A Shattered Dawn

Chapter 5

I do not dare ingest any of the strange alcoholic substances floating around the room, high above the heads of the nearly invisible servants weaving through the hall. As Lucia walks away, heading for one of these servants, I can't help but follow her. I need to make sure she knows I didn't mean to hurt her. I curse myself for my stupidity, for prioritizing myself over the person who got me here, and quickly catch up to her.

"Hey, Lucia—I'm sorry for dancing with him. It was my mistake."

I keep walking by her side, trying to get her to acknowledge me, to respond. She keeps walking but looks back at me, plasters a smile on her face, and exposes her perfect, white teeth.

"It's fine, I just overreact sometimes. You know, because he meant so much to me."

She keeps walking as she has her head turned to talk to me, and she is not paying attention to where she is going. I cry out in warning, but not in time as she crashes into one of the servants with her brisk pace, knocking him over and ending up sprawled on the ground. The drinks go flying, spilling upon the surrounding guests, then shattering upon the floor. Glass shards fly in the air, and I instinctively step back and turn to shield myself as the impact happens. Immediately after, I step through the slippery, glass–strewn dance floor to see if Lucia is hurt, and she takes my hand, gingerly standing. She confirms that she is fine, and ushers me along. I stop and move to help the servant, yet she tells me with a firm tone to move on and let others take care of him—and the mess.

Once we are safely standing near the outskirts of the dance floor, Lucia turns to me again.

"First lesson of the royal palace: Leave the servants alone and don't, under any circumstances, talk to or help any of them. It is severely looked down upon by the royals, and everyone here, for that matter."

Her tone is gentler now. I still don't understand what is wrong with helping a servant, but I listen to her nonetheless. The last thing I need is for her to get angry with me again. Food has begun to be served, and we head back to our table again. I try to avoid looking toward the royal tables, but I can feel his eyes boring into my back. I stand up straighter, exuding confidence and power. As I walk, I drag my eyes away from the site of the accident, walking around it with cool composure and feigned distaste.

I carefully sit at our table with Lucia, and before long Adela and Malik come over, sitting across from us. The food is arriving now, decadent arrangements of salads and meats and everything in between. I've only seen this much food in the richest Celestial residences of the countryside. I command myself to stay calm in the presence of the royals and try to focus on my food, but my name brings me from my thoughts.
"Acilya just moved here from..."

Lucia's eyebrows pinch together in confusion.

"Where, exactly, did you say? Sorry, I've just been so excited with the ball and everything,"

I hadn't actually told her where I 'lived' before. I've never lived anywhere for more than a week or two. My real home would be across the continent, but if I told anyone that I would be exiled. So I tell them the closest alternative, the same I told Duke Olivier. I give them the name of the rich village overlooking the chasm, the Split, the views sought after by so many. The enormous houses are covered in glass, open panels, allowing an undisturbed view of the roaring waters below. I understand why so many Celestials desire the area—it has an air of danger since it is located so near to the once–deadly Night Angels.

"I lived in Ehren, so I'm quite unused to the warm temperatures here,"

The Celestials all laugh at this, expressing their love for the heat here in the south.

"So, how do you like it here?"

Adela chimes in with her lilting voice, eager to know more about the foreigner. I tell as much of the truth as I can.