“Alright,” Reena said as they stepped out into the now bustling streets. “Our appointment at the Dancing Dragon should be in about an hour, so it’s time for us to head over.”

She herded them into the carriage and they were all off once again, rattling down the streets once more. The warm sun glittered overhead, but the cool breeze flowing through the town from the sea helped keep the temperature bearable.

As they traveled towards the edge of the city, the crowd grew slightly thicker. They fell in line behind several other carriages on the road, each decorated with enough wealth to feed a large family for a year and then some. Damien found it hard not to stare in slack-jawed wonder.

“Is that all gold?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “How much did that cost?”

“It was probably a gift,” Nolan said, peering over his shoulder at the carriage in question. “So probably nothing other than a favor in some court. I don’t recognize the family crest, so it’s a minor noble.”

“I think that’s the Seagrim House,” Loretta said. “They’re a merchant family. A decently sized one, but nothing compared to some of the other ones I’ve seen on the streets today.”

“You’d be correct,” Reena said. “They’re one of the families at the Dancing Dragon with us today. Called in several minor favors for it, I’ve heard. I bet they’re going to beg one of the larger noble houses for a loan so they can start some new business venture.”

Buildings passed them by as they continued down the street. The designers of the city had clearly taken some liberties the farther away from the center of Seaview that they got. The uniform houses grew larger and more unique, some reaching three stories tall.

By the time they reached the edge of the city, the buildings were basically mansions. Beautiful gemstones and shells had been formed into giant interconnected murals along the house walls, making the front of the city seem like a huge, shining painting.

“We’re here,” Reena said as the carriage doors popped open. Nolan hopped out first, then helped Loretta and Reena out. Damien and Sylph both jumped down on their own. The doors closed behind them and their ride clattered down the road, making a wide loop before heading back towards the center of the city.

Before them, a huge building seemed to ripple in the sunlight. The murals upon it depicted a huge white dragon twisting up and along the building. Waves rippled out from around it, translating into jagged spikes and curves in the actual architecture of the building itself.

“Wow,” Damien breathed, raising a hand to block the glint of the sun as it reflected off some of the decorations. “That’s beautiful. Is this really a restaurant?”

Sylph tugged on his sleeve. Damien turned around, then froze as the breath caught in his lungs. An endless expanse of water stretched out on the other side of the road, a clean beach before it. The calm ocean waves lapped gently at the golden sand, and they sparkled more than any gem or mural ever could.

“The view is half the reason the Dancing Dragon is so famous,” Nolan explained after giving them a moment to take it in. “Although you can’t tell from here, there are actually stained glass windows in the building. You can see the beach no matter where you’re seated due to some rune work.”

“Which you can do once we’re inside,” Reena said, tapping her foot on the ground. “Come on. I don’t want to be late.”

“It’s still at least thirty minutes before we’re meant to show up,” Nolan pointed out.

“And that means we won’t be early if we don’t get in there now. Let’s go.” Reena gestured impatiently and walked up to the restaurant’s door. As soon as she reached it, a tall man wearing a black suit pulled it open.

“Miss Gray,” the man said, bowing until his head was at his waist height. “I’ll be your butler for today’s meal. Your table is prepared if you would like to sit down. Mister Valentine has already been seated.”

“We would,” Reena said. Everyone piled up and followed her in as the butler stood aside so that they could enter.

The inside of the Dancing Dragon was considerably plainer than the outside, but not in a bad way. There were two dozen alabaster sets of large, round tables and chairs spaced evenly throughout the room.

Each had several soft blue napkins and pearl colored utensils wrapped within them. The burgundy wood floor had streaks of blue and purple running through it, but Damien didn’t have time to peer closely enough to figure out if they were natural.

Several other people, all dressed in fancy clothes, had already been seated at the tables. Many didn’t even try to hide their interest as the butler led Damien and the others through the building.

The floors above them were actually more like rings. The center was empty so that he could see up into them, where about a dozen tables sat in a circle looking down at everyone below. Another floor sat above that, but Damien had to squint to see it. There were a few people seated in the upper rings as well, but only the lowest one of them was close enough to make out detail on, and it was almost completely empty.

He nearly walked right into Sylph’s back as the butler came to a stop before a table with a tall man wearing a blue outfit. His hair was cut short and his features sharp like an eagle’s. The man rose from his chair as they arrived, bowing slightly to Reena.

“Early as always. It’s lovely to see you, Reena,” he said, giving her a thin smile. “And Nolan as well. Please, introduce me.”

“This is Valentine Arbor,” Reena said. “He goes to Kingsfront.”

“The beautiful woman beside me is Loretta,” Nolan said. “And my two good friends are Damien and Sylph.”

Valentine’s gaze paused for a moment on Sylph and his eyebrow rose imperceptibly before he gave them all another mini-bow. “A pleasure to make all of your acquaintance. I hope to learn more about you during our meal.”

That seemed to be some form of unspoken command, as everyone started to sit down at once. Damien sat to Nolan’s right and Sylph took the seat beside him. The butler, who had seemed to fade into the shadows while they were talking, swept up beside the table.

“The meal will begin shortly. Would you like some refreshments while you wait?”

“Some cider for all of us, please,” Nolan said.

“Of course. I’ll be right out with that.” The butler swept away from the table towards a door in the far side of the room that presumably led into the kitchen.

Several moments of awkward silence passed before Loretta cleared her throat. “So, how has everyone been doing in preparation for manifesting your companion?”

“Pretty well,” Damien said, slightly embarrassed to be taking any credit for the work that Henry was doing entirely on his own.

“I’m doing decent too,” Sylph said. “It’s been slow, but progress is progress. I think I’ll make it on time.”

“I can manifest a combat form,” Reena said, a note of pride in her voice. “But Nolan can do both. He was practicing all summer, so I guess it makes sense.”

“Is that so?” Valentine asked, raising an eyebrow. “Very impressive, Nolan. Even many of the students at Kingsfront can’t quite manifest their companions yet.”

“I really want to take part in the intraschool tournament,” Nolan said with a shrug. “I’ve gotten more serious about my studies lately. I’m curious to see if I’d be able to match up against Kingsfront, but I’ll have to take out Blackmist’s resident Year One champions first.”

“Oh? You can manifest both forms and you still aren’t confident of being able to win?”

“Well, it was only a recent development,” Nolan admitted. “But no. I’m not confident in the slightest. In Year One, our rank two student was able to hold his own against a Year Two using the combat form.”

“Seriously?” Valentine asked. He glanced around the table, his eyes dragging as he looked between Loretta, Damien and Sylph. “Nolan, you sly man. Following your father’s teachings, I see. Which ones are they?”

Nolan’s eyebrows lowered imperceptibly as a trace of anger flashed across his face, but he controlled it before Valentine could notice. “Sylph and Damien were ranked number one and number three, respectively. They’re both incredibly capable fighters.”

“It’s fascinating to make your acquaintance,” Valentine said, giving them a nod. “That does explain your unique choice of attire, Sylph. A warrior wouldn’t want themselves constrained by a dress. What elements do you two use?”

“Space,” Damien said, omitting his other two elements. It wasn’t like he’d used them much anyways, but he didn’t have any strong desire to give Valentine more information than needed to be polite.

“And I use Dark,” Sylph said.

“Space and Dark,” Valentine mused. “Fitting for a duo. Bravo. I thought Reena’s Air with my special style Lightning were a beautiful fit, but now I fear we are challenged. I find myself salivating to know the extent of your abilities.”

“Not at the table, Valentine,” Reena scolded. “Where are your manners?”

“My apologies,” Valentine said, shaking his head and letting out a polite laugh. “Kingsfront has instilled an obsession with combat in me. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Before they could respond, the butler swept back out through the door. The man, bearing a plate full of large, ornate mugs, dodged another waiter as he made his way back over to the table and distributed the drinks with a flourish. Each mug was full of frothing yellow liquid. Damien examined his carefully.

“Don’t worry,” Nolan said. “They don’t have any alcohol. You won’t get drunk.”

Damien gave him an appreciative nod. Valentine took a drink, so Damien copied the slightly sleazy man. It fizzled as it went down his throat in a pleasant manner and tasted vaguely of apples. He had to admit that it was quite good.

They spent the next thirty minutes in idle chatter, with nothing of any import being said. As time passed, more people slowly trickled into the restaurant until every single table around them was full and the room was rather noisy.

The two floors above them were the slowest to fill. Unlike the guests on the first floor, those on the second wore slightly more modest clothing. There was no doubting its quality – even from where Damien stood, he could tell that they were expensive – but the clothes were subtle.

He had to consistently remind himself not to stare and accidentally break Nolan’s instructions before their meal could even start. All the tables on the floor above them had filled except for one, and Damien noticed several other people also glancing towards it.

Finally, almost exactly at the thirty minute mark, a man and two women appeared from a door at the back of the first ring and sat down at the empty table. The chattering in the restaurant stopped almost instantly.

“We’re in high company today,” Valentine murmured. “The Princess and her friends don’t frequent Seaview, much less sit on the second floor instead of the third. I wonder what the occasion is. Reena, did you know of this?”

“I might have heard a rumor,” Reena admitted, brushing her hair back. “But it was really more of a way to convince Father that this was worth it. I told him that we’d try to network with the Princess during the social hours after we eat. If I hadn’t, he never would have funded this.”

“That was a dangerous promise,” Nolan said, his brow lowering. “You had best make sure you have something to show Father at the end of this, or it won’t end well. And I don’t like your use of ‘we’ there. I’m hoping it was the royal version.”

“You worry too much,” Reena said dismissively. “Look, the waiter is bringing the food now. Just enjoy yourself for once.”

Sure enough, waiters were spreading across the floor bearing platters heaping with food. They distributed the first course, a multicolored garden salad with vegetables Damien had never seen, and vanished back into the kitchen.

Damien grabbed his utensils and, after a quick check to make sure the others were eating, dug in. As with the cider, the food was delicious. He wasn’t the biggest fan of salad, but the dressing’s mixture of sweet and vinegar flavors paired perfectly with whatever they’d stuffed into the plate of greenery.

“Don’t look now,” Henry said, interrupting his meal. “But I’m pretty sure the Princess and her folks are staring at your table.”

Damien nearly spat out his salad.

What?

“You heard me. I’m certain of it now. Her eyes are fixed right on you guys.”

On me? Or on us?

“Can’t say for sure, but I don’t feel like she’s looking directly at you. More like the table in general.”

Damien tried to discretely glance around. Sylph caught his eye and gave him a slight nod, a miniscule frown on her face.

What could the Princess want with us? Or do you think it’s something the Gray twins did?

“Hard to say. Don’t look at her. I’ll keep watch.”

Damien gave Sylph a tiny nod in return, then returned his attention to trying to look as natural as possible while eating salad. Of course, the moment his mind was on it, holding a fork suddenly became an entirely foreign task.

Luckily, it didn’t seem like anyone had noticed his blundering. The rest of the salad meal went by without trouble, and the waiters brought out the next course – a large, seared fish stuffed chock full of fruit.

It was just as delicious as everything else so far, but the gaze on the top of Damien’s head made it hard to enjoy the meal. Somehow, that course and the ones following it passed without any trouble.

“What happens now?” Damien asked Nolan as the table polished off the last bits of their dessert.

“Social hour,” Nolan said, his lip curling. “A hassle for me, but just treat it as a way to meet people. As long as you’re polite, it honestly shouldn’t cause any difficulty. Any noble that comes up to you will likely have something nice to say. Just make sure not to catch any of the High Noble’s attention.”

Damien nodded as a surge of resolve and confidence he didn’t know he had slithered through his system. He rolled his neck, still making sure not to glance up at the upper floors. People all around them had started to rise and mingle, talking amongst themselves.

A low hum cut through the din. Damien froze, instinctually throwing out his net of mental energy to observe the Ether in the room. It was flowing upwards, towards the table where the Princess and her friends were seated.

He slowly lifted his gaze to see the woman floating down from the upper floor, her long black hair rippling around her. A thin golden band around her forehead marked the woman as the Princess. The two people she’d come with descended beside her, their cold expressions unreadable as they all touched down directly before the Grays’ table.

“Hello, Reena,” the Princess said with a slight smile. “Your Father mentioned you’d wanted to entertain me today.”

Well, shit.