*Briella*
I wasn’t going to let myself be intimidated. I had to remind myself that I was there for a purpose, not to be threatened by the high society of Celestial City.
The city so far was everything I dread it could be with its warm energy and gorgeous scenery. I could feel the similar essence that it shared with the valley. I felt like I was ho in a strange way.
That changed as soon as it was announced that we would be attending a ball.
I had been to more formal functions in Drogomor and even in the valley, but this already felt like another level as we shopped for extravagant dresses. The Alpha’s ho was lavish and massive as well.
n and won danced with poise and in clearly choreographed dances that must have been invented centuries earlier.
I had been to several balls in the past, but this was an entirely new level of extravagance.
“Kryzen.”
My head snapped up at the low urgency in Roy’s voice. Kryzen’s head turned, and his cool gray eyes narrowed.
I followed their gaze to the man who was striding toward us purposefully. I found myself taking a step back at the almost calculating look on his face as he eyed us all.
The man had dark-cropped hair and a neatly grood beard. His eyes were so dark that they were almost black, and the pupils hardly separated from the irises as he focused on us. It was obvious that he was a man of power with his dark suit and the star-shaped insignia of Celestial City on his lapel.
The man was also large and intimidating.
Kryzen and Roy each took a step closer to as the man stepped up to us.
The man grinned politely and bowed once he was in front of us. “Welco, my friends. You must be Kryzen, Briella, and Prince Roy.”
“Correct,” Kryzen said tersely, his gray eyes studying the man suspiciously.
“How did you know?” I asked, hearing the skepticism in my voice as I stepped forward so I was standing beside Kryzen and Roy as opposed to a step behind them.
“I was inford of your arrival into our fine city,” the man said smoothly, straightening from his bow. “I am General Tian. I have been given the honor of escorting you tonight.”
I blinked. It seed a little odd that a general would be given that kind of assignnt. Just by the man’s tone, I was under the impression that General Tian had given the order to himself.
“While that is very generous of you–” Roy started to say.
“An escort isn’t necessary,” Kryzen finished between his teeth.
Roy sent him an exasperated look.
“Oh, it is no trouble at all,” General Tian said with a low chuckle. “After all, the three of you are our honored guests. We are humbled that you’ve co all this way from our sister community of Celestial Valley. Please allow to assist you in any way I can.”
Kryzen’s eyes narrowed. “Thank you. We will be sure to call upon you as needed.” His tone was dismissive.
General Tian’s eyebrows rose, but he nodded tersely. “You have been summoned for an audience with our Alpha,” he said. “I will co to collect you later. For now, enjoy the festivities.”
With that, the general turned on his heels and strode away. We watched him go. I felt the unease shift through us all.
I had only t his gaze once throughout that conversation, but it was enough to make uncomfortable. He had looked at with such intensity that I nearly shifted beneath his hard gaze. It made feel small.
“Why would the Alpha want to see us?” I wondered aloud, another thing that caused nerves to flutter in my stomach.
“It’s just as well,” Kryzen said, but his dark eyes were glaring after General Tian as he disappeared through the crowd. “It would be beneficial for us to speak with the Alpha considering all that has happened. Maybe we’ll actually get a straight answer from soone.”
“We can warn the Alpha directly of your grandmother’s concerns,” Roy said to Kryzen.
Kryzen finally stopped glaring in the direction of the general to turn to his friend. “I don’t trust that guy.”
It was clear he wasn’t talking about the Alpha.
I lowered my voice to a near whisper, very much aware of the dozens of people around us. “I don’t like the way he looked at . It was like he was trying to read my mind.”
Roy frowned in the direction General Tian had disappeared in but shook his head slightly as if to clear it. “The people here have just endured a great tragedy,” he said placatingly. “It is only natural that their defense force is more on edge. Don’t forget that we are suspicious ourselves, given our statuses and the ti in which we decided to co here.”
Kryzen scoffed. “You’re a prince,” he said gesturing at Roy in an annoyed way.
“That doesn’t always matter in tis of fear,” Roy explained patiently. “Any occurrence out of the ordinary is going to cause so unrest. We should continue to make ourselves scarce.”
I wanted to believe Roy, but I had a bad feeling in my gut from the interaction we just had with the general.
I could tell Kryzen wasn’t at all convinced either. He had a grim look on his face. “Let’s just focus on our real reason for being here before we have to et with the Alpha,” he said. “Fan out, gather whatever information we can, and ask gently if anyone has noticed anything amiss since the plague was lifted.”
Roy and I nodded before we all parted ways.
I took a breath and scanned the area, looking for soone approachable. It wasn’t as easy to do there as it had been at the festival, where there were people from all walks of life. This ball felt composed of higher-ups and the wealthy citizens of Celestial City.
I felt beautiful in the gown that I was wearing, with its glittering sequins and flowing sea-green fabric. The two workers who helped choose it told it brought out my eyes and was extrely flattering on .
I felt like a princess of sorts like the ones in fairytale books.
I thought about dancing with one of the guys but wasn’t feeling all that confident. Would the n be able to tell that I wasn’t from there? Would it be obvious to them that I was from another realm entirely? Finally, I decided to have a small snack and wandered over to the long buffet tables.
I was about to grab a small pastry covered in fresh fruit when a low voice reached my ears.
“What is a young lady like yourself doing off of the dance floor?”
I looked up at the young man in front of . He had dark blonde hair and was studying .
Monts later, I was dancing with him, his arm around my waist and our hands clasped.
“This is a lovely ball,” I said, rembering to keep the conversation light. “Do you attend many, Aldric?”
My companion nodded. “Oh, yes. As the son of a council mber, I am often expected to do so. And you, Briella? I imagine as the Alpha’s daughter, you are expected to perform similar social duties.”
I laughed internally, wondering how this guy would react to hearing that the maids back ho had to hold down to force into dresses or to any formal functions.
“They aren’t my favorite thing,” I said, surprised that I was actually enjoying myself. I shook my head slightly, reminding myself to stay focused on the mission.
“Is sothing wrong?” Aldric asked, his thin eyebrows furrowing slightly as he stared down at . He twirled around once and then gently pulled back against him.
I shook my head. “No, nothing,” I said, frustrated that all the practiced conversations from my mind suddenly seed to have disappeared. “Aldric, may I ask you sothing?”
“Anything,” he said eagerly, his eyes suddenly darker than they had been seconds earlier.
I took a deep breath as we continued to spin through the large room. “Have you noticed anything strange happening since the disease left the city?”
Aldric froze in surprise but quickly recovered and continued to lead in our dance. “Such dark talk for such a pretty young lady,” he said finally. He pulled closer to him. “How about we leave such talk for a more dreary day? I am quite enjoying myself, aren’t you?”
I stiffened in his hold as his hands lowered to my hips, and he squeezed through my dress. I felt my temper flare. I couldn’t believe he dared to touch like that. My hand curled into a fist, but I told myself I couldn’t break his nose. That would raise even more suspicion.
“I must go visit the lady’s room,” I said, putting my hands on his arms and pushing them off of my hips.
“Don’t you walk away from ,” Aldric hissed, grabbing my wrist tightly in his hand.
I yelped quietly as his hand tightened around my wrist. I was just about to break that hand when soone stepped between us and shoved Aldric away.
“Keep your hands off of her,” Kryzen seethed.
Kryzen’s arm wound around my waist. I stared up at him in shock, my eyes moving to the people around us who were starting to murmur at the scene.
“How dare you get in the way of our dance?” Aldric spat, glaring hatefully at Kryzen. “Who is she to you anyway?”
Kryzen’s eyes narrowed. “She happens to owe a dance,” he said before leading away.
I could feel my face burning as the stares continued. Eventually, the onlookers shrugged and continued to dance. I shuddered at the dark look Aldric sent us before he turned and stalked off the dance floor.
Kryzen’s jaw was tight, but he skillfully spun . We rejoined the rest of the dancers as a new song started.
“Thank you,” I said as we swayed from side to side. “I appreciate you intervening, but you really shouldn’t have made a scene. I had the situation under control.”
Kryzen scoffed. “Did you really? Because it sure didn’t look like it from where I was standing. You were being manhandled.”
I kept my voice calm. “I was seconds away from shoving his nose into his skull when you showed up,” I inford him.
“Right,” Kryzen said, rolling his eyes. “Because that definitely wouldn’t have caused a scene.”
I grimaced, realizing that I had no response to that.
Kryzen was a skilled dancer, which shouldn’t have surprised since Roy ntioned that they both attended dozens of balls in the past. He led through the dance easily, his movents fluid and effortless as we glided across the polished floor as if we were doing so on air.
I had been looking at his chest and raised my head to study the lines of his neck and chiseled jaw. I looked up to lock eyes with him. I felt my breath catch when I realized he was staring down at , his dark gray eyes smoldering with an intensity that caused a shiver to race down my spine.
I cursed inwardly when a smirk teased his lips as he felt tremble slightly. He opened his mouth to most likely tease , but we were interrupted by General Tian, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
“Co with , please. Our Alpha will see you now.”
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