Blood Runner: Book Three of the Empress Saga

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Presenting Lady Enfri the Yora," the attendant announced to the feast hall, "escorted by Her Exalted Highness, Princess Jin Algara."

Silence fell over the room, and every eye turned towards the entrance. A new wave of nerves and anxiety threatened to drown Enfri. She'd never wished to know how to brew an invisibility spell more than at that moment.

Her eyes found Ban before anyone else. He stood near to one of the feast hall's great, roaring hearths, in a knot of people that included Light Hoof, Moon, and Knight-Lieutenant Trent. The goblins were dressed for the occasion, in a manner of speaking. They were covered in lush furs that had a ceremonial look about them.

Ban grinned when he saw Jin and Enfri enter, and he even went so far as to give a low whistle as he looked over Enfri's gown. The blustering rogue. Enfri couldn't stop the broad smile that appeared on her face.

Several people gasped, followed by an appreciative murmur. Enfri must have been hearing things, because the snippets she caught sounded like the words "lovely" and "stunning". Surely, they meant Jin.

There were easily a hundred in attendance. Knights, lords, and ladies. Many of the noble guests were accompanied by servants in their house's livery. Enfri recognized more than a few faces from her previous foray into this sort of social gathering, others from her time in the palace. Almost all present had fair skin and auburn or crimson hair. It appeared that King Adeyemi and the Melcian delegation hadn't yet arrived.

As rehearsed, Enfri dipped into a slow curtsy. Jin did the same. Once they straightened, the two of them walked hand in hand into the feast hall.

The room was floored with black marble, the same as the columns ringing the rectangular chamber. Light came from the four great hearths on each wall and a number of gas lanterns. The black marble swallowed what light touched it, serving to make the people within seem all the brighter.

Long tables were arranged throughout the room at irregular intervals. Across the tables, a grand banquet was already in place, and boys in Romov livery brought in more food by the minute. There were plates and trays loaded with roasted meat, steamed vegetables, and fillets of raw fish lying upon shaved ice. Each chair had a setting of fine porcelain dinnerware. Servant women in gray dresses and stiff shawls bustled about with carafes of wine for the guests.

Enfri could feel everyone's eyes watching while King Sasha strode towards her and Jin. The king had a goblet in either hand, and he held them forward as he drew close. Enfri accepted hers while offering another curtsy.

Sasha wore a gray, double-breasted coat of an Altieri paladin. The only details that marked him as being of higher station than any other hand knight were the golden epaulettes on his shoulders. He didn't wear his crown, opting instead for a platinum circlet with three blue diamonds on his brow.

"My king," Enfri said, inclining her head to him.

"Please, there's no need for that," Sasha said, bowing slightly at the waist. He looked to Jin. "Your forgiveness, Highness, but might I borrow the Lady Yora for a moment?"

"Of course, my lord," Jin said. She had a sly smile about her. "But I should warn you that I get jealous."

Sasha winked at her as he led Enfri aside. Jin continued into the feast hall on her own and was received by Pacifica and the retinue of ladies that trailed in her wake. Enfri had to fight hard not to stare longingly after her and kept her attention on Sasha.

"There's not a problem, is there?" she asked in a low voice.

"No," Sasha said quickly. "Not in the immediate sense, at least. I didn't mean to startle you, my lady."