"And here we are" bowed the carriage driver, opening the door for his highly esteemed guest. Leo stepped out, took in a deep breath and smiled; marveling at the beautiful stone castle before him.
"Welcome to Magnitia sir" added the elf.
Leo noticing the weirdly expectant gaze of the driver sighed "Didn't my order pay you?
The elf scratched his head nervously "They did but surely in your benevolence, you of all people could spare me at least a coin".
"Whatever". Leo waved his hand. "Just get out of my hair" he added flipping a shiny gold coin at the greedy driver.
With a nod the driver caught the coin, joyfully skipping into the carriage before riding off, his laughter fading in the distant noises of thundering hooves.
"What a sight" Leo thought, looking around at the beautiful castle. The castle was made up of pure grey stone and what it lacked in elegance, it made up for in size. Large windows adorned its side coupled with numerous arrow slits and four massive towers. Some minutes later and the castle took on a magnificent look as it lit up with countless lights that shone through the night.
Leo remained standing, taking in all the sights and sounds before he too followed the many line of esteemed guests through the main gates.
A familiar dwarven mage stood in the lawn and verified the visitor's invitations before some fairies escorted them towards a beautiful red carpet leading into the spacious banquet hall on the ground floor of the main castle.
"Welcome assassin" murmured the dwarf gesturing towards the castle.
Leo didn't reply nor did he greet the dwarf and instead continued on the red carpet while his eyes contracted due to the bright lights greeting him as he made his way into the bright and spacious grand hall.
And for the first time in a long time Leo felt like an ant compared to the affluent guests and decorations littering the balll.
The hall had various banners of the Phoenix hanging around and numerous tables laid with dishes of many kinds. At the front of the hall was the high table while a large wooden space between the high seats and the banquet hall contained the dance floor and a music stand for the currently seated instrumentalists.
The guests were all currently sitting as they waited for the introduction of the royals and heads of the phoenix to take their seats at the high table.
Leo stood at one of the purple VIP tables up front as he waited for the introduction.
A group of three giggling beauties dressed in fancy floral dresses made their way from the entrance to the VIP section laughing; their faces hidden beneath similar floral fans.
"Wow it's the dryads" murmured a noble man "You're quite right, who would have known that such beauties would grace this event" added another nobleman.
"Scoot over" cried another as he tried to make some space in case the beauties decided to sit near him. Other single noblemen and mages also prayed that lady luck smiled on them and in turn gave them the opportunity to dine and maybe dance with such beauties.
Leo on the other hand sat at his table fighting the urge from his panther form to devour the juicy meat cuts displayed on the table before him. One of the dryads in a green floral dress whispered something to the rest of her sisters and followed by a loud giggle the trio made a straight beeline for a peculiar table that had just enough space for three more people.
A tall nobleman dressed in a dark suit and wearing a silver monocle sighed praying that the dryads weren't heading for the table he had in mind.
"Four bags of gold coins says the dryads will sit with the assassin "the nobleman's father betted nudging his son in the shoulder.
The tall nobleman adjusted his monocle taking a better look and clenched his father's hand "Four bags says otherwise".
"Are these seats taken? The eldest of the dryads asked keeping the fan closer to her face.
"Of course, not angels" Leo grinned "Be my guest".
"What a gentleman" chuckled the dryad as she and her sisters sat down. The young nobles cursed, jealous of the assassin's luck.
"it's such an honor to meet you Fanghyr" beamed the eldest sister. "The pleasure is mine" Leo said.
"So, could I have the honor of knowing your names?
The eldest sister dropped her fan on the table revealing her beautiful green eyes and green hair to match.
"I am Morning rose and my two sisters are Evening star and Silver mon. Evening star had vermillion eyes and blonde hair while her sister had blue eyes and silver hair which explained her name . The two were dressed in red and silver respectively.
"Nice names". Leo complimented and with a smile gave a brief introduction about himself.
Leo after this kept quiet, listening to the dryads which were surprisingly talkative contrary to their reserved and quiet appearance.
The hall however grew noisy as the guests rose to their feet to welcome the guests that just appeared at the high table.
The king and queen of Magnitia took their seats first, followed by a beautiful elf dressed in a green floral dress with a low neckline and a stunning emerald tiara to match.
This elf was Emelda, the princess of Elyria who was here on behalf of the queen her mother. The dwarven king Redhead and the fairy queen Tulip took their seats also, leaving four slightly less extravagant chairs vacant.
After what seemed like forever the elders appeared at the high table in a bright light.
Patricia dressed in the robes of her order took her seat representing the Sun, followed by Klaus and the cloudy eyed seer who represented the Order of Twilight and the Order of the moon respectively.
Patricia and the heads glanced at the empty seat of the night before smiling at Leo.
Leo shuddered a little due to the many eyes glued to him "Let's get this over with" He took in a deep breath, confidently walking up to the vacant seat that was reserved for the Night.
The royals could be seen with frowns on their faces as they wondered what gave the Night the impudence to pick a young youth to represent them. The king of Magnitia sensing the now tense situation came to the assassin's aid and with a loud voice smiled.
"Welcome to the five hundredth Phoenix Ball!
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And it's with great joy that I announce the beginning of the brotherhood wars. Expect a whole lot of action and mystery and don't forget to vote and comment, for only through that can I get the motivation to better my work.