Chapter Four:

Seto didn't see Yami for the next six weeks. The hat remained in his possession with no way to return it as he had no idea where Yami lived. He didn't try to find out.

September became October and the feast of All Saints Eve was fast approaching. Leaves began to turn their bright colors and the air was cooling. Harvesters scrambled to get crops in before the year's first killing frost and everyone began to prepare their homes and carriages for the cold.

Alexandra had invited him to two more parties, both of which he declined to attend, despite the possibility Yami would be there. He was still struggling with his attraction to him, as well as realizing just how easily they could get caught with Yami's wild lack of discretion.

Although, at night, his dreams didn't care about his misgivings and he woke up sweaty and uncomfortable on a number of occasions.

Towards the end of October and the Feast of All Hallows' Eve, Seto received an invitation from the palace for another ball. Annoyed, he tossed the invitation into the fire, but he knew he wouldn't be able to decline like he had Alexandra. Which of course was why he was so angry.

This particular ball was not a costume one, which further irritated Seto in its stupidity. Surely the ball of Hallows' Eve would be the one to have ridiculous costumes, rather than the one in mid-August?

The ball was set for one week hence, on October 31st, beginning in the evening and continuing through the witching hour. A ceremony commemorating the saints would be held sometime during the event, which reeked of blasphemy to Seto, though he paid religion little mind.

As this was a special ball, incorporating both the Feast of All Saints and Beggar's Night, everyone of nobility from age twelve and upward were invited. Mokuba, at fourteen, fell into this age bracket and unlike Seto, was looking forward to it. He went into London midweek to buy a new outfit and came back acting strangely, as if he had done something he wished to keep secret. When Seto asked about it, he diverted the question, and Seto didn't push. Mokuba was smart enough to keep himself out of trouble.

On the day of the ball, both brothers readied themselves, Mokuba wearing his new clothes and Seto putting on his best. The carriage ride to the palace consisted of Mokuba asking Seto questions about proper etiquette and what the previous ball had been like, all questions he had asked before. Seto knew he was nervous, and though their governess had done an excellent job raising them, no amount of reassurance would alleviate Mokuba's fear he would do something to offend the king.

"The king won't even notice you or me," Seto said flatly. "The invitations are sent out by people paid to keep track of noble families and our arrival will be noted by people paid to keep track of royal events and what we say and do will be remembered by people with nothing better to do than remember what other people say and do. The king will sit at the highest table and eat and talk with his family and advisors and not pay a second glance to anyone else."

Mokuba's anxiety didn't seem to lessen any with this cold take on the hours ahead. He kept glancing at his pocket watch and staring out the window. Seto frowned slightly, but refrained from asking him again about his trip to London. He would find out eventually if it were something he needed to know.

The carriage arrived in front of the palace a few hours later and they disembarked. Mokuba was clearly awestruck by the extravagant and beautiful castle, the luxurious furnishings, and even by the bejeweled fellow nobles arriving and mingling everywhere. Seto left him to chat with a few of his peers from school and entered the ballroom. It was almost exactly as it had been before, except that his contemporaries were not wearing ridiculous masks.

His callous rebuffing of the eligible ladies of the previous dance had either been forgotten or ignored. As Seto stood by himself near the grand entrance, a few of those ladies attempted to engage him. Seto sent them all away, but not half an hour after he'd arrived, Charlotte turned up. Looking quite stunning in an off-the-shoulder white-and-silver ball gown, her dark hair upswept and threaded through with silver ribbon, she smiled brightly and curtsied.

"Hello, Seto darling," she said, not seeming to notice he didn't bow back. "I was hoping you'd come."

"I didn't have a choice, did I?"

Her smile faltered just slightly as she evidently caught the implication of his rude comment, but she wasn't to be deterred easily. "Mother and Father are off somewhere, talking theater with some of their friends. Boring. Most of us are planning a game of cricket out in the courtyard. It would be so lovely if you came along."

Seto knew that what she really wanted was to show her friends that she was with Seto Kaiba. It was no secret to Seto that some of the ladies of the country considered him a prize catch, what with his fortune and his lineage. The Kaibas were a very old and well-respected family in England. Seto's grandfather had been a personal friend of King Aknamkanon's father, which everyone knew, and his father had been a playmate of Aknamkanon before they'd grown up and apart. Seto's father had toured the world before returning to England and marrying Seto's mother, and he had never fully resumed his friendship with the king. Seto had never met the king before in his life and had no yearning to. His father's life had been his life and Seto had his own.

"No," Seto said in response to Charlotte's comment.

"But why not, darling? Surely--"

Seto walked away. It was the rudest way possible to treat her and he hoped that it would finally get it into her airy head that he wasn't interested in her or her friends. He didn't look back to see her expression either, as he was sure that she would construe that as him playing hard to get.

"There you are."

Seto glanced up as Alexandra made her way towards him, accompanied by two younger women. One was her daughter, whom he'd seen briefly, but not formally met, at the tea dance; a dainty but pretty blond girl with almost frighteningly pale blue eyes. The other was a tall, full-figured woman more than a decade older than Anne, but at least twenty years younger than Alexandra, perhaps in her mid-thirties. Her face was pleasant but far from pretty and she had the expression of someone who looked down on everyone. Seto was pretty sure this was the Duchess niece and he was right.

"Seto, you remember my daughter, Anne." Anne curtsied flawlessly. "And this is my niece, Duchess Catherine of York."

The Duchess did not curtsy, but looked at Seto almost contemptuously as he bowed.

"This is Seto Kaiba," Alexandra said to the two women. "How are you enjoying yourself, Seto?"

The twinkle in her eye was evidence that she was teasing him and knew perfectly well he loathed to be there. The Duchess was now ignoring them, looking out over the crowd with the same contemptuous look. Seto was willing to bet his land she thought of herself as better than anyone else in the room; the typical spoiled aristocrat.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't attend your gatherings, Alexandra," Seto said, blatantly lying. "But I'm sure they were delightful."

Alexandra smiled. She seemed to delight in Seto's disrespect, rather than be offended.

"Not to worry, not to worry," she said. "You'll find your way to another one eventually."

Seto was sure she was going to renege on her promise to leave him alone. He had probably just now earned it by lying about being sorry he'd missed her parties. He was saved from having to answer by Anne.

"Mother, Sarah is beckoning. The game is about to start."

"Do excuse me, Aunt Alexandra," the Duchess said almost at the same moment. "Edgar will wonder where I've gone to."

Edgar, Duke of York, no doubt. Alexandra and Anne both curtsied to the Duchess. When she cast an imperious eye to Seto, he bowed reluctantly. She swept away with a rustling of her expensive skirts. Anne was already hurrying away to Sarah, a tiny and plain blond girl who was standing halfway across the room, looking impatient. Alexandra turned to Seto.

"Are you going to join in?"

"Of course not."

Alexandra shook her head sadly. She excused herself and left after her daughter, heading towards the doors that led out to the gardens and the field where the game would be played. The ballroom was now quite a bit emptier as everyone under the age of twenty-five, as well as several older people who were going to watch, had gone outside. Only those who were too arrogant, too preoccupied, or too old to be interested remained.

"Seto!"

It was Mokuba. He came over, waving on his group of friends, who were heading for the back doors.

"Seto, we're going to play badmitton. Want to come watch?"

Reluctantly, Seto followed his brother outside. With the choices of standing around and watching Mokuba play or standing around and watching the grandfather clock tick away the long minutes, he chose the less painful.

Outside the air was crisp and refreshing, not too cold to penetrate through the heavy coat Seto was wearing. The grand field to the left was filled with the older teenagers and young people who were playing or watching the game and to the right with the younger children or parents who were watching the badmitton game. Mokuba was chatting with a few of his friends while he waited his turn and smiled at Seto when he saw him take his place on the sidelines to watch.

Mokuba's skill was quite good. He defeated all nine of his opponents, six within minutes. The undefeated champion of badmitton, he all but disappeared in a crowd of boys and girls congratulating him. Seto smiled to himself, proud of his brother's success, and congratulated him when he came over.

"Thanks," Mokuba said, beaming with pleasure.

The cheers and groans coming from the cricket field were suddenly drowned out by the loud blasting of horns. The king had arrived.

King Aknamkanon was standing on the sweeping back terrace above them, between and in front of his royal procession. He was a man a few inches shorter than Seto, fit and handsome, wearing clothes and jewels of the finest quality, a crown on his head. Quickly all of the subjects gathered around, bowing and curtsying to the king, who smiled. His face was kinder than Seto had expected.

"Having fun, are we?" he said, his voice deep and amused. "Good, good. This is a day of merriment."

Some light applause met this statement. Seto noticed a few of the ladies in front of him trying to surreptitiously pat down their hair or smooth their skirts and it was all he could do not to snort. The queen had died many years ago and the king was known for never having even shown interest in another woman. Seto remembered his mother once talking about it with friends of hers over for tea, all of them more than a little enchanted with the gossip that the queen had been the love of king's life and that he would not tarnish her memory by taking another lover. Seto's father, who had also been in the room, had smiled and said that any man who met the true love of his life wouldn't dream of looking at another woman, and he ought to know. Seto's mother had smiled so radiantly that Seto, at nine, had been disgusted with the whole mushy thing, though now he remembered his mother's smile with a far different emotion.

"Don't let me stop your fun," King Aknamkanon said to the boys who had been playing cricket. Several of them almost looked frightened at being addressed by the king. "After all, these pretty ladies need something to cheer."

Said girls giggled and hid their faces behind gloved hands or fans. The boys went back to continue the game and the girls followed, though the older people who had been watching before now stayed around the terrace. The king remained where he was, watching the game while his attendants milled around. Mokuba and his friends ran down to the field to watch the remainder of the cricket match and Seto walked up the terrace steps, joining the small crowd that was observing the distant cricket match from afar.

"Hello again," a deep, familiar voice murmured.

Seto turned. Standing idly by the doors was Yami, his expression delighted to see Seto again. This time he wore clothing more reserved in color; white shirt, black pants, vest, jacket, and hat. The only splash of red this time was a bright rose at his lapel.

"Hello," Seto said, unsettled by the rush of emotions that had filled him at the sight of the other. Annoyance, unease, and even pleasure.

"Enjoying the game?" Yami's voice was low, intended not to carry.

"Of course not."

Yami's mischievous smile widened. "Good. In ten minutes I want you to meet me on the third floor, south wing, at the room on the end."

Seto felt a strange mix of exhilaration and dread. "You can't be serious. Not here."

Yami only smiled again and turned around, departing into the ballroom. Seto started to follow, intent on catching up and forcing Yami to abandon this ridiculous idea, when he was accosted by Alexandra. She'd returned from the cricket field without him noticing.

"Your brother is quite skilled at badmitton," she said. "I was watching earlier."

"Thank you," Seto said distractedly.

"I heard Charlotte complaining to Anne that you were quite rude to her," Alexandra continued, catching Seto's attention. "Though she has her heart set on winning you."

Seto scowled at her. "I don't care what plans she has. That girl is--"

"Vapid and conceited, I know. But, Seto, you really should be paying more attention to the eligible ladies. You're almost twenty, dear. It's about time to start courting and settle down, think about the future and your lineage."

Seto felt his temper reaching its boiling point. He'd had quite about enough of everyone telling him what he should do.

"I have no interest whatsoever in any silly girl in this kingdom," he said through clenched teeth, doing his best to keep his tone even and his voice low.

Alexandra frowned, then smiled in what was clearly an attempt to keep things positive. "You remind me of my youngest brother. Dead set on not marrying either, he was. My sisters and I kept fixing him up, ignoring all his protests and rants, and what happened? He found himself a lovely lady of standing he loves very much and they've been married three years already."

"Good for them," Seto said coldly. "Alexandra, I could stay and hear you list the pros of finding a bride, but really, I'd rather not."

Thinking he'd done a rather good job of keeping himself from losing his temper entirely, Seto turned and headed into the ballroom, aware that at least six minutes had passed since Yami had disappeared. Wondering how he'd managed to take his leave of the ballroom without being stopped by guards, Seto crossed the room to the entrance doors. The long, wide hallway ahead had guards stationed every dozen yards or so, right up to the doors of the grand entrance hall. As Seto hesitantly stepped into the hall, expecting to be stopped, not a single one of them gave him a second glance.

Surprised, Seto walked down the hall to the entrance hall, from where a grand, sweeping staircase led up to the second floor of the palace. The four guards standing around the entrance hall didn't respond to Seto's presence as he walked up the steps, and he wondered if someone had told them to leave guests alone. The king might have opened most of the palace up to tour and as soon as he thought it, he saw a few more people he recognized from downstairs. The steps had ended on a wide landing, from which there were three enormous pairs of double doors. Ahead lay a wide hall that likely lead to the library, conversancy, and any other number of rooms. The other two doors lead to the east and west wings. Seto headed straight, along the hall. Almost immediately to the right were a flight of stairs, heading up to the third floor.

At the top, the curving flight of stairs opened onto another hallway, so long that it had to stretch the length of the palace. Yami had said the south wing, so Seto turned and headed along the hallway to the end, where a set of double doors had to open up onto said wing. Up here there were no guards, which surprised him.

The double doors did indeed open up onto a wing, a large and rectangular room from which there were twelve doors. On the right were four single doors that were all closed. On the left were four more single and closed doors, a pair of glass doors that opened up onto an east-facing balcony, and directly ahead were a pair of massive oak doors taking up a third of the entire wall. Walking towards that pair of doors was Yami.

"Wait, Yami, I--"

The person turned and Seto stopped dead, realizing that it wasn't Yami at all. The stranger had the same small, lithe build and spiky, tri-colored hair, but when he turned around, Seto could see that his hair style was subtlety different, that his face was slightly less angular, and that his eyes were a bright and clear amethyst. He regarded Seto with surprise and a frown.

"My name is Yuugi," he said.

"I'm sorry, I--"

"You're not supposed to be up here," Yuugi cut in. "You'll be quite in trouble if you're found out."

"I--"

"Yuugi, what's going on?"

Another man had walked into the wing from the hall behind Seto. He was taller than Yuugi, but shorter than Seto, with a medium build and shaggy blond hair. Brown eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at Seto. His pants, vest, and jacket were a pale gray and smartly kept. Seto noticed a badge pinned to the right of the vest, but he couldn't see from this distance what it said.

"It's fine, Katsuya," Yuugi said, walking back towards them.

"Who are you?" Katsuya snapped at Seto. "What are you doing sneaking around up here?"

"I wasn't sneaking," Seto said irritably. "I was--"

"Get back downstairs," Katsuya said. "Before I arrest you."

Startled, Seto realized that the badge made Katsuya a policeman. He didn't look any older than Seto.

"Now, now, Katsuya," Yuugi said pleasantly. "Our friend here was just misguided. No need to be so mean." He smiled at Seto, though Seto found himself not liking his smile and he wasn't sure why.

Realizing that he'd better leave before he drew attention to Yami and got himself more into trouble, Seto turned and headed back for the hall without another word. Katsuya stepped aside, his eyes fixed following Seto as he went, suspicion evident. Seto passed him without comment, heading back towards the stairs. He glanced back once to see Yuugi and Katsuya both just outside the doors to the south wing, facing his way, neither smiling and both watchful.