Rune Knight: Book Two of The Empress Saga

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Enfri had to stop herself from staring slack-jawed at what lay on the other side of the door. This wasn't what she had imagined, but was no less grand. In truth, it surpassed her every expectation.

The Salt Stone Palace's ballroom felt ready to swallow all light. Nearly every surface, from the walls to the marble tile surrounding the dance floor, was of the deepest black. The rows of gaslights upon the walls and pillars threw the people within into bright contrast with the dark surroundings.

The circular chamber rose to more than sixty feet, ceilinged by a stained glass dome that portrayed a nautical theme. Images of crashing waves and sailing vessels captured the fading twilight outside and shone down upon the nobles within.

Three long and sweeping staircases were arrayed equidistant around the room's circumference. The second level was a single balcony, and a number of guests stood at the railing to watch those below.

The center of the main floor was tiled as a mosaic. The image it bore was a dark blue kraken holding a spear in its tentacles. The kraken lay within a silver eye upon a cerulean field. Even Enfri could deduce that this was meant to symbolize House Romov's fealty to the Algaras.

It was warm in the ballroom, though there were no hearths or braziers to be seen. Enfri suspected spellcraft, perhaps in the form of discreet runes. Whatever the method, the chill of early spring was kept at bay, and the air remained dry and comfortable.

Enfri took the striking decor in at a glance. It was the people that captured her attention.

There were a dozen or so serving women attending to the guests. They carried trays of wine and small edibles, and they wore dark gray dresses that covered them from head to toe and made them easy to ignore in this room. Their hair and much of their faces were obscured by shawls worn as hoods. Those shawls looked absurd to Enfri, so tall and pointy up top.

The noble ladies wore gowns in every color, though Enfri noted that nearly half were wearing a shade of green. Hairstyles were predominantly worn up in intricate and often extravagant headdresses. And scarlet. Enfri saw scarlet hair on nearly all of them. More than ever, she was thankful that she hadn't come with her natural color; blonde would have stuck out like a beacon.

Men wore white, cream, or gray outfits ranging from embroidered doublets to the double-breasted blazers favored in Althandor. There were also a smattering of long coats that had the look of a military uniform about them. House colors were displayed on handkerchiefs tucked into breast pockets or with slashes of color down the sides of their outerwear.

Many of them were dancing across the kraken mosaic. Their graceful steps flowed in time with the music of stringed instruments coming from the balcony above. For the most part, ladies were paired with lords, though there wasn't a lack of partners of the same gender.

Enfri was gratified to see that while some of the dancers moved in time with an unknown choreography, most simply twirled together to their own dance. It was all so chaotic, yet somehow possessed of a singular order all its own.

    Beautiful, Enfri thought wistfully to herself. She at last understood what a gala could be. This is much better than a village festival.

Enfri was so taken in by the spectacle of the ballroom that she nearly forgot that there was a bit of ceremony for her to perform. Every eye in the ballroom was turned towards the new arrivals. A soft murmur of surprise, perhaps also a trace of unease, swept through those assembled.

Jin's chin was tilted back, and her head turned slowly to regard everyone within the ballroom. Then, with the utmost grace and poise, she dipped into a slow curtsy. Enfri followed suit in unison, the result of nearly a half-hour of practice.