We move through the party for a while, and my mood eventually improves as we go. Eryk shows Claire around the house sticking to the front rooms where the party-goers are. He ends up spending way more time introducing her to people than talking about the house though. He has to keep explaining that she my instructor, not his girlfriend, wife, or 'consort.' And then they won't tell me what that word means when I ask, saying it's not something for children to know.

Why does everyone say that? Why is some information kept from me just because I'm a kid? Trying not to be annoyed about that, I keep going along with them, from one conversation to the next, until we meet Beth again, with Taylor on her arm this time.

"Thanks for earlier, Beth," Eryk thanks her, before gesturing back to Claire. "Have you two met yet?" He looks between them for a moment as the women look at each other and shake their heads. "In that case, this is Claire, Aria's instructor." When he introduces her, Beth's face lights up, and Claire dips into a high class curtsy.

"Oh, so you're Claire! Eryk talked about you. He only had good things to say, it sounds like you've really been taking care of Aria." Beth beams as she speaks, and Claire returns her own smile.

"Yes, she is a wonderful student, better than any I've taught before," Claire praises me, and I scratch my cheek, feeling bashful. She doesn't normally praise me during our lessons, so it doesn't really feel like I'm that good... "And you are?"

"My name is Beth, I'm an old friend of Eryk's," she follows with a curtsy of her own, clearly showing the status difference between them in her lowered head. "I'm a doctor, and I've been attending to Aria for a while now."

"A doctor?" Claire questions, eyebrows shooting up. "That's an unusual position, you must have incredible skill to work a job like that. I'm really impressed." She shows a wide smile with her words.

"No no," Beth tries downplaying it. "I'm sure I'm no better than any other doctor. Besides, my husband runs the business, that's why I get to work as a doctor at his clinic." She gives a small, dismissive wave of her hand as she explains. Still, is that how it is? I never realized it worked like that. She only gets to be a doctor because Taylor runs the clinic? How is that fair? Before I can question that, Clair is already responding.

"I see, so that's how it is..." she eyes Taylor for a moment, before returning her attention to Beth. "Unfortunate, but us girls have to do what we can. Right?"

"Pretty much," Beth agrees. They share some look between them I can't really read, before turning the conversation back to everyone else. "So, quite an announcement, Eryk. I guess that's what you and Aria have been up to all this time."

"Yup," he grins. "Aria's been invaluable, as you can imagine."

"I certainly can," Beth responds, giving me a knowing look. Especially now that she knows everything.

"It's a surprise that you created metals like that," Claire agrees, having picked up on the big announcement from all the other people we've talked to with her. "Hundreds of years, and you managed it so quickly. Wonderful work, Aria," Claire praises me. Why is she praising me so much today? It's just making me embarrassed...

While I'm blushing at the floor, and everyone is chuckling happily a couple different hands giving me pats, I feel something. Something in the air around us, sweeping right through the party. Everyone else picks up on it too. We're near the back of the house at the moment, so we start on our way to the front, pushing through the crowd that is rapidly becoming more anxious around us for some reason.

Even though no one can tell what the problem is, I think everyone is just making each other nervous by being nervous. Like it just keeps looping back on itself.

We make it to the foyer pretty quickly, looking around until we spot the source of the commotion. It's not even hard. The entire crowd ahead is splitting apart and backing away. The view clears, straight out the front door. There's a carriage in the middle of the street. I don't even need to look at the man at the front or the huge horses that draw it, because the man himself is already out of it, walking right for Eryk's front door, with a pair of guards on each side.

Karl Liffan.

What is he doing here?!

A space opens up around us, even Beth and Taylor backing off. Only a few others appear out of the crowd. Terrance and Laslo, from the two high class refineries that actually work with nobles. One blacksmith I can't remember the name of, but he's probably from Fine Metals, the highest class smith here. Then there's Palmer, the other guild members all formed up behind him.

The servant at the door practically lowers himself to the ground as he holds the door. Karl walks past like he doesn't even see the man, and I shift into position to the right of Eryk, remembering all my etiquette lessons. Standing just a step behind, I straighten up to try to look my best. I don't know why he's here, but one wrong word from him in front of all these people could destroy everything we've been working toward.

Karl's eyes trace over the handful of faces standing out from the crowd before he comes to stand before us.

Eryk is the first to move. He goes with a divant salute for his greeting, even as he bows so low he's practically staring at the ground. I follow along right after, bowing into my deepest, most graceful high class curtsy. I hold it as Eryk begins to speak, the most formal I've ever heard him. "I am Eryk, the chief operating officer of the Ebock Refinery. It is my great pleasure to welcome you into my undeserving home today, Elector Karl Liffan."

Karl offers a salute in greeting, and I'm surprised to see it isn't completely dismissive. He's showing Eryk a little respect at least. "Quite a gathering, for someone of your standing," Karl says, looking down at Eryk before shifting his gaze to me. "I don't like leaving such a big unknown out there, never knowing when it could rear its head." What is he talking about? He waves a hand to his guards, saying, "Search the house."

Two of the armored men move off, the others shifting closer to Karl's sides. They're going to search Eryk's house? For what? What if they find Selena?!

"Wait." The men stop, just a couple steps away, when Karl raises his hand. Then he points off somewhere behind me, into the crowd. "You, come. Shona woman." I turn back to see the woman with grass green hair at the edge of the crowd, pointing at herself in shock. Then she stumbles forward, pushed out by everyone around her.

Seeing her, still arm in arm with Ebbin as they step into the small open space, I remember her from earlier. Ebbin's wife, Rimina, I think. "What is you name, woman?"

"Ri-Rimina, sir," she stammers, hands visibly beginning to shake as she curtsies low and stares at the floor.

"Ri-mi-na," the man repeats her name slowly, one syllable at a time. "What is your relationship with this girl?" and he points at me.

"Her? Umm..." Rimina pauses at the strange question, eyes searching the floor at Karl's feet for an answer. Before the silence goes on long enough for him to get impatient, she responds, "None in particular, sir. She is my husband's second cousin once removed's employee."

"Oh really?" he asks, doubtful for some reason. Why in the world did he single her out? Just because she's from Shonamakase? How does that relate to anything? I can't put things together... "In that case, what do you know about the Arinea family?"

Rimina pauses just a moment as she thinks, before shaking her head. "My apologies, sir, I have not heard of them." I don't think I've ever heard the name either. Where is he going with this?

Karl's eyes narrow. "Tell me, how did you come to Melphira?"

"I, umm, with my parents, when I was young. Looking for work... sir." Her knuckles are starting to turn white as she squeezes Ebbin's hand nervously.

"You expect me to believe that? A family of your means? Moving to look for work? More like you were ousted from the nobility. Am I right?" he challenges her story with a smirk. But why would he even think that? And why is he so confident about such a random accusation?

I must be missing something. Some piece of information I'm not aware of that would make this make sense...

"No, sir," Rimina responds. "My family has nothing to do with Shonamakase nobility."

"Wench!-" he starts to raise his voice, moving one step forward before Claire steps up beside Eryk.

"I believe I may be of some help," Claire suddenly claims. That draws all eyes onto her, including Karl Liffan's accusatory glare.

"Who are you?" his tone turns the question into a demand.

"My name is Claire." She drops into her most respectful and elegant curtsy. "I believe I can help resolve your questions here." Karl doesn't respond. He just narrows his eyes further in a way that tells her to prove it. Claire maintains her position, only turning her head back to look in Rimina's direction. "Rimina, could you tell us how old you are? And when did you move to Melphira?"

"Thirty three. We moved when I was young, about five years old," Rimina answers slowly, eyes shifting to meet Claire's as they both continue to hold their heads low.

"Thank you, Rimina. Now, as I'm sure you are aware, Elector Liffan, the turmoil in the Shonamakase government occurred eight years ago. Rimina's family emigrated twenty seven years ago, so we can readily conclude that the two events are not related." I see what she did there, but what was that about the Shonamakase government? I haven't learned anything about that yet. What happened there eight years ago?

Karl doesn't say anything, he just makes a flicking motion with his hand to dismiss Rimina and her husband, who immediately retreat and disappear into the party crowd. With her gone, he takes a few steps closer, glaring daggers at Claire now that she took his attention on herself. "Who are you then, woman?"

"Claire," she responds again, "an instructor."

"Where did you come from? How are you involved with this girl?" he presses her, like he's just looking for something wrong. Anything he can hold against her. His guards move in close as he stands over her threateningly.

Claire keeps her composure though, looking up at Karl with a calm expression as she explains. "My father is a doctor. He's quite old now and lives far away. Since I was young, I've been a devoted believer in Reena, and spent my life as a traveling educator in search of the brightest students I could find. I am currently Aria's instructor."

"And what about your husband?"

"I am not married, sir." That raises a brow on Karl's face for some reason, as he looks Claire over once more. His lips thin into a line as he thinks, before scoffing. He turns a glaring look toward Eryk.

"You wouldn't bring them out to such a public event, would you?" Who is he referring to? Without any further explanation, he turns back to the door. Karl raises a hand to his guards as he says, "Bring the woman, I have more questions for her."

Just as he begins to move, Eryk raises his voice. "Sir! Elector Karl Liffan, sir."

That stops Karl, who turns halfway back with a nasty look. "What?"

Eryk drops lower, with an extremely respectful gesture. "As Aria's guardian, The metalworking guild ordered me to speak to you, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to waste your time on an audience with someone such as myself," Eryk begins, which surprisingly gets Karl to ease up a bit. "Since they are present," and he gestures a hand to where they are assembled just a few steps away, "I would like to confirm that you have no issues with Aria's employment contract."

"That?" Karl scoffs. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine." He waves a dismissive hand, and turns to leave again. This time, everyone remains quiet as one of his guards takes Claire's arm and begins to pull, before she moves to follow willingly. Just watching her go, I'm extremely worried. What is he going to ask her about? I can't even think of what he would want to know that Claire, of all people, would be able to tell him...

Silence hangs over the entire party until Karl climbs up into his carriage, and surprisingly, allows Claire in with him instead of throwing her on the back like he did to me. The servant at the front snaps the reins and gets the two massive horses to move, and the carriage slowly rolls away.

No one moves for a while longer. When they finally do, there's an air of relief all around. We just met a noble, and nothing bad happened. Except he took Claire with him...

"Hey, Eryk? Will Claire be alright?" I ask uncertainly. He looks down at me and opens his mouth, but before he even says anything, his eyes tell me he doesn't know.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," he lies, and rubs my head softly. "She's a strong woman, she'll get through it just fine."

Neither of us need to say anything, he knows I don't believe him.

When the party picks back up around us, no one has quite the same energy as before. A lot of them don't want to come too close either. Despite everything that just happened, it did confirm without any doubt that I'm very involved with Karl Liffan.

We attempt to mingle for a little longer, but I don't think my heart is really in it like it was before. Then, I remember something and tug on Eryk's sleeve.

"Hey, I wanted to ask about getting that alba. You didn't forget, did you?"

"Sorry, it slipped my mind today," he apologizes. "I didn't have any good opportunity until now given the difficulty of contacting the higher class refineries, but now is the perfect time to strike a deal like that. Let's give it a shot." He nods to me encouragingly, and we move back through the house again, searching around through everyone, until we find Laslo. He runs the highest class refinery and works with the nobility, so he'll have access to the metal.

"Laslo," Eryk calls him when we meet. "I have a little business I'd like to discuss, could you come to the drawing room?"

"Interesting. Let's talk." When the older man smiles, it sends another shiver down my back. We move through the house, and Eryk makes a quiet request to a servant holding a platter of food along the way. It takes some pushing through tight clustered groups talking about all sorts of different business, and I share a small wave with Jannette as we pass her and the others who worked on the party clothes, but we finally make it to the secondary drawing room. It's between the larger main drawing room and the changing room outside the bathroom. The door into the changing room is closed right now though.

There are people in the drawing room since the house is so full, but Eryk and Laslo manage to get them to clear the room when they make it clear they want to talk some business. Just as everyone is working their way out, the door the the changing room opens and Irene appears. How did she even get there...?

While I question that, she closes both doors and sets down a couple glasses filled with some dark purple drink on the table in the middle of the small room. Eryk and Laslo sit opposite each other, and I glance around, before taking a third seat off to the side. Irene stands back, by the wall behind Eryk, while the two men pick up their glasses and take a sip. I feel a bit weird being excluded, and glancing toward Irene. She catches the look and meets my eyes, but doesn't move, so I drop the thought and take a deep breath.

Time for some business talk...