"Are you okay, Jara?" asked Ruby from over Jara's shoulder, "did you find something you like or are you staring off into space again?"

  The intercom of Ruby's suit popped and hissed, sometimes even dropping entire words of late. More often than not though Jara was able to piece together what she meant. Right now however, Jara was caught with her mind wandering.

  "Jara?" Ruby intruded again, poking Jara with a gloved hand.

  "I– uhh, sorry," Jara said, shaking herself from a daze, "I was just looking at this."

  Jara held up a blouse that had tight gold and blue stitching across the shoulders with a braided lace accent that ran the length of the spine.

  "Do you like it?" Jara asked, suddenly imagining Ruby wearing the blouse over her envirosuit.

  "I do, liar," Ruby said. "You don't have to pretend. I know something is bothering you– has been bothering you since Plafast. We all thought you were healing; getting better after you shared the song with us."

  "I am. No really, I am," Jara insisted, re-racking and forgetting the blouse. "It's just..."

  "...Something on your mind– yes, I know. And I do get it," Ruby said softly. "You can talk to me. You can talk to Danabelle or Flokk. You can talk to any of us, in fact. But you know that."

  Ruby was right, she was keeping something from them. Jara felt guilty for not sharing what was bothering her; the dream, the vision, or somehow worse the melding of each. She still couldn't shake the face of the horrid man that had waited at the end of the red path, or was it the beautiful man that smiled from the far end of plush velvet carpet? What she did know was her mind was playing tricks on her – had been playing tricks on her – ever since her fifteenth birthday.

  Jara knew she could trust the troupe. But something still kept her wanting to ignore it, to just forget the whole thing that plagued the back of her mind, that itched her from behind.

  "It's just... confusing," Jara tried to say before chickening out.

  "Try me," Ruby said.

  "Okay, but not here."

  Ruby thought for a moment, a gloved fist pressed against her helmeted chin. The seams and joints of her suit cracked and whined with the same fatigue of the rest of her suit.

  "I have an idea!" Ruby barked before grabbing Jara's arm and pulling her out of the boutique. The two of them stepped out from the clothing store, a storefront that boasted a dazzling selection of finely woven robes and garments of the highest class, and onto the cobbles of the finest shopping district in all of Drassil's capital .

  Muspel's light was high in the sky, the Troubadour only having just touched down late last evening, and both Jara and Ruby had woken early to scout the streets and window-shop and dream about the things they could buy one day. Though, despite their pauperousity, Jara supposed if she'd asked or even hinted the general thought in Bael's direction that he'd effortlessly purchase the stock of the entire store. But it somehow helped for her to imagine, to feel like she was still the girl that went on a birthday spacewalk with Jonothen. Though, on the other hand, looking at Ruby's failing suit as she hurried after her across the cobbles nearly losing her feet, that Ruby might actually like to live in luxury for once.

  Much of the troupe lived by meagre means, or at least pretended to. Jara knew for a fact that both Tomo and Olek pulled in substantial retirement gifts from their separate times in service. But Dan-Dan, Flokk, and the others? Jara wasn't sure and had never thought to ask.

  "Where are we heading?" Jara half-pleaded to Ruby.

  "Home!"

  What does she mean home?; Jara thought, before the sight of the palace district rose into view.

  "Wait...." Jara tried to say before the two of them turned a corner and nearly ran headlong into the gates of Black Dog's estate.

  "We're here!" Ruby exclaimed, "somewhere you can relax."

  Jara shook her head.

  "I haven't even told him I'm in town yet, Ruby."

  "I'm fairly certain he'll be aware of who's coming and going onto the whole of Drassil, well mostly," said Ruby.

  "I don't know what I would say to him right now, to Bael I mean. It's not like we've spent a whole lot of time together in the last year aside from him showing up at my performance. And even then he didn't stick around long."

  It was then that one of the gate guards noticed them and started to walk over. Jara was, for some reason, intimidated by the man. Unrelated to the warriors that Jara remembered from her last moments on Valrakee, the guard still bore a similar frame, gait, or properties of movement that made the feeling uncanny.

  "Hi," Jara said.

  "What are you doing..." Ruby said, nudging Jara, "you live here!"

  "R–right, can you let us in?" Jara said to the powerful looking guard.

  "Now I can't just let anyone into the Jarl's estate, I–" the guard said before doing a double-take, "Jara?"

  Jara nodded.

  "Oh why didn't you say so!" the guard chuckled, "Sorry for the fright! I didn't recognize you in that... outfit."

  The guard gestured to Jara's regular troupe outfit. Though not her firedancer performer kit, Jara had taken to a similar style as the rest of the troupe, with wavy lace and string making the bulk of their ensembles outside of Ruby's.

  "Now come on in, the Jarl expected you might turn up today or tomorrow," the guard said, opening the gate, "I'm Leif ?tlau, warrior of the Fenrous Guard, sworn protectors of Jarl Kagawa's estate and family. That includes you, Lady Pell."

  "Just Jara."

  "As you wish," said Leif with a salute to his chest. "You two run along now."

  Ruby gave haste, pulling Jara along with her again.

  "Thank you, Leif!" Jara called to him as she was dragged toward the front door of the estate.

  "Oh, Jara!" Leif said, as Ruby's tugging momentarily paused. Leif hustled over to them to say; "He's not here– the Jarl I mean. He said if you do turn up to make yourself at home and that he would see you at the banquet later," after which he turned and hurried back to his post.

  It wasn't until they'd reached Jara's quarters, only stopping briefly along the way for Jara to give her directions, that Ruby lamented and let go of her arm.

  "Ow," Jara said, rubbing her bicep, "you could've torn it off."

  "Dramatic," Ruby said, opening Jara's door to her quarters.

  Jara rolled her eyes and stepped after her.

  "Wowwww," Ruby said as the sight of Jara's opulent room entered her opaque face visor.

  "How do you even see out of that helmet?" Jara teased.

  "Lately? Poorly," Ruby answered.

  "Your suit is really starting to fall apart, huh–?" Jara questioned, "are you having trouble paying for repairs? I'm sure I could rustle up some money if you need it."

  Jara gestured around the room, keenly aware at how over-the-top and not-her it was.

  "I'll bet!" Ruby said through pops and crackles "No, what I really need are some new parts. Pretty hard to come by."

  "We could have the fabricators on the estate make them now that we're here," Jara supposed. "Bael did say to make myself at home, so I doubt he'll mind."

  "Not that I don't appreciate it, but I doubt the parts I need can be made here either."

  Jara found it strange on Ruby's emphasis on 'parts'.

  "Look, I know you're not Odeen," Jara said, surprising herself with her candour, "you don't have to pretend around me."

  Ruby turned, swivelling her head to Jara so fast the suit made an audible crunch.

  "That didn't sound good..." Jara grimaced.

  "It didn't feel great either," Ruby said. "How did you know I wasn't... you know?"

  "Your suit's a relic, clearly not odeen. I'm originally from a backwater of the empire with some pretty outdated tech, but even I haven't seen something that old before."

  From gods know where, Jara often found herself puzzling over the origin of the suit– of Ruby for a matter of fact. Ruby was notably the shortest of the troupe. Less obvious it was when Jara had first joined the troupe on their wander aboard the Troubadour. Jara herself had since grown to now stand a few centimetres above Ruby's helmet, further highlighting that something was... different about her. A curiosity, for sure, Jara had never cared enough to pry. It was clear beyond a shadow in Jara's mind however, that Ruby was something other. Not Odeen, maybe not human either.

  "I'm not trying to pry, Ruby," Jara continued, "your secrets are your own to share."

  "Touché," Ruby said. "Does that mean you reconsidered telling me what's bothering you?"

  "No. I think it'll be good to get it out. The offer of the fabricators is still open though," Jara said, taking a seat on her bed.

  "You said it yourself," Ruby said, "I am not odeen, nor is this suit; a good eye by the way. No... it's not something I wanted to resort to but with how my suit is starting to degrade I expect I'll have to cut this little trip of mine shorter than I'd planned."

  Ruby took a seat on the bed next to Jara. "This room though... wow."

  "I know," Jara said, rolling her eyes.

  "I wasn't poking fun," said Ruby, "where I'm from this sort of place would be a dream. You should enjoy the gifts given to you, truly."

  Jara hung her head, embarrassed.

  "You always have a place with the troupe. You know that, I know that, but I can see it in you that your path will branch eventually. There's greatness in you."

  "Thank you, Ruby," Jara said, a tear breaching containment, "I can't tell you how much that means to hear."

  "Well now. We're here, in this luxurious room. I think you were about to spill your guts."

  Jara sucked in a breath.

  Several hours later the two of them lay sprawled on their backs still talking. Jara had shared the dreams and the vision with Ruby and they had discussed and dissected it from every angle. Lief had even popped in at hour three after his shift – a hulking warrior carrying in a platter of tea cakes and tiny sandwiches, an image Jara could never unsee – before leaving them to continue their examination.

  Jara had seen Ruby eat before despite her suit, with a little hatch opening just under her chin for her to force food into. But this time Jara could've sworn she saw skin underneath through the atmospheric haze inside. Skin that was... blue?

  Of Jara's troubles, they had gone over the happy version; the dream with the handsome man surrounded by verdant nature, and they had gone over the haunting version; the waking vision of the terror with a similar face.

  "What does it meeeean," Ruby crackled with exasperation. "There's got to be more to it."

  "That's it, that's all I have," Jara affirmed.

  "And again, you swear you've never seen the man before– the good or the bad version?"

  Jara shook her head and covered her face with a pillow.

  "Well it's gotta mean something."

  "I think it's just a dream, just trauma that won't leave me alone."

  "Where I'm from, visions like that are to be taken seriously," Ruby said.

  "And where is that again?" Jara teased.

  "Nice try," Ruby said. She rubbed the collar of her suit, slowly.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "You really messed it up earlier, didn't you?"

  "Yep," Ruby said with a pop and crackle. "I'll be paying for that one."

  "You're still good to perform though later?"

  "Of course!" Ruby said, sitting up. "That reminds me, look at the time. We're on in two hours!"

  ...

  Ruby and Jara met the rest of the troupe out front of the Hjalmaborg where Olek and Tomo were transferring some of their gear from the Troubadour's skiff to a more presentable trolley before wheeling it onto the grounds.

  A gremlin-of-a-man stood nearby with a terminal slate in hand with a sour expression. Jara locked eyes with the man as her and Ruby stepped toward the side gate entrance.

  "Hold it!," the gremlin said, "this access point is restricted to event staff."

  "They're with us, mister Kibar," said Olek between huffs as he lifted the last of the gear crates.

  "Drengr Brannsind to you ilk. If these are with you I shall have you remove your helm," the drengr insisted, his yellow eyes trained on Ruby as she stiffened.

  "This happens to be Jara Pell, ward of Black Dog," Tomo said, wiping his forehead with his shirt, "I expect you'll want to redirect that tone."

  Brannsind sighed with a level of incredulity that Jara had only seen once before, on Jarl Gand himself.

  "Do you work for Jarl Gand?" Jara asked, "Why are we swapping trolleys?"

  Olek shrugged.

  "Decorum," spat Brannsind, "We can't have the Hjalmaborg's esteem squandered by any shabby indecency, you understand. Why the Jarl selected your band to perform at such an auspicious event is beyond me."

  Brannsind tapped a few commands on his terminal and sighed again.

  "Fine," he said, "Jara Pell and Ruby Odoacet, was it?– I've just granted you access to the common areas and training yards. The rest of your group are setting up there."

  "He sucks," Ruby said as the four of them left earshot of the Drengr Brannsind.

  "That man has been wasting energy on us all day. I got the sense he wanted to host another act for tonight's performance," explained Olek.

  "Hard to say," said Tomo, pushing the large trolley as it trundled over uneven cobbles, "either way I'll be glad to see him a little less going forward."

  The four of them were smiling – in Ruby's case Jara could only assume – as they rounded the hall to find the rest of the troupe practising and rehearsing their movements with another welcome face.

  "Dear Jara!" said The Spider du Mzam from across the yard which turned the heads of Dan-Dan, Flokk, and the rest of the troupe.

  "Nice of you two to show up," called Dan-Dan.

  "These two?" Jara asked, pointing at Tomo and Olek with a smile across her face, "We did our best to hurry them along."

  "After we rescued you from the drengr!?" Tomo scoffed, still huffing from pushing the trolley. "And, I thought we were growing close."

  "Where were you two? We're on soon," asked Flokk as they walked up.

  "Jara and I had a girls' day," Ruby said, "tons of junk food and gossip. It's good for the soul!"

  "Mhm," Dan-Dan said like a disapproving mum. "Well, go get ready. I'm announcing The Spider in ten minutes and you're up first after that," which earned an affirmative nod from The Spider du Mzam.

  Jara and Ruby nodded as well, hurrying into a nearby tent to prepare.

  The event at the Hjalmaborg was a grand event hosted by Jarl Gand himself in honour of Teikun Gunma's Fifth Ascendancy which marks the fiftieth solar cycle from when his reign began. With an orbital period around three times as fast as Old Earth's, the Fifth Ascendancy was only fifteen years in Earth-standard but was venerated were it truly fifty.

  The grounds of the training yards, which normally hosted facilities for the Hjalmaborg's soldiers being first and foremost a military academy, was arrayed with rows of hand-carved seating atop a linen tapis bordered in an intricate gilded weave. Above the seats hung many vine-laden trellises, suspended by upgrav generators and silently keeping the harshest of Muspel's late-day light out. The temporary stage had been erected swiftly and with the military precision expected of the Hjalmaborg's búandis or warriors-in-training.

  Large, waving banners of the Teikun's house colours were paired with smaller, yet still prominent banners from that of Jarl Gand's. Notable was the absence of Bael's own banners, who second to the Teikun one would expect to see flanking the other side of the royal house's banners. Also telling was Bael's placement among the crowd. His seat was two rows back from the Teikun's own. Jarl Gand's? – his was to the Teikun's left. Jara wondered if was by his directive, or by the meddling of that snooty gremlin Brannsind that it was the way that it was.

  All of the usual guests were in attendance– dignitaries from the many worlds of the Stj?rnrike, some from wider reaches, many faces of which Jara might've recognized from the memorial that honoured her father and the rest of the fallen onboard Valrakee. One such face – or lack thereof – that Jara spied peering through a curtain from backstage was Greyface, the fels that Jara had helped find their way back on Kaivarld.

  Scanning the crowd as The Spider enacted Takeshi and Tsuchigumo's climactic battle, Jara saw at least one set of eyes that weren't enthralled with the performance. She stuck an arm out and waved at Bael whose expression switched from boredom to joy as he caught sight of her and returned the wave. He rolled his eyes and gave her a kill-me expression. Plays were not his cup of vaske.

  None of the other guests even noticed her little disruption; well– almost no one.

  The Teikun revelled at The Spider's showmanship, hollering and jeering along with the rest of the audience as Tsuchigumo was bested. Jarl Gand clapped along with his wife seated beside him, each a reflection of the other's countenance. Bael continued grinning and joking with her, all while another stared directly at her.

  The man staring at her was familiar somehow, a face Jara just couldn't quite place. His eyes were deliberate, trained directly on her and eschewing suspicion that he was looking anywhere but at her. It was too far for her to make out any details of the man's face, but his skin – a faded brown standing out vividly from the sea of white that was most odeen – reminded her of Ruby in a way. This man wasn't whatever Ruby was, his skin wasn't blue surely, but he was identifiably not odeen, even from this distance.

  "Hey, get your head back in here!" Flokk barked at her as she ducked back behind the curtain. He handed her her staff; "spark this thing and we'll get going."

  Shaking her head back into reality she flicked the switch on the shaft, setting its ends alight.

  Olek and Tomo went first, pushing through the curtains as they began to beat their drums. The beat rose, fell, then quickened to a crescendo which Jara knew was her cue.

  The curtains each drew back, revealing her and Flokk, him standing behind her twirling his staff in an arc above her head. Jara held her staff firm before her. Then, as the drum beats paused, she stepped forward.

  "HAA!" the troupe called and Jara began her movements. Bael in the crowd leaned forward in his seat, as did the strange man.

  "HAA!" the troupe called again. Jara swung her staff, narrowly missing Flokk's head, then again beneath his feet as he jumped, with trained precision. She had come a long way from that shaking girl out of cryosleep, unsure and unsound. Now however, she was firedancer, she was a daughter, she was a friend to many, a close friend to some; she was Jara Pell and she would make Jonothen and Bael proud.

  The drums returned in earnest, rising and falling with her footsteps.

  With each step she made, twirling the staff, tossing and catching it as she did, the troupe let out a collective, "HAA!"

  Next, Flokk knelt and held his staff above himself. Jara turned to him. Stepping faster as she approached she planted a boot on his leg and launched herself upwards into a back flip and tossed her own staff up and behind her. As she rotated, her boot caught Flokk's own staff and sent it spinning up toward the stage's rafters then out towards the audience and directly toward the seats of the Teikun and Jarl Gand.

  The drumbeats ceased and the crowd went silent as the staff flew. Jara finished her flip, landing on her feet, catching her own staff with one hand and an outstretched arm.

  Just before the staff landed and Jara was executed for an assassination attempt, Candle Wence rushed out past her and threw her lit ball-and-chain as it rocketed toward the staff and gripped it like a long tentacle. Quickly, Candle jerked the chain downward and stomped on it, arresting the staff and sending it quickly in the opposite direction to the relief of the bemused Jarl and the jubilant Teikun.

  "HAA!" the troupe called at last.

  Flokk caught the staff with a backflip of his own, trapping it between his ankles. Then reclaiming it, Jara and him clasped hands and raised them as the crowd clapped and cheered before they cleared the stage. As they did, Dan-Dan gave her a high-five as she passed them by on her way to start her own set. Out on the stage, Candle, Menya and Dan-Dan continued the performance as Ruby was conspicuously absent. Where she should be preparing her flaming fans in the designated on-deck position, there was no one.

  "What's happened to Ruby?" Jara asked Flokk as the two of them extinguished their staffs.

  "Shame that," Flokk said, catching his breath, "suit trouble again. Said she was sorry, I told her not to worry– that I'd step in for her. I'll be back on for a solo set to wrap things up."

  "Oh, why didn't you mention it? I'd have joined you if I knew to prepare."

  "Nonsense, I'll be alright. Besides, you have a ball to prepare for after this. Run along now and enjoy the party. I've got things battened down here."

  Flokk smiled and racked his staff, picking up a weapon Jara hadn't seen him handle before outside of the training sets. He lifted what looked like a pair of miniature versions of Menya's flame hoop, small watermelon sized discs that he busied setting each alight.

  "I'll be pairing with Dan-Dan tonight, tossing these things for her to catch," he explained, "an old act of ours, from well before your time. Back when there were only a couple of us in the troupe and the Troubadour was not but a daydream."

  It was hard for her to imagine that, a time before she was here – a time before her happiest moment. She had looked out at the crowd and saw the effect her performance had had on them, she saw Bael's smile as he cheered, feeling his warmth from the stage.

  "Seriously, go," Flokk insisted before taking his place on stage.

  Jara rushed to the dressing tent while the performance finished. Shedding her firedancer raiment, she reached for her formal outfit only to find something else in its place; a wooden box with a bow and a note.

  Jara, standing there in her underwear, cocked her head and opened the note.

  It was from Bael and read;

  "Welcome home, Jara. Your friend Ruby sent me a bulletin and said you would like this. Eager to spend the evening catching up with you. Dress up and see you soon! Love, Bael."

  Peeling off the lid, Jara laughed when she saw the very same gold-blue blouse that she had held this afternoon at the shops with Ruby sitting on top. She hadn't actually been interested in the blouse in earnest. But of course, Ruby knew that.

  Jara shook her head and let out an exhausted sigh through a smile; she would have to get Ruby back for that one.

  Beneath the blouse, Bael had included a matching pair of loose-fitting, ankle-length trousers and belt, something Jara was sure the shop she found the blouse in had not had. Had Bael had them made for her in the few hours before the performance?

  ...

  Dressed in her new finery, Jara attempted to digest Ruby's words from earlier that day; "You should enjoy the gifts given to you, truly." Staring back at herself in the mirror, she felt a measure of acceptance wash over her; she knew she would enjoy tonight, and she'd look great doing it.

  As Jara exited her dressing tent she found Bael there waiting for her.

  "Great performance, my dear," he said, smiling and beaming with pride.

  "Thanks!," Jara said, and rushed to give him a hug. "And, thank you for the outfit. I can't imagine what it've cost."

  "It's my pleasure," he said, holding her out by the shoulders. "I'm just so happy to see you again. It's been awfully dull in the capital without you."

  "Oh, stop. I saw you a few weeks ago!"

  "Feels like forever ago," he said, releasing his wolf grip, "I could watch you perform every night until I die."

  "So you... liked it?" Jara said, sheepishly preparing herself knowing what his next comment would be.

  "I've seen you do that trick before, but was it smart to try it on the Teikun?" he said with a fatherly sigh. "Not that I'm questioning a professional."

  "It was no risk," Jara insisted, "the troupe has contingencies for if the first of them failed to deflect my staff."

  "Run and hide?" Bael joked.

  "No, no. It's hard to make out in the low light, but I've always got a silkline tether that attaches the staff back to me for that stunt, just in case I need to pull it back. It was my design actually."

  "Very ingenious!" Bael admitted. "I can't say I saw the tether myself. And I'm fairly certain most of the crowd for a split second thought you a would-be assassin. Happy you proved them wrong!"

  "And don't tell anybody!" Jara said, "trade secrets, and all."

  Bael nodded and tapped his nose.

  "I'll take it to the Pureland with me," he said with a grin, "Now, shall we?"

  Jara held out her hand and Bael took it, leading her up the stone steps into the Hjalmaborg's great hall.

  The hall, not as grand as the cavernous rooms of the Teikun's palace, nevertheless had all the austerity and trappings as Jara had come to expect of Jarl Gand. Though not the home of Jarl Gand himself, being under his governmental branch's oversight, it was plain to see that the Hjalmaborg displayed the highest tier of form and function.

  Ornately carved timber beams held the massive granite ceiling aloft, each encrusted with gemstones and animal bone in a recreation and preservation of nature's beauty. Tapestries a dozen meters long extended the height of the walls and depicted three odeen figures each, the leaders that ruled the Stj?rnrike alongside one another. The artworks showed the trinity of governance that lasted since the empire's founding here on Drassil – that of the Vargrtok, the Ormthang, the two hands and lessers to the K?rnhald, each branch represented by the high Jarls and the Teikun.

  Scanning the tapestries as she entered Jara couldn't find one that showed Jarl Gand, Bael, and Teikun Gunma.

  "I don't see you on the wall," she said to Bael.

  "I'd hope not," he said with a chuckle, "these banners show reverence to the fallen, to those great leaders we have laid to rest. No, I expect to never see myself up there, and I hope for you to see it only just when you're an old maid yourself."

  Jara smiled and squeezed his hand tighter. How strange it would be, she thought, to see her other father Jonothen embroidered into the annals like that. Though, maybe someday she would be?

  "Who comes after you?" Jara blurted out, "I mean, I admit I never really thought about who takes over the Vargrtok after you."

  "Well, I had hoped you would," Bael said plainly, "you are my heir after all."

  "Heir, really?" Jara puzzled, "I mean, I guess that makes sense. I had thought I was only your ward."

  "I have no others to inherit. No others I would trust, I mind you."

  Jara looked strongly into Bael's eyes. She could see a sadness there, roiling under the surface.

  "Tomo told me about Lady Soarise... I'm so sorry," she said softly.

  "Tomo?"

  "Drengr Nagumo Ade. He served on the Vosfoli," Jara elaborated.

  "Ah," Bael said with a nod.

  "He has a ton of respect for you, they all do," Jara affirmed, "I'm sorry that I didn't know before now."

  "Don't be sorry, Jara. It's not something I like to talk of much."

  "You really want me to be your heir?" she asked.

  "I would have no one else," he said, a smile returning to his face. "Come, I could use something to eat."

  Moving off to scout the wait tables for hors d'oeuvres, Jara took in the faces of all the people around the room. Many were the same she saw staring back at her during her performance. The Teikun sat on a throne at the far end of the great hall, conversing and laughing with his wife and Jarl Gand. Drengr Brannsind was of course nearby him, waving down and berating the wait staff for gods-know-what.

  Greyface and a small group of fels stood out like pillars amongst cobblestones the way they lumbered carefully through the hall trying not to step on the other attendees. Two groups of Herdish and Sovvo dignitaries seemingly self-corralled lest they be drowned in a sea of tall bodies, and were made the more bitter for it.

  As they neared a table that had a large platter of kebab, Ruby rushed up behind her and latched a gloved hand onto her shoulder.

  "Hiya!" Ruby said. "Your performance tonight was perfect!"

  Bael, who was turning with amusement on his face, held out an arm in greeting.

  "Nice to formally meet you," he said as she clasped back his arm.

  "This is Ruby", said Jara between bites of a kebab; Jara supposed lamb?

  "Oh I know," Bael said, moving to retrieve a clean plate for Jara to eat from.

  Jara took the plate and asked; "where are the others?"

  "They'll be here, they're just packing up," Ruby said, "They all said you did amazing today! The look on the Teikun's face was priceless!"

  "I had some strong words with Jara about that," Bael said, "best to not do that trick again?"

  Ruby let out an awkward and crackling laugh, shrugging.

  "He's just messing with you," Jara said.

  "Indeed, I–" Bael started before a familiar face interrupted

  It was Lieutenant Commander Wulm Baden, Bael's personal sanbō, a man Jara recognized from being the first to lead her out of the Teikun's palace after her recovery and hadn't seen since leaving Drassil to join the troupe.

  Wulm spoke softly and quickly into Bael's ear as he nodded.

  Bael sighed and put his own empty plate back in the stack.

  "You'll have to excuse me ladies," Bael said, "I won't be long."

  Bael gestured for Wulm to lead on and the two of them headed towards a side passage.

  "Well then, just us?" Ruby said.

  "Us and the food," Jara said between bites.

  "Come now, you can eat later! We have to mingle!" Ruby tugged the plate from Jara's grip and passed it to a passing member of the wait staff.

  "I'm good here," Jara tried and failed as Ruby pulled her back into the crowd.

  "No– introduce me to someone, anyone, you pick!" Ruby pleaded.

  Jara sighed and looked around the room again at the faces laughing and chatting, holding politely squeezing any arm in sight as if this was the best conversation they'd ever experienced.

  "I dunno, I would rather wait for the troupe to get here."

  "Nonsense," Ruby spat, "keep looking. Let's find us some cuties to chat with."

  As Jara scanned the room she locked eyes with someone standing several paces away from them. Her heart skipped as she recognized him, the same man that had been staring at her from the audience before her performance. And now, closer than he was last time and making out more of his features, she knew who this man was; the very same man from her dream.