Music was playing loudly, servants were serving wine and other expensive drinks to the guests, and the guests were sitting in small groups, talking and laughing with each other. The guests were extremely rich people, judging by their clothing, demeanour, and their stinking air of self approved superiority... Zephyr and Ili were standing awkwardly in the center, catching the glances of the others, who were looking at them like some filthy animals. Most of them were speaking in akkar, and were only switching to ephreemian (1) when speaking to the servants, ordering them around.
1 - The common tongue in the middle east and central lands, as well as the most spoken language in the world.
Despite the music being played and the center of the room being mostly empty, nobody was dancing. They were only standing, talking to each other, not caring in the least about what was happening around them.
Suddenly, Ili felt her hand being pulled by someone towards the center. She yelped, turning her head in the direction of the pull. To her surprise, she saw Zephyr holding her hand. "Zephyr, what are you doing?" she asked, catching her breath, but before she could say anything else, she found herself in the center of the room.
As soon as she saw that, she froze, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over her as never before, with so many people looking in their direction. Her face went beet red, turning her head frantically to the sides.
"Let's dance," Zephyr said with a smile, holding her hand.
"Wh... What? Here?! No! No way!" Ili tried to get on the ground and hide her face, but she was quickly pulled back up by Zephyr.
"Come on. You're scared of these guys? Please, they have their noses so far up their asses, they couldn't care less about what people like us do. So please, Ili, join me in this dance."
Ili's face was just as red, and her body was shaking slightly. But then, she looked around. Zephyr was right. The others couldn't care less. They were only throwing them quick glances, but it's not like they weren't doing that before. Ili calmed down, turning her head towards Zephyr and smiling softly. "I don't know how to dance..."
"Neither do I. But, we'll figure out something! We figured out how to beat a demon together, after all. How hard can a simple dance be?" Zephyr extended his other arm, with a soft smile.
Ili reluctantly took his arm, looking in his eyes. "After we inevitably fail and everybody looks at us weirdly, I'm not speaking to you for a week."
Zephyr chuckled softly. "Fine by me."
The two looked into each other's eyes, holding their hands together. The music started to slow down and came to an end, as a new waltz took its place.
"Miss Ililith, mister Zephyr,"
The scene was abruptly interrupted by the voice of a servant. The servant walked towards them, stopping and making a small bow. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but the lord is ready to receive you."
The two stopped, letting go of each other's hands. Ili turned towards the servant. "Yes, of course. Where should we go?"
"Please, follow me."
The servant brought them outside of the ball room, walking up some stairs to the second floor, and through some hallways. Finally, at the end of the hallway, they exited onto a small path up at the top of the ball room.
At the center of the path, on the left side, a closed door was waiting for them. Passing through the door, they entered a dark corridor, leading up on some stairs through the narrow path, leading forward. There were small windows on both sides, showing that they were going to one of the towers of the castle.
Finally, they reached one last closed door, through which light could be seen. The servant knocked on the door, before getting out of the way. From inside, the word "Enter," was heard, and so, the servant nodded and made a small bow to the two, getting out of the way.
"You may enter the lord's room. I will be on my way."
Ili nodded as well, seeing the servant leave. Then, putting a hand on the handle of the closed door, she pressed on it.
The door opened, revealing a small, squared room, with a man standing at a table at the back. The room featured piles of books all over, maps, military files and many more. At the back of the room, behind the table, was a large window, looking over the whole city of Feinhdall from up above.
The man looked at the two with an unreadable expression. He was dressed in an expensive but creased uniform, wearing multiple military achievement medals on it. On the table was a large, sheathed sword.
Breaking the silence, the man's deep voice was heard, staring at the two with his eyes narrowed. "Is this the one?"