Chapter twenty - eight - Balls and truth bombs

As the days went by quick, the Noctura ball came around, and its vision was remarkably breathtaking. Having been inside the castle, I'd never entered the throne room, and now, with the violins playing, people flood the hall, dancing in bright orange and yellow dresses. Queen Sarilyn, on the other hand, overlooks everyone by the golden marble dais in a beautiful billowing red gown. It's almost out of place not seeing her in her usual color, and neither is she wearing the pendant... It's questionable, really. Maybe she knows and is testing me which is why I'd done my best to act normal and focus on my brothers.

However the gown she had gifted me is a delicacy I'd never thought I'd be able to wear. Nor is it my normal tunics, corsets, and leggings. Layers of gold in glistening silk droop down to the floor, trailing behind me just like the off-sleeve shoulders, draping freely and showing my arms as I move them around to touch the heart-cut bodice.

My hair cascades over my back in a half up half down that Freya clipped earlier with pearls and thin braids entwining within strands. Idris was the first to gape at how different I looked. He didn't know what to make of it, neither did he fancy the fine yellow tunics he and my other brothers had to wear.

All in all, I was the only one in gold, but I liked the change, the feel of the dress, my pearls, and the shimmers Freya had dusted over my hair.

And now, loitering by the golden pillars of the gargantuan hall, Iker mumbles how bored he is to Freya and Idris while Illias makes no comment, staring straight into the middle of the floor. I follow his gaze, finding that it's not the floor he's focused on. It's Link gazing everywhere.

Unable to help my smile, I turn and nudge him. "Ask him to dance."

That jerks Illias out of his daydream as his wide brown eyes shift to me. "Nara, I can't possibly do that—"

"There's no harm in trying. I know Link, and I'm sure he'd be thrilled if it's you who is asking him." Link had shown a keen interest in my brother since the moment I introduced them, along with the million questions he'd ask me of Illias despite his denial.

"As long as he is no Kye—"

"He is most definitely no Kye." My brow lifts, practically emphasizing his name. He never deserved my brother's love or anyone's for that matter.

Illias beams at me, bending down to kiss my cheek before rushing into the crowd. I chuckle softly, watching as he approaches Link and bows. Even from here, Links cheeks flush crimson, accepting my brothers' hand.

"Solaris." A soft gasp escapes Freya, rushing to stand beside me, and in a whisper, she grips my gloved wrist, saying, "Rulers of other kingdoms are here."

I screw my forehead, searching the crowd before looking back at Freya. She jerks her head to the left as the ruby jewels in her updo glimmer much like her dress. "That's the sea King, ruling all of Undarion and its water creatures."

Subtly turning to look in the direction Freya pointed at, I watch as a few people of high class laugh alongside a man of short white frosted hair. Skin kissed by summer in a dark bronze gleam and a crown made of lapis lazuli shards atop his head.

"I've only spoken to him once before I left my father," Freya says. "But a word of advice, don't tell him Selkies are better than Mermans."

Now I want to.

"Oh, and those." She moves her gaze to the other side of the throne room. "Phoenix warriors of Aeris."

I gulp as I stare at the three warriors, all women with their sleek ebony hair braided down to the waist. Red armor coats them with the crescent of a gold phoenix on their chest plates.

Wild and spiritedly beautiful, they look, with their rose-tinted skin and ethereal shimmer to them. Outshining the entire place, the one in the middle locks her gaze with mine. Sharp features contour her face despite her smile, but someone else comes into view at that second, and my body ignites.

Lorcan in his Venator armor, except this time, donning a red cape and showing the second in command that he is.

He stops in front of us, blocking the sight of the Aeris warriors as he beholds me. "You look magnificent," he exhales it like he is genuinely out of breath.

My heart speeds in my chest, but I can feel Idris's gaze on us, causing me to say unequivocally, "You know I'm not the biggest fan of compliments."

Lorcan doesn't take notice of Idris. His lip quirks into that white shine of a smile. "Well, I like giving them to only one person in this very room."

Idris coughs, moving closer. My heart now races, even more, this time in both yearn and worry, one being over Lorcan, the other over Idris's instant protective mannerisms.

"Idris!" Freya jabbers out, hooking her arm around his and attempting to lead him away. "Have I told you how fascinating it is that you make weapons?" She looks over her shoulder at me with a small smile, and I titter in appreciation.

"Once or twice," Idris grumbles.

Freya scolds him. "You don't have to be so moody about it you—"

"Deputy Halen," a woman's voice with an edge of an accent says as Freya walks away, making me swirl my head to meet with the Aeris warriors.

The one who'd looked at me and smiled stands in the middle of the other two, shaking hands with Lorcan as he says firmly, "Hira, a pleasure seeing you here again." He turns to me. "This is Naralía Ambrose, a Venator trainee."

Her gaze traces over me, slow enough to make someone feel intimidated but not with ill intent; if not, her curiosity rings through her. I always assume they will recognize my last name and correlate that with my father, but instead, she asks, "I suppose we will see you for the Venator tests?"

My mouth parts, but I'm not sure what to reply with. In just a few months, so much had happened, now meeting an aerian—a phoenix is something that not in my wildest dreams could I conjure. All I had ever known is that they live an immortal life, but that didn't mean they aged wisely in phoenix form, and at one point, there's a rebirth from ashes. Hira's firm lines around her lips, the taunt expressions yet edged with natural charm, tells me she's possibly hundreds of years old.

"She's one of the best to succeed," Lorcan gloats for me even if my confidence had dwindled lately. His gaze drops to my hand and the glove I'd not taken off as the corner of his lip lifts.

But on Hira, her smile doesn't quite reach her deep-set fire eyes. "Then we look forward to seeing her there." She and her peers excuse themselves, waltzing off. I know that rulers detested one another before the treaty, and now that they are forced to be civil, Hira's reaction to the trials makes me wonder if she agrees to it.

Freya doesn't. I always knew that. She tells me how it saddens her to even kill a dragon, but if she mentioned that to the General, I don't want to know how he'd react.

Wanting to rid myself of these trial thoughts, I tilt to speak to Lorcan. Still, something in my peripheral catches my attention. I turn fully to the dance floor, and thinking my eyes are deceiving me again, I squint, holding in a curse word as Darius breaks through the crowd who are whirling in the movement to the rhythm. It's just how he'd done that day with my brothers.

Grace and elegance shadow him as he waltzes in our direction, dressed in a deep blood-colored tunic. Gold thread borders the sides, and then he's inches away. With a cheery smile, he brings out his hand to meet Lorcan's, ignoring my stupefied countenance. "Archer Fipps, a merchant from the city—"

Archer.

While Lorcan greets him back and they continue talking, a frown creeps up on my face recognizing that name—wait.

Memories of my time I'd gone to visit Leira at the Draggards come full speed:

"That's not how we speak to ladies, Tig. You should know that by now." A man had come beside me right when I'd wanted to take that goblin, to free him.

"Archer," Tig mumbled back that day. "Always a delight when you visit."

I'd stared at Archer like I knew him, like there was a peculiar aura to him that I couldn't gather.

Putting it all together, it was him. Darius. He'd used his Merati powers, just how he'd done it not long ago in Chrysos district except on me.

Blinking back into focus, I look at him. Gold chips in his eyes glisten unabashed, allowing for me to only see them as he says to us, "An exquisite evening, don't you think?"

My lips frown, I'm glaring, and I'm mentally throwing every insult in the book at him. How is he capable of standing here when the queen is in the very same room, talking just the other day over how we'd catch him soon. Even if a Merati can trick you, do everything Darius is doing to everyone around him. The tattoos are always a giveaway. They never disappear, no matter what, but whenever I've been around Darius, he always wore gloves. This time he isn't, and there is no sign of tattoos? Could it be because he holds all three powers? None of it makes sense.

"What part of the city are you from?" Lorcan asks, and I can sense the slight suspicion rising in his voice.

Darius doesn't falter, not even a little bit. "The south." He then chuckles. "But those dragons can be a right old nuisance, can't they?"

I cough out a laugh at the same time he says that and clear my throat as him and Lorcan both look at me. "So, Archer Fipps?" I crane my neck, staring at Darius. "Who named you, your father?"

"No." He purses his lips, hiding the smile that wants to break out. "My mother."

Annoyance laces my throat before he slants his head just as that smile finally comes through. "What is your name, Miss?"

Solaris be damned.

It's inevitable. I'd hid my name from him for as long as I could, and now, he's seen an opening to get it.

I want to tell him to stop grinning and to leave me alone. But I can't and sensing Lorcan's eyes on me as if wondering why I'm taking so long to say it, I give in, hating every second. "Naralia," I mumble it bitterly.

"Nara-lee-ah," Darius stretches out my name, rolling each syllable at the tip of his tongue. "A name one might consider royalty."

I'm about to make a comeback despite knowing that it wouldn't help if Lorcan notices something is off—if he already couldn't tell—but the tempo in music changes. It's lighter, and people's excitable chatter follows towards the dancefloor.

Darius's gaze wanders the throne room and the middle, where a crystal chandelier shines down onto the floor. "Do you mind?" He says, returning to look at Lorcan and holding out his palm for me.

I don't even glance at Lorcan. A scowl etching on my forehead as I grind my teeth is answering enough for what Darius is implying. "No," I say, grabbing Lorcan's hand instead and feigning a smile. "He doesn't mind." And without looking back, I let Darius stretching his palm out hang there as I take Lorcan with me to the center of the hall.

Authors note:
Hey everyone! Quick note, yes this will be a trilogy, I will be posting it under this same title City Of Flames so it's easier than having to start anew. I usually post on a different website which is wattpad so on that it will be a different cover and title for book two and three but we still have like 20 or more chapters to go for book one haha.
Enjoy and if you want to find out more about this book and my other upcoming projects follow my insta @rina.vasq :)