Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Fate Don’t Know You

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The eastern access roads into Hamon were very heavily guarded, with two legions from Sindell and the Veil’driel Helix Legions. This was done as a massive force construction after Veil’driel marched to the aid of Sindell three months earlier. Now there was a wide green swath left clear, creating a wide lane left open for potential emergency landings, or crashes, from the Sindell airships. Today, it was being used for a different purpose.

During the night, with visibility restricted, the forcefield was up at night to guard against unknown ground forces and the winged creatures, and cut the immense lane in half. And before the time of the forcefield, for security, a series of evenly spaced doors were capable of being closed upon it, only to be quickly opened at a moment’s notice were there some kind of an emergency. Making the forcefield literally a contradiction, a thing that both saved lives and was responsible for taking them over the last year.

​Today, it was a lane on which all of the cavalry legions stood as well as most of the infantry divisions, including the Third, his old cavalry legion which Thean now commanded. Others were civilians watching from high-rises on either side of the lane looking down upon it, giving the feeling that this was taking place in a coliseum, like the one he had just seen in his vision. In totality, the way out of the city was more than 500 yards, but only 100 was going to be the distance he was going to ride.

To the Veil’driel troops, this was a treat for them, something Jace often did to improve morale, but since their arrival though the Sindell people and troops had never seen it, as Jace’s legend grew through all of them there were two favorite things. His forbidden romance with Isabelle Talabray, that was the stuff of strarstruck mothers telling their children and him riding what everyone called “The Gauntlet.” If they knew who he really was, his celebrity would have been double, but while that secret was no longer a secret to him, it remained one to everyone else save for an amount of people that could be limited to a dozen or so.

Usually, this was just done on the battlefield, in which case there was a lot of people watching him, however, this was beyond anything he had ever done before. It was an event. People hung Veil’driel and Sindell flags from the buildings and high up on either side it went up and all around him, then down below. The atmosphere was electric and even the idle chit chat was loud, lapping like slow motion waves of sound.

​Usually he did this for the morale of his own men on the battlefield, today, he had been asked to do it by the Parliament of Sindell as part of the festivities leading up to the night’s ball, and he was in the middle of talking to two men who had just recently returned to the capital city, both of which had seen him do it plenty of times.

​“Don’t be doing that spinny-twirly thing you do when the shot comes low,” Darvin Nash was saying, holding a leather glove so that Jace could push his hand inside. “You’ll wipeout. Like you always do.”

​“I do a spinny twirly thing?” he asked.

​“Yeah,” Ferris Lang chimed in. “You do. And it never works.”

​With both of his gloves on, Jace looked up to them for the first time during their conversation, finding them wearing more serious expressions than he was anticipating. It made him smile as he looked back down to mind the feel of the gloves.

​“Aren’t you two supposed to be helping Creed with something?”

​“Finished last night,” Lang answered immediately, having clearly anticipated the attempt at changing the subject.

​“You know what would be crazy?” Darvin asked, chiming in.

“What?” Jace asked absently, still looking down and now flexing his hands.

“If after everything you’ve survived, after all the times you blurred the lines between bravery and insanity, you died doing …” He hesitated, taking in the crowd. “This.”

Jace smiled again and shrugged.

“How much you guys have on this?”

​“Enough,” they said simultaneously.

“Oh, and while you’re at it,” Darvin added. “Don’t go jump’in him into anymore oceans.

​“See any around here, do ya?” He looked over to Malcolm who had come up beside them at some point. “It was a bay, wasn’t it.”
​
Malcolm nodded, twirling a toothpick in his mouth.

​“Bay,” he confirmed. Then he looked around them.

​“That is a lot of people,” Malcolm said, holding a toothpick in his mouth and looking up at all the buildings lining the entire way down the wide long lane.

​Jace looking down, adjusting something on the bracers now, glanced up at all the buildings and the people at the comment and then looked back down to those he was talking to again. He seemed to register the truth in Malcolm’s statement for the first time, and there was something comical in the expression that made Darvin and Ferris smile.

​“Alright, you know what?” Jace said. “I’m gonna go stand over here now. You two are making me nervous.”

​Malcolm stepped forward just as Jace looked like he was about to start over towards Darvin’s horse.

​“Jace, you got a second?”

​Jace looked up at the announcer who was discussing something with someone standing next to him from a recently erected wooden tall structure. There were precious stones all over it that he understood the Sindell Air Force used for communicating over the noise of airship engines in the hangar. Now it was to be used to amplify his voice over the army of spectators.

​When Jace walked up into the front part of the lane, out of where the archway of the closest door to the city hid him, he came into view and there was a brief elevation in cheers and clapping that would have been mild if not for the sheer size of the crowd and made it tremendously noticeable, of those chattering to each other telling each other they could see him, and fathers pointing them out to their sons. They weren’t yet in a frenzy, but it was getting there.

​“Yeah,” Jace said turning now to face him. “What’s up?”

​Now Malcolm stepped out into view after him, and it had the same effect with the crowd.

​“Ladies and gentlemen, the Veil’driel Twin Stars!” the announcer said, and ruckus applause.

​Malcolm sighed and waved around though it was impossible to differentiate between the massive crowds rising up on many levels up and away in buildings and beyond. Then his attention was back on Jace.

​“Have you heard anything about our next mission yet?” he asked, and Jace looked up with a slight frown. “C’mon, don’t give me that look. I’m just hearing some things and we thought you might know.”

“We?”

Now it was Malcolm’s turn to frown.

“Have you?”

“What?”

“Heard anything!”

Jace laughed.

“No. I haven’t.”

​Malcolm hesitated a little at this, conflicted.

​“Yeah,” he said very weakly, but then cleared his throat. “It’s just that we’re hearing this could be the big one,” he went on with more conviction. “We’re hearing Brevinda. We’re hearing going after Artemus.”

​Jace sighed.

​“You’re hearing a lot for someone who doesn’t know anything.”

​“Jace ...”

​“I seriously don’t know anything, Malcolm.” And the seriousness of the Whistler seemed to strike the opposite emotion in him, and Jace didn’t notice at first but then did a double take to him. “And in case you haven’t noticed I’m sort of in the middle of something,” he said surprised he had to and gestured all around. “Unless you want to just keep standing here with me doing nothing in front of the whole damn city.”

​“Right,” Malcolm said, looking embarrassed.

​In what felt like a strange bit of timing, then, the announcer began speaking, although he then realized that the announcer could have seen him from where they were talking and was probably waiting until it was finished.

​“Ladies and gentlemen of the two great nations of the Republic of Veil’driel and the Kingdom of Sindell, we are gathered here today in honor of the tremendous retaking of the city of Zarponda, and as a symbol of this unprecedented alliance, we present Outrider of Veil’driel Jace Dabriel.” ​Jace, still standing there offered a little wave at the sound of his name, and now the crowd did raise to a frenzied pitch. “Bowmen, take your positions!”

​Jace was just about to mount his horse when Malcolm took a couple steps forward past him, he reached out at the last second and put his hand on his chest.

​“Don’t. Even think about it,” he said.

​Then, without another word he turned and mounted up, Malcolm laughing a little as he went back into the crowd.

​In the saddle, Jace stood straight up in the stirrups and spread his arms and acknowledged the crowd elevating it all to a fever pitch. Then he sat, took his hat out of from a pocket, put it on his head, and in the same motion withdrew cigarettes and put them in his mouth. Lighting it he looked up, down the lane and the world was beginning to slow. He took a drag, thinking of how he wished he hadn’t done it one time and it hadn’t become a thing. It was all for show because the first thing he did upon taking off he dropped the cigarette.

​Just off the lane near where he was a large man with a big bushy beard was standing there holding a bunch of slips of unofficial bets. There was a time when the bets would be whether or not he made it through or not without getting hit. Now they were whether or not he would even be challenged.

​“That smoke a his is just be for show,” the giant man was saying to a bunch of the younger men around him, infantryman. “Drops it as soon as he’s off.”

​“Seen one or two of these shows before, have ya?”

​“Aye, 27 point of fact. Used to take bets as ta whether he’d be hit or not.”

​“Has he ever? Aye, once. By a shot the likes the devil himself could not have made.”

​“A shame they don’t let us rifleman have a go.”

​Now for the first time the infantryman with the bushy beard turned to face him.

​“Ha. Is it now?” he asked, the infantryman he was with also turning around to face the rifleman. “Those contraptions ya boys got there’d be useless. Might as well be shoot’in at flies ina windstorm.” He nodded back over his shoulder to where Jace was no preparing. “The ‘ol Captain there have yall sites so backward, by the time you thought you had anything to aim at he’d be outta yer range ten times.”

​The rifleman laughed.

​“Think I’m joke’in da ya?”

​The one rifleman looked away from his friends, and back to the infantryman, and he eased a bit when he saw the seriousness on the men’s faces.

​“Look, no disrespect. That’s Jace Dabriel. All us here love the guy and’ve heard he’s an amazing rider.” The others with him nodded their agreement as he exchanged a glance with them as to say “right?” And he turned back to the infantryman who was standing there with his group of infantryman, all with their big busy beards of the north provinces.

​“Ah yer misunderstand’in laddy. It’s not offense we’ve smelled in the breeze of the trees. But a proper wager on our hands. Ina right, boys?” he asked his own group. Their beards were not as bushy, and they looked a bit younger. They were in their dress uniforms as appropriate for the festivities of the day, all the same color to mark their legion, and while the Sindell rifelman didn’t know their ranks completely, he didn’t need to to realize this man was a sergeant and those with him his unit. “Well alright then, it would appear we got a proper wager on our hands doesn’t it boys?”

​“Alright, what’re the stakes?”

“Pints a night at this upcoming shindig, that ba tha time,” he pointed at Jace in his saddle still getting ready without looking. “That lad gets through with riding through that lane, yall be force ta admit you’d have no chance to hit’em wit dose well to do toys ya got there.”

The look in the rifelman’s face was that it was too good to be true.

“Drinks all night? …” he started then paused as if to hyper clarify because he couldn’t have possibly heard that right. “Bought by us if we have to admit we could never hit him, drinks bought by you if we don’t.”

“Righto ya got it, we dance’in to the same tune now.”

He turned back to his group of rifleman, the looked almost guilty for accepting the bet and he looked back.

“Right. Okay my roughneck friend, you’re on then. Place’in quite a bit in our integrity. What when we could simply deny admitting we couldn’t hit him no matter what we truly think.”

“Ah na trust me, boys,” the bushy bearded infantryman said, staring in now again at his captain. “In just a minute now you’ll see it’s you boys who’s taken all the risk.”

A loud horn sounded and then there was that dead silence. Thousands of people to the point where you could hear a pin drop. It was extraordinary silence. The world began to slow and he stared down the lane, and then he let the silence consume him.

“That horn you gave me. Did t really get it at the Fairlawn Bazaar, did you?”

“If you’re asking me that question, I assume you know the answer.”

“Yeah. We’re gonna have to talk about that.”

“Aye.”

Make it through whatever and we’ll both of us be rich.

We’re already rich.

Alarick smiles and pats Jace’s leg and leaves.

​Finally he cracked the reins, and in his own mind, things still stayed absolutely silent as he dropped the cigarette out of his hand and grabbed the rein with his other hand in a fraction of an instant, and the stallion bolted with the same extreme energy he remembered from the Gliveren Arcade, even as the horse bolted and there was an eruption as the buildings and very ground they stood on shook. And the cheering became thunderous, and the announcer screamed at the top of his lungs: “Ladies and gentlemen!” he yelled as Jace thundered forward down the lane. “Jace—”

“—Dabriel. Veil’driel Star recipient and Outrider,” the ball announcer heralded him in as he entered the extravagant Ball Room, and by the looks of Jace’s face he was surprised by the introduction, and the deafening applause that immense gathering gave him, filled with high society, and regular people as well, people from all over the city, dressed in their finest. For tonight, at least, the war was put on hold. At a loss for what to do he gave a little wave and a smile, standing there in his dress uniform, then continued down the rest of the short stairs down into the room.

​Immediately, he had spotted Outriders Darvin Nash and Ferris Lang standing over by a giant ice sculpture, one of many scattered throughout the immense Ball Room, and walked over to them through the crowd, the attention of the ball room as he walked towards them. When he reached them, all of them were smiling, realizing his surprised reaction, Ferris handed him a champagne glass as he walked up and taking it with one hand he shook Ferris’ hand with the other, then shook Darvin Nash’s hand, hugged Ferris’ wife and they kissed each other on the cheek.

​“You look beautiful,” he whispered to her, then looked over to Ferris as he added: “I don’t know what you’re doing with this guy,” he said. And they all laughed. Then he looked down to see little Casey Lang, wearing the promised green dress, obviously standing quiet and still waiting patiently for Jace to notice her. When he looked down, he opened his mouth and gasped. ​“Wooooooah, pretty girl,” he said. “Look at you. Very beautiful.” She beamed at him, looking shy for a second before putting her arms up to Jace. Jace handed his champagne glass to Darvin Nash, put his hands under her arms, picked her up, pecked her on the lips when she pursed her lips and then transferred her over to his arm as he took the champagne glass back from Darvin.

​“Good job today,” he said as he handed back the champagne glass.

​“Mmmm,” Jace said as he took a sip. “Didn’t do that spinny thing.”

​Darvin winked at him.

​Jace glanced up at the ice sculpture.

​“What is this? A horse?”

​“Supposed to be,” Ferris said. “Don’t think the sculptor had much experience making them. Think he only made some for our benefit and presence.”

​“Huh. Kind of looks like a….,” Jace tilted his head a little to the side. “A giant … dog or something.”

​Casey who had caught sight of a small table filled with pastries and things had been transfixed by it and now was sort of squirming, and still staring asked “Mommy, can I…”

​“Yeah,” she said, go on.

​Jace put her down and she ran over there.

​“It’s ridiculous how big she is,” Jace said, watching her go.

​“Yeah, well, she just loves you,” Danielle said, but then she smiled. “But who doesn’t these days? Pretty popular, aren’t ya? For a minute I thought we were back at the Telminster Riders Ball.” She said, referencing the annual Ball held by the outrider order.

​Now Ferris stepped a little closer to his wife and slipped his arm around his wife’s waist, pulling her a little closer.

​“I could have been the most popular outrider if I wanted,” he said.

​She laughed.

​“Awww,” she said, kissing him on the lips and then wiping off the lipstick that was there.

​“Speaking of the Rider Ball, I’d say this has got it beat.”

​They all took a moment to really look over the room and take it in at that moment. Splendor. The protocol staff, who hadn’t much to do in recent memory had gone all out, but they were among the best in the world anyway. And they had a moment, where it was as if the beauty really hit them all at once and made them reflective. The music continued on, string instruments, violins, it was all so beautiful. The ceiling had steel beams all over the place but was mostly transparent, with airships flying over and around. And thinking about those annual balls, which led him to thinking about the past, about when Cedwyn was there with them.

​Jace was the first to turn back to them, holding his champagne glass a little highter in front of his chest.

​“To those we’ve lost, and those absent,” he said. “To Cedwyn,” he managed to get out, but just barely, and his hand was trembling ever so slightly.

​“To Cedwyn,” they all said.

​And Jace’s reaction made it even worse. Danielle Lang was tearing up, and Darvin reached up and squeezed Jace’s shoulder after he took a sip and it was obvious that he wasn’t recovering, and was in fact, on the brink of losing it, the beautiful music, the surroundings, and being with people he loved only intensifying the moment that he probably was just now truly reflecting all at once.

​Eyes wet and breathing through his wife to fight off doing just that, he was saved only by the sudden distraction by the guards deeper within the hall yelling out the king’s entrance into the hall on the way to the Ball. Then, as he reached the top ledge, the herald announced proudly: “His Royal Majesty, King William Bryce,” and many of his subjects bowed down to the ground. And it all got silent, the music stopping, those who were not his subjects, were quiet and bowed their heads slightly, and he was dressed in the dress uniform of the air kingdom. He went and assumed his spot at the giant table slightly elevated over all the proceedings, the Parliament sitting there with him, all old retired pilots themselves. Then, as tradition required, he motioned to the muscicians who started playing the beautiful Air Force song that was the national anthem. It was beautiful.

​And the airships zoomed over in every high note, every perfectly timed display. It was enough to make the hair stand on end. The must have been taking their cues from sapphires in the room.
​

​In the high eastern corridor of the Sindell Castle, Jaden was standing outside the heavy door where her unconscious daughter was in her bed. She just stood there, staring, her arm outstretched touching the wall.

​“Looking at it won’t make the courage come any faster,” the voice of Gabriel Foy came down the hall. “No matter how powerful a Tear you might be.”

​She smiled, sighed, and without hesitation walked fast over to him, hugging him and he hugged her back.

​“Has she regained consciousness, do you know?” he asked.
​Jaden shook her head.

​“Then let them be. There’s something that feels right about Avery being in there with her, you must feel it to, and we’ll wait to see how it developes.” He paused, then leaned away from the outrider sitting beside Hazel’s bed on the other side of that door, and to another, one he was much more interested in at the moment. “Heard he saved her life,” Foy said. Jaden said nothing just kept looking at the door, nodding. “Has he been told yet?”

​“I meant to,” she said. “But there was an incident. He’s been impossible to reach since then.”

​Gabriel nodded, seeing she was looking weak and supporting her.

​But Jaden knew him far too well and his silence spoke volumes.

​“What?” she asked.

​“Nothing. It’s just that he’s been here for months. It’s surprising that it wouldn’t have come up.”

​“There was never the right moment.”

​“Okay. As long as it’s not something else.”

​She stopped, and sighed.

​“You know he isn’t Art—”

​“I know he’s not!” she snapped.

​Foy didn’t seem to mind, letting it roll of him. Now would be the time she wished he was anyway. Not only did Jace resemble him so much when he was younger, but now, knowing his betrayal, it made the memory of when he was young and good that much more appealing.

​“Well, I imagine we’ll be doing it together, then,” he said. “Along with Fenlow. We’ll be doing the rest of this together, actually. As far as it takes us.”

​She looked at him, seeming grateful.

​“I still just can’t believe that Artemus. That Hazel…” she trailed off.

​Gabriel nodded.

​“Damn bad business,” he said. “No easy answers. No good or bad. No black or white.” He stepped closer, taking control, putting his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll sort it out, and there will be a time to talk to the girl. Let her rest now,” he looked away a second. “She isn’t awake yet. We’ll check on her shortly.”

​He stuck out his arm, a triangle away from his body.

​“Now what do you say we go check out this shindig I’ve heard so much about.”

​She smiled a little, sighed, nodded.

​“Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to see you again?”

​“No,” he said. “But that goes without saying.”

​She laughed a little and they started down the hall, making their way down to the Ball.

Now the National Anthem was over, Will stood up and held up a glass, his speech, also tradition about to be made.

​And while he held up the champagne glass, and hundreds of people fell to exact science, as even people all around his city and outside in the courtyards were all silence, as they had their sapphires attached to this room, listening. And so as he spoke to everyone in the room, he was speaking to everyone in his city.

​“I’m not really one for making speeches,” he joked and people laughed, knowing that was one of the most important jobs of a king, and he had made countless by the time he was a late teenager. “Now it might seem silly to some that we would be gathered to have a Ball in the middle of an unprecedented war. But I say there is never a more important time, more appropriate time than now. Not so long ago, we thought the entire world had fallen, that we were alone. We were protected by a forcefield that was orchestrated by my father, but we didn’t know as it was done behind the scenes with Jaden, as the first stage in long preparations, and then we lost him right when the rest of our world had fallen into darkness. Jaden was kept away from us, falling victim to the same lies of a deceiving force. And it was our fault. Generations of nations acting as one. Isolated from each other, only interacting out of absolute necessity, only a few places in the world where that kind of contact was acceptable or practiced. And it has, in turn, We’ve lost so many. We will undoubtedly lose more. But then there was a spark of light. Jaden arrived to us, and we learned we were not alone. And in fact, it was whistlers, outriders, another nation that made her getting to us even possible.” He turned around above him to where he knew Constable Thean and General Creed were up on the balcony looking down on everything and he saluted them with his glass and they saluted him back, and then the King turned back towards the main beautiful Ball Room. “Another nation willing to sacrifice so much so that we might be warned of what was going on. So that Jaden might reach us. Despite what happened before. Then Jace Dabriel came to us, against all odds, and yet more light shined through the dark clouds of deception and illusion, and for the first time we were not isolated behind our forcefield, but on the offensive as well. And then, the reason for this ball, the retaking of Zarponda City. No longer are we divided, never shall we be again. Even in the darkest night, there is always hope. As my father, our king who too sacrificed everything so that we might get tot his point to have a chance once said …. Even in the darkest night, there is light. And so we will fight, all of us, and we will live, not just survive, and we will win, and then we will unite the rest of the world. For that’s what tonight is about. The corner we have turned forever, and the world we have earned and know we want but now find ourselves in the position to fight for, to earn. It what we live for, it’s what we fight and hope for.” He held up his glass. “To Something.”
​Hundreds of people in the Ball room raised their glasses in unison, and though they couldn’t be seen, it was likely all over the city the scene was the same. People who had been so transfixed by this man and his words all raised their glasses and nodded.

There is a Lina Scarlet canticle not heard on Ciridian since The Looking Glass War. A conflict that left scars and dishonor on both sides that silenced them forever. But now I present Sylan Vhair to lead the chorus.

​“!” he shouted back.

​And then wild applause broke out, the music kicked back up, and the parliament was shaking his hands and they continued to talk, and all on the parliament, especially Tharod Chaypin looked genuinely moved. And then throughout all of it, the king glanced over towards where the outriders were, and they were all looking back at him, to Jace, and to Darvin and Ferris who had been the first of Veil’driel to reach Sindell with Jaden on that fateful night that felt like lifetimes ago. And to Jace, who his own people loved the way his own did.

​They saluted him back with their glasses just as Casey came running back with a cupcake in both hands and simply jumped up at her dad, knowing that he would catch her and pick her up, that absolute trust that can only exist in that kind of relationship. He flung her up, bringing her to his arms. Then she poined up, motioning up with one of her cupcakes at the glass ceiling.
​“Look!” she yelped, and all of them did. To see a beautiful shooting star streak fast across the sky. “That means a soul is going to heaven, right mommy?”

​She laughed, a little self conscious that it was now obvious that she had told her that at some point.

​“That’s right, honey.”

​Satisfied, Casey jammed one of the cupcakes against her mouth, taking a big bite, frosting all around her mouth.

​Now another small group of people walked over and took a few of the glasses of champagne from the giant pyramid in front of the ice sculpture, smiled, even they looked a little nervous around Jace. But then a servant came up to the group and looked at Darvin and Lang.

​“Excuse me, gentleman, but you wanted to be told when it was …” he paused, not knowing what he was bout to say. “Time, sir.”

​“Ah, right, Nash and Lang looked at each other.”

​“Actually, you know what? I’ll take this one.”

​“You sure? Want us to go with?”

​Jace shook his head, finishing the rest of his champagne.

​“Mm mm,” he said, and then placed his glass down.

​“You coming back?” Casey asked.

​“Right back,” he said looking down at her. “go dance with your daddy.”

​“Tell’em we said good luck,” Nash said.

​Lang took out a map he made.

​“We took the liberty of going and double checking those mines again, his route through the the mines again and we made our own map. Checked the route for him where he’s going. Kind of a superstition like last time.”

​“Thanks,” he said.

​And then he left out towards the wide open balcony door where he could walk through the courtyard, as he exited he walked to the giant exit balcony glass door, the giant bearded infantryman, raised his giant pint in salute as Jace walked by, walking slowly because he had already opened the map as he walked to the wide open door.

​“A hearty hail to ya, Captain,” he said.

​“Shaw, almost didn’t recognize ya without yer axe,” he said, mosing over to him.

​“You’re look’in surprisingly sober.”

​Jace was shaking all his group’s hands and then got to his.

​“Early yet sa, early yet. Got a limitless supply of deese fair ladies com’in ma way for this shindig is over. On account of dem boys over there and that rid’in a yers.”

​Jace twisted back around and saw the rifleman who also saluted them with their drinks, wearing the dress uniforms of a Royal Rifleman.

​Jace acknowledged them with a little upward nod, knowing the powerful sergeant’s penchant for betting on his riding of the gauntlet.

​“Well enjoy,” he said, not having read the map anymore. “Oh, and by the way, it’s an open bar,” he picked up the crystal class and the brown liquid out of the man’s hands. “Means the drinks are free,” he commented at their hesitation and then tossed it back in one shot. Wincing he blew out a breath and raised his eybrows. “Which is good for you,” he said, handing it back. “Believe me. I’ll see ya boys.”

The burly bearded infantry man whispered, staring in: “Aye. Come on then lads. Bout time we had a word with those fine lads.” That probably costs as much with the ice cubes clinking around in the glass, Jace drank it all in one shot, winced and handed it back. It’s an open bar.”

​They all looked at him in confusion as Jace had his hands in the pockets of his dress uniform, and turned around doing in a full circle as he exited out the giant sliding glass door so he could specificy. “Drinks are free,” he said, smiling as he left out of sight.

​“Ah well if that don’t beat all (funny line irish),” They started walking to the riflemen. “If that don’t beat all outta beat all,” he said. “A word, fair gents. A word!” He started over.

“You spilled all the drinks on that ice doggy!” she yelled, and she looked immediately up to her parents, expecting them to share in her shock.

​But both of them were staring at Jace.

​He was absolutely still, eyes locked on the top of the stairs where Isabelle was standing. It was an impossible sight, it was like being in a dream where the details don’t make sense if they’re thought about, but without thought nothing else matters. She was in her dress uniform. Even if she was really there, how could …

No one should k ow where their dreams come from.

The whole world was a heartbeat. And no force, natural or otherwise would have gotten through to him at that moment.
​Amazingly, for the second time, the muscicians stopped playing, this time, tradition had absolutely nothing to do with it, it was that wherever Jace went, stories of his forbidden romance was spread like wild fire, some exaggerated, some not, but his romance with Isabelle was told to young daughters by wide-eyed mothers in both Veil’driel and Sindell alike. No one could believe that Isabelle was present. It shouldn’t have been possible. And now everyone was quiet, staring at the living icon Jace Dabriel and they were the center of everything as she walked down slowly towards him, you could even hear her footsteps.

​All the eyes, even that of the king and parliament, followed her path until they all centered on the same place, right where she was standing directly in front of Jace. They were standing there, standing inches from each other, just staring.

​Danielle Lang noticed that Jace’s hands were trembling, just like they were not long before when Cedywn had come up, and he was keeping them down at his sides. It was as if the entire kingdom was holding its breath, as they were face to face, they knew that even the slightest interaction beyond military courtesy could have serious consequences. For as Darvin noticed when he glanced up back to the high level where the king had saluted them a little earlier, he saw Constable Thean and General Creed staring down at them. Everyone who was everyone was in that room, staring at them.

​Isabelle seemed to understand the situation, and nodding slightly, she actually took a small step to the side, but she looked sad as well, something torturing inside of her that she was keeping inside.

​Then Jace’s eyes drifted up to Thean up on the top balcony, whether he knew he was there or just sensed him was unclear but he looked up. And even in the dead silence, the massive attention that would be the talk of the city and everyone else for who knew how long to come, Constable Thean, standing next to General Creed motioned with two fingers towards himself. And Isabelle was standing there, nodding a little, and Jace took two or three steps away from her, towards the stairs that would lead up to where Constable Thean was.

​When he did, Isabelle nodded a little to herself, knowing that it was the right decision. The only decision, and she would have to talk to him later. But she bobbed a little in place, eyes welling up a little, and after only getting two or three steps away, Jace stopped suddenly and there was mumbling throughout the crowd, perhaps anticipating what was to come or at least talking about the fact that he just stopped.

​He spun around, and as he started back towards her he mumbled the words “To hell with it,” fluctuating, not caring about anything else as he charged her, his hands going up to the side of her face and he kissed her, like he never had before, then he kissed her cheeks, kissing her forehead, and the ball room erupted in ruckus cheer, and then he just hugged her, they hugged each other in this sea of jubilation. It was a perfect moment. An absolutely perfect moment, and the consequences didn’t matter, neither did the war. And they just hugged in spite of the consequences that were sure to come. Both of them somehow simultaneously emotionally energized to the highest level and exhausted all at once.

​And with all the laughing and the cheering, the muscicians started up again, and people went back to dancing, all over the floor, under the glass ceiling and the stars all overhead, and Isabelle was still in Jace’s arms, their eyes locked on each other, when suddenly both Darvin Nash and Ferris Lang straightened into a more locked up position as if almost to attention, but not quite, and being one to have had Thean sneak up on him many times throughout his life, a simple glance over and Jace knew the man was no doubt standing near him. He didn’t even know what to expect. He had never broken an ancient outrider edict in front of a Ball room literally filled with hundreds of people.

​Little Casey didn’t know what was going on but she recognized the serious mood that settled on the area all of the sudden, and the unreadable expression on Thean’s face.

​“Are they gonna be in trouble now?” she looked up and asked her mother.

​Danielle bounched her a little.

​“Shhhhh.”

​Even in Jace’s rebellious heyday, this would have been pretty bold. This was as crazy as anything he’d done.
​It was Darvin’s wife, who saved Isabelle without a single word, and she looked so excited like she could barely contain herself. Little Casey was similarly transfixed, stunned and quiet by the curious thing she had probably never seen before, and certainly a little intimidated or dumbstruck.

​“C’mon you,” Danielle said, grabbing her wrist. And before Jace knew it, Isabelle was pulled away from him, deeper into the party and out of his arms.



***

​Isabelle held her eyes locked with his as long as she could as she was pulled away, until finally they were both, along with little Casey in the other woman’s arms, swallowed by a throng of other party guests and people wanting to talk to.
​Confused as to what just happened and how it could even be possible, Jace cleared his throat, straightened his posture and tried to prepare for whatever was coming, he turned and face Constable Thean.
​“Constable,” he said.
​Before Thean could respond, the heralder, who had also must have been distracted by the spectacle of the Isabelle Jace kiss, had resumed his duty, and announced a few more people who came in, and Jace could not get himself to turn away from Thean. It was an authority the man carried, the same he had seen in Artemus at Lornda Manor, that seemed to hold everyone’s attention, and two things surprised Jace. One, Thean did not look near as furious as he would have suspected, and if he was furious the expression wouldn’t have been that different, but Jace could read them all. Second, despite what had just happened, he actually looked past Jace a bit to acknowledge the other outriders behind him.
​“Gentlemen,” he said simply.
​He was answered by two nods and rigid postures with a successive: “Constable, constable.”
​And then his gaze was back on Jace.
​“Well,” he said simply in his gravelly voice, and Jace could smell the liquor on his breath. “That was interesting, wasn’t it?”
​Darvin and Ferris exchanged a quick glance, barely registered, and then their stunned eyes were back on Jace and Thean.
​“Whaddya say you walk with me?”
​And with that, amazingly, he simply turned and started walking away into the crowd.
​“Yes, sir,” Jace said, trying to figure the situation out.
​He felt Darvin’s hand on his shoulder but didn’t turn around.
​“Good luck, brother,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m at least 70% sure he’s not going to kill you.”
​Jace barely reacted, this was all almost too much.
​“What. In the hell. Is going on?” he whispered.
​“Don’t know,” Ferris chimed in. “But you better go find out.”
​“Yeah,” Jace whispered to himself, in a daze, and with that he started taking his first steps after the man.
​

Chapter Fifteen  (E) Aleister confronting Leverette #2190680 by Dan Hiestand