Klio nodded.
He smiled, casting an appreciative gaze upon her form. Like Stuart, Klio had taken the time to shed her traveling garb for clothes more suitable for the night’s event. Her gown was emerald satin, but its shade bore a depth that gave the fabric a mottled effect whenever she moved — a quality emphasized by her skirts’ fullness, which spread around her like the broad leaves of an exotic plant. The gown’s low-cut bodice had a dusting of lace that shimmered the white and silver of moonstone, and while her neck and shoulders were bare, Klio’s arms remained sheathed in black silk from elbows to fingertips. A veil of the same lace at her bodice kept her eyes from view.
“You make me regret that you accompany me for business tonight,” Stuart said. “I’d much prefer an evening of pleasure with you at my side.”
“Think on the pleasure of living rather than falling prey to your opponents,” Klio replied.
With a snicker, Stuart offered Klio his arm. “I would be pained at your rebuff, Miss Vesper. But instead I’ll take comfort in how difficult it is to lead you astray when your path is set.”
“That would be wise of you, Mr. Stuart.” Klio hooked her arm around his elbow. “Very wise.”
The confines of the ship limited the number of spectators who could attend the Game. Even so, Klio marveled at the array of onlookers.
Tiered rows of seats ascended from the floor of the deck, allowing a clear view to those unfortunate enough to be seated farthest from the players. The rows had been divided into six sections. Entrance into each section was carefully monitored to ensure there would be no mingling between the factions. In other settings, interactions between the groups wasn’t unheard of, but at this juncture, with so much on the line, such meetings could prove too volatile.
Klio walked at Stuart’s side to the front of the Coven’s section. The seats in each row were filled with richly dressed men and women, most bearing haughty expressions that vanished when they turned smiles of admiration or envy on their appointed champion. Those appreciative looks became curious, suspicious, or downright disdainful when they shifted from Stuart to Klio.
The opinions of these witches and warlocks troubled Klio not at all, but her skin crawled with the power that emanated from their ranks. The use of any kind of magic was strictly forbidden at the Game, both to prevent cheating and to protect the players from an arcane assault. That restriction, however, couldn’t prohibit existing magic that seeped from the very pores of this faction. They reeked of it.
The Coven wasn’t unique in its power, only in the form it took. To one side of the Coven were the sidhe. While the air around the Coven crackled with magic, the sidhe bathed in starlight. Fireflies and songbirds danced in the air around them as they indulged in food and drink. It was difficult to look upon the faeries without longing to join them; to gaze on their beautiful forms was to hear the song of a siren. A beautiful torment.
An altogether different lot sat on the other side of the Coven. While the sidhe suffused their surroundings with the tinkling chimes of their chatter and the silvery cascades of their laughter, the goblins offered a cacophony of screeches, roars, hisses, and snarls. Their ranks were made up of the small and gnarled and the tall and stick limbed, with skin in every hue of green, purple, brown, and gray.
Beside the goblins sat the wolves. Of all the factions, the wolves had the fewest spectators. Many of the rows in their section sat empty, and the handful of attendees was half human and half wolf, the latter roaming the aisles restlessly.
The next two factions, necromancers and vampires, were indistinguishable in their ghost-pale skin, but the necromancers favored hooded robes that shadowed their faces, while the vampires were attired in the finery of the moment, interested in attracting admiration rather than avoiding attention.
Klio’s gaze moved from group to group. The wolves might present the most significant risk — the absence of spectators could be the result of others aboard the ship yet not at the tourney, giving them the chance to stir up trouble elsewhere. The vampires were difficult to assess. The atmosphere of their section emitted ease and celebration, but few creatures could rival vampires when it came to deception and misdirection.