"We have waited generations for you, Empress Halrad."
The sincerity in his voice as he addressed her in a strange way answered her previous question.
This wasn't fake.
If the Halrad reference hadn't convinced her, the ends of blonde curls peeking out from underneath the man's veil certainly did.
Kel nearly let out a gasp as she caught a glimpse of the hair. In her entire life, she'd never heard of another person aside from her and Adriell with the same golden locks.
Yet, here was this man, dancing calmly with her, making only a small effort to conceal his hair.
'Why-'
In her bewilderment, Kel had almost slipped into a flurry of questions.
But she couldn't lose her composure.
Not now.
"I am only the Empress Consort, Sir," Kel responded, holding her head a little higher, "and my name is not Halrad."
"I know who you are," the man went on, paying no heed to her correction, "Descendant blessed with the Dragon's Kiss."
His words reminded Kel a bit of Subterra--the strange people with their strange stories about old kings and dragons' power--but the phrase "Dragon's Kiss" stuck in her mind.
She'd heard it before, but not in Subterra.
Just where had she come across that phrase? And when?
Her breath caught in her throat as the memory came to her. She hadn't heard that phrase, she'd read it.
In a worn leather-bound book sitting on the Emperor's bedside table.
A book written by his mentor and Kel's uncle.
Itzae.
"No way," Kel murmured to herself.
Her gaze darted back to her peculiar dance partner. Were Itzae and this man connected somehow?
"Why are you here?" Kel demanded, unable to hold back any longer.
"To extend an invitation," the man replied, leaning closer to her.
As his mouth drew nearer to her ear, Kel flinched--mostly from the suffocating bloodthirst that erupted from somewhere behind her at the same moment.
Oh Calix, please don't cancel the rest of the ball and haul me away like a wild animal, Kel pleaded internally.
Whether it was her silent prayer, or the cursing of Ira who had sensed a disturbance from where he sat at his desk in the Serin capital, something managed to hold the Dragon Emperor back long enough for Kel to hear the Felion man's invitation.
"When the affairs of men leave you weary," he recited as if reading from a book, "seek solace among the crowns of the white mountains."
What?
Why did his invitation sound more like a riddle?
"I was also bade deliver this, Your Majesty," the man added in a tone hardly above a whisper, moving a folded paper from his sleeve into Kel's hand.
It was a flawless exchange. Even those watching closely, such as the Dragon Emperor, would have missed it.
But what do I do with it now? Kel gulped, noticing the Emperor stomping toward them.
The song still had several bars left, but Calix could no longer stand watching other men dance with his fiancé.
Kel's partner caught sight of the irritated Emperor as well, and gave Kel a swift bow goodbye before disappearing back into the crowd.
"How strange," Kel mumbled as she watched him.
Tracking his movements should have been simple, but it was like the man vanished as he passed through the first row of onlookers.
In a matter of minutes, he had both come from and gone back to nowhere, leaving Kel with a riddle-like invitation and small piece of parchment.
When Calix reached her, he led her back to her seat, where she watched the short remainder of the ball.
After a few minutes of silence between them, the Emperor asked, "Who was that man?"
"I don't know," Kel shook her head.
".. I see. Was he from Pandreia?"
Kel paused, scanning the ballroom in one last futile attempt to catch a glimpse of the man.
"Felion," she finally replied. "He was from Felion."
Calix didn't press the matter any further.
As he flopped onto the bed next to Kel later with a satisfied sigh, it seemed he had no intention of bringing it up ever again.
Not that there was much more to tell about the strange man dressed in white anyway.
"When we leave this place tomorrow," Calix yawned, sliding an arm across Kel's waist, "let's never return."
"You don't like it here?" Kel chuckled, propping her head on her elbow.
Calix looked up at her from the pillow.
"I don't like the way you look at the ballroom here," he said softly, "or the throne room doors."
"Oh.. Ah-" Kel's eyes suddenly began to sting.
The old throne room doors.
She could remember the first time she stood before them as well as the last time she passed through them to receive a mission assignment from the king.
Later on, she watched one of her old friends die in that room, his mind already reduced to the point of madness.
And the ballroom.. How many parties had she attended there?
Sometimes she attended as a guard and sometimes as a princess, and Dash was always there to sneak her out to the terrace with a bottle of wine.
Come to think of it, over the course of the engagement celebration, she hadn't set foot on that terrace.
It was probably for the best, though. She had no interest in seeing the withered vines that once grew lush around the stone pillars. Or the ghosts of two teenage palace guards, sharing a drink and pointing at the stars.
Calix smiled knowingly at her as a tear dropped from her eyelashes.
"Places like this become haunted far too easily," he whispered, wrapping Kel in a tight embrace. "Trust me, it's better to leave it behind."
Kel swallowed and nodded, inadvertently rubbing her moist cheeks all over the Emperor's neck.
Calix coughed in response but quickly cleared his throat.
"Anyway, tomorrow we will leave for Pandreia and then Vitocia after that," he detailed. "And after we're done there, we can finally go home."
"Home.." Kel echoed. "The Capital?"
"Mmmm specifically my bedroom," the man hummed, burying his nose in Kel's hair. "And we can plan our wedding and get married."
"And have kids?" Kel teased, feeling the knot in her throat slowly begin to melt away.
"If you want," Calix mumbled drowsily.
Kel giggled and reached up to pet the Emperor's smooth dark hair.
"And then live happily ever after?"
Calix caught her hand and pulled it to his lips.
"Of course."
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