Perhaps the most pleasingly exciting thing to have happened in those months leading up to the masquerade and my birthday was the preparation for the ball itself. A couple of days after I first learned about it from Macaila, Sebastien called me into his office. We were not alone, as a very put-together woman in a tailored blouse and skirt with straight red hair draping around her shoulders was occupying a seat. I recognized her as the same person who had prepared me for the senators' dinner. A large leather-bound book was propped up on the conference table. Sebastien introduced her as Ashlyn Jio, one of the leading seamstresses in Astraera. She specialized in supplying dresses for the masquerade and Sebastien had employed her services to ensure I was properly dressed for the year's theme.

Sebastien left Ashlyn and me alone to look through Ashlyn's binder, which was filled with different dress designs attributed to influential figures in mage history. At once, I was awed by the work and the magnitude of options she presented. "You get first pick of the female costumes," Ashlyn informed me, "if you decide you like what I can do and go with me." There were the customary princess gowns with the full skirts and diamonds sewn onto the bodice to form some elegant design. Then another one reminded me of a pirate's attire, which led to some curiosity about who that historical figure could be. A black jumpsuit shouted simplicity and freedom of movement.

I spent a little under an hour looking at Ashlyn's designs before I settled on one. "We can make that work." Ashlyn smiled after I announced my decision. "You will be extraordinary when I'm done."

"Which historical figure was that design inspired by?" I wondered. Sebastien had returned to his office and was sitting on the other side of the conference table. He had been distracted by government work but looked up as if he wanted to know the answer as well.

"Adriana Penderyn," Ashlyn declared.

My gut twisted into a tight, suffocating knot as I recognized the name. Evangeline, Kyrian's sister, had mentioned that name before. Adriana had betrayed Evangeline's brother in the worst way possible, although the seraph hadn't exactly been clear on how, beyond the curse of invisibility. She had even sent Kyrian a dagger to kill himself with when he was struggling with the betrayal. If that was the same Adriana, then I had unwittingly chosen to be her for the masquerade. I froze, wondering if it was too late to change.

"You look like you are suddenly unhappy about your choice," Sebastien observed.

"Is she the same one who was involved with Prince Kyrian?" I questioned carefully.

"You mean the seraph prince? Yes, that is her," Ashlyn confirmed.

Sebastien examined the design I had chosen, which Ashlyn had set aside. "I think you should still go with it," he proclaimed. "Adriana Penderyn is still a notable figure in our history, despite whatever issues she had with the seraph royalty. She should not be defined by her relationship with the seraph. She was much more than that. I agree, Adriana Penderyn was not a saint. Yet, I will argue that she was—and still is—quite misunderstood. She had sizable ambition and keen intelligence. If she had stayed with the mages, she would have been an exceptional leader, which she no doubt was down in the Underworld, consort to a god. You would represent her perfectly."

I bit my lip.

"Is it going to be a problem? We can switch your costume if you would like, pick someone new." Ashlyn's hands hovered over her binder, prepared to go through it with me again.

I considered it. In the end, told her it was okay, and Ashlyn ran off with my measurements to start preparing my gown. Despite her sympathetic concern, she appeared excited about this particular commission. Curious about this distinct figure of mage history, I intended to perform my own research on Adriana. Sebastien held me in his office after Ashlyn had scurried off. "When we realized who exactly Jay was, and who partially raised him, I had him brought to me for an interview," Sebastien transitioned into a new subject. He stood up and walked over to peer out of the windows. I spun my chair around to follow him with my gaze. He was building up to something important. "Jay mentioned Galileo trained the three of you in the art of combat."

A chill went down my spine. I straightened, at once wondering where the chancellor was going with this. "He did."

"Jay said you were a creditable threat. He had to go full effort in the sparring ring just to keep himself from getting a broken nose or black eye. You had speed, grace, wit, power, combinations, and just the right amount of spontaneity."

I blinked. Jay said that? "He managed to get me down a couple of times, too."

Sebastien went on without recognizing my demureness. "And one of my men can attest to how well trained you are." Sebastien turned around from the view. From the confusion he observed on my face, he explained, amused, "You attacked one of my men on my special forces with a staff three years ago in Colorado. If I remember correctly, you knocked him unconscious."

My eyes widened when I realized whom he was talking about. I forced myself to breathe as my mind raced. I had never realized that Galileo was attempting to steal from the mage chancellor. Back then, I didn't even know mages existed. While keeping my expression unreadable and guarded, I examined Sebastien. He remained placid. "He attacked me first," I responded evenly.

"You broke into the hotel room, but it's all semantics and off topic anyway," he brushed off before he launched into the explanation behind his odd questioning. "Every year, the masquerade honors mage history and tradition. There are a couple of performances and parades honoring the Divine, our magic, and the prophetess Aurora. Usually, the masquerade committee chooses the actors from the young adults at the Academia who have stood out in a positive manner, whether that's through academics, magic, leadership, or youth league sports. There is one performance, however, where adult actors are preferred, and that's the Sol and Luna dance. It's more of a staged combat than dance. It represents our natural alchemical heritage."

"Okay," I said slowly when Sebastien paused.

"I have asked the masquerade committee for the honor to assign you to the dance as the part of Luna."

"Who will be Sol?" I couldn't imagine learning such an important dance with a stranger as a partner. Even when I was performing in aerial dance, I preferred solo routines over partner ones.

Sebastien shook his head as his eyes glittered with mischief. "That will have to remain a mystery. It's a tradition."

"Wouldn't I have to practice with him?"

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"No, it's supposed to be instinctual between the two parties. Primitive. That's why it is important that the chosen Sol and Luna have both the fortitude and knowledge of dance and combat." Sebastien considered me. "Does that mean that you will agree to it? I want to give you every opportunity to experience your mage heritage, and I feel you would have been offered one of these roles had you grown up in our world."

I felt like I had to agree to it.

As I was walking out of his office, I realized he never once asked about the compass rose—which I had been sent to steal from his men. The last I knew, it was still secured in Denver's evidence warehouse. He didn't even seem to care I had burglarized the hotel room and stolen the odd compass.

* * *

Just as he had promised, Cassiah went to the State Library with me, while Macaila relied on the excuse that she had too many orders she needed to fulfill before she went on vacation with her family. After introducing me to the Master Librarian, Desirae, who was hovering around the center circular desk already manned by one of her assistants, Cassiah guided me over to the old broadcast manuscripts.

On the way, we passed by a section that was cordoned off. There was enough natural light flowing in through the library's glass dome to see the damage. Shelves were fractured; most of the wood had turned an ugly dark brown from the flames that had consumed them. The remnant ashes of old books still stained the floor. "That's where the Resistance's bomb detonated a couple of months ago," Cassiah whispered to me as we walked past it.

I considered the section with more interest. "What type of books did it contain?"

"Mostly nonfiction historical stuff pertaining to the mages."

"If I wanted to research into the current chancellor's biography, it would have been there?" I frowned.

"You seem close enough to him. Couldn't you ask him?" Cassiah read into my question correctly.

I shook my head. How do you ask someone about why they didn't have any family?

The section we wanted was two floors above the main one and kept in a secluded aisle. From the orderly state of things, it appeared as if no one had browsed the shelves lately.

"When would he have been sentenced to prison?" Cassiah inquired as we turned in circles in the aisle. There were golden numbers imprinted on the books' spines and a couple of trays jetted from the shelves holding large bounded manuscripts. I migrated to one tray and looked down. Although most mages retrieved the news on their erions, Cassiah had explained that the news station created hard copies of the broadcast for historical accountability and nostalgia.

"Twenty-six years ago, maybe?" I grounded my teeth, uncertain about my estimation.

"Then we start at the 1993s."

I flipped through the manuscript in front of me. The material was rough. The book had been flipped open to the manuscript from November 1988. There were still quite a bit more pages in the book, so I grabbed large sections at a time in order to move forward. The dates steadily increased until the very last one, which was in October 1992. I was off by a year. Cassiah was working through the manuscript at the next tray, so I stepped next to him. As he flipped the pages, I focused mainly on the dates. Some headlines caught my eye.

Drama on the Senate Floor: The Battle between Alisai and Quincy.

Aerie Affinities Fading, Soon to Become Extinct?

Daemeyri Leaders and Senate Come to Terms on New Deal.

Rebels Demanding to be United with the Rest of the World.

With every flip Cassiah completed, I started to realize something. He had slowed down once we had reached the 1993s so we could inspect every page, or else I didn't think I would have noticed that there were some dates missing. As it was, it took some time for me to realize that a couple of dates were missing from a part of the binding. The manuscript started in March, where one week's news had not been inserted into the stack. Then it became blatant in July, where there was only one week representing the entire month.

"Stop."

Frowning and complying with my request, Cassiah inquired for answers with his gaze. "There are weeks missing," I announced. I gently pushed Cassiah to the side in order to inspect the manuscript's gutter. It appeared as pristine as ever, as if no one had torn pages out of the book. The pages had never been added. I straightened to find Cass staring down at the open pages before him. He darted to the next manuscript presented on the tray to the right. Its first pages started with the paper from February 1994.

"These are usually complete," he insisted. "I had to use them for a project of mine a while ago."

Biting my bottom lip, I said, "They never got put in."

"That's unusual."

"Unless someone is hiding something," I hypothesized.

"Something related to Konstantinos?"

"Maybe." I shrugged. "It's too bad. I wanted to see a picture of him. Just to know what he looked like."

A shadow darkened the aisle. My breath got caught in my throat. I was able to control myself enough to prevent jumping over the sudden appearance of the Master Librarian. Beyond stating her title, her name tag identified her as Desirae Corazen. She was a petite woman with a contradictory face. While her cheekbones were sharp, the rest of her face was soft. Her dark hair had been slick back into a neat French braid that had the tail tucked underneath. "Are you finding everything you need? Can I help you find something?" she inquired politely.

Fortunately, Cassiah straightened next to me and asserted, "We were only trying to find information on the Nocte Civil War." I stood next to him. The way Desirae's intimidating stare rested on us made me feel like I was just a mischievous teenager, and not the twenty-three-year-old I was. I tried to keep my true intention—to find out as much about Zane Konstantinos as possible—off my face.

Desirae grimaced. "Unfortunately, all the material for that civil war was located downstairs where the bombing happened." Convenient, I thought.

"Do you have any backups?" Cassiah asked hopefully.

Desirae shook her head; her lips pressed together in a narrow line. "No, we never got around to it." She paused before asking, "Is there anything else I can help you find?"

"Do you have anything on Adriana Penderyn?" I interjected while Cassiah shook his head.

This Desirae could help us with. She guided us to the domestic history section, where I found the book I needed, Our Dynasty's Linage. It was a thick volume. Flipping through the pages, I saw painted portraits and photographs next to blurbs about each specific person belonging to the obsolete mage dynasty. I navigated to the index, found the long list of P's, and then Adriana's name connected to page 337. I flipped to that specific page and saw her name emblazoned across the page. Hers was one of the few unfortunate blurbs lacking a photograph. Instead, there was a good chunk of information to make up for it.

Adriana was born into the dynasty as the second child out of three. She was wild as soon as she emerged from her mother’s womb, always running off and returning after dinner with flowers tangled in her hair and dirt on her dress. No matter how much the queen and king tried to control her, she always found some way to rebel.

At age nine, Adriana was accepted into the Muse Program at the Academia. She completed this program at twenty-five and became one of five muses.

Perhaps the most notorious action she did was to leave the dynasty. The way she did it resulted in the creation of the Persephone and Hades myth. At twenty-eight years old, Adriana appeared for the year's masquerade in the era's most scandalous dress and announced she was resigning her position in the dynasty and the Muse Order to become the Queen of the Underworld. She had been blinded by her desire for Clymenus, the Underworld God, and the power he could offer her. This in itself became a scandal, as she had been paired with a seraph prince during this time. After Adriana's descent, she was never seen again, and her muse position remained vacant and cursed until the collapse of the program in 1969.

Well, it is fortunate that the seraphim probably won't be coming to the masquerade, as it's purely a mage tradition, I thought. I'd had enough with Kyrian's hostile attitude. I didn't need for him to see my gown, which was to mimic the scandalous dress Adriana had worn to her last masquerade and berate me for my choice. Still, I felt a bit of apprehension at the succeeding dress fittings with Ashlyn, especially when I discovered how much skin the dress revealed, something which hadn't been obvious in her artistic two-dimensional renderings. It felt like a lot of me was exposed. When I expressed this to Ashlyn, she assured me that my important areas would be covered, and the way I presented it would make it either scandalous or stylish. She sounded so confident that I had to trust her.