felt almost naked under those stares, and he felt the urge to turn back and run away to hide somewhere safe, where no one could see him. However, he didn't follow those instincts and instead steeled his will, forcing himself to walk calmly beside the marquis with a small, polite smile on his face.

The crowd parted before them, as if everyone was too afraid to get close to the Brettholz trio. That is, until a portly, short old man dressed elegantly emerged from the back of the room, heading straight for them.

“Eisen!” The man said with a warm smile on his face. “What a pleasure to see you!”

“Count Barrich.” The marquis replied, smiling back at the newcomer. “A pleasure to see you too. How are you?”

“Can't really complain, I guess.” The count said. “Especially because it's my missus who dictates my life as of lately, so any complaint would have rather unpleasant consequences.” He laughed heartily. “A wonderful woman she is, but she makes generals from the army seem like pushovers by comparison!”

“Indeed, she's an extraordinary woman.” Eisen said. “Anyway, speaking of generals, let me introduce you to one. Barrich, this is Trakk, the Goblin General. Trakk, this is Count Doven Barrich, former minister of the finances.”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, milord.” The goblin said, while bowing elegantly towards the nobleman.

“The pleasure is all mine.” The count bowed back a bit. “I say, I would have never thought I'd live to see the day a goblin would participate in a celebration like this! And especially not one as polite as you are!”

“Times change, milord.” Trakk replied.

“Yeah, they tend to do that.” Barrich said. “And it's hard to follow them when you're an old fossil like me. So I hope you’ll forgive any rudeness on my part, since I can assure you that it’s not intentional.” He paused and turned his eyes on Marcus. “And I assume this cute little thing here is the famed Queen of the Vex, isn't she?”

“Indeed.” Marcus replied, bowing politely towards the man. “Marcus Vitali. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” The count replied. Then he turned back to Eisen and said: “Now, you've got to tell me all about this battle you fought at Treval. The newspapers I've read said that you killed more than fifty thousand orcs!”

“That's quite an exaggeration thankfully.” The marquis smiled. “The orcs were barely twenty thousand by the time we faced them in battle, and even less than those actually got out of the city to face us.”

“I see.” Barrich nodded. “Well, given how much newspapers tend to embellish the truth, that’s not surprising. In fact, the number they reported is more accurate than I’d have expected. Anyway, even twenty thousand orcs are still a very big threat, especially if there was an oni leading them. So, can you tell me what actually happened? I'm sure it's going to be an interesting tale!”

“I could, but I think I'll delegate this task to Trakk, if it's not a problem.” The marquis replied with a smile. “He's quite better than me at telling this story.”

“By all means.” The count turned to the General. “Tell us your tale, master goblin!”

“As you wish, count.” Trakk said with a smile.

Then, the Goblin General proceeded to recount the battle of Treval in a concise but still entertaining way, spicing up the narration with little jokes and dramatic pauses to make it more engaging, He couldn't have told the story any better if he had practised for it.

Which he had done actually.

The previous day they had been secretly informed by Yasen that someone would ask them about the battle of Treval to break the ice, so Trakk and Eisen had been able to prepare a suitable speech in advance. And judging from the enraptured expression on the faces of those who were overhearing it, it seemed like that ploy was actually working perfectly.

“Man, this feels like some sort of social chess game.” Marcus thought. “We are moved around like pawns by the king, or maybe by Orr for him.” He sighed. “Well, I don't really care as long as I'm a well fed pawn. Hopefully Trakk will finish his tale soon, and after that we'll be able to help ourselves to the buffet. I think I saw some very nice-looking tartares over there.”

Feeling his mouth watering a bit in anticipation, he settled for silently waiting for the others to finish talking, all while eyeing the buffet.