Cinders & Gold (Celeste Academy Fanfic👑)

Cinders & Gold ◇ Dance Of Yegon

♠chapter twenty♠
DANCE OF YEGON

Valeriana and the rest of the Twelve made their way into the hauntingly grim Castle. Krandlevur's Castle, by all means, had a dark and gothic feeling to it, which reminded the fifth ranker of Halloween.

The outer walls looked like they were smeared with tar, for they looked greasy and shiny in a way as the sun's rays reflected off them. To the side, a few people were trimming the overgrown grass on the lawn. This place hadn't been used for many months, it seemed.

"Watch your step," Corvan warned before Valeriana tripped on the first stairstep that led to the main entrance. She had been too engrossed in taking in her surroundings to notice.

The stairway was tiled with beige colored marble, and as the Twelve kept trudging on, it looked like the entire castle floor was made of marble.

"Feel welcome to the legendary building!" Alen's voice boomed. "As you can see, cleaning is well in progress."

Alen's hand pointed towards a far corner where a few people were using the fire element to dismantle cobwebs from the high ceiling. Two tall ladders were in the middle of the enormous room, and two young lads were at the top tending to a large golden chandelier full of melted candles. Valeriana's eyes bulged at the size of the chandelier. She had never seen one as large as that one.

Valeriana did a turn as she kept gazing at the castle. The large space they were currently in had a vague round shape, which reminded her of all the ballrooms she'd ever seen on television. She noticed a raised a platform—it looked like a podium of some sorts—and on it were two bronze chairs and a gold one that sat in between them. They were being polished by a young lady with shocking pink hair.

She frowned at the sight of the chairs. It reminded her of the palace. "Strange,"

Raziel, who was the closest to her, heard her and followed her line of sight. "What's strange?"

"What are those chairs for?"

Raziel huffed. "They're thrones, Valeriana. Keep in mind that the Autumn Ball will collide with the Day of Monarchs. The two events will have to happen in one day."

"Huh?"

Before Valeriana could ask anymore questions, Raziel went off to a group of young ladies and gents at the far end who seemed to be twirling on their toes. They chattered excitedly as the ladies spun around while the gents stretched their arms and legs into graceful positions. For some peculiar reason, they reminded the fifth ranker of ballet dancing.

A sigh escaped Valeriana's mouth once she saw that the members of the Twelve had veered off into different directions. Charles was with Rowe and was animatedly chatting with Alen, whose facial expressions were incredibly exaggerated. Elfre and Aneeka had gone to admire the golden brown curtains that had been hanging from the ceiling and were covering a section of the podium. Keelan and Brindon were having a conversation together, in which the eleventh ranker was doing most of the talking while the other stared apathetically into space. She saw no sign of Corvan and Tamara.

Valeriana crossed her arms and stood alone, having no clue on what to do.

Just then, Corvan's voice sounded behind her.

"Come Valeriana. I want to show you something."

With a scrunch of her brows, the honey golden blonde followed the Arlandian heir across the ballroom and up a staircase with a bronze banister. He led her into a corridor and as they walked, Val could not help but be curious as to where Corvan was taking her.