Feyla loved parties but that didn't make them any less of a beast. She hung back from the door and watched women of various ranks of wealth and nobility filter in. Gems sparkled off hair clasps and diadems, reflecting light back onto embroidered silk dresses and the thick shimmering bracelets that were popular this season. Feyla smoothed her own white overdress. It was clasped closed just below her chest and opened at the bottom to let her dusty pink underdress show. She straightened the flower-shaped clasp using the mirror hanging from the wall. Sedgewick preferred her hair down but that was too informal for the occasion. Feyla had compromised by pinning half her hair up and letting the rest fall over her shoulder. A carefully arranged circle of flowers stood in for a circle of diamonds.

She didn't look like a lady, but at least the dress flattered her figure. Feyla plucked at an invisible piece of lint as she lingered in the hall just before the ballroom. Sedgewick should have been here twenty minutes ago.

What was keeping him? Feyla bit her lip and twisted the chain of her new necklace to the time of her twisting stomach. Could he still be upset with her? Five more minutes ticked by, each second dragging across her skin. Sedgewick said he'd be here. He'd even given her that awkward smile of resignation. Feyla stepped further away from the doors and shoved her hand into the pouch carefully hidden below her overdress. Warmed glass slid across her fingertips as she pulled out the scrying orb Sedgewick had made her.

The orb lit up pink as Feyla pushed a bit of magic into it. "Sedgewick? Sedgewick! Where are you? I've been waiting at the door for twenty minutes."

Feyla waited for the orb to light up orange, meaning that he'd picked it up. A lavender glow coated it instead. "Sandrina speaking. Who is this?" said the echoing voice.

Oh, Creator give her patience. Sandrina was a mage; she knew scrying orbs could only contact the orb they were linked to. She also knew that Feyla and Sedgewick had a set because they used them all the time. "Feyla," she said through clenched teeth.

"Why are you bothering him, Everbloom?" Sandrina cut in before Feyla finished saying her name. The woman knew who she was talking to. "I know this might be hard for someone with your 'occupation' to understand, but Master Alverdyne has more important thing to concern himself with than escorting a woman too scared to go to a party by herself."

"I'm not scared." The few summers she'd spent with her father had consisted of him flinging his young daughter at every ball, gala, and garden party where a wealthy merchant's son might be. She'd learned how to fend for herself at events, but that wasn't how she wanted to spend her evening. Going in together meant something. Sedgewick was with her. She was with Sedgewick. They went together. Just an ordinary, normal couple that wasn't worth the words to gossip over.

She'd told him that she wanted to go in together! "Where's Sedgewick?" Feyla asked. Sandrina wasn't worth snipping at.

A second, muffled voice drifted through the orb. "...And I want this done immediately, do you understand? Follow every possible lead until—"

Sedgewick. Feyla knew that tone of voice. He slipped into it whenever he'd sunk deep into his work. His work. She'd been waiting for over twenty minutes and he. Was. Working.

"Sandrina! I need you to— Is that my scrying orb?" Feyla growled under her breath. The orb in her hand fell silent for a moment. "Gates."

Feyla made out Sandrina's muffled cry of outrage and a slammed door before the orb went dark. Orange light burst back a second later. "Feyla? Gates, I'm late, aren't I?"

"Yes," Feyla spat out.

"I'm so sorry, Dearest. A situation came up at the council that I had to handle. Just give me a few minutes to go change—"

"You're not even dressed yet?" A few people turned Feyla's direction. She dropped her voice and avoided eye contact.

Her ears twinged as the sound of Sedgewick's coat flapping against his orb hurt her ears. He must be running back to his room. "I'll be right there; just go on in without me."

"But I wanted to—"

"This won't take long!" His voice came out tired and garbled as the orange glow faded. Feyla held the now-cold orb in her hand. Despite its light weight, she had to stop herself from letting it drop. Shoving the orb back, Feyla spun on her heels and marched toward the ballroom. She slipped into a group entering together and stepped inside.

It was the kind of scene Feyla had read about in storybooks as a little girl. Twinkling lights magically floated around the arched dome of the ballroom, reflecting off the gold-colored trim of the room's pillars and the silver decorative chandeliers, making the room look like it was covered in sunbeams and starlight all at once. Elegant couples twirled to the music, their splendor matched only by the ballroom itself.

Feyla crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. An "Issue he had to deal with." Was there ever not one?

"You should go easy on him."

Feyla let out a puff of air at that voice. "Beryn."

He smirked. "Feylie Belle."

Feyla gave him her best glare. "Don't call me that unless you want me to start telling people your old pet name."

"I surrender," he said, disarming her words with a smile while rocking back on his heels in a boyish, un-lordlike gesture. "And congratulations. You two are good together, in a strange way. I've never seen Alverdyne look at anyone the way he looks at you."

"It'd be nice if he backed up looks with actions," Feyla grumbled. A flicker of guilt sparked to life in her breast the moment the words left her lips. Sedgewick did plenty of things to show he loved her. Maybe he had a good reason for being late. Or maybe...maybe he was still upset with her about earlier.

The guilt in her chest twisted at the thought. Was he late because he was struggling to collect himself? He hadn't sounded like it, but Sedgewick could be hard to read in person, much less over an orb. The image of him agonizing over what she knew and what she'd kept hidden sent her stomach spinning. Her past wasn't supposed to mess with her present like this.

"You really should go easy on him," Beryn said, his voice quieter than earlier. "There was a...upset at the council today."

Feyla' head jerked back to Beryn. She reached up to make sure her hair was still intact. Sedgewick upset other people's plans. He didn't have his own upset. "How?"

Beryn's gaze flickered away and back again. "I think it would be best to let Alverdyne explain it."

"Oh, Lord Ber—ryn!"

Feyla resisted rolling her eyes at the sight of a group of noblewomen calling him over while batting their eyes and chittering amongst themselves. She mentally added to her list of reasons she was glad they'd broken up.

"I'll see you later, Feyla," he said, bowing more at the wall than her while his eyes strayed to the group of women. "Congratulations."

Typical Beryn. Feyla let out a puff of air and smoothed her dress again. Her eyes drifted back to the nearby door. Still no Sedgewick. Maybe a drink would distract her. She moved deeper into the ballroom, keeping her eyes open for a servant carrying something other than wine. A flash of gold and green caught her eye. She turned and spotted Fenroy and Eleyna spinning across the dance floor. Their eyes were fixed only on each other, so much so that if someone had told Feyla there was a magical barrier separating them from the world, she would have believed it on the spot. Envy twined its way around her guilt. People hadn't approved of Fenroy and Eleyna's relationship at the start either. Now, however, Feyla heard them murmuring something different. Such a striking couple...so devoted...looks just like a picture from the old legends.

Why couldn't everyone see her and Sedgewick like that? Was she doing something wrong?

Her thoughts drifted back to Beryn's words. Who could have unbalanced Sedgewick like he'd said?

"You're even more beautiful than I remember you being."

Oh, Creator above, please don't let that be her answer.

***********************

Author's Note: Here's a sneak peek of the next chapter!

"Don't apologize to me." Her cold smile melted into wrath. "Your words mean nothing. You regret nothing."