Page 289 of Night's Fall
“He registered in the king’s suite at theImperialthis morning at eleven seventeen,”Alekseimuttered back. “He’llbe here.”
He guided us into one of thePalace’sthree ballrooms.
All three were in use that night.
The largest had a live band and open space for dancing.Thesecond largest had extravagant buffets down the middle and on tables set up around the sides, along with four bars.Thelast was set up with tables and chairs for people to sit and eat, another two bars, and sofas and armchairs arranged in seating areas, giving beings the opportunity to sit and chat.
Each ballroom fed into the other, with small antechambers here and there.Allthe antechambers were regularly set in seating areas.
And yes, my heels were already killing me, my gown was gorgeous, butImade note of its weight for future consideration, soIwas delighted to know there would be plenty of places to sit down.
Of course, along with a plethora of the most amazing flower bouquets and installations,QueenCalisahad settled on dragons to denote the soaring theme in the décor.
As such, there were massive, elaborate dragons made of silk and streamers hanging sinuously from the ceilings.Downthe middle of the center buffet table, a dragon’s head rose, then the arch of its back could be seen arising from the middle, with its tail flashing at the end.Dragonheads and necks taller than two men were affixed to the sides of the doorways between ballrooms, their jeweled eyes facing each other, one side the dragon was dark and male, the other was light and female.
And in the room with the band and dancing, a colossal set piece that resembledAleksei’sdragon sprung up from behind the band, wings spread, like he was about to take flight.
Although the theme was expected, as you could tell,QueenCalisa’sfollow-through was outstanding.
Even with the amount of food available to peck at (and there was a lot), there were servers wandering (they wore dragon masks too, just not as elaborate, or hot asAleksei’s) with trays of hors d’oeuvres, glasses of champagne or the signature cocktail of the evening, the soaring dragon (gin, egg white, lemon juice and violet liqueur in a martini glass rimmed with glittering purple sugar dust).
And fortunately, one of these servers approached ustout de suite, soAlekseigrabbed two soaring dragons for us.
He handed one to me andItook a sip.
I wasn’t one for the taste of flower, but the lemon cut it, the sugar sweetened it, thus, in the end, it was delicious.
I lifted my glass toAleksei. “Yourmom knows her stuff.Thisis perfection.”
He smiled at me.
Then he smiled beyond me.
I turned and gasped.
Monique’s gown of midnight blue shot through with silver shooting stars tracing stardust wasmega.
AndGayle’sbody-hugging gown of brass-and-nickel-colored parachute silk stitched in panels, the edges frayed giving a feathery effect, that trailed a train that floated behind her several feet wasinsane.
But it wasCat’sgown that was the showstopper.Ithad steel disks on padded shoulders, and encasing her arms and on her body, sheets of steel-colored silk skimming her every curve to end in a fishtail hem, all of this representing an old-fashioned airplane.
And it was amiracle.
As such,Icouldn’t help but squeal, hand my drink to my mate and throw my arms toward them.
Gayliliel got to me first and we did the double cheek touch.
“You’re perfect,”Itold her.
“No,you’reperfect,” she replied.
Monique came next, with the refrain of perfects, thenCatla, and we said it again.
“Oh my gods,Aleksei, that mask ishawt,”Gayleexclaimed asAlekseireturned my drink.
“My thanks,” he replied, his full lips under the mask twitching.
“Where’sBash?”Iasked, craning my neck to see if he got lost in the crush on their way to us.
