The black sand fell and slowly began to dissipate leaving nothing but an invitation written in gold. King Augustus slipped back into the chair. With the snap of his fingers, a servant maid rushed into the room to pick up the letter and take it away.
“Do you think she is holding a ball because of the rumors of an upcoming war against our Empire?” Queen Kylie broke the silence.
“It could be.” his right leg began to bounce, “According to my informant, King Saerus of Pinrenth backed out of the trade agreement a few days ago and decided to extend it to the Authuidian Empire. Within the trade agreement was a protection clause in case anything happened…” His words trailed off.
He began to think to himself, “But that is no reason to hold something so important. Many Kingdoms can back out of agreements at any time…She must have found out about how several royal families and Houses are plotting to take over the throne...”
He cleared his voice as he stood up from the throne, “My dear I will go inform the Prince of his presence. He will be ecstatic! I will come back soon.”
“See you soon.” Queen Kylie gently bowed as he began to stride through the stateroom.
As soon as he was out of sight from the stateroom, his mind began to work, “If she found out about the rebellion then she possibly knows I was one of the leaders of the rebellion. I must get in contact with my informant to see if we can hire some spies to infiltrate the palace.”
He sighed, making a note that the stress will make him age even faster. While he walked through the palace, he thought about what he might say to his only son. He believed that his son was far too young to learn about their political affairs moistened by rumors and romance.
He wanted his son to hold on to childhood as much as possible before growing up and if he had the sheer balls to stand up to Her Imperial Majesty, he would. But he was much too afraid of her as so was the rest of the empire.
Finally, King Augustus arrived before the study room of his son, Prince Alba located on the second story of the castle. Gently he knocked on the door, “Alba! It’s me son.”
“Come in!” the chipper voice of Prince Alba sang.
King Augustus opened the door to find his son floating amongst the iridescent bubbles glowing in the sunlight that came in through the tall windows and books. Prince Alba’s round face brightened up and his dark eyes grew large,
“What seems to bring you here father?” He happily drifted down to the floor.
King Augustus stepped into the room and closed the door, “I see you’ve been practicing Fairy Sorcery.”
“Lots of it! Earlier today the teacher taught me how to make bubbles with my breath!” he began to chatter.
Gently King Augustus chuckled, “Why, that’s excellent!” He bobbed his head, reminiscing the days when he was young and had just learned a new spell. The excitement and happiness filled his old heart for a moment before he remembered why he was here. Now was not the time to laugh about stories of old and to teach his son a few tricks.
His smile died and the edges of his lips covered in hair frowned, “Unfortunately son, I haven’t come to see your skills. I came to tell you that we will be attending Her Imperial Majesty’s Masquerade Ball.”
Alba’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He remembered reading tons of stories about masquerade balls where the guest would dress up and dance all evening.
“Sounds exciting!” he grinned, “When is it?”
“It’s in the Month of Dreams, Day 11 so a little over a month to get you prepared.”
“Prepared for what? We’ve been to balls before father.”
“This isn't any kind of ball Alba,” he deeply inhaled, looking into his sons’ eyes, “You see when there is a problem within the empire it is resolved by throwing the most magnificent of parties where everyone dresses up and wears masks. They talk rumors about one another, finalize deals behind each other’s backs, gather information, and… assassinate.”
“Assassination?!” Prince Alba gasped, “Is that legal?”
“Yes. It is very much so at the ball. Many of the royals look forward to this season…including the Empress.” he hesitated, “But one of the rules is that no one must know your true intentions until the very last second. You are putting on a show for every royal present in the entire country!” He slammed his hands down on Prince Albas’ shoulders, “You must be careful at this ball! Do you hear me? Never trust anyone at this ball!”
Quivering, Prince Alba nodded his head, “O-Okay…”
“Good. I’ll see to it that you are taught about these affairs.” His hands slipped from Prince Alba’s shoulders and he turned to the doorway, “Have a good day son.”
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