Page 18 of Ties of Deception (Tethered Hearts)

Chapter

Eighteen

A stone skidded to the floor in my new quarters in the palace. I was three stories up with a balcony view of the gardens. However, by now I knew that climbing this high wouldn’t be difficult for Ethen.

I pushed through the gossamer curtains to the marble balustrade and was immediately shrouded in the heavy, humid veil of night. Cicadas hummed and the sky glowed with streaks of pink and gold still tearing through the edges of the darkening horizon.

I couldn’t see anyone, but there were plenty of shadows for him to hide in. I sighed and leaned on the balustrade, speaking in a soft voice. “You know, one of these days you’re probably going to hit me with one of those rocks. How can you possibly see where I am through those curtains? Or you’ll hit and smash some priceless artifact that came with the rooms and I’ll be accused of being unable to control my emotions.”

Ethen’s fingers appeared on the edge of the marble ledge before he pulled himself up in one fluid motion. I still couldn’t understand how a man with such a broad build could move like that. He perched on the marble ledge. “Would you prefer I came in unannounced and scared the life out of you?”

I pouted. “You could knock like a normal person.”

He raised an eyebrow. “On what? Your door, announcing to the whole palace that I visit you alone at night?”

I snorted. “Would you like some wine? There are several rather fine bottles here.”

I walked back inside and he followed, close enough that I could sense his presence even with my back turned. I let him select the bottle and poured us two glasses.

“You did a good job today,” he said after a long sip. “You were completely convincing.”

I swirled the red liquid around my own glass. “I hope Charity wasn’t too unpleasant to Prudence. I felt sorry for her.”

Ethen shrugged. “She knew what she was getting herself into. The empress isn’t displeased with her, and she’s already left the palace to return to her family in a town near the sea. She’ll be happier there, I’m sure. Charity was just angry that her chances of winning Sebastian’s hand decreased so greatly in round one. Only Liberty will support her now, while everyone else is singing Constance’s praises.” He paused until I glanced at his expression. “Constance is going to be the hardest one to beat, you realize. The empress already listens to her. Don’t get too distracted by Charity.”

I shifted, uncomfortable. “But a wounded wild animal is often the most dangerous and likely to lash out.”

Ethen’s expression became more serious. “Indeed. The perfect distraction for somebody else to stab you in the back.”

I swallowed. Constance seemed so nice. Would she really betray me like that? I supposed that would depend on whether I got between her and the prince.

I thought again of Sebastian’s sudden appearance and how much it had worked in our favor. “Can Graces be Blessed by other Graces?”

“Yes, but not by themselves. And I can be Blessed too.” Ethen grinned at me. “I think you gave me some good fortune today. It can’t just be the empress and prince who steal it all.”

I wondered just how much good fortune the empress received from having so many Graces around her every day. Was that why the empress seemed to prosper so much? Pris had once called her a master negotiator and said the empire was flourishing.

I sat down on one of the heavily padded sofas. “So if I’ve made myself a target now—whether from the front or the back—what do you think I should be most wary of?”

Ethen sighed and stared toward the balcony, his eyes darkening and gaining a dangerous glint. “Due to their powers of life, goddesses can’t get ill or be poisoned by the normal culprits. However, they can be deeply sedated by moon blossom. It has a very faint taste and a pinkish hue so it is often disguised in wine or blended fruit juices. I’ve seen it used in the palace before. Be careful what you drink.”

I tried to think of the situations where I would drink outside of my room. There weren’t many. “But if it’s served by the empress, not to drink would be an insult and demonstrate that I don’t trust her.”

“Correct. Sometimes it is best to practice the art of pretense.” He hesitated. “There is also a flower in the Unseen Lands called nightstar. We don’t allow it to be picked or taken away. But it is the one thing that can kill a Grace outside of a severe physical injury. The distilled liquid is a dark purplish-brown.”

My mouth dried. “Is this plant common knowledge?

He shook his head. “Few outside of the Unseen Lands will have ever heard of it. Still, I would be on your guard. We don’t know who might have a link with my country.” He sat back. “You also need to think about what weapons you’re willing to use against the others. I wouldn’t put moon blossom past any of them.”

I leaned back into the sofa and tried to keep my distaste from my features. “My intentions might not be transparent—since I don’t intend to actually marry the prince—but I still intend to follow the rules as much as possible, even if nobody else does. The trick we did today with making the branches bloom made me…uncomfortable, though I understand it was necessary. If this is indeed a contest showing how I would best take on the role of empress, I want to demonstrate honesty and the benefit of hard work. Besides, it will mean that my enemies will find it hard to use anything against me, while I only have to prove one of each of their transgressions to shame them.”

He chuckled, though I heard little humor in the sound. “Things might not be as easy as you think, but it sounds like you intend for intelligence to be our weapon. In that case, we need as many eyes in the palace as we can.” He grinned and tilted his head. “Lucky for you, I already have quite a few.”

I nodded. “We need to know the other goddesses' actions and intentions. Especially Charity’s and Constance’s.”

He pressed a thumb into his lower lip. “They’re the hardest to guess, but we’ll piece together what we can. Hope and Patience have been with Constance in her rooms all afternoon. You are still very much on the outside of her circle. You may, with time, become more privy to information yourself.” He shrugged. “But at the moment, Prince Sebastian will be summoning each of you for conversation. Nobody knows the next stage the empress has planned, so I can’t imagine anyone has detailed plans for it yet. Instead, I predict minor plays of power to make the other goddesses seem less attractive to the prince and empress. Spreading rumors for example, maybe even things as simple as tripping somebody up or ruining their dress.”

I raised an eyebrow in a skeptical expression. “You can’t be serious?”

He chucked and folded his arms. “I wish I wasn’t.”

I rubbed my forehead. I could handle a few petty gestures and small accidents. “Any more information about how they’re stealing souls from the Unseen Lands?”

He sighed. “Not exactly, but we’ve almost finished our search of all the libraries in the city.”

I straightened, curious. “What exactly are you looking for? Did you find anything?”

He tilted his head. “It’s not so much what we’ve found as what is missing. From our records back home, souls started to go missing from the Unseen Lands about one hundred and seventy years ago. Every history book or book about gods and goddesses more than a hundred and fifty years old has pages missing. Every single one. It’s truly impressive how thoroughly they have erased their own history and knowledge.”

I nodded. “Pris showed me an old book about gods and goddesses from their household library. It was incomplete too, and she wasn’t meant to have taken it out of the room.”

Ethen continued. “The librarians seem very cautious about people analysing these books and so forbid anyone from removing them. All the books that claim Graces were present all the way back to antiquity were published in the last hundred years. Though we did find this.” He reached into his coat pocket and handed me a thin scrap of paper. “One book in a small library had a fraction of a torn page still present.”

I took the page and turned it around until I realized it was the bottom of a drawing in exactly the same style as the book of gods and goddesses Pris had shown me, complete with the gold accents. The drawing showed a pair of women’s feet in gold sandals and the bottom of a cream dress. It wasn’t much. But if it was a drawing from a book similar to the one Pris had… I met Ethen’s eyes. “Could this be another type of goddess?”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe the early Graces were a bit different and called something else? I don’t know. Initially, I thought the pages were missing just to obscure the fact that Graces were created instead of always existing in Atos, but now I wonder if they’re hiding something else too.”

I stared back at the sandaled feet. Apart from pale skin, this scrap of drawing gave frustratingly little detail to go on.

Ethen rolled his shoulders. “Regardless, the age of the tampered books confirms our suspicions that as soon as souls were stolen from the Unseen Lands, they became Graces in Atos, even if we didn’t realize it until my father found his Fated here. Initially we believed the souls were simply disappearing. It’s one of the reasons Father took so long to find her. Neither the Aidis nor Aida aren’t normally welcome here, and news reaches the Unseen Lands slowly. But they did accept my father’s request to find a bride among the Graces all those years ago. And they accepted mine. Of course, they like this hold they now have over us. The empire knows we can’t continue our line without a Grace. We give them riches in return.” His mouth twisted in disgust.

I frowned. “And when did Hassia invade Atos? They used the Graces as their excuse, didn’t they? They said the Graces were originally vulnerable to pirates, but now the empire could protect them with Amazones and be Blessed in return.”

He scoffed a laugh. “I see you’ve read some of the modern history books—or been taught by somebody who has. I don’t believe the Graces existed back then. The Fated Grace used to come back into her original body in the Unseen Lands. I suspect Hassia wished to use the Amazones to expand to lands that were already naturally fertile. They like to portray it as using their strength to protect the weak. Whatever they use to steal souls was discovered later here in Atos—something that the empire was so desperate to hide that they invented an entire history to cover it up.”

I ran my teeth across my lips in thought. “Maybe it's so nobody can stop them from continuing the practice. Having Graces is a huge benefit to the empire. They can not only Bless their agriculture and give politicians good fortune, health, and long life, but the empire can control rich families with the promise of giving them a Grace, or threatening to take them away.”

Ethen smirked and slouched back on the couch. “You’re catching on. Graces are used as a currency here, keeping the empress and emperor-consort firmly in control.”

I pinched my forehead. There were so many facets to this problem that it was hard to view them all as a whole.

Ethen scooted along the couch to my side and rubbed a hand up and down my back. “Don’t let this overwhelm you. It’s a lot of information for somebody with only three months of memory. We have a plan, let’s stick to it. You’re right. The empress, and likely Prince Sebastian will know the answer to all of this and getting it from them is far more effective than searching for dregs of information. We’ve still got people watching the priests, but they won’t let Aida into the temples. Sneaking around them at night is uncovering nothing.”

So he was relying on me. The souls of the Unseen Lands were relying on me. I gave him a fierce look. “I’ll find out.”

He smiled and brushed my cheek with his thumb, such a simple, tender gesture, yet it felt as intimate as a kiss.

He hesitated. “Would you…would you like to meet the Aida who are here? In private, I mean. They really want to see you.”

An unexpected jolt of nerves made me hesitate. Things seemed more manageable when it was just the two of us. Ethen’s faith in me seemed unwavering, but now I felt the pressure to win over his friends who risked so much to be here and help him find me. It would be awkward if they didn’t find me worthy. I licked my lips. “Can we do so safely?”

He gave an unconcerned shrug. “I can invite them here. They can climb up. Well, some of them can tonight anyway. I have five companions from the Unseen Lands. Tamel, Ben, Elsen and Skanal are Aida. I also brought one mortal—your oldest friend, Ava. She insisted on coming along.” He looked away and grimaced slightly. “You loved her fiercely, but…she and I don’t always get along. I just wanted to warn you. I almost didn’t bring her because I know she’s angry about all of this. I didn’t want her to upset you or tell you horrible things about me.” He laughed without humor. “But then, I realized she has a right to be here, and you have a right to hear her. It’s only fair.”

The nervousness in his eyes made me wonder what on earth had gone on between them, and whether I was about to be confronted with another, uglier side of Ethen.

I rested my hand on his knee in reassurance. “Of course, I’ll meet them. Especially if they’ve been stuck here for three years primarily to help you find me.”

He smiled, though his whole body appeared tense, and I wondered again what exactly he was worried about. I held up a finger to pause him as he started to step away. “But before you do, I’m confused. You said four were Aida and one was mortal. I thought everyone in the Unseen Lands was called an Aida and that they were mortals? You said there is only one Aidis and one king and you are the only ones descended from Ismara and Ienar. So surely you and your father are the only gods of death, if we ignore the old kings who have retired to shepherd souls within the Vale.”

He pushed his hand back through his hair. “Ah yes. Nobody in Atos understands the correct use of our terminology. You’re quite right—only my father, and my however many grandfathers, and I have powers of death. The mortals have none. But the Aida are separate from those two categories and somewhere in between. You see, even when we control our powers, it’s harmful for mortals to spend a long time around an Aidis or even to spend frequent short times over several years. So there are very few mortals in court, and those who work in the palace have to adhere to strict shift patterns. However, the Aida have a resilience to this. They are similar to the Amazones, I suppose. They were Blessed by Ienar to help the first Aidis rule and so are immune to the powers of death, though they have no powers themselves. They pass their gift down to their children and, while not immortal, live longer lives than mortals. Though mortals make up most of the population of the Unseen Lands, the palace mostly contains Aida. And it is typically the Aida who work as politicians and interact with other countries, hence why most foreigners call all of us Aida.”

I grunted. “It sounds like life would have been much simpler for you and Snow if she’d been an Aida.”

He winced, and I wished I could take back the words. “Yes,” he breathed. “It would have been. The relationship would have been safe for you, though Aida can’t bear children to a god of death. The power of life is needed. But,” he paused to give me a sad smile, “You don’t truly choose who you fall in love with.”

He walked to the balcony, cutting off the conversation, and whistled low and warbling before turning back to me “Tamel, Ben, and Ava are out there. Elsen is keeping watch. Skanal is monitoring the rooms of the other Graces.”

I nodded and barely had a chance to stand before two men pulled themselves over the balcony with a grace similar to Ethen’s. Though I recognized them as Aida I’d seen standing near Ethen in the palace, I’d never paid them much attention.

Both shared the same hairstyle as Ethen, their floppy black fringes needing to be periodically pushed to one side. They both also wore similar black leather outfits with broadswords on their backs. One of them grinned and bowed to me, much to my surprise. “It is good to see you again, Snow—I mean Purity. I gather you don’t remember much, but I’m Tamel. We spent quite a lot of time together over the decades, so the Aidis thought I might help you regain your memories.” He looked overly excited by this prospect.

The second man bowed beside him with a more nonchalant expression. “I’m Ben, short for Bengin. You always called me the annoying one, so I think the Aidis brought me along to annoy you some more in case it triggered anything.”

I looked from him to Ethen and back again. “Sounds…great.”

Behind them came a sharp curse. The men grimaced in unison and looked behind them as if bracing for a verbal onslaught. A middle-aged woman in a black tunic and grey woolen leggings rolled over the balustrade with a grunt before landing on the floor. She shrieked as she stood up, “The least one of you useless Aida could have done is help me!” She rubbed her elbow and stretched her arms. Her sharp eyes narrowed on me from beneath an uneven fringe. Her shoulder-length straight hair was half up in a style that was too precisely messy to be anything other than deliberate.

Her eyes flicked between Ethen and me, so skeptical that a flush warmed my cheeks. Her voice was harsh and disbelieving with little inflection. “That’s her. You’re sure? How on earth can you tell? She looks nothing like Snow.”

Ethen sighed, and the sound was long-suffering. His hand nestled in the small of my back as if to reassure me. “Yes, Ava. This is Purity, who was once Snow. We’ve been through this.”

I held up my hand in an awkward wave, then dropped it again, immediately embarrassed by the gesture.

Ava didn’t say anything but tilted her chin up slightly and continued to analyze me. I swallowed and turned my attention back to the Aida.

Tamel gave me a half grin, half grimace, and mouthed “ Ignore her. ” Then he took another step forward. “It is honestly really good to see you again. It’s been a long three years.”

I pushed a lock of hair behind one of my ears, not sure how to reply to that when I had no memory of this man, but I remembered my manners and gestured to the seats, gathering cups and wine glasses, grateful for something to do.

The two new men sat on the couches while Ava sulked behind them in one corner, seemingly wanting to distance herself. I sat on the opposite side, and Ethen settled next to me, helping me pour the drinks.

Tamel snorted as Ethen handed him a golden cup. “Well, this is the first time the Aidis has ever poured me a drink. I think we should hang out around you more often, Purity.”

Ethen gave him a dry look as he handed another cup to Ben. “If you’re not careful, I might also spill it on you…by accident, of course. These goblets are heavy.”

I filled Ethen’s glass then looked at Ava who still leaned against the wall, arms folded. “Would you like some? I have wine or juice?”

She forced a smile at me. “No. Thank you.” Then she continued glaring at Ethen as if she hated every part of what was going on.

Ethen sighed before standing. He carried an empty glass to the shelf of drinks and rummaged around before filling it with an amber liquid. He then took it over to Ava and placed it on a table beside her. “It’s honey wine.” Then he returned without waiting to see her reaction.

Ava kept up her scowl but glanced at the cup. She managed a few moments more—until Ethen’s attention was fully back on me—before she snuck a sip.

I lifted my own glass to hide my smile.

Ethen leaned back on our couch, resting one arm along the back. “Talen and Ben have been working with me for almost sixty years now. We know each other well.”

I looked back at the men, neither looking older than their mid-thirties. I guessed I’d underestimated what Ethen had meant when he said Aida lived longer than mortals.

I took another sip, thinking about what question might help trigger my memories. “How did you both first meet Snow?”

Ben grimaced. “Oh, it was awful.”

I blinked in surprise. “What was?”

Tamel nodded with raised eyebrows. “It was.” He tutted and shook his head as he stared into the middle distance.

Ethen groaned, leaning back his head. “Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad. Stop exaggerating. We’re trying to trigger her memories.”

Ben leaned forward, ignoring the prince. “I had only seen you from afar at the Erebus races when the Aidis started talking about you soon after. This mortal girl he kept going to meet.”

Tamel blew out a long breath with wide eyes. “You would have thought him seventeen. Not one hundred and five. He just kept on going.”

“Every single day.”

“For weeks.”

Ethen sat up straight, scowling. “She asked you when you met her. Not when you heard about her.”

Ben shrugged at Ethen. “Well, I felt like I’d met her a dozen times before you properly introduced us.” He turned back to me and started counting on his fingers. “I knew the names of your entire family, every place you’d lived, your favorite foods, even your fashion sense. The details of the disease center you ran. I know less about my own sister.” He looked over at Tamel. “But at least, I don’t have to be embarrassed about how we met.”

Tamel frowned at him. “Embarrassed? Why would I be embarrassed? She simply beat me in a race.”

Ben snorted. “And since when do mortals beat high-ranking Aida in races?”

My lips parted. “I beat you in a race?” Me, who couldn’t even hold my own body weight and struggled to ride a horse?

Tamel nodded, shooting a glare at Ben. “You did. You are…or at least were in your last body, very fast and athletic. But most of all, incredibly determined.”

I shrank back a little. “Oh.” I thought about how I had needed Ethen’s help to get over the wall of my villa and how amused he’d been. I’d done no exercise at all since being reborn. Had that changed his opinion of me?

Ben chuckled. “When you set a goal for yourself, Ienar pity anyone who came between you and that goal. Including Tamel in a race.”

Tamel raised one hand as he reminisced. “You wanted the prize money for the disease center you were helping to organize due to the pandemic among the mortals. There was a…what was the disease?—”

“Black cough,” Ethen interjected.

Tamel straightened and pointed a finger back at his prince. “Yes, that was it, black cough.”

Ben grinned. “Absolutely nobody was coming between you and that money. You looked ready to murder everyone who tried to overtake you.”

Tamel clapped his hands in delight. “And then, when you won and explained you would spend it on the disease center you turned to the Aidis—who was watching as a sponsor—and criticized him in front of the whole crowd. And it was a big crowd.” He laughed. “I think at least half of Erebus was there.”

Ben chuckled. “Poor man didn’t know what to do with himself. I’ve never heard a mortal talk to an Aidis like that. Your speech lasted five whole minutes and nobody dared to intervene.”

I looked to Ethen. “I…insulted you in front of everyone? How well did I know you?”

Ethen grimaced. “We’d never met. You accused me of not doing more to help the mortals who were suffering due to the pandemic.” He spread his fingers and gestured to either side. “You had a point. Though we had already sent several Aida to help with supplies, and we were trying to keep the infected areas quarantined. I was…not expecting such a public tirade. Especially not when I was about to say all these nice things to you about being one of the only mortals ever to win the Erebus race.”

Tamel winked at me. “You said that if the pandemic was being properly financed you wouldn’t have had to go to all the effort of winning the race to equip your new disease center.”

Ethen spread his arms. “So naturally, I gave you the prize money and donated an equal amount to the center you were helping organize. But you didn’t thank me, you just used the prize money to open a second center.”

Ben shook his head. “And that’s when it started. Snow’s doing this, Snow’s doing that. Do we need to set up another pandemic meeting?”

Tamel nodded. “Dozens of Aida were reassigned to work on the pandemic. So many things were halted in the palace.”

Ben sighed. “And the Aidis was constantly sneaking off. Day or night.”

Tamel threw up his hands. “Until—at last—we were properly introduced. I thought then it might become more manageable, but he still talked about you all the time. You were always doing something new or fighting for a new cause. And now you had the Aidis behind you, you had the whole court worrying about what you would want prioritized next.”

I looked down at my hands. Could that have really been me? A young mortal who managed to change the priorities of an entire country? Who organized disease centers and ran grueling races? Who had the courage to criticize a god of death in front of hundreds of people? Snow sounded like she had been an incredible, strong, selfless woman who deserved to capture the heart of the Aidis. She sounded very, very different from me. What if Ethen decided I was too different now I’d been reborn?

I realized Ethen was studying my expression with concern as he abruptly stood. “I think that’s enough for one evening.” The two Aida stood without question, leaving their drinks almost untouched. They both bowed to me.

Tamel smiled. “I’m glad you’re back, Purity, even if it means he’s talking about you all over again.”

I didn’t know how to reply, so I merely smiled in return as they both walked to the balcony.

I shook myself mentally to clear away my negative thoughts. Though disconcerting, it was nice to have people talking to me as a friend instead of a political rival or a goddess they couldn’t risk upsetting. Even if I struggled to see myself in the person they described, I felt less lonely now.

I stood up. “They don’t call you by name,” I murmured to Ethen as they disappeared.

He rested his hand in the small of my back, dipping his head close to mine. “No. Only you and my parents do. They know my name, however. It’s fine for you to use it in front of them, though I’d appreciate it if you kept it hidden from anyone else in Atos.”

I looked away, sure my cheeks were heating with the intimacy of that knowledge.

Without warning, Ava strode over and caught my arm. I’d forgotten she was here. “A word, Purity. Alone.”

She gave Ethen a meaningful look. He didn’t look too happy about her request, but he held up his hands and backed off anyway.

Ava spoke in a low, hard voice. “Purity, listen to me. You need to hear this from somebody who cares about you and only you—not those boys who worship the Aidis as if he’s Ienar himself. You have a choice. You have always had a choice. Just because you’re Fated to this man doesn’t mean you have to go to the Unseen Lands with him, marry him, or even listen to him. I don’t care what he’s told you. Just…think for yourself, won’t you?”

I frowned and lowered my voice to match hers. “What is it you’re worried about? Why don’t you like him?”

She narrowed her eyes at Ethen who was studiously trying to ignore us from the other side of the room. “He’s selfish, and he doesn’t deserve you.”

I touched her arm to regain her full attention. “Why? Tell me.”

She folded her arms. Pain and anger twisted her expression. “All I know is he pursued your relationship when it was literally killing you. He deliberately put you in danger for his own selfish needs. He told me it would be different now, but what do I find? Here he is, using you for his own means in a situation that puts you in danger. You could literally be killed in this competition, Purity. Do you understand that? Only they call it being retired . Only this time, there will be no silver lining, you’ll just be dead. And he will have killed you a second time.” She sneered. “Last time, you were so infatuated with him you couldn’t see what was good for you. If I were you, I would stay away from the Aidis. Stay away from them all. Leave this place and live your own life for once.” She pushed her roughly chopped fringe angrily from her face.

I blinked, surprised at the torrent of her words. “The people of Atos stealing souls affects me too,” I managed. “They stole my own soul. And I wouldn’t call Ethen selfish to want to stop the corruption here. Especially when it is killing Graces like me.”

“People are always dying, Purity. Thousands of them all over the world for hundreds of different reasons. You need to know your own limits.” She made a disgusted face. “You’re always defending him. Can’t you see that you don’t always have to be the one whose life is in danger for others?” She looked away with a scowl. “That’s all I have to say.”

Before I could reply, she spun and stalked to the edge of the balcony, clumsily pushing herself over the side. She didn’t meet my eyes again.

Ethen crept back to my side. “Are you…all right? I know she’s…strongly opinionated.”

I took a deep breath. “No, it’s fine. I want to hear what she has to say, especially if we were close.”

He nodded, his eyes fixed on the spot where she disappeared. “You two lived together for years. You’ve known each other since childhood. When you left your parents’ house, you and Ava shared a house as friends in Erebus for three years. Then you lived with her again toward the end of your life, when you were too frequently ill to live by yourself. Though that house was in the countryside, where it was more peaceful. She hasn’t forgiven me for your early death.”

Once again, I felt unbalanced. How could these people know so much about me, when I knew nothing about them? “So we…got along well?”

Ethen’s voice was soft. “You did, somehow. The two of you are very different. But I was always grateful that you had her, somebody who was there for you when I couldn’t be.” His last words cracked slightly with underlying pain.

I turned to Ethen. “I’d better get some sleep.” If that was even possible with everything going through my mind right now.

He smiled. “Good idea. I won’t be far. Remember you’re never alone.”

He brushed his lips against the back of my hand, smiled a little too tightly, and leapt over the side of the balcony after his friends.