Heart of Fire

Chapter Twenty Nine

If I thought the last ball was extravagant, this one trumps all of my expectations. As I stand in the ballroom, my eyes run over the vast amount of lights that dangle from the ceiling as they gleam. Vines intertwine with the lights, along with delicate white flowers scattered throughout the ceiling. The list of decorations goes on and on, giving the ballroom a whimsical feeling.

Bastian was kind enough to announce the leading team of the battle formally in front of the ball attendees, save for Brooks who obviously couldn't make it tonight. It was weird, having people look at you with something other than disgust and fear. They were happy to see all of us up there, as a team, the ones who fought for them today. It was a nice change to the stares I would usually receive.

"This is weird without Brooks here." Amelia whines.

I take a sip of my drink, which I poured myself of course, nodding in agreement. After Bastian announced us, we made a beeline to the drink table, except for Kenton who wandered off somewhere.

"Does anyone know if he's awake yet?" I ask.

"He's been stitched up, but he's still knocked out. I checked on him shortly before the ball." Fyn speaks up. I nod my head, happy that he is going to be alright, but still a little disappointed that he's not conscious.

"We can check on him after the ball, Adi." Hudson says, earning a sad smile from me.

"It's really too bad that he's not here, I bet he would be gawking over me right now if he saw how good I look." Amelia pouts, downing the rest of her drink.

"Brooks gawks over you when you drool in your sleep. It's not exactly a hard task." Fyn deadpans. The group erupts in laughter as Amelia shoves him in the shoulder, blushing at his remark.

"Haha, very funny." She jokes. "Can we dance now? I'm growing rather bored just standing here."

"Yes, you need to slow down on the drinks anyway." Fyn gestures to the empty glass in her hand. She sticks her tongue out at him as she sets the glass down before making her way to the dance floor, Fyn trailing along behind her.

"You coming?" Hudson asks me, already making his way to the floor.

"No, you guys go ahead. I have to find Kenton." I wave him off.

At the mention of his brother's name he smirks, giving me a wink before walking over to Fyn and Amelia. I roll my eyes at him, watching as they start dancing and laughing together.

I have a different reason for finding Kenton than what Hudson thinks. However, I can't seem to find him among the crowd. I walk through the broad amount of people, only getting stopped a few times to be thanked. I only nod at them, not knowing much else to do or say.

I finally spot Kenton after a few minutes of searching. He's at the dessert table searching through the plates of goodies and on his hip is...a baby? I stop dead in my tracks at the sight, quirking my head in confusion as he talks to the infant, letting the small thing pick out a sugary treat.

"One, who's child is that? And two, why did they trust you with such a thing?" I ask Kenton, walking up to where him and the child are.

He turns to me, one hand holding the child and the other holding a piece of cake. I have to say, seeing Kenton with an infant is odd, but not in a bad way. It's a... cute odd.

"Alice's mother had to use the bathroom, so I offered to watch her until she got back. Isn't that right Alice?" He explains, talking to Alice in a baby voice. I watch completely dumbfounded as he feeds the small girl some cake, no doubt giving her a sugar rush. She squeals in delight, reaching for more cake from Kenton.

"I never took you as the type to get along with children." I say, still eyeing him strangely.

"Children seem to like me." He shrugs, smiling down at the baby who looks at him with glee.

The child turns to look at me, she has cake all over her face, leaving me with no choice but to laugh. My laughter cuts short when she reaches for me, leaning out of Kenton's arms. He smiles mischievously, handing the child to me.

"Oh no I don't- alright." I have no choice but to hold the child he hands to me. I've never been a baby person. They never seemed to like me for whatever reason. However, this child only wants me to hold her, weirdly enough. So I hold her awkwardly, never having done this before. She reaches for my face, mesmerized by the glitter on my cheeks. I playfully bite her hand that touches my face, earning a squeal of laughter from her. I look back at Kenton, who watches me with a soft smile on his face.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing. She likes you." He says, gesturing to the child I hold.

"Thank you so much for watching her, you guys are life savers." The mother rushes back to us, slightly out of breath. I hand her the child, who babbles with joy at the sight of her mother.

"It was no problem." Kenton acknowledges her.

"Kenton might have given her a sugar rush. He gave her some cake." I call him out, which earns me a playful glare from him.

"Oh that's alright. I'm just glad she didn't give you any problems. Thank you again." She walks off with her daughter, joining the rest of the crowd as they laugh and talk amongst each other. I turn back to Kenton, who watches her walk off with his new little friend.

"I need to talk to you." I say, getting his attention. He looks at me weirdly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Alright, about what?"

"I think we should interrogate Zehra."

This catches his attention, his eyes bulging out of their sockets slightly. He pulls me further away from the crowd, out of ear shot to any over hearers.

"My father specifically told us not to do that, Adira. If he found out we went behind his back we'd both be tremendously punished." He says quietly.

"That's why he's not going to find out." I say confidently. I obviously know the risks in this, that's why I've carefully thought it out.

"Right, and how can you be so sure about that?" He asks, his eyes squinting at me, trying to make sense of this crazy idea.

"Because we're going to interrogate her now, during the ball. No one will suspect a thing, especially not your father. He'll be in here the entire time we talk to her, there's no chance of him finding out." I explain. He tilts his head to the side, scanning over my face.

"Why do you wish to speak to her so badly? It's not like the heirloom has any hanging effect on you."

I sigh, choosing to ignore his slight insult. It won't do me any good if I want him to follow through with this.

"Think about it, Kenton. Why is your father so adamant that we don't speak to her? I think he's hiding something from us. Something that Zehra knows about."

"What could he possibly have to hide from us? He only wanted us to capture her because of the heirloom." He cuts in, making me sound insane.

"You and I both know damn well your father keeps secrets around here. That's why I want to talk to her. Maybe she has information on what he's hiding. And even if he isn't hiding anything, it certainly doesn't hurt to ask."

He thinks for a moment, considering his choices and what might happen if we get caught. Finally, he closes his eyes as he sighs, then opens them to look at me.

"Fine, but we make it quick, got it?"

I give him an enthusiastic nod, happy that he gave in to my suspicions on his father.