Page 19

CHAPTER 19

A melia and Jodi came to the restaurant to have dinner with me that evening. When Siobhan served us, she asked me if I had an escort for the Solstice Ball.

“Huh?” I brightly responded, then did a quick mental calculation—Solstice was two days away. “Uh, I guess not.”

“You didn’t know?” she asked.

I looked blankly at Amelia, who smiled and asked, “Did you bring any dresses, or do we need to go shopping?”

“Uh, yeah. I brought a couple of the evening dresses Dierdre bought for me.”

Siobhan stood there, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Amelia and me.

“Gertrude and I are going together,” she said. “The boys all have Enforcer duty.”

“And Gertrude doesn’t?”

“She got out of it. She wants to wear a fancy dress. You could go with us, if you want to.”

I glanced helplessly at Amelia, who refused to save me.

“Go ahead, Katy. Jodi and I will meet you there.”

“Jodi’s going?” I went to balls the previous year only because I was working for Dierdre.

“She’s sixteen, she can go with a chaperone.”

Jodi looked excited, so no help there.

Siobhan sensed my hesitation and said, “You did say you have a dress.”

“Yeah.” I turned to Amelia. “The red one with the gold accents will work, right?”

“Just the one I would have suggested.”

“Okay. Where should I meet you? Seems a bit strange to wander around the streets looking like Cinderella lost her pumpkin,” I said.

Amelia laughed, and Siobhan said, “Gertrude’s dad offered to drive us.”

My fate was sealed.

* * *

W hen Dierdre picked out the dress in Queen City, she had it altered to fit me. It was scarlet silk, sleeveless, with gold embroidery on the bodice and hem. The skirt fell straight from my waist, loose enough that I could actually run in it—no slits. I had matching gloves that reached my elbows.

Frau Buckner fixed my hair in a half-updo, and settled a simple gold filigree tiara—no stones—that had belonged to my mother to hold it in place. She also helped a little with my makeup. I still didn’t really do that very well.

“You are stunning,” she pronounced, hands on hips and a huge smile on her face.

“And you are a flatterer,” I said. “No one will look at me with Jodi in the room.”

She took a deep breath. “That one. She looks like the models on TV. She will either be a movie star or a billionaire’s wife.”

“Or spend her life in a mage jail for frying someone she doesn’t like,” I said. Frau Buckner rolled her eyes.

I wondered where Frau Buckner saw TV, since there wasn’t a single one in Master Adolphus’s house.

Jodi was only five feet tall. She’d have to be a lot taller to be a model, but she was one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen. Auburn hair, startlingly blue eyes, and an ivory complexion—plus a smile that lit up the room. And she was becoming more beautiful as she grew older.

She really didn’t care what men thought. She was absolutely gay, a mathematical prodigy, and a super-strong pyromancer. She’d had a crush on me since I first met her almost three years earlier.

And then there was Amelia. Even though she was in her mid-nineties, she looked to be in her mid-forties and was still beautiful. Barely taller than Jodi, with night-black hair spilling to her waist and an hourglass figure, she had a classic Italian look inherited from her father’s side of the family. She had told me her dress would also be red, and that Jodi’s was burgundy.

If no one else provided any color, the three of us would really stand out.

I watched out the front window of the restaurant, which was closed for the evening—for the first time since my arrival from the States. A car matching the description Gertrude had given me pulled into the square, and I went out to meet the driver.

I got in the back with Siobhan and Gertrude and was introduced to her parents sitting in the front. Herr Steiner drove to the Guild Hall and into the underground parking garage. I noted a lot more Enforcers outside than normal, and some of the security personnel from Queen City and elsewhere.

When we entered the ballroom, I stopped in awe. The celebrations in Queen City were pretty incredible, but the ballroom in Zürich felt like being transported to the nineteenth century. Like stepping into a Victorian-era movie.

We descended the grand staircase to the ballroom floor, and I felt as though everyone in the room was watching me. I spotted Amelia and Jodi standing with Colonel Sorento, and made a beeline toward them. They were near one of the long tables, holding trays of appetizers and bowls of punch.

Leaning close, Amelia told me, “Punch on the right has no alcohol. Punch on the left will knock you on your ass. Please help me keep Jodi upright.”

I burst out laughing, then controlled myself. “I’ll do my best.”

As for Jodi, her eyes were even wider than mine probably were.

“Absolutely fucking incredible,” she breathed when I greeted her.

“Yes, and watch your language. Most of these people speak English.”

Siobhan and Gertrude had followed me, and I noted that a couple of other young women they knew had gravitated to our group. About that time, the orchestra struck up a tune, and some of the older people filtered out onto the dance floor. I looked around and saw several groups of young men, including Hans and Conrad in their Enforcer uniforms. Our party was attracting attention.

Expecting what would happen next, I grabbed Jodi’s hand and led her closer to the table.

“The action is about to heat up,” I said. “Be discreet, and mind your manners, but stock up on calories. It’s going to be a long night.” And with that, I loaded a small plate with yummy-looking appetizers and popped one in my mouth. I hadn’t had any dinner, as Frau Buckner had gone to ready herself for the festivities once she finished helping me.

As soon as I turned around, I saw Conrad coming across the room. He stopped in front of Siobhan, gave a half-bow, then took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. Hans wasn’t far behind him and came toward me.

“May I have the pleasure of this dance?”

“The pleasure would be mine,” I said, praying that I wouldn’t fall on my face or trample his feet too badly.

He turned out to be a skilled dancer and made me look fluid and graceful. That was a magic I had never encountered.

“You are magnificent,” he said.

“And you are the best dancer I’ve ever met.” I smiled. “And an incredible liar, but I won’t hold that against you.”

He laughed.

The evening went like that. I danced with Colonel Sorento, Captain Le Pen, Siobhan’s boyfriend Conrad, and a couple of other young men. I noticed several groups of young men—sort of the distaff side of the group of young women I was with—including one with Roland Müller and his buddies, and another group made up of boys in their teens. The latter group seemed mesmerized by me and my friends, but I knew the true focus of their attention.

Jodi danced with Colonel Sorento, and then with a man who was paying a lot of attention to Amelia. After a while, one of the young boys worked up the courage to approach Jodi. She glanced at me—I winked at her—and she allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor.

That caught the attention of Müller and his buds. I leaned close to Amelia.

“Do you see those young men in Enforcer uniforms? The one with the messy hair?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t let him near Jodi or you’ll be explaining his murder.”

Her head jerked around to look at me. She studied my face, then said, “Warning taken.”

If Müller couldn’t handle my half-trained magic, Jodi would light him up like a Roman candle and melt the ground he stood on. Amelia was a war-worthy pyromancer, but no one in Queen City had ever seen a fire mage as strong as Jodi, who was only sixteen and yet to come into her full magical strength.

I took every chance to hit the appetizers and tried to position myself between our group and the punch bowls. Jodi was a sweet girl, but one with few inhibitions—and a tendency to overindulge if given the chance.

As a result, I witnessed Roland Müller fill two punch glasses of the potent kind and approach our group from the rear. He stepped in front of Jodi and offered her one of the glasses.

“Might I have this dance?”

Amelia stepped between them. “I’m afraid you’re a little too old for the young lady.”

His indignation flared. “I’ve seen her dance with much older men.”

At that point, Colonel Sorento intervened. “I think that I’m allowed to dance with my niece,” he said. “And you, as per usual, are out of line. You need to learn the meaning of the word ‘no,’ Müller.”

Müller’s reaction was as expected. He turned red in the face, acted as though he might throw a tantrum, then dropped the glass meant for Jodi. It smashed on the floor as he stormed away.

Jodi glanced at Amelia, then at me. “Aw, c’mon. He could have been fun!”

I chuckled and grinned at her. “Murder is illegal here.”

She pretended to pout, then turned her smile on Colonel Sorento. “Thank you very much, Uncle.”