19. Knowing where to stand
“Don’t be so nervous,” I told Tajax, the nervous young teen sitting in the room with us, after I had asked his name. “It’s just another party. I’m certain that you’ve been to a hundred events like this growing up. The only difference is that people will want to talk to you like an adult so you can’t sneak off and mess around with the other kids who got dragged along to a stupid party they didn’t want to go to.”
“What?” Tajax said, looking surprised. “I’ve never done anything like this before! I didn’t even realize I qualified as a noble until I got the invitation from the Marquis! From the Marquis himself! I thought I was just a merchant’s son, but I guess my mother is the cousin of someone’s cousin? I’m so confused.”
“Oh,” I said. “I guess you have more to be nervous about than I thought. Do you know how to dance?”
“We have to dance?” he exclaimed.
“You probably won’t have to nearly as much as I will,” I predicted. “But you’ll have to dance at least once at the start of the ball, and then again at the end. It was … um, the opening was the four-step. The closing was supposed to be a cotillion, but you can do the four-step in a corner with the partner and nobody will notice the difference.”
“What is the four-step? The closest I’ve come to dancing was, was, I don’t know!”
I felt bad for Tajax. Tarisha was watching me carefully since our conversation on my new abilities had ended. Our relationship had become more complicated, and I wasn’t certain that I’d have time to figure things out. But right now, I wanted to help Tajax.
“Tajax, I’m going to teach you the four-step,” I informed him.
“You are?” he asked, and he seemed even more frightened by that idea than anything else.
“I am. Stand up. Come here. No, closer,” I said, and I one hand on his waist and took the other in mine.
“Right. So, I’m leading right now,” I explained, pulling him with me as we slowly danced around the sofa where the boy with the book was sitting. That was Loren. He was alright. A viscount now, I think. I knew him because we used to sneak off on parties like this together when we were younger.
“And it’s that easy,” I said, dragging the reluctant boy along. He was only level eight and, even though I was really stacking on the Charisma for this event, I had much higher physical stats than he would have. “You just do it in time with the music and try not to bump into the other dancers, and that’s about it. That’s the four-step. Easiest dance there is.”
“It’s called a Waltz on Earth,” Tarisha informed us helpfully.
“Try leading now,” I said, bringing us to a stop and switching it around so that our hands were in the right position for him to lead. “They’ll expect you to lead because you’re the boy. I’ll pretend to be the girl for you while you learn. Just do what I was doing a moment ago.”
The boy was awkward and jerky as he began to pull me around the room. I was quick and responsive to his guidance, and I did my best to give him subtle clues as to how to move, but he didn’t seem to pick up on them at all. And then he went still for a moment, his eyes widening slightly as though he was experiencing an epiphany. When he moved again, he could dance the four-step. It wasn’t perfect, but it was much better than he’d been managing before.
“I think you just gained a skill,” I teased him.
“Indeed I did,” he agreed, smiling. “Thank you, Hail. I am not nearly so nervous anymore.”
And it was at this moment that Marquis Peori opened the door and walked in with three men and two women. I knew one of the men and one of the women; Lord Tom and Lady Gwen. The others were strangers to me. For half a second I didn’t register the intrusion and we continued to dance; then I realized that six relative strangers were watching me dance with another boy. I quickly jerked away from Tajax. Perhaps a little too quickly, and I blushed nervously.
“I was just teaching Tajax here how to dance the four-step,” I explained. “So that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself when it came time to dance.”
Peori looked at me seriously. “Did it not occur to you that the reason he was invited was to look foolish? He’s supposed to mess up on everything expected of him tonight so that you look better by comparison.”
“Called it,” Loren called, not looking up from his book.
I frowned, looking at the poor Tajax, who had gone white as a sheet at Peori’s words.
“If that’s the case, then send him home,” I said. “If I’m going to look good, let it be because of my own merit. I won’t consent to intentionally making the fool out of someone to make myself look better.”
Peori studied me seriously. Then he nodded. “Very well. Tajax, you’re free to leave, if that is your desire.”
“No!” he exclaimed. “I mean, I’m sorry, Marquis, but I wish to stay, if that is possible? I might make a fool of myself, but if I talk about my father’s business, then maybe it will help him? Help us?”
“Indeed you might,” the Marquis said. He shrugged. “It makes no difference. I just told my secretary to invite every single fifteen year old with a drop of noble blood in their veins. You’ll be dancing with Viscountess Alia here for the opening. If you stick close to her and listen carefully, and speak only of your father’s shop, then you might indeed drum up some business for your entire family.”
“I’ll do that!” Tajax exclaimed. “I can do that!”
The boy sounded determined, so I let the matter drop. “So, introductions? I assume these are friends of yours?” I said, motioning to the five strangers.
“Friends of ours,” Jorva Peori said. “I believe you know two of them. They attempted to advise you in the wake of your grandfather’s death, but proved to be out of their depths compared to your political genius. They still wish to make themselves and their assets available to you, to us , in the endeavor of putting Rain the second on the throne.”
I nodded and bowed gracefully towards the two. “Lord Tom. Lady Gwen. It’s a pleasure to see you.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“The pleasure is ours,” the snakelike Tom answered. Despite his appearance, I had always found him to be honorable in his word and deed. And my grandfather trusted him, which counted for a lot.
“The other three are count Seaver, Viscountess Alia, and Baron Unders,” Peori said. “That is their preferred names, at least. If they were being introduced tonight, they would each be a little bit longer, but not so long as yours.”
“I wish this wasn’t necessary,” I complained. “It’s such a foolish tradition. And it seems to be too soon after the regicide and assassinations. Storm has scored points throughout the kingdom by harping on that note.”
“In the eyes of the law, you are a man, Hail,” Peori reminded me. “In the eyes of society, you are a child until you present yourself at an event like this.”
“In the eyes of high society, at least,” I grumbled. “Commoners don’t give two rotten potatoes about it, and if they do, they agree with Uncle Storm.”
“The commoner’s opinions will sway with the wind,” Count Seaver predicted. He was a short, rotund man with red hair and a mustache.
“The people you need to impress tonight hold sway over a total of three quarters of the nation, depending on how you count it. Not everyone holds the reins directly, but there are many sons, daughters, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and even fathers and mothers among the crowd,” Viscountess Alia explained. She was not an attractive woman, but she wore an expensive and fashionable dress that made up for her plain appearance. “They have been sent here to take your measure, Hail.”
“They’re spies?” I asked, confused by the politics, not for the first time tonight.
“It’s not exactly spying if they’re invited to come into my home. They’re representatives, and they’ll be issuing a report on how you present yourself,” Said Peori. “And you are a representative not only of yourself and your House tonight, but also of the royal family.”
“I know that. I’m always aware of that,” I insisted.
“Uh-huh,” said Lady Gwen. “I’m certain. However, there is another matter which bears discussion. You know that there will be Travelers present, and that they will be looking to monopolize your time. What you don’t know is that there are certain factions among the nobles who are pro-Traveler and those who, in the wake of Nial Kingslayer and the assassinations, favor banning them from our borders entirely.”
I stared at her in silence for a moment. “Actually, no, I didn’t know that. What sort of idiot would support such an idiotic policy? We need travelers. Darkspawn don’t kill themselves, and if Natives could do it, then we wouldn’t have opened the gates.”
“Yuikon is spoiled. Soft,” Count Seaver, a hard looking man explained. “We’re in the middle of the Heartlands, too far from the cardinal threats to civilization. What dungeons and lairs we do have are tamed and rarely send out spawn that our armies couldn’t deal with if they had to. Which they might. Storm is willing to promise anything to get the support he needs. Even if there is not an outright ban, he can increase the taxation they face on auctions and the portals, reduce the gold that they receive for the darkspawn residue that their guild tokens collect. He might even close down some branches of the Adventurer’s Guild to make a point.”
“And he’d be an idiot for doing so,” I argued.
“Hail, is that not similar to what you have done by declaring
“No. Those are two completely different scenarios,” I stated firmly. “
“There are those who disagree. Some who say that you are too harsh, and others that say you are too soft on the Travelers,” Baron Unders said. “They say that your vision is hampered by your Traveler blood, and that you--”
“Let them say it to my face, then,” I said, interrupting him. “I know where I stand in relation to the Travelers. They are a chaotic and unpredictable lot for the most part, but our society doesn’t function without them any longer. We need to prosecute the criminals among them while rewarding those who drive back the darkness. And that has always been true.”
The group of nobles was silent, and then Lord Tom laughed. “Well said! How about that, Unders? Convinced yet? He might as well be quoting you!”
“Bah. How do we know you haven’t coached him on exactly what to say to impress me?” Baron Unders asked.
“You don’t,” Tom answered, and the group made their way out of the waiting room. I glanced at the clock, but it would be another five minutes before the introductions began.
I sat back down next to Tarisha, making a fist. “I wish this all wasn’t necessary.”
“Lord Hail,” Tarisha said. “Do you know what you were doing just now?”
I looked up at her. “I’m sorry? I was arguing with Marquise Peori’s friends, was that not obvious?”
“You were acting In Character,” she informed me. “You always act In Character around Natives. But around Travelers, I can never tell if you’re acting In Character, or Out of Character. Do you understand the difference?”
I paused, thinking back. “Not really, to be honest.”
“The conversation we had earlier, about your abilities growing. That was an Oh Oh See, an out of character moment,” she explained. “Discussing the system, or treating this world as though it’s … I don’t know, lesser? Lesser than Earth because humans built the computers where this world exists, those are ways in which humans act out of character. Taking this world and its inhabitants seriously, those are in character actions. Is this making sense to you?”
“I’m not an idiot,” I said. “Tarisha, I told you before. The fourth wall is broken. I know that--”
“So fix it,” she suggested.
I looked at her. “What?”
“Fix the fourth wall. Put up some boards over top of it. Mark anyone who doesn’t take you and this world seriously with [Mark of Karmic Balance]. They’ll probably thank you for it, because it’s honestly pretty great. The only downside is the decreased reputation gain with you. Otherwise they get free experience and bonus stats, right? And the fact that they’ll likely never see you again, but if they really care about that they’ll find a way. I know you’ve been using the [Marks] to differentiate your friends and your allies from your opponents, but if you--”
The door opened, and the master of ceremony called for us to come. Waiting in the hall were the escorts for the two boys who had been waiting with me, established ladies of the court here to make certain that they didn’t make fools of themselves. We were to meet the debutantes in the ballroom and be introduced order of increasing rank.
As an Earl, I would be last.
I was surprised to find that I was nervous. I hadn’t expected that. Lady Iris went first, followed by another of the girls, and I tried to calm myself.
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“Yes what, Lord Hail?” Tarisha asked. But before I could answer her, she was gone. In her place was Lady Gwen, who was smiling at me as though she had been my escort all along.
For the first time since the ability to duplicate myself had been unlocked, I knew which version of me was real one. And I wasn’t the one.