By the time Corvina went back inside, the party was slowly starting to wind down. Only a few of the more determined couples were still out on the dance floor. The Bastards’ Club and their various hangers on had taken up residence at a few small tables in a spot near the stairs.

“Nice of you to make an appearance,” said Collette, seeing Corvina climbing up the stairs.

“Sorry,” said Corvina, with a sheepish smile. “I’m not feeling very well today. I thought the fresh air would do me some good.”

“Sure, that’s a believable story,” said Collette. “Get up here. Pull up a chair. Jay was just regaling our new friends with the tale of how he and Belle met.”

“You mean Sir Gladrovod,” snapped Belle. “You should show some proper respect to people.”

“Oh come on,” said Collette. “You know very well I don’t respect anyone. And calling people by their names is how I show my affection, which is much better than respect anyway. You wouldn’t want your little boy toy to feel like I hated him, now would you?”

Jay started blushing. He was a rather prim and proper-looking young man, currently standing at attention behind Belle’s chair. He had short, carefully styled blonde hair, pale skin, and deep-set blue eyes. He wore a suit that was nice, but plain. Overall, he rather gave the impression of the sort of person who would be knighted for accountancy.

“You took too long,” said Sebastian, who was leaning against a wall nearby. “You missed seeing my dance with the Saintess. We cut quite the elegant pair, if I do say so myself.”

“I danced with a bunch of other people, too,” said Anne, cheerfully. She sat at one of the tables, sipping from a glass of wine. “I barely even stepped on anyone’s toes. Although when I made Agis dance with me we both ended up falling down.” Anne laughed.

"They knocked over a waiter carrying a tray of drinks," said Nia, with a wry smile. "It was quite the spectacle."

“I told you, elvish dances aren't like human ones,” said Agis, defensively. “They don’t have so many steps to remember they’re more… interpretive. I'm better at that.”

“Holy shit,” said Anne. “I have got to see this elvish interpretive dance some day.”

“Yeah, well, I’m always saying you should come to the palace sometime,” muttered Agis.

Anne went to take another sip of her wine, but Corvina carefully lifted the glass out of her hand, while sitting down in the empty seat next to her. “You should watch your drinking, Saintess.”

“Awww,” said Anne.

“Everyone be quiet!” said Collette. “Jay was gonna tell his story!”

“Do I have to?” asked Jay.

“It’s cute!” said Collette. “Are you really going to deprive the Saintess of hearing about your adorable love story?”

Jay took a deep breath. “Fine,” he said. Still blushing, he continued. “I was visiting a small book shop in the city one day. The streets were rather crowded and I’m afraid that, after dodging out of the way of a cart, I accidentally bumped into this lovely lady. It was only a small bump, and she we immediately both apologized. She hurried on her way, but I notice she had dropped a handkerchief, so I bent over to pick it up. It was so beautifully embroidered that I’m afraid I stood and stared at in awe for a long moment after. By the time I came to my senses, she had made it quite a far way down the street, so I had to hurry to catch up with her in order to return it.”

Belle smiled, looking down bashfully. “He was quite out of breath when he finally caught up with me.”

“I’m sure I didn’t make the best impression,” said Jay. “But she immediately made an great impression on me. She was so beautiful. I completely lost my sense of propriety, and without any other greeting, simply handed the handkerchief back to her and asked her who had embroidered it. Of course, she had embroidered it herself.”

“And then what did you tell her?” prompted Collette.

Jay’s hand squeezed the back of Belle’s chair as he blushed even harder. “I told her she must have been blessed by the Goddess at birth in order to have such skill and such beauty in one person. And then I begged her to have tea with me.”

Belle was blushing, too, clearly embarrassed, but also rather smug.

“See?” said Collette. “Cute, huh?”

“Awww, yeah,” said Anne. “Right out of a romance novel. Did you have tea with him?”

“Goddess, no,” said Belle. “That entire interaction was entirely rude and inappropriate.”

“I did persuade her to tell me her name before we parted,” said Jay. “And I promise I conducted my courtship entirely properly and respectfully from that point on.”

“She was super mean to him for a long time, though,” said Collette, taking a sip of her wine.

“I was not!” said Belle.

“I took no offense at it,” said Jay. “It was only right for her to keep her distance until I had proven myself trustworthy and amiable.”

“I always thought you were amiable,” muttered Belle.

“Okay, well, I’m bored of all that now,” said Collette. A song was just ending and she got up from her chair and went out to the middle of the dance floor. “Alright, everyone! Thank you for attending my party! The main party is over now, which means if you’re an aristocrat and your parents are married to each other, get out of my house. The after-party for servants will be on the first floor. The second floor is reserved for bastards only. And as always, the third floor remains off-limits entirely. See you all next time!”

There was a disappointed murmur from the crowd, but everyone started to file out as the servants quickly cleaned up and the musicians put their instruments away.

“Oh come on, Lettie,” said Sebastian. “Can’t you let me stay for the after party just this once? I want to spend more time with the Saintess and my sister.”

“No,” said Collette, pushing him towards the stairs. “You’re quite possibly the most legitimate child in the whole nation, Crown Prince. Get out of here.”

“I guess we should get going, too,” said Agis, patting Anne on the shoulder.

“No, the Saintess is a bastard,” said Collette. “She gets to stay. But you have to go.”

“I can’t leave her here alone!” said Agis. “I have to keep her safe.”

“And what’s going to happen here hanging out up here with us, huh?” said Collette.

“Come to the servants’ after-party with me,” said Helen, who was carrying a tray full of empty glasses. “It’ll be fun! And if anything bad happens you’ll still be nearby.”

“Well, I guess, maybe…” said Agis.

“I want my fiance to stay,” said Belle. Jay, who had been gathering his things to go, stopped in his tracks.

“He can’t!” insisted Collette. “My after-parties have always been Bastard’s Club only, you know that."

“And why do you get to be the dictator of the ‘Bastards’ Club,’ huh?” said Belle. “Just because you came up with the silly-little name doesn’t mean you get to boss the rest of us around.”

Collette folded her arms. “Maybe not,” said Collette. “But I am a Countess and this is my house. So I get to decide who stays here or not.”

“It’s okay, my lady,” said Jay, putting a hand on Belle’s shoulder. “I have to wake up early to go to the palace tomorrow, anyway. Tax season is approaching and it’s going to quiet busy. I should get my sleep.”

“Okay,” said Belle, placing her hand on Jay’s. “Rest well, my dear.”

While Jay and the others disappeared down the stairs, Belle continued to glare at Collette.

“So Lady Corvina finds a new friend and she instantly gets to become part of the group,” said Belle, once only the Bastards’ Club was left on the second floor. “But the man I’ve been engaged to for over half a year, who’s going to become part of my family, isn’t good enough to spend time with us?”

“He’s not a bastard,” insisted Collette. “Also, Anne is the Saintess and she’s really fun. Jay is an accountant.”

Anne raised her hand timidly. “I can go if—”

“No!” shouted Belle and Collette in unison. Anne backed down. Nia patted her on the head reassuringly.

Belle turned back to Collette. “You seem to find Jay entertaining enough when you get to tease him.”

“Oh, come on,” said Collette. “You don’t actually think he’s interesting either. You’re not marrying him for his charm and wit. You’re marrying him because he’s conveniently high-enough ranked to legally marry you, but not so high-ranked that you won’t be the one in charge.”

“I genuinely love him!” said Belle. “Not that you would understand that emotion. Maybe if you got engaged, you would—”

“You know very well I’m never going to get married.”

“You do keep saying that, and I don’t think you realize how irresponsible you’re being,” said Belle. “You’re an aristocrat. It’s your duty to provide an heir to your title.”

For a moment, Collette was genuinely speechless, visibly shaking with rage. She took a deep breath. “I forget sometimes that you’re only technically a bastard,” spat Collette. “I’m sure it’s a hard concept for you to grasp, having grown up with your cute little happy loving family, but my father was a hateful piece of shit. And now he’s dead. And so the only revenge I have left to me is to make absolutely sure that his name dies with me.”

“Oh, right, I forgot, your daddy was mean to you,” said Belle. “And you’re rich and you’re a Countess, so you can just do whatever you want and treat everyone else like dirt and we all just have to put up with it. You have no idea what it means to be responsible to anyone other than yourself, or to face any real obstacles in your life. But you still expect us all to feel sorry for you. Your dad is dead. Isn’t it time you stopped letting him control your life?”

“At least I don’t let society control my life,” snapped Collette.

The two of them glared at each other for a moment, before each turning on their heels and retreating to opposite corners of the room.

Anne felt rather overwhelmed by the whole scene. She was debating whether she should go try to talk to Belle, or maybe to Collette, when she felt Corvina’s hand on her shoulder.

“Leave them be,” she said. “This sort of scene happens sometimes. They’ll work it out. And I was hoping I could have a word with you.”

“Oh, okay…” said Anne.

“Collette!” shouted Corvina. “Is there somewhere the Saintess and I can talk privately?”

“Third floor drawing room!” shouted Collette, from her corner. “No one ever goes up there!”

“Got it,” said Corvina.

“Is it really okay to just leave them here like this?” asked Anne.

Nia sighed and got up from her chair. “You two go,” said Nia. “I can act as referee for this mess.”

Corvina took Anne’s hand and led her towards the stairs going up.