Our Second World book three: Personal Truth

Chapter 36: Nephinae

After our meeting with Vamiryo and the rest of the royals, Lynari, Yukiko, Wolf, and I were brought back to our room. There, we found formal wear waiting for all of us. One of the palace maids brought Wolf to another room while the rest of us started getting changed.

Yukiko had a sleeveless black dress with a frilly skirt and long black gloves that stopped half way up her upper arm. She had a black ribbon with a headband of red roses holding her blonde hair back and in a ponytail, and she wore black flats.

Lynari had a pale blue dress with short sleeves and a low cut back. Her layered skirt went down to the floor and covered her white heels. Her hair had been neatly pulled back in a braid with a blue ribbon and she draped it over her left shoulder.

The dress I was given was a deep, black-violet color. It had long sleeves that hung off my shoulders and fanned out at my wrists. The layered glitter covered skirt went all the way to the floor and covered my black open toed heels. The back of the dress had a diamond cutout that went all the way down to my waist and a black ribbon tied around my neck. I had had my hair braided for so long that it was naturally wavy when I let it down; it was already down past my knees now.

There was a knock on the door and Miafilellie walked in. She was wearing a dark forest green dress with silver accents and her long, pastel pink hair had been pinned up in a braided bun.

"Hey, are you almost ready?" She asked." The party's starting soon."

"Yes, we were just about to leave," I replied, walking over.

"Great. I'll walk you down. This castle is almost like a maze, but I've been exploring it since I was a kid, so I know all the shortcuts." Miafilellie grinned, leading us down the hall.

When we got to the large ballroom we discovered a number of people already there. A bunch of nobles in fine clothing and even many of the servants were dressed up.

The room fell silent after a few minutes as Vamiryo called for everyone's attention. Heads turned and all eyes were focused on the emperor standing on the raised platform above.

"I thank you all for coming to celebrate the safe return of my dear daughter, Anastasia, and thank you as well to the three adventures to see her home safely. Enjoy the party, everyone."

Vamiryo smiled and the room erupted in noise again.

The voices around me were nothing but a buzz in my ears. Too distracted by my familiars to hear them.

"Nephi..."

"I know. I felt it too."

Someone or something was outside. I wasn't about to wait for something to happen. slipping away from Lynari and Miafilellie, I started making my way through the crowd of nobles over to where Vamiryo and Anastasia were standing on the far side of the ballroom. I got about halfway to them when a loud crash echoed through the ballroom. Screams filled the room as the windows lining the walls shattered.

The nobles scattered to avoid the rain of glass shards and I saw Wolf grab Anastasia and pull her out of the way as a number of men in black armor and white masks jumped in through the broken windows.

I grabbed the nearest guard," Protect the guests and evacuate everyone. Now. We adventurers will take care of the royals."

The guard snapped from his daze and nodded, running off to relay the message to the other guards and servants. As they did, Lynari and Miafilellie ran over to me.

"What's going on?" Lynari demanded.

"No time to explain. I need you to go with the guards. Protect the guests," I said.