Chương 96: Book 2 Chapter 48 - Dancing With A Snake

A few weeks later, Kiara attended a masquerade ball. House Goren had invited everyone in Easton's upper class except for Houses Heniton and Norse. All three houses were now publicly denouncing each other as the three-way feud gained steam. House Goren seemed determined to force everyone to declare their allegiances. Known allies of Houses Heniton or Norse made a show of refusing to attend, even going so far as to issue their own refusal letters back to House Goren.

Houses that were secretly allied with Houses Heniton or Norse would still attend, of course, as it was a great opportunity to gather intel and spy on the opposing factions. House Goren would certainly do all they could at the masked ball to entice houses that hadn't yet chosen a side to join with House Goren. Dustin warned Kiara before they arrived about all of this, saying that so far he had let everyone know that House Yountal was staying out of it.

Even so, he expected more than one attempt tonight to sway her one way or the other. Jaden and Zoey came again, in the same roles as last time. Zoey came as Kiara's bodyguard, intent on remaining focused and alert the entire night. Jaden dressed up as a guest, intending to flirt the night away. He claimed that the masks added a certain mystique to the evening that ramped up the romance factor by at least ten. Whatever that meant.

Dustin had hired a dozen tier 2 mercenaries to keep an eye on their shops in Portish, and so far nothing else had gone amiss there. Even so, he decided he should visit Portish at least once per month, and was planning to leave the next day. Tonight, he wanted to simply relax and have fun, which as far as Kiara understood, meant that he would be scheming and politicking the entire night. Sure enough, as soon as they were inside, Dustin was off shaking hands and clapping shoulders.

Zoey found a place in a corner that gave her a good view of the room, and Jaden headed straight for a table of single women. Kiara scanned the room, looking for anyone she knew, then realized that the masks would make that difficult. There was likely some benefit to this, though, in that for the time being, no one knew who she was. Instead of pandering to her, due to her perceived high social standing in Easton, she could interact as a normal guest, and see how it felt…

"Good evening, Lady Yountal, may I have this dance?" She glanced up in surprise. How had she been found out? In front of her was a tall young man, wearing a crisp black suit with a rich, blue vest and tie. His mask was quite extravagant, in the shape of two roaring lion heads. The mast was golden, with blue highlights to match his clothing. She cocked her head to the side.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Ah, forgive me," came the reply, a slight blush coloring the young man's cheeks.

"Your dresses are quite distinct." Kiara glanced down at her dress, one of the ones she'd had custom tailored to not only fit her physique perfectly, but to also allow a generous range of movement. It really was a stunning dress, a cut above what most of the women in Easton wore. It had been quite expensive, after all. Her accompanying mask was quite simple, as she hadn't wanted anything too floofy getting in her way. So much for going incognito tonight. She held out her hand.

"I would love to dance!" The young man took her by the hand and led her out onto the dance floor.

"It's me, Marcus Tanner," he said once they'd arrived and begun dancing. Now that he'd said that, Kiara recognized the shape of his jaw and his smile. In fact, she had been so distracted by everyone's masks that she was only now realizing that if she studied their faces for a moment, she could kind of make out who they were underneath the mask. Only a few people were wearing full-face masks, most of the masks simply covered the eyes and forehead.

Her dance with Marcus was a blast, as always, and he bowed to her after it was over. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"A pleasure, as always, Miss Yountal." She bowed back.

"Thanks Marcus, I had a lot of fun! And call me Shian." He blushed again, but smiled.

"As you wish, Shian." Kiara continued getting to know the young men she was dancing with, as well as mingling with the women in between dances. She was finding quite a few of the families here in Easton to be quite pleasant, and was growing fond of them. Eventually, she spotted Henry, but instead of sitting alone in a corner like he had the past few parties, he was out dancing. He took dance after dance, and had apparently grown quite accustomed to the rhythm of finding dance partners. Kiara smiled when she saw it.

Good for him. She did notice, though, that he danced with the same young woman multiple times throughout the night. He would dance with her, then find a few other dance partners, then go back to her again. They appeared quite smitten with each other. She looked somewhat familiar, but the mask obscured enough of her face that she couldn't quite place the memory. Maybe it was one of the few girls she had pointed out to him at the Norse party a while back when she was helping him get out of his shell.

"Lady Yountal," a man said from Kiara's side. He was wearing a mask that obscured most of his face. He bowed as she turned to face him.

"Would you care to dance?" he held out his hand. She bowed in response, then took his hand, and they moved to the dance floor. Two steps toward the dance floor, she caught his scent. It was a familiar, pleasant, vanilla and cedarwood musk. She froze mid-step as she realized who it was. Kane Vondeer. He turned as soon as she stopped, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips.

"We're in the way here, my lady. Let's move to an open spot." She blushed, then continued walking, and he pulled her gently towards an open area of the dance floor. Her mind raced as they walked. She had been meaning to confront him about the attack in Portish, but didn't know the right way to go about it. This was honestly the perfect opportunity, she had even been hoping to spot him here for that very purpose, but he had caught her off guard. Why was he asking her to dance again?

She stiffened as they arrived in an open area and he pulled her close. Not too close, in any of the ways Dustin had warned her about, just close enough for a perfect dancing experience. His scent filled her nostrils, and she had to remind herself that she despised this man. He had been arrogant and had bullied those around him the first few times they'd met, leaving a lasting nasty impression in her mind. That being said, he had acted like a perfect gentleman at the Norse ball, and was doing so again here tonight.

He smelled nice, and he danced more skillfully than anyone else in the room. Her heart beat a little bit faster as their bodies drew near and the dance began.

"I'm surprised you dare approach me Kane, after what happened in Portish." She tried her best to emit a fierce gaze from beneath her mask. He locked eyes with her, and she saw a hint of surprise flash across his features.

"Pardon?" She studied him for any sign of deceit, but his reaction seemed genuine.

"One of my shops in Portish was attacked," she explained.

"I thought you knew."

"I… didn't realize you even had shops in Portish," he countered.

"Even if I had, why would I know anything about them being attacked?" She momentarily took her hand off his shoulder to fish the lapel pin out of her pocket. She did notice that Kane's own pin was still on his lapel.

"Our shop was attacked. Everything inside was destroyed. The attackers left this on the counter." She extended the pin. He stopped dancing completely as he accepted the pin from her and held it gingerly between his pointer finger and thumb.

"Undril," he muttered under his breath, so softly that Kiara barely heard the name. He glanced back up at her, and placed the pin in his pocket.

"Sorry, Lady Yountal, I interrupted our dance." He re-took her hand, placed his other hand on her waist, and began leading her to the music again.

"I assure you I had nothing to do with the events in Portish, but I intend to look into it. Might I keep the pin?" Kiara nodded after a moment. She hadn't expected this from Kane. Was he playing her? Or was he genuinely shocked and possibly even concerned for her? She decided to let him keep the pin and see how it played out. Maybe he could find some answers as to why the clan had attacked their shop.

As the dance ended, and Kane led her back to the edge of the dance floor, he leaned in and said softly, "You should have your people steer clear of the Benson district for the next few weeks here in Easton." She glanced at him in alarm. The Benson district was one of the industrial sections of the city. He continued, "I hear that House Norse is planning some form of retaliation against House Heniton soon, and it's likely to grow violent."

He looked at her for a moment with what she could have sworn was a look of concern.

"Just be careful," he said, then turned and walked away. Kiara wasn't sure what to make of it. She found a chair and sat the next few dances out, replaying the scene in her mind. Had Kane really turned over a new leaf?