The whole dining room shone with candlelight, and the scent of perfectly seasoned meat hung in the air. I had to admit, this cook that Audrey had found really did know what he was doing. While cleaving an herb-roasted potato, I looked over at the poison mage.
Nothing remained of the hurt I had seen in her eyes yesterday. It was as if telling me about it had somehow helped return all those emotions to her past. I didn’t really know what she must have felt growing up that way, because my parents hadn’t been anything like that. But I also had my own reasons for deciding to become a dark mage, so I still understood her in a way that the rest of the people around this table did not. I narrowed my eyes slightly. I was still going to make her pay dearly for that stunt she had pulled with her poison magic, though.
“So, tell me,” Elise Dawson began while she sipped some more wine where she sat next to me. Her blue eyes were practically glittering with the promise of gossip. “How did you two meet?”
Audrey and I exchanged a quick glance, but since there was no way to discuss anything with six other people watching us, I decided to go with something that was close to the truth.
“We were neighbors,” I answered. “She moved in next door.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Lisa cut in. She tried to catch her husband’s eye. “Isn’t it?”
The husband, Roald, who looked to be at least fifteen years older than her, only speared another piece of asparagus and continued eating.
“Not at all, actually,” Audrey said. A secretive smile played over her lips as she looked around the table, meeting each of their gazes in turn. “I’ll tell you a secret. He didn’t even like me at first.”
Elise’s husband, who was occupying the chair between us, raised his eyebrows at her. “Really?”
“Yes. But I won him over in the end.” Audrey leaned forward to wink at me. “Didn’t I, husband?”
I held her gaze while letting a slow smile spread across my lips. “You sure did, sweetheart.”
Elise laughed. “How marvelous.” She looked over at her husband before turning back to give me a look that I couldn’t quite interpret. “For Carl and me, it was love at first sight. We knew from the first moment we met that we were destined for each other. Both of us enjoy the same kinds of… freedom.”
“Indeed.” Carl nodded to his wife before turning to Audrey. “How dull life would be without it.”
From the other side of the table, Lisa nodded emphatically at Carl’s words. As did Jane, the blond friend that Elise had brought, and her husband where they sat on either side of Lisa. Roald only continued eating his asparagus.
A slight frown creased my brows at their odd behavior, but I quickly smoothened it out and instead raised my utensils to cut another strip of meat.
“What about you, Audrey?” Carl said as he leaned closer to her.
She smiled pleasantly. “What about me?”
“Do you think that some people are destined only for each other?”
“I don’t think there is such a thing as destiny. I think people make choices. They choose who they want to be with.”
“Well said.”
I glanced up from my plate to find Carl leaning even closer. There was a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes, or the one that I could see from this side at least, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t just from the candlelight. With that interested expression still on his face, he reached out and placed his hand on Audrey’s forearm.
My elbow slammed into him from the other side.
He let out a yelp as the hit sent him shooting sideways in his seat, and he threw out his arms to stabilize himself. Clanging filled the room as Carl accidentally knocked over one of the candleholders in his hurry to catch himself. The candle was pushed into one of the plates, extinguishing the flame, before it rolled across the smooth tabletop while the golden candlestick was left lying across the empty asparagus platter.
“Oh, Carl, so sorry about that,” I said as I grabbed his arm to help him sit up straight again. “My knife slipped while I was cutting into the meat. I didn’t mean to hit you like that.”
Carl brushed his hands down his white shirt before running them through his brown hair a couple of times. Then his gaze slid to me. “No worries at all. It just caught me a bit off guard.”
“Yes, how very clumsy of you, husband.” Audrey shot me a sharp look before she placed a hand on Carl’s shoulder. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
He gave her a smile. “Yes, I’m sure. Thank you.”
After returning the smile, she reached out and righted the toppled candleholder. Standing up from the chair, she picked up the escaped candle and put it back. Then she paused. With a frown on her face, she lifted the golden holder so that she could light the wick on one of the already burning candles.
Lisa chuckled and brought her hands together. “Why don’t you just…?”
With a flick of her wrist, a small flame appeared on the wick, lighting the candle. Worry washed over me like cold water. Lighting candles and summoning water to a glass or picking up items with a small gust of wind was something everyone in Eldar did like it was nothing. Because they were connected to the Great Current and could use all different kinds of magic. But we couldn’t do those things, and if they found that out, they would know that we were dark mages.
“How kind of you, Lisa,” Audrey said with a smile that even I had trouble spotting the venom in. “But Callan and I are actually having a magic-free month. We want to try to live the way we would have done if there had been no Great Current. As a way to give thanks and show our appreciation for the sacrifices that all the mages make for us.”
Man, I had to admit, she was an excellent liar.
At last, Roald looked up from his asparagus. A frown creased his graying brows as he peered through his glasses at Audrey. “Sacrifices? What sacrifices?”
“For giving up their magic to share it with everyone.”
“They’re only doing what’s right. What everyone should do in that kind of situation.”
Lisa patted her husband on the arm. “I agree. It would be so unfair if only some people had magic. After all, it’s just luck that determines who is born with it and who is born without it. Sharing it equally between everyone is the best way to solve the problem.”
It took great effort to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Based on the look on Audrey’s face, she was fighting a similar urge.
“Yes,” Jane agreed from Lisa’s other side. She gave her friend a serious nod before brushing her straight blond hair back behind her shoulder. “I still remember when both of my younger brothers manifested their magic. I was so heartbroken that they had been born with magic and that I hadn’t. I ran to our mother and cried until she told me about the Great Current. It was such a relief to hear that I would be getting magic too.”
“I think most people feel that way,” Carl added. “I was born a fire mage, but almost all of my friends back when I was a child didn’t have magic. I saw how badly they wanted it too, so that’s why I didn’t hesitate to share my magic with the Great Current. I truly felt that I did something good for the world when I completed the graduation ceremony.”
Elise leaned forward to smile at her husband. “You really did, darling.”
“I don’t understand how anyone can think that keeping it all for yourself is the right thing to do.” Disgust curled Lisa’s mouth. “Those dark mages. How selfish can you get?”
“I know, right?” Jane said. “But think of it this way. They pick power over love. And then they have to spend the rest of their lives alone out in the countryside.” She gave her husband a warm smile. “And power doesn’t keep you warm at night. It doesn’t fill your heart with happiness. Sharing what you have with other people is what gives you friends and a life of love and joy.”
Roald nodded sagely. “Indeed. Selflessness is always the path to true happiness.”
“Yes, I think you’re right.” Elise Dawson smiled as she looked around the table at all of us. “I’m proud to call myself a citizen of Eldar. Our fair and democratic city truly is one of the gems of Valda. It is such a great city to put down roots in. To have children in. To make friends in.” Her calculating blue eyes shifted to me. “I do hope that you will consider making it your permanent home.”
I held her gaze and returned the smile. “Oh, I can assure you that we are. Especially now that we have met such kind people.”
Elise let out a satisfied laugh and nodded. Returning my attention to my plate, I stabbed my fork into the final piece of meat and popped it in my mouth. The taste of thyme and garlic melted over my tongue. Swallowing the delicious bite, I had to once again admit that Audrey had been right about this cook.
Clinking utensils and soft chatter filled our splendid dining room as the rest of the dinner thankfully progressed without further discussions about sharing magic or anything else that we didn’t want to get into.
When we at last followed the party of six to the door, I was confident that we had made a good impression. Now, we just needed to secure a promise.
“It was so lovely to have you over,” Audrey said as we faced the six of them where they stood before the front door. “And thank you again for helping me with the dress shopping.”
Elise smiled back at her. “It was my pleasure.”
Carl’s eyes flicked up and down the stunning black and gold dress that Audrey wore. “It does look great on you.”
Wrapping my arm around Audrey’s back, I pulled her closer. “Yes, it does.”
She stiffened in surprise for a second before leaning into me and then looking back at Elise and Carl. “You are both far too kind.”
The Dawsons exchanged a brief look. Then Elise turned back to us with an even brighter smile on her face.
“You simply must let us return the favor,” she said, her eyes glittering. “We’re having a little… soirée at our place this weekend. We would love it if you could make it too.”
“We would be absolutely delighted,” Audrey replied.
“Wonderful. We’ll see you in a few days then.”
Smug victory swirled inside me as we waved them goodbye while they poured out the door and disappeared into the darkened evening outside.
This had gone perfectly. We had them right were we wanted them, and now all we needed was one final push.
Then, we would have our invitations to the ball.
