~Dinner And A Show~

The diner hall was packed and stuffy. The perfumes and scented powders mixed to create a stifling yet pleasant atmosphere. Oris dreaded thinking about what would happen when people began to sweat.

She positioned herself beside a window and waited, not calm enough to sit down. Something is going to happen, and I don't know what. Hermes had yet to arrive and the bards had already gone through five songs. The other women giggled among themselves as they danced with, and were charmed by, the other men in the hall. The lack of sobriety had loosened their morals some and being a minister's mistress held a certain appeal to those who knew that the emperor was too far above them.

"By the gods," Andrea broke away from the crowd and headed to the window, Mayree in tow, "it's too grand!"

Mayree draped an arm over the girl's shoulder. "For a princess you sure are sensitive about these things."

"Princess?" Andrea sputtered and hid her face in the goblet she held. "Mayree, watch your speak."

Mayree grinned, amused. "By now, everyone that needs to know does. Why look so flustered?"

"I am not used to it. I can never be used to it."

"Look, your father is looking this way."

"I will not." Andrea pouted and gulped down some more wine. "And he is not. He would never act so openly. He hopes that if he is seen ignoring me, the Empress Dowager will forgive me sooner."

"How in a hurry you are to leave us.," Seline said with a thin laugh, arriving just then, a skewer of meat clutched in both hand. "Mistress, will you not eat something?"

Oris shifted where she stood, dragging her gaze over the surrounding towers before turning to them. "You two should stop teasing Andrea. It was brave of her to tell me her secret. I'm waiting on you two to trust me enough to do the same."

Andrea shot them both a smug grin and cosied up to Oris, hugging her arm to her chest. "Mistress, you are so very good to me. Scold them a bit more."

Seline bit into a skewer and agressively scanned the hall. "I wonder when the actual dinner will start. It is rude to keep so many waiting."

"They have been setting up for ages," Mayree agreed and snatched the goblet from Andrea. "Everyone is more drunk than not by now."

"Hey!" Andrea rubbed her cheek against Oris' arm. "I'm sober."

"You're half a goblet away from tipsy, dear."

"Keziah and Cassidy have been away for some time now." Seline pointed to spot between the two farthest tables. "There, I last saw them."

"What? Are you jealous?" Andrea giggled. "You have always been the closest to her. Do you fear being replaced?"

"Andrea!" Mayree turned to Seline with an apologetic smile. "She didn't mean anything by it."

Seline's ever-present frown deepened. "We are here to serve our mistress, not to enjoy the party. We should all remember that."

"Of course."

Andrea pouted, looking up at Oris with her bright, dewy eyes. "Did I speak wrongly?"

Oris placed a hand on the girl's hair and smiled gently. "Maybe you should stop drinking."

"Okay, Mistress," Andrea said, meekly resting her head on Oris' chest. "The emperor will be stunned when he sees you."

"Let's hope so." Oris bit back a sigh. The cloak rested heavy on her shoulders, and sweat had gathered on her brows. Each minute that passed grew the temptation to kick off her shoes and lean out the window to catch a proper breeze.

What is taking them so long? Is this another test? She swept her gaze over the bustling crowd and the flickering flames of the chandelier, flickering with no wind.

The sound of the grand doors opening drew her attention from them. Finally.

Hermes walked in, even more radiant than usual with the candlelight reflecting off his white robes; his thick locks gleaming with oil and bouncing off his waist with every step he took. He had taken down his braids in favor of having his curls hang loose and Oris couldn't deny how much it suited him.

"It would have taken hours to get his hair done like he usually does," a familiar voice commented, "I still remember how he looked on the day of his coronation."

"Keziah," Andrea let go of Oris to hug the girl, "you're here. Don't leave again. Seline is mad at me."

Keziah pressed a hand to Andrea's forehead and turned to Mayree. "You let her drink?"

"Only a little. Where is Cassidy?"

Oris didn't take her eyes off Hermes, watching his graceful descent into the bowels off the hall. One by one, the conversations died away until there was nothing but silence by the time he placed his hands on the chair at the head of the main table. As though a switched had been flipped in everyone's minds, they bowed and curtsied in sync.

"Greetings, Your Majesty," Oris found herself chanting along, though her gaze drifted back to the door to catch Mikeal's arrival. He walked in, flanked by Lords Magnus and Eugene. Behind them, Meéarine moved, a gracefully shadow dressed in swathes of silky red cloth that made her white hair and dark skin steal even more gazes from Hermes.

Oris could tell that some women her were glad that the saintess was off limits to the Emperor. Their jealousy gave the air an unmistakable stench. It made her grin.

"She's wearing red," Keziah said, following her mistress' gaze. "There will be a sacrifice."

Sacrifice?

Hermes raised a hand. "You can be at ease here," he said, his voice a booming sound that seemed to resonate with the floor's wooden paneling, "for tonight is a night of celebration."

As though willed by his words, the doors bursted open to flood the hall with servants carrying food on golden platters. Oris watched the space transform from a ballroom back to a dining hall, and for a moment, she just stood there and basket in the moment until Mikeal waved for her to come to sit with him, right at the main table.

Without giving her time to even contemplate refusing, he walked up to her, hand extended. "My lady."

The girls curtsied and scattered, leaving only Keziah by her side.

"Your lady-in-waiting?" he asked, as though his eyes had not followed Andrea as she left.

"My maid," Oris corrected him and placed her hand in his. "I don't believe we have been acquainted."

"Soon." He grinned, and led her towards the main table, Keziah following silently behind them.

"M'lord, I don't think I belong-"

"You wouldn't disobey the direct order of His Majesty, will you?"

Under her veil, Oris blanched. This is it. This is how he kills me.

Mikeal pulled out the chair at the right hand of Hermes, almost having to force her into it. The moment she was seated, silence swept over the entire hall. Oris could only stare right ahead, at Magnus who sat at the Emperor's left hand, and Eugene who sat right beside him, too aware of Mikeal as he took up space in the chair next to her.

Her only consolation was the fact that Wei Wei was not yet at the table, her seat obviously vacant, marked by the presence of her girls: Anastasia, Alice and Parie.

Oris pretended not to notice the looks they sent her way, focusing her glare on the imaged reflected back to her by her silver tableware. She was the only one at the table who wore a veil and she couldn't deny that this was the perfect audience to show her face to: the Emperor's future wives.

These women were the most likely to end up with noteworthy titles and Hermes was using her as ammunition.

He's trying to tell them that even with all their machinations, their futures still depend on his favor. Oris folded her hands on her lap, shooting him a discreet look. I couldn't have done better myself.

Though she didn't take kindly to being used as a weapon, she knew a good strategy when she saw one.

"Care for some wine?" It was Mikeal talking now, a servant behind him. The audible slush of liquid in a jug was amplified by the fruity aroma that seeped from his goblet when he tipped his head back to empty it.

"No," she leaned towards him to whisper, "I'm more curious about where you've been, m'lord. And your promise?"

"Well-"

"Are you well acquainted with the Emperor's guard?" Anastasia asked, quite loudly despite sitting right beside Eugene.

"Of course I am," Oris answered softly. "Are you not? You have been in the palace much longer than I."

"And why do you wear a veil?"

"Because I am allowed to," Oris decided to say, of all the possible answered she could have given. "By His Majesty's grace I am more free here than anywhere else I could possibly be."

"You must be a beauty," Alice put in, placing a hand on Anastasia's arm, "to have won the Emperor's favor so."

"Of course she is, dear," Parie said, sharing a smile with Mikeal. "Our Lord Husband's taste is of no one's imagining."

"I am curious though," Anastasia continued. "Will you wear a veil forever?"

"If His Majesty permits me."

All eyes turned to him, but like he was lost in his own world, Hermes' hushed conversation with Magnus did not cease. He didn't seem to care that Oris was throwing his name around and it was just as good as permission.

"Well, it seems-" Wei Wei's arrival interrupted Anastasia as those seated rose to greet the Empress Dowager.

With a smile she cut the pleasantries short, gesturing for everyone to sit down. "A night of celebration," she said, letting go of a maid to accept the hand Alice offered her when she got close enough. "No need for formalities."

With all seats but the one next to Mikeal filled, food was finally set on the main table. The dinner had officially begun and with all the bustle of servants and maids serving food and wine, Keziah found the perfect moment to act.

It was done before Oris could realize that cool air now brushed against her bare cheeks. Before she could process the gasps that circulated round the table, her eyes were already fixed on the girl prostrated beside her chair.

"M-Mistress," she whimpered, so unlike herself that it took Oris a moment to find the horror that should have tainted her reply.

"Keziah." Her hands flew up to her exposed face. "What have you done?"

~

[Ps. Because of my trashy internet, I couldn't post this when I was supposed to, which is 2 days ago when I finished writing it]

Hola! Well, that has finally happened. Annnnnd. On Thursday, my typo-filled "18+" interactive story Crimson Kisses is coming out on "Scripts: Romance Chapters". If you want to check it out... Feel free to, I guess. If you don't like it, just pretend that I didn't write it. Lmao.

As usual, sorry for the typos! And thank you for reading!!! <3