Victubia: An Origin

Chapter Eight

It was the day of the ball, and last minute touches were being added to the castle, with beautiful decorations strung up everywhere, and rooms being cleaned to make them suitable living for the guests. Victubia being a remote city, and the party due to last until late into the night, rooms had been offered to the invitees, and only two of the closest cities had turned down their offer. Almost every bedroom had been allocated, due to the continuing arrivals of their friends coinciding with the event they had been planning. Krism and Minx stood on the notorious balcony, looking over their city, Minxes arm draped around Krism’s shoulders. The sun was bright, warming their faces, and the sound of distant merry music drifted over the rooftops. A festival had been arranged by the mayor, to make the most of the celebrations and decorations the city was decked with. From here, you could just see the marching band parading through the streets, and families sitting on roofs, watching it pass and singing the tune. A tune Minx didn’t recognise, but which must be a traditional one, since she could hear her girlfriend humming it quietly under her breath.

Already, several hours before the ball was due to start two of the guests had arrived, the king and queen of a nearby city who had been quiet until now (according to Krism) and the archduke of another, as the King was not fit to travel. News of the rapid building of Victubia had spread, and Minx was sure several guests had arrived early to give them a chance to look around the town, or simply to assure they did not give themselves a bad name by arriving late, as traveling a far distance in only horse and carriage can be unpredictable.

Minx was definitely nervous. She wasn’t a social person and got the nerves when hanging out with friends, never mind strangers who could impose a threat to her and everything she had built if they decided they didn’t like Victubia. Talk about the pressure being on. She had considered getting drunk down in the Late Night to make everything easier, but Krism had pointed out that it wouldn’t be a very good first impression.

Krism looked up at her girlfriend who was staring vacantly at the view, pondering all these matters. The tune the marching band was playing picked up, and Krism smiled, taking Minx’s hand. Krism pulled her gently to the center of the balcony, where she guided Minx’s hands to her neck, putting her own on her girlfriend’s waist. They started to move in a simple dance, the worry disappearing from the Queens face. Krism didn’t even need to say a word to cheer her up.

The evening was growing closer, the sun setting, with the majority of the guests having arrived by now. Most of Minx’s friends were in the main hall, sacrificing their evening to help her out, either by organizing the orchestra, triple checking the refreshments, or purely being there to help Minx out with talking to everyone. Not having to answer the same questions over and over, sharing it out with people who could answer just as well as her was going to be a blessing, she thought. A few people had started to filter in, coming down from their rooms are more arrived through the gates. What could go wrong?

There was a loud crash from the floor above her, and several people in the room glanced upwards, as if they expected to see the ceiling caving in. Minx winced, and began to run up the stairs to find the source. She could hear Krism reassuring the crowd behind her, growing distant as Minx reached the top of the stairs and began to walk to corridor, trying to figure out which room the noise would have come from, when she heard it again. A large bang, as if something heavy had fallen down, coming from one of the first rooms. She knocked gently, not sure who was in there, but heard a familiar voice call her in.