Enmity of Atlas

In the dining hall, a long hall table with dozens of chairs lining the sides, one for each guest, sat. Staria, Trenton, and Leo took their seats next to each other, taking care to be seated near other, more amiable nobles. Notably, Delis was nowhere to be seen. He must still have been off somewhere calming himself. Maybe he even went to talk to Brus. A good friend's company was certainly one way to relieve stress.

A loud ringing sounded out, the sound of a glass being struck and at the end of the table, using what feeble presence he can muster to make his voice boom across the venue, stood Theadore.

“Ladies and Gentleman, I thank you for joining us tonight. We have prepared a very special dining experience for you tonight, which should only further compliment the fine drinks you have already sampled. Please, enjoy yourselves–I insist it. Mave, present the first course.”

From her position next to Theodore, Mave began to introduce the first course of the meal, taking time to mention the fancy preparations needed to cook such a dish as the servants began to roll out carts with large cloche topped platters. As all of the servants were bustling about, Trenton used the opportunity to try and find Jade, swiveling his head side to side to see past the many nobles blocking his lines of sight. Unfortunately, he was unable to locate Jade among all the bustle, despite the fact that every servant should be present here. Now there was no room for doubt, something was definitely wrong. Trenton considered going to look for her, but he realized how bad it would look to leave the dinner so suddenly. He would have to make peace for now and find her after the ball was over.

The first several courses of the meal went smoothly. The dishes were presented, everyone dined on the luxurious meals, and afterwards a speech or two was given by one of the present guests about how much better they were than those dirty common folk. The speeches Trenton despised, but the good food makes it easy enough to ignore, or rather endure. That, and sitting next to Staria and Leo gave him a solid foundation if he started to become riled up. Somewhere along the way, Delis reappeared, sitting in an empty seat near Trenton and dining with everyone else as if nothing ever happened.

Finally, the last course was served and finished. One more speech remained. Just when Trenton was wondering who would give it, the duke stood up. Shit. He looked around for a moment, eyes lingering on Trenton, before pointing one fatty finger at Delis.

“I believe Delis has a speech for us. Afterall, he has just returned from the plains. Surely he has something he wishes to say to us all,” the duke said, glaring wildly out at the other guests as if trying to encourage them to agree. No one spoke, but all eyes turned to Delis in response. Tiev must not have been fully satisfied earlier. He didn’t just want to berate Delis and Trenton, make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome, he wanted them to, of their own accord, thoroughly embarrass themselves. He wanted them to suffer.

Theodore started to stand up, but Delis shook his head, almost imperceptibly, and Theadore sat back down, brow hunched and anxious. Delis stood up, a coy smile on his lips. He must have had something in mind.

“I do, Duke Plagrad–thank you…” he took a moment to look over the crowd before beginning, gauging carefully the air of the room. “Long have I felt like an outcast among you all. Even from the moment of my birth, I did not feel as if I was a nobleman. I felt as a sparrow would amidst a group of falcons–inadequate. Despite this, everyone insisted to me that as the eldest Boulreguard, I was destined to take up my fathers business. And, for a time, I found myself happy, loved, and cared for in the arms of a wonderful family,” he turned to look at Trenton, then his father and mother, “and a wonderful community,” he slowly panned across the room, making sure to give his best smile to every noble man and women present. “However, as many of you may remember, and I truly am sorry to bring up such old wounds, 8 years ago, Berades Sorkupt, and his wife, Milla Sorkupt, where killed by a monster that had broken through the eastern wall. This drove their son, Kolas Sorkupt–a close friend of my brother–Trenton,to kill himself,” he paused for a moment. What was he doing bringing this up at a time like this? Trenton looked around the audience. They looked uncomfortable, many of them shifting awkwardly in their seats. But, Delis pushed on, “Even though I was not particularly close with Kolas, I saw the effect it had on Trenton. A deep depressive state like I had never seen before consumed him. My brother, whom I loved dearly, was inconsolable. So, that day, I made a promise to Trenton. I told him that I would leave this city, forgo the life of luxury granted to me, and devote myself to culling the monster population around Verulik because I realized something that day,” he paused, looking out across his audience who was now slightly more interested in what he had to say. “I realized that I meant nothing–that everyday, thousands of people were mercilessly slaughtered all around the world because I wasn’t willing to do anything. I realized that if I truly did nothing, their blood would practically have been mine spilt. In other words, there was a difference I could make and I saw it. So, I stopped living for myself, instead deciding to live my life for whoever most needed me. I abandoned my family, my friends, and the life I knew in search of a purpose as noble as the great family name I was born with. And, in so doing, I have saved tens of thousands of lives. Tens of thousands of lives that would be lost without my help,” he paused again. Now, he had the audience's full rapt attention. “And when I came back home this morning, dirty, broken, shameful…my family embraced me. They gave me love as if I had never left them, even though they know that I am lost, that I will leave again. And when I strutted boldly before you all, masquerading as a nobleman like nothing ever happened,” he held up his mask, “You too, embraced me,” his face, now brighter than the sun with a smile more gracious than the gods themselves, glowed with a brilliant radiance, the likes of which Trenton had never seen before. Slowly, Delis, once again, looked across the room, taking time to note each of the hundred nobles scattered about. “You serenaded me with kindness and praises that I am wholly unbefitting of. You welcomed me back among your ilk like you would a known neighbor. You gave me back something that I blatantly threw away…and I nearly wept at the kindness shown to me. I will leave again, as I always do. But, before I do, I want to dedicate this speech not to myself, no, but to the fine folks surrounding me now, and the wonderful family I know that I will always have. Thank you,” he sat

Thunderous, bold, audacious applause burst forth, the entire room filled with the sounds of jubilation, every man, woman, and child standing before the table to give Delis the highest possible honor a performance can receive–a standing ovation. They hooted and they hollered for what seemed like forever, before slowly returning to their seats, the room now overrun with excited chatter. There was a sort of manic energy dancing about, instilled in everyone by Delis’s grand speech, that made the very air feel alive. You gotta hand it to him. That boy knew how to work a crowd. Dedicating a speech to nobles, the half of which felt the exact same as Tiev and making them feel like they alone were the exalted man being spoken to was undeniably impressive. Most of the things Delis said wern’t even true. He wasn’t welcomed and he certainly wasn’t loved by the other nobles. But, his buttery words were far too enticing to dispute. Why bother thinking about whether it was true or not, when you’re being complimented so openly? It was enough to make any man blush. How clever.

As the noise died down, Trenton, Leo, and Staria, as well as several others seated around Delis, leaned in to give him praise.

“Marvelously done-”

“You humble me-”

“You're a fine boy-”

“Excellent speech-”

Across the way, Trenton noticed Tiev, who sat nearly bursting out of his chair. Clearly, this did not go the way he was hoping–good. Hopefully Theodore could get to him before he had an aneurysm and bled out–what a shame that’d be.

Theodore stood, “Thank you, Delis! That was a marvelous speech, indeed,” he turned to the rabble, “Now, our dinner is finished and we may move on to the ball. Please don your masks and follow me to the ballroom where we might conclude this evening,” he said, quickly stepping out in front of the crowd to lead them further into the house where another grand staircase sat waiting to be ascended, the top of which held the ballroom.

As they entered the ballroom, Trenton noticed an orchestra with a conductor seated just before the center of the room. Of course. What dance was complete without complimentary music…and probably a lot of alcohol, too. By this point, many of the guests were absolutely drunk. Typically, it was expected that everyone remains at a certain level of sobriety, but Tiev’s rant earlier had everyone on edge, causing the less confident among the group to down alcohol to calm their nerves. On one hand, it did make everyone looser, but on the other, they were more likely to make mistakes, which was a crime of the highest order at a nobles' ball.

Trenton took a look over the several dozen musicians, each with a different instrument, trying to recognize the group. It was hard at first, given how many of them there were, but looking at the selection of instruments, this could only have been one thing. Brass forward, a handful of strings, and a line of drums in the back–this was a band straight from Dasellium.

Although Aria was considered the music capital, there was one famous piece from Dasellium that had put it in the spotlight in recent years–The Conquering March. It was a song composed in honor of the king of Verulik. Supposedly, he got the name: “the Conqueror,” from a man who saw him fight, who was quoted as saying: “With every step he takes, he conquers,” although it was unclear if this was ever something anyone ever actually said. Regardless, the song was supposed to represent the fear that the enemy felt when faced against the Conqueror, making it quite a heavy piece. Despite this, overtime, it had become a national anthem of sorts–symbolizing the prosperity of the kingdom as a whole.

The band began to play, the heavy beating drums and blaring squeals of the brass inspiring the nobles to take a more hotfooted approach to dancing, which combined excellently as a means to remove the manic energy from Delis’s earlier speech. Did Father and Delis plan this? If so, that was a brilliant move.

Trenton took Staria, Leo nowhere in sight, and they began to dance together, grinning madly, forgetting the woes of the night and letting go of everything not this moment. Even as the song finished and the brasses were replaced with more calming strings to set the atmosphere, Trenton and Staria continued together. They both knew they were supposed to be switching partners, but they no longer cared. This moment, eternal and beautiful, would last forever–a synchronized effort bestowing each with the vigor of a fresh sunray. And as they danced and swayed together, the truths between them became ever more apparent. There were feelings hanging in the air, words unsaid between the two of them akin to ripened fruit waiting to be picked. It ballooned and bubbled, a cauldron overflowing before them, both pairs of eyes locked right on it. Trenton was, for the first time in a long time, gaining confidence. Not the confidence of liquor, no, the confidence of a man who sees the marvelous stars illuminating the night sky–reachable–if only one was willing to try.

As they swung about, separating and rejoining again like they could not bear to be without each other, they moved to the edge of the ballroom, almost running into the wall. Laughing, Trenton took Staria’s hand and spun her around, using his whole body to swing her, before letting her go. Staria flowed with the movement, retreating further and further into the ballroom until she stood alone in the middle of the floor, swaying back and forth. Grinning wildly, Trenton moved to rejoin her. Now was the time. Now was the moment. But just as he took a step, the floor beneath Staria began to glow an odd hue of whitish red.

From beneath the floor, a massive pillar of flame burst up, burning a hole straight through the middle of the ballroom–incinerating Staria before she even got a chance to scream.