The white parliament building shone like a jewel in the sunlight as we ascended the pale steps and approached the wide double doors. Well-dressed men and women walked briskly in and out, as if they were on some very important errands, but there were also a few people who looked more like us. A bit more uncertain. I kept an open and curious expression on my face as we approached the doors.
This was where the whole parliament of Eldar worked, but it was also open for visitors. There were areas that resembled a museum where people could learn more about Eldar’s glorious history, as well as the famous Rose Hall, which was where the ball would be held. We needed to map out the layout so that we could find the perfect spot to make our move, and also an escape route so that we wouldn’t have to haul an abducted Lance Carmichael out through an entire ballroom packed with people.
Callan slid his arm around mine and then spoke quietly through a smile. “You’re frowning.”
Realizing that he was right, I smoothened my creased brows and painted that curious smile back on my face. But in my chest, my heart was thumping. Were we really going to do this? Walk right into the heart of democracy? The heroes’ stronghold? If something went wrong while we were in there, the odds of us getting out undetected were dishearteningly low. And if that happened, our chance of stopping Lance Carmichael and his band of self-righteous idiots from wiping out all the dark mages would be gone completely.
I drew in a calming breath as we at last stepped across the threshold.
A grand hallway made of white marble met us. The domed ceiling made the murmur of people speaking softly to each other swirl through the air and fill the whole space. I swept my gaze over the portraits on the walls. They no doubt depicted old members of parliament who had done something good for Eldar, or perhaps previous Chancellors, but they looked very stern and imposing in their paintings. Our steps were muffled by a dark blue carpet that ran the length of the hallway. I read the small golden plaques above the different doors while we walked.
“Are you looking for something?” a voice suddenly said.
Callan and I stopped and turned towards it. A woman with gray hair pulled into a neat bun looked back at us with eyebrows raised expectantly.
“The area up ahead is not open to civilians,” she went on.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said and let out an embarrassed laugh that was pure calculation. “We’re from Castlebourne and everyone has been telling us that we just have to see the Rose Hall.”
Her expression softened. “And they’re quite right. It is magnificent.” With a smile on her face, she raised a hand to point towards a pair of double doors. “It’s down there.”
“Thank you so much. That’s so kind of you.”
Our arms were still linked so I pulled Callan with me as I started towards the indicated doors. He followed, but when I looked up at him, there was a smirk tugging at his lips.
“How come you never speak to me like that?” he asked, and arched a dark brow in amusement. “Saying thank you and please with proper respect?”
“I would rather have my throat slit.”
His smile turned lethal. “That can be arranged.”
Before I could answer, we reached the massive doors made of polished oak. I glanced around to see if we needed to alert anyone before going inside, but when no attendant appeared, I pushed down the handle and edged the door open. Callan slid his arm from mine as we slipped inside and closed the door behind us again.
“Wow.” The word rolled off my tongue before I could stop it.
But Callan’s eyes were locked on the incredible room before us as well, and all he said was, “Yeah.”
The Rose Hall was a massive ballroom with a rectangular shape and a high ceiling. Private seating arrangements occupied the entire right wall while the outer wall held tall stained-glass windows. Sunlight fell in through their artful patterns and painted colorful shapes across the shining white marble floor. There was a raised podium at the front of the room while a space that looked to be reserved for an orchestra was located on the ballroom’s other short side.
Tilting my head back, I looked up at the ceiling. Glittering chandeliers hung along the entire length of the room, both above the dance floor and the seating area, but that wasn’t the only impressive thing above our heads. The entire ceiling had been painted with stunning scenes that depicted the city of Eldar and the hills and grasslands around it.
“Impressive,” Callan said. “Let’s look around a little bit.”
I turned back to him and was just about to question his uncharacteristically polite tone when I noticed another couple at the far end of the room. They were walking slowly, staring up at the paintings in the ceiling while moving in the direction of the door. Annoyance rippled through me. We would have to wait until they left before we got started on our real investigation.
Sliding my gaze back to Callan, I gave him a nod and then motioned towards the back of the room where the space for the orchestra was set up. “I want to look at the windows over there.”
“I want to see what the ceiling looks like up at the front,” he answered.
We shared another look and then drifted towards opposite sides of the room.
The seating area had been marked as off limits with a thick red velvet rope that ran between short golden poles along the entire length of the room. I ran scrutinizing eyes over the space before moving towards the opposite wall so that I could pretend to study the windows. The booths at the very back of the seating area seemed private enough to discreetly knock someone out, but the problem would be getting the body out of the ballroom without anyone noticing.
I glanced towards the wall on the short side while I came to a halt halfway to the stained-glass windows. There were several doors set into it. They were also roped off, but if that couple would just leave, I could investigate them anyway.
Cocking my head, I pretended to study the glass motifs on the window while I waited for them to do just that. On the other side of the room, Callan did the same. The couple was moving at a pace that would have made a limping snail groan in frustration and complain about their slowness, but at least they were heading towards the exit.
While I waited, my mind kept drifting back to the conversation we’d had after the guests had left yesterday.
I had a very hard time picturing Callan as an uncertain boy who did whatever people said just to please them and make them like him. From the very first time I had met him, his entire muscular body had always exuded power and authority. Always in control. Always giving others orders. Hell knew he had done nothing but try to boss me around since that day. To think of him as a scrawny thirteen-year-old who said ‘yes, please, and thank you’ was incredibly odd. But I supposed that was the thing about growing up. It wasn’t about getting older. It was about shedding the false masks you had worn and becoming the person you wanted to be.
And as much as I hated to admit it, I had been impressed when he told me that he left to become a dark mage at fourteen. Most people who escaped the academy did so when they were around nineteen and were getting close to the graduation ceremony so that their magic was at its strongest. Both because it was troublesome to even get out of Eldar, but also because once you left the city, you had to fight all the other dark mages for a place in the hills. If Callan had managed to do all that when he was only fourteen, it certainly explained why he had managed to become one of the six dark mages still left standing. I would have to find a way to neutralize him quickly once this was over.
The large double doors clicked shut, informing me that the couple had finally reached them and left.
From across the massive room, Callan and I turned to look at each other. We nodded in unison. There were doors at the other end too, and he turned towards them while I snuck over to the ones on my side.
Hiking up my dress, I stepped over the velvet rope and edged the door open.
For a moment, I only stood there, peering into it to see if there was anyone else already inside. When nothing moved, I slipped in through the gap.
It looked almost like a small library. A pair of dark leather armchairs were positioned by one wall, and a side table with an oil lamp on top of it waited between them. Every wall except the outer one was covered in dark wooden bookshelves. Gold-foiled titles glinted in the light streaming in through the windows, and not a speck of dust covered the spines.
I moved over to the window. Reaching up, I placed a hand on it and gently edged it open. It moved silently.
Warm winds smelling of grass and summer flowers washed over me. I peered down. There was a lovely garden full of roses and well-trimmed hedges outside. The drop was too steep to jump, but I had to admit that it led to a perfectly remote location. I drummed my fingers against the windowsill while considering.
Deciding to see what Callan had found on the other side, I gently closed the window again and snuck back out. Thankfully, no one else had entered the Rose Hall while I’d been inside the small library, so I could walk back into the ballroom without issue.
After lifting up my dress and stepping back over the red velvet rope, I started towards the other side of the room. It was so large that it took me a while to cross it, even when walking at a brisk pace. My pulse thrummed inside me, but I made it across the whole ballroom without any other unwelcome visitors or nosey attendants poking their head through the double doors.
I repeated the process of maneuvering over the thick rope before opening the door that I had seen Callan move towards earlier. Just like the room I had investigated, it was the door closest to the outer wall. The other rooms might be good places to knock Lance out, but just as with the private booths in the seating area, the problem of how to get him out still remained. If we were lucky, there was an easy way out in the rooms closest to the windows. That way, we would be able to get around the problem of hauling Lance’s body through an entire ballroom full of people.
After edging the door open, I slipped inside the room.
Surprise shot up my spine.
Blinking in stunned shock, I watched as Callan withdrew his force blade from some random guy’s chest.
