"I'm not here in any formal capacity," Ella said. "I'm just an enchantress. My brother is the Alturan Lord Marshal but he never gets me to act on his behalf."
The seneschal smiled. "Please, let me lead you into the reception hall."
Revenants played music, served food, and poured drinks, while guests mingled as naturally as at any social gathering.
Ella saw a female revenant offer a tray of small glasses to a man, who took one without a word, his eyes saying enough. The serving women had obviously been chosen for their beauty, and wore diaphanous gowns with nothing underneath. Ella blushed. She knew the women were dead, but the men could see everything.
Ella's heart raced as her nervousness increased. Here she was, uninvited, at someone else's party. She wondered how she would last the night. Who would she talk to? She didn't know a single person here.
"I'll leave you here," the seneschal said.
Ella nodded and gulped, wondering what to do next. Should she take one of the small glasses? The liquid inside was clear. Was it water?
"Look who it is," a guttural voice said. "On a list of the last people I expected to see here, you're close to the top."
The voice took Ella back to a tent in the Hazara Desert, when she had first met the trader who could often be found with those the houses shunned.
"Hermen Tosch," Ella said, turning and smiling as she greeted the free cities native. "What in the Skylord's name are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Hermen said.
Hermen hadn't changed. His hair was still cut short and he had the same stocky build. Ella remembered him as an unassuming man who rarely smiled, strange qualities for a trader, yet he must possess a strong talent for commerce to even be here.
"I'm sorry, but I can't say," Ella said.
Hermen raised an eyebrow. "Sounds ominous."
Ella shrugged. "Not ominous, just boring," she said in a way she hoped was disarming. "Lore and essence, you know how it is."
"Not particularly, no," Hermen said. "But I'll leave you to your secrets. I generally get to the bottom of these things, at any rate."
"Why are you here, then?" Ella asked.
"The Akari are once again trading with the Empire," Hermen said. He grinned. "I'm here to make sure things go as smoothly as possible."
"And make some gilden along the way, I'm sure," Ella said, grinning along.
"I regret I must leave you," Hermen said, suddenly bowing and withdrawing.
Ella wondered what had caused Hermen to leave, when she saw a tall couple regarding her seriously.
"Thank you for inviting me tonight, Dain," Ella said. Not knowing what else to do, she touched her lips and then her forehead in the Alturan manner.
Dain Barden Mensk was tall, even for his race. He towered over Ella and regarded her with brooding eyes somewhere between blue and grey. The Dain's long ice-white hair was braided at the back of his head and his forked beard was woven with silver chain. His face was unlined and his age indeterminate, but his brow was cruel, lips turned down in a perpetual scowl. A mantle of silver fox fur lined his broad shoulders and the muscles in his arms bulged as he looped his fingers in his belt.
"Ella," the Dain said, neglecting any title. "My daughter says you wish to speak with me, but that you would not say what you wish to speak about."
"Barden," the woman at the Dain's side smiled, "the girl only arrived today. Perhaps it can wait until later?"
"This is my wife, the Daina," the Dain grumbled. "Mara, this is Ella, an Alturan enchantress."
Ella dipped her head while the statuesque woman smiled and nodded. Daina Mara's eyes sparkled with intelligence. She would have been beautiful as a younger woman.
"How are you enjoying Ku Kara, Ella?" Mara said.
"It's incredible," Ella said. Dain Barden frowned. "Your people make living in the cold look not only easy, but enjoyable."
"It's not as simple as it may appear," said the Dain.
"Yet we love our homeland nonetheless," the Dain's wife followed, looking at the Dain fondly.
"I can see why," Ella said. "We're fortunate to have you part of the new Empire."
"I must check on the dinner preparations," Mara said. "Please, excuse me."
"My wife seems to have taken a liking to you," Dain Barden said. "Tell me, the attack on your brother's wedding. What progress has been made?"
"Little, I'm afraid," said Ella. "However the attack is part of my reason for being here."
Dain Barden scowled, and Ella realised what she'd said. "Not that there is any suspicion on the Akari. It's not that at all." Ella wished she had Miro by her side.
A bell tinkled, announcing that dinner was being served. Guests began to leave the reception hall, the revenant servers melting to the sides.
"We'll discuss it after dinner," Barden said.
~
ELLA found herself sitting next to Hermen Tosch. She was relieved to have someone she knew to talk to.
"What's the food like?" Ella said.
Hermen paused, gathering his thoughts. "Let me simply say, you may wish to taste a small amount, before taking a large mouthful."
"That good?" Ella grinned.