I watched the castle get closer and closer and spent the time I did doing my best to hold back the foreboding that got greater when suddenly, Apollo spoke.
“Do you love wearing that gown as much as I love seeing you in it?”
There it was again.
And I liked it again.
He didn’t like my gown. He didn’t even seriously like my gown.
He loved it.
And I loved that.
So much, it made me feel squishy inside, but still, I answered hesitantly, “Uh…I think so.”
“I hope so, my poppy. I hope you love wearing it very much. Enough to make wearing it worth whatever comes this night.”
Oh boy.
“Just to say, you’re freaking me out,” I shared.
“Good,” he replied immediately. “This means you’ll remain aware and cautious.”
“Now you’re really freaking me out,” I told him.
“Excellent,” he stated. “This means you’ll remain really aware and cautious.”
I decided to shut up and continue my freak out in silence.
And I did this while I watched the castle get closer.
* * * * *
Within half an hour of being at the gale, I learned a number of things.
One was that Houses had colors. This was why Karsvall was decorated in a lot of greens, browns and golds, because those were Apollo’s House’s colors. And this was why anyone who was at the ball who belonged to a House was wearing matching colors to their mate, like I was with Apollo. And I learned this because Apollo whispered it to me when I asked him what the deal was with that.
I also learned that the inside of the castle of Brunskar was way creepier than the outside. In fact, it was so creepy, it was a miracle of creepiness.
This was because the colors of the House of Drakkar were blood red and black and they decorated liberally in both. It looked like the home of Dracula’s way more evil brother. The one they couldn’t write books about because he’d scare the beejeezus out of even the most hardcore horror fan.
I further learned that the Drakkar’s didn’t like light. At least not inside. The outside was lit like they were hoping to make it seen from space. Once I’d hit the gloomy inside, I figured this was because they wanted it seen, and feared.
But inside, although there were tons of people milling about, it still had only the minimum of lamps and candles lit to help guide your way.
And last, I learned that Apollo and Draven were right.
Quickly upon arrival, Apollo found Calder Drakkar and his wife Melba to give them his greetings and introduce them to me.
Incongruous to the surroundings which were her home, Melba was sweet with kind eyes, and when we met, she gave me a cheek touch. Calder was very handsome and only showed a moment of shock when he looked at me before he hid it and lifted my hand to touch his lips to my knuckles. We chatted with them briefly, it was warm and welcoming, then Apollo let them go so they could see to their other guests.
Shortly thereafter, he found Garik Drakkar who was also very handsome and who also only allowed a brief moment of his surprise to show before he hid it and lifted my hand to his lips.
He and Apollo spent much more time talking. Through this, I noted they might not have been best buds but they clearly had respect and regard for each other. Both men smoothly included me in the conversation in a way that I knew, if given time, I would have respect and regard for Garik too.
But after Garik moved away, Apollo wasted no time moving me through the crowd and pointing out the other Drakkars, noting the ones I should be most wary of.
He didn’t have to.