Gaians, especially the upper crust of society at the Heart, loved warm colors. Gold, brown, red, orange and yellows complimented the varying hues of brown skin tones of Gaians and complimentary colors was the essence of fashion; of course, that was what every nobleman spits out when asked. The blues, greens and Parts-forbid the silver only stands to clash with the complexion of a red blooded Gaian, therefore must never be worn.
It was only natural that the high society parties Taurin frequented was an explosion of warm hues. The brightest colors were a light yellow or pale pink, the darkest a deeply reddish brown or maroon. All the cutlery were made of gold or copper, every piece of tableware a ceramic from a red clay and dipped in gold. A sea of heads of varying brunette hair milled around foods that also stayed on theme. Any vegetable retaining a green hue was cooked to death to obtain a more ‘desirable’ color. Meats were expertly cooked to medium-rare to retain a slightly bloody interior, as is fashionable in Gaian cuisine. Even the flora jammed into vases as decoration had green leaves plucked off and green stems dyed to a dark purple (a more acceptable color than green).
So the two men standing at the front of the room wearing blue tunics and adorned with silver jewelry painfully stuck out in the party. Nilda, from her place at the side of the room, could only hear whispers of ‘Caelisian’ and simply assumed they were diplomats from the foreign kingdom. The Heart of Gaia, being the home of the Merchant’s guild and situated one boat ride away from the Academy, had its share of foreigners although Nilda understood Caelis to be part of the Empire. Not that it mattered - here, if you looked different, you were a foreigner.
Nilda was too preoccupied with watching the people around Taurin to give the Caelisians much notice. At some point, Taurin reached a lull in conversation with her friends and wandered over to Nilda under the pretense of checking her hair.
“You’re going to need to walk with me to the front,” Taurin muttered under her breath as Nilda briefly touched the braids on the side of her head.
Taurin turned and Nilda followed her through the throngs of nobility, all eating and drinking and chatting with wide smiles. Nilda stayed close to her mistress, carefully making it clear that she was accompanying rather than intruding. Taurin paused slightly while a distance off from the front of the room and made a short, amused ‘hm’ sound. Nilda looked up and understood immediately.
One of the men dressed in blue was Stickman who saved them from assailants just two days ago.
He had his longish hair loose over his shoulders and he didn’t seem to have his stick with him, which was why Nilda didn’t immediately recognize him. His heavy brow settled on a frown when he met with her eyes, flickered over to Taurin, then returned to stare at Nilda.
“What’s going on?” Nilda murmured, hiding the movement of her lips behind her taller mistress.
“I knew your savior is a guardsman for the Solaris of Caelis,” Taurin turned to whisper back at her. “But I didn’t know Rask was actually his captain.”
Nilda glanced back at Rask. “How did you know he is from Caelis in the first place?”
“With a name like that? He also called us Westerners and had a bit of an accent,” Taurin grinned cheekily at her. “All which you would have noticed if you weren’t busy getting worked up over him.”
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Nilda shot her mistress a dirty look, but quickly smoothed her expression before anyone else caught it. Taurin didn’t care what expression she put on her face, but other people certainly did. “Then how did you know he’s a captain?”
“Only a captain would be able to join him at this party,” Taurin said thoughtfully. “Or perhaps that’s not the precise title. Oooh, I haven’t quite read up on Caelisian court hierarchy - ”
“Lady Leton?” a deep voice rumbled. Taurin turned again and the other man standing next to Rask approached, then bowed respectfully. He was tall with a coif of curly red-brown hair barely styled back over his face like a mane.
“Solaris,” Taurin said a little breathlessly. She gave a curtsy and Nilda followed, eyeing the man curiously. He seemed a little older than Rask, but his face was covered by a thick beard so she couldn’t tell with certainty. Tawny gold eyes looked amused as he exchanged glances with Nilda, who didn’t look away.
She didn’t like any of it; the way ‘Solaris’ didn’t sound like a name, the fact that her mistress had gone up to him to initiate a conversation, and how Taurin’s voice went all husky at the sight of him. Men at parties like this usually tripped over their own feet to exchange words with a noblewoman of Taurin’s status. The four of them drifted off to the side of the huge banquet hall away from other people - something else Nilda disliked.
“Perhaps we could return to your peers for more drinks,” Nilda said in as neutral a tone as possible. She would feel safer amongst more people, less chance of strange men dragging them off into the shadows.
“It seems like your handmaid does not have a high opinion of me,” the Solaris said. His eyes twinkled as he said this.
“We had… an incident a couple days ago. Nilda is simply being on guard,” Taurin said. She reached out and patted Nilda’s hand. “I assume that is something your captain here has informed you about?”
“It was quite interesting he was at the right place at the right time,” Nilda interjected. This was something most other noblewomen wouldn’t allow their handmaids to do, but then again, Nilda wasn’t a handmaid. It was far more important to discern who these strange men were and what they wanted from the Letons. “Perhaps you could explain that bit as well?”
Rask glared at her. “You think I have something to do with the attempt on Lady Leton’s life? That is the most moronic thing - ”
“No, it is quite a logical suspicion,” the Solaris said, raising a hand to stop his captain. “However, I hope the eventual relationship I’ll have with your mistress will assuage your suspicions. On top of the… increased security detail I’ve placed over both of you.”
Nilda looked blankly up at the man with the uncontrollable hair and the tawny-gold eyes. “What relationship?” she asked.
“Nilda…” Taurin gave her a wide eyed look. “Didn’t Dad tell you? I'm engaged to the Solaris. We’re to be married.”
“That's why I was watching over your lady in the first place,” Rask added.”Are you satisfied now?”
It was enough to leave her speechless. Of course, Taurin was of marrying age so it should come to no surprise that she would be engaged. Nilda simply thought…She just thought that life would continue the way they have forever.
The party rolled on and Taurin spent most of the night talking with the Solaris. At one point, Nilda looked up to the walls of the banquet hall and spotted the framed parchment with a map of the Heart of Gaia on it.
We must follow where the Solvent flows.