Inheritance

Chapter 37: Far Apart

Kori greeted many of the familiar faces she knew at the ball and danced with many of the men there when it was change partners. From the corner of her eye, she was watching Eory. He was behaving very well, it seemed, and getting along fairly well with the nobles.

She saw that some of the more accepting nobles would engage him for minutes, but that many of them had no wish to talk to him at all and cut the conversation short at a few seconds.

Regardless, Eory's etiquette was nearly impeccable. He knew how to greet the nobles, how to bow to them and for how long, how to keep good posture, and what topics to keep to during their conversations from what she could pick up.

She was very proud of him.

At his insistence, and to her dismay, he told her earlier that he didn't want her looming over his shoulder during the ball and that he wanted to prove to her that he didn't need her constantly correcting his behavior to perform well. So far, he seemed to be succeeding very handily without her, which made her incredibly happy, and at the same time...

Immeasurably sad.

She was beginning to think he didn't need her anymore. And if he didn't need her anymore, he would leave her alone and probably go live somewhere far away if everything went smoothly. How could he ever view her as anything but his captor and warden once he was set free, after all?

Being four-feet-tall, the human man who was dancing with her had to crouch a little to have proper form while they danced. As he led her about the dance floor in a melodic waltz, the man tried to make pleasant conversation, but she had only been pretending to listen and giving the most minimal answers to anything he said.

Her eyes kept wandering over to Eory as her mind remained cloaked in shadows from the previous night in which she had stared into them so deeply in the king's bedroom.

She looked over her shoulder after her dance partner had spun her around, and her eyes still remained glued to Eory.

The fairy was talking to another one of his species—the lord of a city which was a month away—and he lifted up Gershom with a grin on his face when the other fairy asked to pet him. Kori smiled bitterly with her mouth wobbling.

I'll miss him when he's gone...

Suddenly, her partner stopped dancing as the king stood up from the throne he was sitting upon on the far end of the room. His pregnant wife stayed seated on her own throne as did their six-year-old on the other side of the king.

The whole room went silent and still as they waited for the king to make whatever announcement he had in store for them.

"Good evening everyone. It is my pleasure to greet Eory Arroza, son of..." Laurence had to take a moment so he would say the detestable king's name instead of spitting it. "Son of Herin Arroza, and the longtime guard of his family, Pollyanna."

Everyone in the room looked at Eory, and Kori watched him freeze in fear for a moment at all the eyes upon him.

His eyes scanned the room until they locked with the waif's.

She mouthed to him, it's okay. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

After a long moment, Eory straightened his posture, bowed, and said in a confident voice, "it's good to meet you all. I am honored to be with you tonight."

The king was frowning deeply and looked lost in thought. He cleared his throat in a moment and said, "I would like everyone at this ball to try to be welcoming to Eory as he is being more than generous to us. As I have informed you all, this ball is a kind of test to measure whether he is fit for society. Eory, if I find your performance tonight to be unsatisfactory, will you accept going back into your prison?"

Eory met the king's gaze, and Kori watched him visibly gulp and lose a little confidence. In a moment, however, he nodded fearlessly. "I will. Whatever punishment you find suitable is fine."

There was a long moment of silence in the room, and Kori had a sinking feeling in her stomach that something would go wrong.

"I can see you are an honorable and respectable young man. Everyone, you may return to merrymaking." The king sat back down then, but his eyes found the waif's and he beckoned her over with silent eyes.

Kori had no idea what he wanted to say to her, but she nodded and, as the music resumed playing and the chatter between nobles continued, she hiked up her skirts and walked over to the king.

She felt guilty at seeing his beautiful, blond-haired and angelic-looking wife so close, and tried to just focus on the king.

"What is it, Laurence?" Kori asked.

"I would like you to sit with us during the ball. You're basically apart of the family, after all. I'll have a servant bring in another seat for you." Laurence said.

The king's wife, Harriet, nodded and said in her sweet, low voice, "yes, Kori. Our family owes you very much for helping to overthrow King Herin. Please come sit with us."

Kori looked at Laurence askance.

Does he plan for things to get ugly? Is that why he wants me so close to him and so far away from Eory?

Kori looked back at Eory who was smiling and talking to Pollyanna and felt the pressure of this choice weighing heavily upon her. In a moment, she looked down at her feet and forced a smile. "Alright, I'll sit next to you."