142 The Late Show (2/2)

Luca's hatred for anything that had to do with slavery was legend in our unit, which is why I didn't get why he insisted on joining us in this excursion tonight.

\”I'll be fine,\” Luca said. \”For Ty.\”

\”For Ty,\” I nodded, before returning my focus to the audience around us. \”Anyone in this group we should be wary of?\”

\”Plenty,\” Kallista admitted, pointing a finger to the front row of the seats beneath us. \”All those fairies are buyers serving some fairy lord or clan who couldn't be bothered to attend this gathering.\”

Kallista moved her finger to the opposite balconies on the left side of the auditorium.

\”That lot, however, they're VIPs that have come to this auction to attain its biggest prizes,\” she revealed. \”Tonight, they are the rivals we must best.\”

\”Which one of them would likely give us a headache?\” I asked.

Kallista pointed to the balcony straight and to the west of us.

There, seated alone was a fiery-haired salamander who looked more lordly than any fairy I'd ever encountered, even more than the patriarch or Garm. He wore a golden robe that was the same color as the golden halo that sprouted behind him like a high collar of some kind.

\”That is Lord Rah of the Sunspire Dominion,\” she said. \”Prime Minister of the Solar Conclave, second only to the Sun clan's Patriarch.\”

\”Can we beat someone that big in an auction?\” I asked worriedly.

\”You have the interests of both the Lover's Embrace and the Rings of Fortune backing you,\” she chided. \”Do not worry. Our coffers tonight are quite deep.\”

From Lord Rah's balcony, I glanced over to the right because that balcony had an interesting group of people in it.

I saw a brown-haired man sitting in the center of a crowd of very beautiful fairy women who all seemed to be in different stages of undress. Or maybe they were all just dressed provocatively. I wasn't sure.

But I would have averted my eyes right away for fear of Aura thinking I was some kind of voyeur if I hadn't just seen the brown-haired man send me a Mudgardian soldier's salute.

\”What the…?\” I whispered in surprise.

\”Of all the people whose attention you could catch. It had to be his,\” Kallista smiled.

\”Who is he?\” I asked.

\”He's the Lord of Stars,\” Kallista revealed.

That was a rather big bomb to drop, and I would have followed up on it too if Aura hadn't just tapped on my shoulder and pointed to the balcony directly to the right of us.

\”Guess who's here,\” she said in a tone that was half jest and half worried.

I followed her gaze and immediately did a double-take, and all thought of meeting the Lord of Stars vanished from my mind.

\”Hey, Luca,\” I called. \”Your favorite chancellor's here…\”

Luca narrowed his eyes after he saw Chancellor Kairon sitting snugly on the balcony right beside ours.

\”He's alone… it would take just one leap from here to assassinate him here,\” Luca joked.

Although, by the dark look plastered on his face, I wasn't entirely sure he was joking.

\”He's not alone, Luca,\” Aura reproached. \”He only likes to look vulnerable but you can bet he's got his guards hiding around behind him.\”

\”I thought you said your brother didn't want anything to do with the chosen one?\” I complained.

Aura's brow was knotted worse than I'd ever seen it. \”My brother and Orryn aren't but Kairon tends to go off-script if it benefits him. And they can hardly manage to suppress his actions… not when he has a great general backing him from the shadows.\”

Yup, the Trickster Pavilion had a very Game of Thrones vibe whenever it came to the council and its generals.

I patted Aura reassuringly on the shoulder. \”We're going to spoil whatever plans he has for coming here so don't—\”.

I'd been glancing sideways at Aura this whole time and so I accidentally noticed the group of people on the balcony directly to our left. So, when I say my eyes went wide with shock then there was a pretty good reason for it.

\”Mother f***er,\” I hissed.

\”What?\” Aura asked.

I pointed a finger toward the balcony on the left and watched as Aura's own face change to one of recognition and surprise.

\”Oh,\” she said.

Oh was an understatement. After all, it wasn't every day we ran into our rival. Yup, Ardeen Spellweaver was in the house, and he wasn't alone.