“So?” Svanda asked from where she sat at the dressing table, frowning as she examined the reflection in the mirror that stared back at her. “Have you worked out what you’re going to do?”

After the meal, Nina and Saela had been forced to wait as the people sitting on the pyramid gradually filtered out of the room in the reverse order from when they had entered. At least retracing their earlier steps once they had finally managed to leave had been simple thanks to their directions, so it wasn’t long before they found themselves back in the safety Svanda’s room. Only a few of the withering gazes from the Qualifieds had managed to make Nina feel uncomfortable when they moved deeper into the more exclusive areas of the castle, but by the end Saela seemed intent on dishing them straight back out with just as much distain. Svanda blamed the palatable tension on the time of day once they had made it back to ask her, but a reason was ultimately something that didn’t matter. If time was the only remedy for the hustle of preparation on the other side of these doors, Nina would simply stay put until she was pushed out the door.

At least Celine wasn’t around.

“We’ll get something to eat, I guess,” she eventually replied from where she sat on the couch, throwing a thin smirk in Saela’s direction where she sat across from her. “Saela hasn’t eaten.”

“Not like you ate much either,” Saela grumbled, her hood drawn up once more as she sat with her feet up on the cushions. Nina wouldn’t have dared to considering that the sofa was probably worth more than everything she owned put together, but thankfully Svanda didn’t seem to mind.

“It wasn’t even that cold.”

“It was on the wrong side of lukewarm,” Saela continued with a pout. “And I thought that there would be leftover cake here to make up for it.”

“Seems like you managed if you can still bicker,” Svanda said as she rose, glancing at the clock before joining them at the table. “I was worried that someone would try to make trouble for you.”

“At least it wouldn’t have been so boring then,” Saela replied with a shrug. “Although the one person we did talk with seemed friendly enough.”

Ysarle’s face popped into Nina’s mind as Saela mentioned him, his hair hanging low across his face in the image that she conjured. It was true that he had been amicable during their time together, but she wasn’t about to place even a sliver of trust in him either. It wasn’t that he seemed sly or deceitful or anything else unsavoury, but Nina’s experience with Rucille had left her knowing better. Until it was time to leave she would remain sceptical of everyone in the castle that wasn’t currently standing in this very room, and only on the day that the Daerx Clan faded into the distance behind them would she finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“They seemed to think you’ll move back in, eventually,” she said to Svanda to change the subject. “If only they knew.”

“Yeah…” Svanda murmured with a frown. She seemed pensive for a moment before the expression on her face transformed, a quick smile flashing across her teeth before she placed one leg over the other with no regard for the dress that she still wore. Sinking back into the cream cushions, she smiled once more at Nina as though trying to force the impression before asking Saela what she thought about the dining hall. Nina almost laughed when Saela said it was only ‘alright’, but soon she began to elaborate on details that even Nina had missed.

Dwelling on Svanda’s earlier reaction for a moment, Nina decided that now wasn’t the time to press. It was obvious that her comment had caused Svanda to feel uneasy for at least a moment, so maybe there was still some lingering attachment to the clan despite how they seemed to ostracise her. Family was family whichever way you wanted to look at it, and Nina thought that perhaps Svanda still harboured a soft spot for them deep down. Well, soft from Svanda’s perspective. Her version of soft was probably only a few hairs shy of rock solid, but Nina wasn’t about to mention that either. Biding her time was her best option considering that they would be on their way soon enough, and once the Daerx Clan had fallen out of the spotlight she would then be able to think about digging for the answers that she wanted. If Svanda was willing to give them up, that was. Maybe it would be easier to go to Reina instead.

“Then he offered to show us around,” Saela said to Svanda with a shrug as Nina’s attention returned to the conversation. “No idea where though. He said it would be busy.”

“It will be,” Svanda nodded. “The streets will be full of both Qualifieds and Unqualifieds, so don’t think that you’ll be able to just walk into anywhere that catches your eye. My advice? Try to see where the Unqualifieds are headed and follow them. They have their own areas where you should be reasonably safe from anyone who tries to start something.”

“Why do the Qualifieds leave the castle?” Nina asked. “Isn’t it just Unqualifieds that can’t stay?”

Svanda smiled before nodding with her head towards the window that would look out over the town. “The Evening League is the only time the Unqualifieds all have time to relax. You think that the Qualifieds want to miss out on the party?”

“And the Daerx Clan is all locked up in the castle too,” Saela mused. “Not a bad time to be a two or three-peak Qualified.”

“You get the gist,” Svanda said as she stood up once more, idly strolling out across the carpet before stopping with her hands on her hips. “So try not to get in trouble. I’ll find you as soon as the League is over, but until it is, there isn’t much I can do. Drop my name if it helps, but remember that there are a lot of Qualifieds who won’t mind starting something if they think they can get away with it. Safety in numbers isn’t a bad plan, so stick with a group if you can.”

“What did Trim and Reina usually do?” Nina asked.

“You… can ask them yourself,” Svanda sighed before she gave them a weak smile. “I’m not going to give you any ideas. Let’s just say that you don’t want to follow in their footsteps.”

“Someone said the wrong thing to Reina,” Saela suggested.

“Someone definitely said the wrong thing to Reina,” Nina agreed.

“Don’t bother speculating,” Svanda said with a frown as she returned to her dressing table, sitting down before examining her reflection once more. “I’m not going to say anything.”

“Alright,” Nina said with a shrug. “We’re ready then, but what about you? You’ve been staring at your reflection an awful lot since we’ve returned. What are you worried about?”

Despite the apparent significance of the event, Svanda had been coy over details concerning the Evening League. Nina had naturally been curious over what took place during the sessions, but there wasn’t exactly anyone else that they could ask if Svanda didn’t want to talk. Even Celine wasn’t privy to a lot of what went on behind the League’s closed doors, so unfortunately they were left with hoping that Svanda would open up in due time. Her obvious nerves, however, suggested that it wasn’t to be. Nina didn’t think that she would divulge anything useful at all unless the situation turned for the worse, and so she instead decided to simply offer her their unconditional support. She’d thought that a three-peak Daerx would surely have some weight to throw around, black dress or not, but politics weren’t exactly her or Svanda’s strong suit.

They certainly weren’t Saela’s either.

“It’s nothing,” Svanda dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand. “Just want to make sure nothing on my face has run.”

Nina decided not to mention that she didn’t need to check for that every two minutes, and instead looked over to Saela who shrugged in return. No help there, although she wasn’t about to act surprised over it. Advice from Saela seemed to be more like playing the lottery than anything else; sometimes she was uncharacteristically logical, yet at other times she seemed to ooze the immaturity that you would expect from someone her age. Which side of her they would see tonight would be a mystery until it was too late for Nina to plan around it, although Saela’s reliability often seemed to be linked to how bad their situation was. Cool when she needed to be, Nina guessed. Better than never.

“I just don’t get on with some of the people there very well,” Svanda suddenly said, unprovoked. “Nobody sees me for who I am, they just see me as a three-peak badge that is disconnected with the everyday happenings on the clan.”

“Manipulators,” Nina guessed.

“It’s hard to just ignore it all,” Svanda agreed. “You can’t say no to everyone because there are only so many sides of the fence that you can stand on. Ignoring everyone can only go on for so long.”

“Quit then,” Saela suggested. “Just leave and never come back. There’s always a place with us.”

Nina flinched as the crash of thunder struck the castle, signifying that the Evening League was about to start.

“I can’t quit,” Svanda sighed as she stood up with a shake of her head, heading for the door. “I just can’t.”

Watching as Svanda strolled away from them, Nina wondered if their night would really be the worst one after all.