An Affinity For Fire

40. Dallas

Usually, at an evening party, Dallas would be the last person to shy away from the exquisitely dressed guests looking for a dance partner. Unfortunately, at an event such as the Quarternal Festival, where royalty from all four mainland kingdoms gathered, the majority of those dancing were only doing so in an attempt to be the centre of attention. Either they wanted everyone staring in envy at their fine clothes and jewellery, or they wished to catch the eye of a potential marital partner. In either case, Dallas had no doubt they would be excruciatingly dull company.

At the edges of the room, hiding in corners, sat at tables or propped against the wall with a drink in hand, dwelled the interesting attendants. Those more focussed on fun than pageantry. Those avoiding the crowd's eye for one reason or another.

Those who might be interested in doing something extremely scandalous.

He'd been chatting and drinking with one such guest for around fifteen minutes. She was a young woman, clearly a wealthy Occassan judging by her bejewelled seafoam blue dress. She'd called herself Jas, which couldn't possibly have been her full given name, and had abstained from sharing a family name or title. Not that he'd asked for either. Her position was of no consequence to him. Given her profane tongue and the mischievous, hungry gleam in her pale eyes, formality didn't seem to be of any consequence to her, either.

"Isn't this just the most outrageous party you've ever been to?" Jas giggled sipping away at her white wine.

Dallas laughed. "Honestly? Not even close."

She frowned. "Really? Urgh. My family must just be boring, then. Usually, our parties have a lot less dancing and a lot more sword fighting."

He almost choked on his wine. "Sword fighting?"

"Friendly duels are oddly common," she explained. "All the guests stop talking to watch. It's supposed to be an opportunity to show off your abilities in combat. They take it very seriously, too, at can get a little scary."

His brows raised. "Well, that may not be a particularly conventional idea of entertainment, but it does sound exciting. I'll have to attend one of these parties one day to witness this."

Jas's lips curled into a wicked grin. She was about to make another comment when her eyes wandered towards something just behind him and her expression turned sour. "Oh, Fates be damned."

Dallas turned to see a young man approaching. "Well, well," the stranger said, coming to a stop beside Dallas and glaring at Jas. "If it isn't my darling sister. I see you're on your best behaviour." He flashed her a false smile.

"What do you want, Mal?" she scowled back.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I want. Come on, have a guess." He crossed his arms and eyed her expectantly.

The icy glower she gave him was almost frightening. "Let me see. You want to sabotage my chances of having any fun, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't have worded it like that, but essentially, yes," the young man said.

"Do you enjoy making my life painfully miserable?" she asked.

Her brother's jaw visibly tensed. "Believe it or not, no. Why, do you enjoy making mine relentlessly difficult?"

At first, Dallas had found the family dispute mildly amusing, but it was becoming far too intense, and he felt more than a little uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, did I miss something? What's happening?"

The Ocassan boy finally acknowledged him. He looked astonishingly similar to his sister, from the pale, piercing eyes and slender nose to the pale, freckled skin and honey-coloured hair.