In a way, the look that Warram gave me was impressive. That particular contemptuous way of looking at someone as if they’re a roach — infinitely beneath you — was something I only associated with people much older. Seeing it from someone my age was a novel experience.

Far from the guardsman uniform he’d worn previously, he was now in a slim suit of black and red, colors I’d recently learned belonged to the Chamber of Peace. While I wasn’t the largest fan of the man, I reluctantly had to admit to myself that he was an unpleasantly attractive man, and the suit only added to that effect.

“Valis. I thought that was you. Have you no shame? This is a ball hosted by the Chamber Head of Nobility. You can’t simply dress up a random commoner you met at a bar and then drag her along. I’m surprised you even managed to get her in, but I’m going to have to ask her to leave.”

Thankfully, despite the mass of people within the room, Warram did not share Alara’s predilection for shouting, and his words didn’t cause a scene. Most of me was thankful for that, although I’d have been lying if I said a small part of me wouldn’t relish it. While in most cases I hated being the center of attention — especially at a venue like this — I was looking forward to having “War Man” realize his mistake.

“She’s not a random commoner! This is Perceptive Pickaxe girl! She’s going to the academy with us!”

Tess is so much easier to remember than Perceptive Pickaxe girl! It’s literally four letters! For once, Warram and I found ourselves on the same side, letting out dual sighs at the failed re-introduction.

“Yes. That’s very nice. You’ll forgive me for not believing you. Now, miss ‘pickaxe girl.’ I do believe I told you that if there was a next time, you’d be in quite serious trouble. I believe sneaking into the house of nobility qualifies. While I was rather enjoying the ball, I’m afraid you’ll be coming with me.”

All right. As much as I was going to enjoy correcting him, this was escalating a bit too much for my taste.

“Actually, I was invi-”

You have been affected by the Law’s Embrace!

You are immobilized! You are pacified! You are protected!

Most forms of damage against you are temporarily nullified.

Oof. Forgot how unpleasant this is. My body went rigid as he used his skill against me. At least I can still talk, kind of?

“I… am… in…” I did my best to wheeze out the sentence.

Without warning, the paralysis suddenly intensified. My words were cut off completely as it was all I could do to focus on breathing. This is legal? Feels like some sort of torture at this level. Hell, Alara, please say something.

“Whatever you have to say, I’m sure I can hear it once we’ve removed you and you’re no longer bothering the people here.” He took hold of my arm, though I wasn’t sure what he planned to do with it seeing as I couldn’t move.

“Follow.”

Much to my horror, my legs started moving against my volition. Perhaps it wasn’t quite as bad as mental magic, but hell, it came pretty close. I willed myself to stop, but there was nothing I could do.

“War Man! Stop that!” Alara stepped in front of us, her sizable frame serving as a full barrier wall in front of us. “I told you, she’s going to the academy with us. She’s with Wash-”

“Miss Valis, please trust that if I could, I would use my skill on you as well. As I can not, I must ask you to move out of the way. While I’m not currently on duty, as this is a matter of keeping the peace, your compliance is legally required, and I will view further refusals as a sign of obstruction.” The words came out in a practiced monotone that somehow still managed to resonate fully, drowning out the louder Alara.

Despite not being able to pivot my head, my eyes were still under my control, and I could see as more and more people started to notice the altercation.

Things had officially spiraled out of hand, and I tapped into Trauma Suppression to stay calm. The new augment was a godsend here, and I could feel as it stopped my heart from beating out of my chest. Calm thoughts. Not like Alara is actually going to let him just run off with me. And once he lets me finally talk, things will be fine anyway.

“War man! I really-”

“Miss Valis, I have little desire to cause more of a scene than we already are, but if you wish to be brought out in handcuffs, I will be happy to remind you and your uncle that the Chamber of Adventure still answers to the law like anyone else. I-”

Then, it happened all at once. One moment, Warram was grabbing onto me; the next, he was stumbling back.

Law’s Embrace fizzled out, and I took a gasping breath. Trying to figure out what had hit the man, I spun towards him. The only thing I saw was a red welt on his forehead: something that I imagined quite a number of people also saw, considering how many were now facing us.

“Who dares-”

“What in the hells are you doing using that skill of yours at a ball, boy?” A gruff, booming voice cut through the crowd, only drawing more attention to us. After another gasping breath, I let out a sigh of relief. Suds stormed over, taking over. “This look like a bar fight to you? Forget you’re not wearing a uniform?”

The guardsman momentarily deflated under the attention of the chamber head, and then, as if remembering himself, straightened himself out. “Chamber Head,” he said with a bow of his head. “I believe I am well within my right, here. I have reason to believe this girl was not invited and has managed to sneak-”

Suds got right up to us, and then took another step towards Warram still. Though he was no taller than the guardsman, he somehow managed to loom over the younger man. “Oh? Do I hear you’re doubting the house staff of Lady Victa? Are you saying the Chamber of Nobility doesn't know who’s allowed in, or are you saying they’re not capable of running their own ball?”

Perhaps it was a bit mean of me, but I had to admit I enjoyed watching the man wilt under the attack. Albeit, it was a verbal attack — I wouldn’t have minded watching someone slap some sense into him at this point.

“This isn’t a matter of the nobility’s competence. The commoner here simply is not invited, and I’m well within my right to take her in for question-”

“Not invited! Hells, boy! Did you even ask either of them if she’s invited?”

I wondered if this was a novel experience for the guardsman. Raised as part of a major house and then funneled into being a guardsman, I doubted he got shouted at much, especially by people he had to listen to.

“I did, but I have reason to believe that the two are lying to me, and I merely thought-”

At this, Suds reached out and clamped down on the man’s shoulder, squeezing just tight enough to shut him up. “So you’re telling me you think the nobility can’t run their own damned event; that you didn’t listen to a word these two said; that you think you can just do whatever you want at a private event inside someone’s private home; and to top it off, that you were just about to try to arrest my granddaughter for attending a ball I invited her to.”

For the briefest of moments, I wondered if Suds might have killed the guy with nothing but his words. I could practically see as the life fled out of Warram, leaving his body stiffer than mine had been only a minute prior.

“Your- Apologies. This is- Your-”

Suds slapped the stuttering man on the back, raising his voice for the benefit of the many onlookers. “That’s right. My granddaughter! She was raised up north, but I just dragged her down here to introduce her to Sylum. Hell of a job you’re doing of showing her a good welcome, hmm? Better screw your head on right before you two get into the academy together, because I don’t take kindly to baseless accusations to members of my family, do I make myself understood, boy?”

For a brief moment, Warram transformed into a bobble head.

With a grunt, Suds then dragged me away, removing me from the situation and leaving both Warram and Alara behind.

As I was led from the two, I nearly stumbled as my vision suddenly shifted. The entirety of the ball disappeared as an oily rainbow sheen blocked my view forward. Belatedly, I realized it was the same barrier I’d seen Suds summon up during our first encounter, though this one was wrapped just around our heads.

“Fucking incredible. Knew I was right to leave you alone for a while. You see his face? Loved that. Kid just lost major points with multiple factions, and his mother is going to go crazy when she hears about it. Still think you should stab that kid, but that’ll do for now.”

The bubble popped, returning my vision, and Suds navigated me out of the room and back towards the food. When he spoke again, the mirth in his voice was completely gone.

“That aside, I wouldn’t be feeling that way if it weren’t for that trauma skill of yours. Hear that skill of his is… a little unpleasant. Have a drink if you need it. Calm your nerves for a second. Lean on that skill of yours. I need to get back to schmoozing, but if you feel like you absolutely need to leave, I’m not going to hold it against you, yeah?”

How did I feel?

A little violated, honestly. Did I want to go home?

I mean, I’ve kind of wanted to go home since before the event started. But just like I’d suffered through it then, I was ready to do so now. Suds had already more than come through on his end of the bargain by getting me magic lessons, obfuscation gear, and enrolling me in an academy to train. This was my side of the bargain.

Plus, much as he’d alluded to, Trauma Suppression was already going to work. I was fine! Great even! Probably didn’t even need that beer. I’d just have a cup to appease the man.

“I’m okay,” I told him. “Even made kind-of friends with Verin! Think she might be taking me to a gallery sometime. Go schmooze.”

I waved him off. He stood there for a second, making sure I meant it, and before actually leaving, he made sure I had a big cup of booze — wine this time. When sure that I really meant it, though, he clapped me on the back and headed off.

I snatched one of the small standing tables and began to nurse my wine, working up the energy to go back out into the crowd. Nice to have a moment to myself, finally. If my goal was to be politically savvy, then Alara probably shouldn’t have been my first choice of a friend, but I did have to admit she was quickly growing on me. Despite that, it was nice to take a breather where I knew I wasn’t about to be dragged into a new ordeal of a conversation.

“Excuse me.”

Oop. Here we go again. It was a testament to how deep I was in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed the woman’s approach, as it took quite a bit these days to catch me unaware without meaning to.

I glanced up at the speaker, barely stopping myself from flinching back.

Oh. Not human. I figured I’d be used to that by now, but somehow all the time I’d been spending in Sylum had gotten me back into a human-centric mindset.

An elongated snout poked out at me, covered in green-gray scales.

I learned about this race, didn’t I? Markus said they were called drakelings. He told me about it when I was learning about-

I took in the woman’s features — a struggle, as I wasn’t particularly used to differentiating drakelings — and then realized exactly who I was looking at.

“Oh. You’re- You’re a chamber head,” I stuttered out. Wasn’t getting ambushed by one chamber head enough for the night?

“Ha! I thought you might not know because you’re new. It looks like Suds is taking care of your education though: That’s exactly right. I suppose you know this already, then, but the name’s Kxrexm.” Though I’d heard her name before, Markus hadn’t quite done it justice. Kicks-rex-em, but with an almost violent emphasis on the x’s. “Chamber Head of Diplomacy. Forgive me, but I couldn’t help but notice all that commotion — terrible business that. I thought I would say hello. It’s not every day someone new drops into an event like this.”

As if having received some silent signal, a host of other people descended upon my table, first milling about at a respectful distance, but drawing closer with each passing moment.

No rest for the Protagonist, I guess.

“Tess. Good to meet you.” I held my hand out, raised upwards in a sign of deference. The drakeling grasped it, keeping it beneath hers. While I was sure she didn’t wish to offend me, I wasn’t on equal standing with a chamber head, and there was no need to pretend otherwise.

“I couldn’t help but overhear that you’ll be attending the academy. Do you know what you’ll be taking yet?” A seemingly innocuous question, though one I didn’t know the answer to.

“I guess not. Suds probably does, but we haven’t gotten a chance to talk about it much. It’s been a lot since coming here.” All completely true. Although am I supposed to call him ‘grandpa’ or something? Whatever. I think it’s pretty normal to use his name if we weren’t close while I was growing up.

“I can imagine! If you haven’t finalized your schedule, however, perhaps this old drakeling might recommend a course, hmm? I’ll be taking time to serve as a guest lecturer for In Pursuit of Peace this semester — I’m aware you may not be as invested in some of Sylum’s affairs, having not been raised here, but I’d be interested to get a fresh perspective on everything. Perhaps you’d have a different viewpoint on the war and how we might go about ending it.”

I was still processing the woman’s request when the second tidbit of information rolled in. Without thinking, I blurted out what was on my mind.

“Wait, there’s a war?”

It was a dumb thing to say. True, some of the fault probably lay with Markus for not letting me know that — kind of seemed like an important piece of info — but it was on me for revealing my ignorance aloud. I blamed the wine. I took another sip.

This, as it turned out, was the cue for the hanger-ons to approach. A few peals of laughter sounded out, surrounding me, and a nameless man came closer. “So new, she doesn’t even know about the war! Imagine that!”

A few others followed suit, and at once the table was surrounded. Others stood behind me, effectively boxing me in.

“Now, now,” Kxrexm tutted. “I believe she’s actually said the exact right thing! If both I and Mistress Goss are doing our jobs, then anyone belonging to the Chamber of Commons shouldn’t know there’s a war at all, hmm? If anything, she’s paid me quite the compliment!”

A new round of laughter resounded, though this one was less at my expense.

“Did I hear you were the chamber head’s granddaughter?” one of the faces questioned.

What followed could only be described as a pleasantly veiled interrogation as I did my best to fend off a stream of questions and remember a host of names. So-and-so from the Chamber of Artisans wanted to know more about my class. Dyed-hair from the Chamber of Nobility inquired as to Barb’s health. Bushy-beard from the Chamber of Magic wanted to know if I’d be taking advantage of the academy to learn any new magic.

At that point, I revealed that I was taking lessons with Archmage Callis, which spawned a new wave of conversation. It was clear that was an unexpected development, and from what I could tell, Suds was right in that it raised everyone’s opinion of me a good deal.

It’s only because I’m weird, but I think I’m okay not letting them know that.

Eventually, much to my relief, my novelty started to wear off, and the conversation shifted away from me. From time to time, I was still expected to answer the occasional question, but the scrutiny I was under lessened greatly. I fell into a steady rhythm, and even got a new level up in Conversation.

Seems like a safe time to duck out, right? Maybe find where Alara’s gone off to? Don’t think I love her introduction methods, but I wouldn’t mind meeting a few more people that are going to this whole “academy” thing.

As if possessing some supernatural ability to tell I was thinking about leaving — something I realized was actually a real possibility — one of the older women clamped onto my arm. Chamber of Wealth, if I recalled.

“Oh, but have you had a chance to dance yet? I believe the dancing’s started up in the other room by now, yes? My grandson’s here somewhere, I believe. Oh! There!” She waved to a man near my age who just happened to conveniently be in the room. The grandson in question dutifully approached. “Alan, be a dear and take this beauty onto the dancefloor, would you? She’s a trooper, but she has to be getting tired of listening to us older folk yammer on, isn’t that right?”

I made to deny the woman — I didn’t want anyone to think they were boring me — but Kxrexm chimed in.

“Ah, that’s my fault, I believe. I get carried away at times. But you’re right; we shouldn’t monopolize the girl’s time at her first Sylum ball. Enjoy the dance floor!”

Is this something I can even say no to? I imagined myself turning the guy down in front of all the people that now hung around me, cringing. Probably wouldn’t be the best look, for me or his grandmother.

At least it lets me escape politely?

“If you insist,” I rattled off.

The grandson — Alan — shot me an apologetic smile and once I escaped from the table, he walked with me to the main reception room.

“Sorry about that. She gets that way sometimes. We don’t actually have to dance if you don’t want to.”

I was relieved to hear him say it, just about to take him up on his non-offer. Before the words came out, however, I stopped myself.

Why say no? This actually might be the least awful thing that’s happened to you this entire ball. No surprises. No dramatic politics. Simple.

Plus, I had kind of been wanting to meet some people who’d be going to the academy, without Alara’s “helpful” introductions. Alan, if nothing else, seemed pretty normal so far, which I considered a win.

Also Suds made me take a dance lesson, and I’ve been chilling out sipping on wine for a while. Why not?

“Actually, if you promise not to try arresting me, I’d be happy to dance a little.” I knew I was setting a high bar, but hey, a girl had to have some standards.

He seemed to intensely consider it for a moment until at last coming to a decision.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think I can promise that, actually.”

For a while, I danced. I wasn’t great at it, but if nothing else, the small number of dances practiced at such events weren’t overly complex. They were full of small and precise movements, requiring one to have memorized each step, but very little in the sense of skill. They were a far cry from the sort of dancing that took place in nightclubs, and were far more reserved than most dance forms I’d seen back on Earth.

A lot of that was intentional, I realized. Dancing at an event was largely just a further time for conversation, and as I cycled through the dances that I’d learned, I chatted with Alan.

He was nice, honestly. Chamber of Wealth — currently focused on luxury perishables. I got a bit of insight into a world I knew very little about. Curiously, he’d taken a path similar to Barb, combining his profession with a fighting class. He didn’t tell me exactly what his class was, but a quick Identification revealed to be a fairly generic-sounding Merchant Marksman.

Nothing groundbreaking was said, but it was a nice respite from the rest of the night. A respite that, much to my surprise, was shorter-lived than expected.

The band finished a song, bringing everyone on the floor to a momentary halt. In the space between the songs, another pair of dancers approached us, a man and a woman.

“May we?” the man posed to us.

I looked at the two, completely lost, before turning to Alan, who chuckled goodnaturedly.

“It’s customary at such events to trade dance partners every so often.”

All three of them smiled without malice, making me feel a little less embarrassed for being caught unaware, but only a little. “Oh. Then…” I glanced at Alan, trying to gauge his thoughts. At the very least, he wasn’t sending me any “definitely do not accept!” looks or “that guy is secretly a horrible villain!” looks, which would have to be enough. “Yes?”

Alan bowed my way. “It was a pleasure. May we meet again at the academy, Miss Astorius.”

Despite not feeling much like a “Miss Astorius,” I returned the sentiment, and we parted ways. A new song started up, and the dancing began anew.

Dariem. Chamber of Adventure. Had already graduated from the academy, but was curious to hear my take on the city.

Then Lyam. Chamber of Artisans. Engraving and metalwork, but dabbled enough in wood carving that we managed to have an interesting chat on my newest hobby.

Catren. Chamber of Nobility. A minor noble, apparently, only visiting. Invited me to an event that sounded suspiciously like a noble sex party. As politely as possible, I turned her down.

A stream of new faces, one after the other, all with their own stories and their own questions. Some fairly interesting, some fairly bland.

Then, right when I was about to call it quits and go find Suds, I caught sight of one more pair headed my way. The woman, I didn’t recognize, but the man was all too familiar.

“May we?”

“No.” I didn’t bother making eye contact. Reconsidering, I answered again. “I mean, I’ll dance with your partner. But no, not you.”

With a pained expression, one particularly stiff Warram’Goss threw himself down into a deep bow.

“An apology is in order, Miss Astorius. I believe — completely by no fault other than my own — we got off on the wrong foot. You would do me a great favor by allowing me to make such an apology, and if it is not to your liking, you may leave me on the dance floor at your leisure.”

The other two looked uncomfortable as Warram remained bowed before us.

My initial reaction was to tell him to fuck off, and I nearly said exactly that. I tried to give it a second’s thought though.

In fairness, it would admittedly be nice to clear any bad blood here and now instead of carrying it into the academy where it’s going to distract me. Probably better to suffer through one dance than it is to worry that he’s secretly planning some weird revenge plot in the middle of class.

And all right, not the worst start to an apology. If he ends up being a dick about it, it’s easy to just leave him there like he said.

Still. Blech. Really?

“One dance. I get a full apology, and you promise never to use that god-awful skill on me again or bother me while we’re at the academy together.”

Still bowed, he responded before at last lifting himself up. “Of course. If I may, then.”

Reluctantly, and while questioning my own judgment, I said goodbye to my former partner, and started what would be my third encounter with Warram’Goss. For both of our sakes, I strongly hoped it would prove better than the last two.