by J E Mueller
I was very amused now that I saw her costume that she had, probably on purpose, given me a Link option. Clever. I offered my hand and once she accepted, the music started.
“Sorry my mother dragged you into this,” I said softly as we danced.
She smiled. “Who said she dragged me into this?”
“I doubt those papers were numbered,” I explained.
She smiled wider. “I know they weren’t.”
“What?” I was surprised she knew that.
Cat shrugged but continued to smile. “Sounded like a fun idea at the time. Now there’s too many people.”
I laughed. “There is always too many people.”
“The bane of royal existence.” She smirked.
“It’s true.” I laughed again. “I love your cosplay.”
“Thanks! I’ve been working on it on and off for the last year. It’s about time I finished it.”
“It turned out great. I thought it might be an enchantment, not handmade.”
“The crown has a small enchantment and of course the little fairy light following the dress is an enchantment, but the rest is all sewn. Or well enough you can’t tell.” She smirked.
The music came to a stop and our dance followed suit. I wanted to say something more but wasn’t sure what, so lamely I came up with, “I hope you enjoy the ball.” I raised her hand and gave it a light kiss.
“Thank you.” She beamed, curtsied, and turned to walk away as instructions were given for the first fifty tickets to line up and dance.
Part of me felt a pain as she walked away. That was not at all what I expected from a short dance. Still, duty called and I had zero issues shifting back to my court mindset and gave a smile as another dancer came up to me and the music began.
The night quickly flew by. It seemed to be easier to run into everyone I knew but Cat again. Not that I thought she was avoiding me, there were just too many freaking people. Even taking a break, everyone wanted to say hi and chat, and I finally had to swap costumes. The simple Link cosplay was enough that people passed me by without a second glance. It was quick to tell everyone was expecting to only see me in one outfit all night.
“You look tired,” James stated.
I hadn’t even seen him approach. “Yeah, getting there for sure. I’m not used to this much dancing anymore.”
“We really need to hit the gym more again.” James shook his head.
“For real,” I agreed and continued to look around.
“Who are you looking for?” James asked, following my gaze along the crowd.
“Cat,” I admitted.
“Finally going to admit you’re crushing?” I heard him chuckle.
I opened my mouth to say something and closed it again. That was exactly what was going on. Hearing the word for what I was feeling put it all in the right light. “Maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t been in a relationship in forever.”
“And you don’t want to ruin the friendship and all that jazz right?” James filled in the rest.
I nodded, my focus still on the crowd.
“Well, I don’t think you’ll mess it up. She might. She seems to have more secrets now than ever and I can’t seem to get much out of her anymore. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance. Maybe you both need this.”
I scoffed. “Relationships don’t just solve everything.”
“No, but they don’t hurt everything either.”
I had no counter for that. “We’ll see how things go.”
James chuckled and pointed toward the left. “Over there, talking with a Yugi and a genderbent Naruto.”
“Ah, I see her. Right next to Myla, she’s the Rose Quartz and I really don’t want to chance her recognizing me. She was already such a pain to dance with. ‘You’re just as cute as the posters on my walls’.” I made a gagging face.
“Wait, she actually said that?” James didn’t seem to know how to react.
“That’s not even the weirdest thing I’ve heard tonight.”
“You need a drink.” James laughed.
“Several, but that’s beside the point.” I didn’t try to deny it.
Cat glanced our way and seeming to recognize us, excused herself, and headed over.
“Done socialising with the weebs?” James chuckled.
Cat raised an eyebrow at him. “Says the one with Bleach and Inuyasha posters lining his walls.” James gave a laugh and shrugged before Cat turned to me. “Finally had to fully escape?”
“I’m surprised how easily it worked.”
“Of course. It’s the whole add glasses to Clark Kent and bam, can’t be the same guy,” she teased.
“True I –” I noticed James had suddenly vanished. “Where did he go?”
Cat looked around equally surprised before pointing just a ways away from us. “He found an excellent Rinoa Heartilly cosplayer. He’ll be distracted for a while.” She smirked knowingly.
“That was a good Final Fantasy,” I agreed, finally spotting him.
“Very true.” Cat agreed before turning her attention back to me. “Maybe the guild can do a giant Final Fantasy cosplay sometime. There’s a lot of conventions next year we could plan for. And I know I can make some killer props for it.”
Her confident smile tugged at my heart. Yep. Fully crushing. “I like that idea,” I agreed truthfully. “It’s always fun to do larger groups for those events.”
“Yeah, I missed a few this year. I bet we all can make up for it next year.”
I smiled. “Well, until then, care for another dance?” I asked.
“Zelda actually getting to dance with Link? How can I pass up such an opportunity!” She laughed, accepting my hand.
“One you planned, I bet.” I laughed with her, pulling us toward the group still dancing to the music.
“Maaaaybe.” She blushed, still laughing.
“It was a very clever idea. I didn’t see it coming,” I admitted as we got swept up in the dance.
“It may have been part of the plan.” Cat gave another small laugh. “Glad it didn’t turn out terribly.”
“Nah, not at all.” I smiled. “Though I do have to get back to the crowd here in a moment.” I could see the disappointment on her face. Maybe there was something here I hadn’t been seeing. “We can dance more later of course,” I reassured her.
“Probably true,” she agreed, pushing a smile to the surface.
The music ended and we stopped dancing. With a bow, I rotated the bracelet until I was back to the cosplay everyone would know me in. “Until then, wish me luck surviving the crowd.”
“May the mana be ever in your favor.” She smirked.
I rolled my eyes at the mashing of gamer and pop culture references. “As you wish.” I bowed once more and headed back to my post.
I was thrilled with how quickly things seemed to go from there, and before the last half hour I had danced with everyone who wanted to. One of the guards helping to usher people to and from dancing with me said my parents wanted a quick word with me. Tiredly, I walked up to the stage.
“Well, have you had fun?” Mother asked pleasantly. She and father had danced a bit, but not nearly the same amount as me.
“My feet hurt.” I gave them my honest report.
Father chuckled. “Your mother is wondering if you wanted to call a few more random numbers for the final bit of dancing.”
“Nope. Not at all.” I replied. “I’ve got things to do.” With a smirk I left, quickly hopping off the stage, knowing Mother could not shout after me or else she’d be making a scene. And we couldn’t have that, now could we? Sometimes it was nice to be able to use these things to my advantage.
I walked through the crowd with one goal in mind and that was to find Cat again for the dance I had promised. Several people said hi to me and I waved politely but kept walking, doing my best not to be pulled into a conversation.
After a few moments of searching, I found her with James, Natasha, and Eogan. They were talking to a few oth
er people I didn’t know and was fairly certain I hadn’t danced with.
“Hey Rey, I see you finally escaped,” James called as I approached.
“About time you joined the real fun,” Natasha teased.
Eogan motioned to the two next to him. “This is my girlfriend Cynthia, and my sister Eliza.”
Eliza shook her head. “We didn’t believe that Eogan knew you and now he’s lording it over us.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty normal for people to not believe someone knows me.” I chuckled at how much that seemed to come up. “Hope you had some fun.”
Eliza nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun.”
“Let’s go see if we can find where Kedar went off to.” James nudged Eogan.
“I guess?” Eogan shrugged and everyone started to follow his lead.
Instead of following, I smiled at Cat. “Or we can have that dance?”
“Dancing with an assassin is probably dangerous though,” she teased.
Smirking I turned the bracelet to the Link setting. “Better?”
Laughing she nodded. “Much better.”
I offered her my hand and we hadn’t gotten more than a few steps before a shrill voice pierced my ears.
“Your Highness, I don’t think you want to dance with that fake princess again.” The voice dripped with bitterness.
Screaming inwardly, I turned to see who was interrupting my plans.
9
I turned to see a woman dressed as Elizabeth from Bioshock talking to me. I was already sad to discover earlier she had no idea what the game actually was. Next to her, I could only assume were her friends, dressed as Chun Lee and Dante.
Cat dropped my hand and took a step back. Inwardly I sighed but outwardly I was ready to reply. With my court smile plastered on, I addressed the girl. “Thank you for your concern, it happens that we actually know each other fairly well.”
“I doubt you know anything about the lame wannabe baker who can barely hold down a part time job. You can do better.” She smirked.
I noticed her friends moving toward Cat but she didn’t look worried, just more annoyed. Still, she didn’t say anything. Not that I blamed her, it would seem this person did not care what I said.
“Again, thank you, but no thanks.” I turned away from the Elizabeth cosplayer and saw Dante grab onto Cat’s arm. Instantly, she broke from his grip, the flesh on her arm turning into stone.
“It’s rude to touch a lady in such a manner,” she stated coolly.
I saw a mark that looked like a lightning rune appear on the floor behind her and pulled her to my side.
“Dispel your magic at once. You are uninvited from this event,” I stated loudly, knowing full well I was never actually alone.
Two guards appeared on either side of Dante and he put his hands up. “I swear I have no rune magic.”
“It’s that brat trying to make us look bad!” the Elizabeth cosplayer swore.
Cat raised an eyebrow at me. “I somehow get four magical talents now? Who knew I could do the impossible.”
I smirked. “I guess so.”
Another set of guards came to escort the group out. I could hear their pleas as they were pulled away, but my focus was on the rune still on the floor. That could seriously injure someone. I had no idea which of them had cast it, and hoped it was in fact one of those three. I didn’t want this event to get to that level of exciting.
Cat sighed, looking down at it as well. “I have a thing that’s great at dispelling other magic but of course it’s not on me.”
“Of course.” I shrugged and smiled as another guard appeared and I nodded to them.
“Are you hurt, Sire?” she asked.
“No, I believe we’re both fine.” I motioned to the floor. “Please see to this being dispelled at once.”
With a nod, she called a code into a walkie-talkie that I hadn’t seen her pull out and another guard was instantly there. A moment later, the rune was gone. I thanked them both and they seemingly vanished into the crowd.
“Do you think it was those three who created the rune?” Cat asked.
“I am hoping so. Either way, they wore out their welcome.” I shook my head. “And of course, the night’s just about done now.”
Cat nodded and looked around. “Something still doesn’t feel right, and it’s making it difficult for my skin to go back to normal.”
Nodding, I called my magic around me, ready to unleash a ward should the moment call for it. “Well, I suppose it would be best then to head back over to my parents. I have no doubt they have already heard of the encounter. It will be the safest since any who try to hurt me or them would really be looking at life in prison if caught.”
“That is comforting, but their rune was good enough that I couldn’t get a sense of where it came from, and I know for sure it wasn’t from Claire.” I gave her a confused look before she quickly added, “You know, Elizabeth.”
“Ah, so you did know them.” It had sounded like that but I didn’t want to assume.
She nodded and when I offered my hand, she accepted it. We began to move toward the stage as she talked. “Yes, Claire is my sister’s friend and a few summers ago had worked at the restaurant. I think Dante was Glas, and Chun Lee was for sure Trude.”
That sounded problematic. “This isn’t going to cause more family trouble for you, is it?”
“Oh, of course it will, but that’s a problem for another time.”
The lack of emotion in her tone worried me, but now wasn’t the time to tackle that problem. Instead, we reached the stage and climbed up the steps.
“What exactly happened?” Mother asked, almost demanded.
I explained the whole thing, which seemed to be all the details she already had. “Really, what bothers me the most is Cat believes the person who created the rune is still here.” I finished up with.
Father looked over at my mother before nodding to me. “Very well, there’s only five minutes left. Cat is welcome to relax backstage and we’ll close things out. The guards are already keeping an extra eye out. A few have had the same suspicion.”
“That sounds like a good plan. Maybe being out of everyone’s sight for a bit will help,” I said to Cat.
She looked like she wanted to argue but then nodded. “Actually, you might be right. I think I am a little peopled out.”
I took a few steps to the side and a guard appeared, having listened in and motioned for Cat to move behind the curtain to the backstage area.
Once she was gone I looked back at my parents. “I guess this isn’t a huge surprise. Didn’t Nadine have a similar problem at one of her events?”
Mother sighed. “Yes, someone tampering with the punch with magic to make people sick so they’d have more of her time. A bit different since the effects were short term pain. A rune can cause serious bodily damage if it’s powerful enough.”
“Yes, I remember that well. Learning all the different aspects of healing magic, my classes saw a lot of people who had accidental problems with their destruction magic. I’d rather not have to see some of those things again.” I replied honestly.
It was easy for my parents to forget that healing magic wasn’t all book study, that I had actually gotten my hands dirty on several occasions. It was just the nature of the field.
Father shook his head. “Well, hopefully it’s all done and over with. The perpetrator should have seen the guards in extra force now. Getting away with doing anything more will be exceedingly difficult.”
I nodded agreeingly but I hated the fact that none of us could say it was impossible. Still, we had an event to close out and I had no issues planting on my court smile as if nothing dramatic had happened at all. The practiced ease in which we thanked everyone for attending and me stating how fun the change of pace was as well as how it was nice to meet several new individuals completed the night’s events.
As people started to clear out I noticed the guild and their guests were hanging back. Before I went to wi
sh them off, I headed backstage. Cat had her phone out and looked up with surprise at me.
“All done already?” She smiled before resuming frowning at her phone. “James was just saying he thought he saw my step-sister heading out. She is mighty displeased, but not full on ticked off. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.”
“Oh, I still have no idea which one she is.” I shrugged, not actually caring to know. “The guild is waiting. Let’s go say goodnight to them.” With a nod, she followed me out.
To no surprise, my mother was pulling James into a hug as we walked up to the group. James had been a family friend for too long, and the snickering from the guild members at my mom’s distress at not seeing him in so long was pretty funny.
“Now stop being a stranger, you hear me?” She scolded.
“Yes, Mom.” He gave a dramatic sigh while still smiling. “I am sorry. Things have just been busy and then we had that new game come out and I think we all just got caught up in things.”
Mother smiled back at him. “Thank you for coming.” She turned to the others, “I hope all of you had a fun night.” After mixed replies of yes, and thank yous, my parents walked away.
“You need a ride home?” James asked Cat.
Cat hesitated before looking at me. “I don’t think we planned that far ahead, and I still have a ton of junk here.”
I shrugged. “I have no problems giving you a ride back.”
James shrugged. “Sounds good. Guess we should head out then. I’m sure the extra staff wants to get home.”
“Probably.” I laughed agreeingly.
“Working an event like this must be tiring,” Natasha added while leading the way out.
“Eh, for most of them it’s probably boring,” Kedar argued, carrying on the conversation as they headed out.
I was about to say something to Cat when I noticed her looking off toward the center of the room. “What’s wrong?” I found myself asking instead.
“Do you feel that?” She asked cautiously as she slowly walked back toward the center of the room. Cat stopped not too far from where we would have been dancing had that weird argument not come up. “Something isn’t right.” She looked around the room and spotted a cup on the floor. For a moment I was surprised to see it lift off the ground. I hadn’t seen Cat demonstrate much of her other magic. With a flick of her wrist she launched it a short ways in front of her and with a surprising jolt the cup was electrified.
