Kealan sighed again, if it weren't for shali he wouldn't even be going to the ball, he thought balls were stupid, as a kid he had attended quite a few, that was years ago before the emperor had torn apart his home, now he was forced to hide his powers, [one day I'll show all of them], now he was a slave, even lower than a servant, he didn't deserve this, he didn't deserve to wake up and listen to the little brat at all, how was he even still alive? He wondered... He groaned as he got into his noble outfit khabari had had the palace seamtress sow last minute

"I invited you did I not, I can't have you looking like that, it'll ruin my reputation" the brat had exclaimed

Like he had a reputation, he had also insisted kealan learn to waltz in the short time before the ball, at least understand the basics, that was were he was headed now, to the garden to learn a few things, he had objected vehemently bit shali had thought it would be funny to see him twirling some girl and had MADE him agree... He sighed again and pranced into the courtyard where master Eliott was waiting for him, the prince was there too trying and failing miserably to learn the waltz

"nice moves... " kealan snickered and khabari growled

"bastard"

"now now, watch your language " Eliott said knocking the prince who fumed

"have you ever gone to a ball before?"

"..."

"well? "

"no" he whispered

"I see, well first things first, there are three rules you need to take into consideration "

"the first thing is to always keep your head high, secondly take note of all the Important people in the room and thirdly never spill your drink" master Eliott said gravely

"uhm is that it?"

"if you do these things, you don't even have to dance, for tomorrow will be splendid"

"really? "

"yeah, well except the queen asks you to dance? "

"th...the...the queen? "

Khabari cringes, queen Amelie, the kings last and favourite wife, she rivaled the kings frivolousness and has as many playthings as the king, she was also disdainful to everyone, in short khabari hated her...

"yes, rumour has it that the queen appears once in a while to social events to look for new toys"

"I couldn't care less" kealan yawned and khabari stares at him surprised

"boy!!! Its an honour to serve the queen, she would provide for all your needs and you'd be elevated, you'd be a step below the king"

"but isn't this ball a masked..." khabari starts

"exactly... You'd never know, you could encounter her at any turn"

"huh"

"who gives a flying fuck... " khabari seethes

"we're here to learn the waltz not talk about some bi..."

Eliott coughs to interrupt khabari

"very well, now remember these three rules and you might be okay, now the waltz... "

[timeskip to the ball]

Kealan yawned and donned on his scarlet coloured masked, he could tell from the exquisite design it was expensive and he made a mental note to sell it once the ball was over, khabari turned to him

"are you okay?"

"yeah... "

"nervous?"

"why do you care?" kealan hissed

"I don't want you to embarrass me... And yourself"

"..."

Khabari wore a sky blue suit and a black and gold mask, it literally glittered in the moonlight

'it's midnight, deal with it'

The ball was being held in the castle gardens, a huge crowd of nobles stood in a clearing chatting excitedly, children ran around the garden giggling, and there was a table with all kinds of food, servants walked round handing drinks out and there was slight folk music playing in the background, overall the mood was festive, although kealan recognized a few if the servants, none of them could recognize him, khabari left his side to talk to one or two people and kealan well stood there not sure what to do... He didn't know any of the nobles, well; he knew some of them but they had been mean to him as a servant now he stood regal with his head head high, hand clasped behind his back, jaw set, his grey eyes scanning the crowd "excuse me " a voice squeaked behind him and he turned around to stare at a pale skinned girl with blue eyes and deep black hair, almost by instinct he knew it was shali

"enjoying the party? " she asked and kealan could tell from the way she was rocking back and forth, she had had a lot of drinks

"shali are you drunk? "

"whaaaaaaaat" she slurred

"maybe I should get you out of here" he muttered

"you sound just like my dad" shali giggled and ran into the crowd

"sha...damn it" he sighs and follows her, he sights khabari flirting with some girl and he struts over

"excuse me" he interrupts their conversation

"excuse you..." the girl mutters and he pulls khabari aside ignoring her

" what the hell, I'm in the middle of something "

"shali's here"

"she did say she was gonna be here, did she not?" khabari says

"she's drunk, really drunk, I was following her but I lost her "

"what do you mean you lost her?" khabari hisses

"she disappeared..."

"ugh... H.. "