Chapter Eight

  Part Two

  Line, Ali, and Arasha were led through the wide and elegant golden halls of the palace of Yor. Even though they were going to a ball, Arasha was the only one of the trio not wearing a dress. Line had tried to follow Arasha’s lead in wearing trousers, but Ali had intensely instructed Line to wear a dress. And as soon as Line had bought it, she had ripped the sleeves clean off - much to Ali’s disappointment.

  They came to a set of wide-open doors, the maid that led them here, bowed and gestured for them to pass before she went back the way they came. The trio then entered a grand and elegant ball room. The room was filled with finely dressed men and women, all chatting and laughing in separate groups. There were a few servers, holding silver trays with fancy food or fancy glasses upon them.

  Line took a deep breath, there were way too many people here for her liking. Ali linked arms with hers and gave her a smile, before leading her down the curved stairs into the room proper.

  Ali expertly weaved her way through the throngs of people, leading Line and Arasha to a quiet corner where there were less flamboyant guests. Line pressed her back against the cool marbled wall next to a tall green blooming plant, all the while her eyes were looking across the faces to see if she could recognise anyone. Line’s anxiety would spike somewhat with every familiar face she would see, and she would have to tell herself that it had been fifteen years and no one would recognise her face.

  Arasha winced “I really am the only one not wearing a dress”

  “I told you should’ve worn a dress” Ali groaned.

  “Well, it’s too late now”

  Ali looked at Line “will you be alright?”

  Line tried to put on her best smile “I’ll be fine”

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  Arasha scoffed “your lips may be smiling, but your eyes are certainly not”

  “I’ll be fine” Line just repeated, mostly to herself.

  Arasha sighed “I’m going to see if Divan is here”

  “you think he will be?” Ali asked.

  “he is still my partner. And if you two were invited separately, maybe we were”

  Ali gave a nod “be careful”

  Arasha smiled “of course” and she headed off into the crowd.

  Ali took Line’s arm again “come on, we can’t stay here the whole time”

  “Are you sure we can’t?”

  “don’t worry, you’ll be fine”

  Without waiting for a response, Ali once again led her through the crowd. But somewhere along the way, someone accidentally bumped into them and Line found herself alone with Ali nowhere to be seen. Why does this always happen in a crowded area?

  Line began moving in the direction that Ali was leading her, hopefully to meet up with her again. But something caught her eye. Well, not something, but someone. Duke and Duchess Martagon, strands of grey ran through their dark black hair. They were wearing matching light teal attire, and they were standing chatting quite happily with an equally happy faced man.

  Line’s eyes widened. The man they were chatting to was Jonah Ridley. A seemingly innocent looking older gentleman by nature, he was also quite well put together.

  Seeing them together like this sent frosty chills across Line’s entire body, but at the same time she could feel her breathing stop and her heartbeat quicken. Line immediately abandoned the idea of finding Ali, and instead rushed off in the opposite direction. She didn’t quite know what to do with herself, and ended up standing out on a stone balcony that overlooked the nights sky.

  Line gripped the stone white banisters, her knuckles cracking. She leaned over, feeling her whole body shake. And found that she couldn’t take in air.

  Then, there was a hand on her arm. She jerked away from it, only find Hyde standing there.

  “Line...are you alright? Prince Vax’dian is looking for you”

  Line shook her head “can’t...can’t breathe”

  Hyde took a step forward and took hold of her shoulders, unsure what he should do “what’s wrong!?”

  “Vax...get Vax’dian”

  Hyde didn’t know whether leaving Line like this was a good idea, but eventually conceded and left to get Vax’dian.

  Now Line was left alone once again. Her eyes blurry from the tears that were just beginning to form.

  “Are you alright?”

  Line turned, only to face Duchess Martagon.

  The Duchess’ eyes immediately widened when she saw Line’s face “...Liliene?”