Chapter 45: Leila's Tale – Summer Festival

"But why can't I wear this one! It's pretty!!!" Chase whined to her sister, crossing her arms over her barely-covered chest and pouting like a child.

Leila rolled her eyes at her sister's childish behavior. While she was hardly a girly girl, Chase certainly loved to dress up. They had been dress shopping for the summer ball all day long, and were finally just about ready to go.

"Maybe because I don't want you to look like a tramp in front of the man who is by all accounts essentially my king! That dress defies more gravity than Elphaba – honestly how are your boobs staying in that thing!? I agree it looks good on you, but you can only wear it if you get another four inches of cloth over your chest and a wraparound strap behind your neck so that it stays there. The fit is good other than that." she replied, nodding at the dressmaker, who stood by chuckling at the exchange.

Grumbling, Chase slipped into the back to change out of the black gown.

While her sister changed, Leila paid for the alterations and for her own gown, which was also black, though much more modest than her sister's.

The pair thanked the kindly woman for her help, and set out into the streets.

"Thanks for all the help, sis." Leila mumbled. Since Devin's invitation, the elder Tilton girl had spent a good deal of time with Chase discussing boys.

Smiling broadly, Chase clapped a hand on Leila's shoulder. "My pleasure. You know I've got your back in the boy department. You just don't let him get fresh with you, young lady." She teased, taking on a faux stern tone.

Rolling her eyes, Leila chose to ignore her sister's comment. "The outfits for the boys should be delivered the same day as our dresses. We have one week to teach them all the formalities. And you had better behave at the ball, I mean it!"

"Yes mother." Chase grumbled.

They arrived back home, and set immediately to work teaching the boys.


Before they knew it, the night of the ball was upon them.

Leila and Chase dressed in Leila's room upstairs while the boys finished up in their guest rooms. Devin was due to arrive any moment.

And pacing the floor in front of her bed, Leila was wringing her hands nervously while Chase fought with her hair, pulling it into an elegant bun with lose strands about her face.

"THERE. Finally! Now come here so I can finish yours!" Chase waved her sister over.

Leila stood in front of Chase, tapping her foot impatiently. Nerves that normally were steady as rock were rattled – boys were so not her domain.

Chase pulled Leila's hair back from behind her ears and braided it on either side, pulling the braids together to form a natural headband of sorts over the rest of her mane. After placing a few pins to hold it, she stepped back.

"Look at you, heart-stealer! Go get em' tigress!"

"I think I'm going to be sick." Was her only reply.

The sound of the opening door downstairs announced Devin's arrival.

Eyes wide, Leila suddenly paled. "I can't do this, I can't do this…" she muttered.

"Oh no you don't! You're not making me stay home from a party, no fuckin' way!" With a grunt, Chase grabbed her by the wrist, and dragged her down the stairs.


"Hey guys! Let's go!" Chase cheerfully greeted.

Leila glared daggers at her sister as she stepped out from behind her.

The boys, who had all been talking with their backs to the stairs, turned. Though seeing the girls dressed as girls was not as shocking for the Travelers as it had been the first time on Neeanyah, it was still very different from what they were used to. As predicted, Spader's eyes went wide, and he blinked repeatedly as his girlfriend crossed to hug him.

The look on Devin's face was equally priceless. The house could have been burning at that moment, and nothing would have taken his attention away from her.

"I know, I look completely – " Leila began, only to be cut off by Devin taking her hand.

"Beautiful." He finished, kissing the back of her hand.

She blushed, despite her best efforts not to.

"You guys didn't clean up half bad yourselves!" Chase whistled, winking at them.

They did indeed cut a fine swathe, dressed in the livery of medieval lords, right down to the cloaks and boots. Devin had done a number on their outfits. With Gunny and Patrick's help, Bobby and Spader had both managed to tame their hair and clean up suitably for the ball.

"Where's Loor?" Bobby asked, looking around nervously.

"She's scouting ahead to make sure that nothing…um…" Leila began, then stopped. Loor had decided to scout the route ahead of them, hoping to neutralize any would-be assassins before they departed. Devin of course did not know this.

"To make sure that nothing ruins her outfit." Chase interjected lamely. Even she cringed at the sorry excuse. Loor would certainly have glared had she been present.

Devin looked at her oddly, but said nothing. "Well, if you're certain we'll meet her along the way, shall we be off?" he offered Leila his arm, which she took tentatively.

The others smiled at this, and made for the door.


"Announcing Lord Devin and company, here for the Royal Festival!" Devin called to the gatekeeper of the manor. The guard bowed low before opening the large iron-wrought gate, and swept a hand to invite them inside.

Wide-eyed, the group took in the large, sprawling manor house. It was bathed in lights and surrounded by guests, all of whom wore their very finest.

"This is grander than anything I have ever seen beyond the capitol building in Xhaxhu." Loor remarked. She had met up with the group on the road, wearing a black gown similar to Leila's – which Bobby had certainly noticed.

"Well, it's always been rather large for my taste. But that manor house has been in our family for generations – and father is too lazy to move somewhere else." Devin commented, waving to a few people as they navigated the crowd on the lawn.

They walked across to the manor doors, which stood wide open. Devin took Leila by the hand and stopped here, turning to face the others.

"Alright everyone. You're here as my guests – and as my friends. I want you all to have a good time. If you have any kind of issue with anyone, let me know. Sometimes the nobility can be a sorry lot of racists and class-empowered hypocrites. So, that being said – let's go say hello to my father and start the night, shall we?"

Leila gave a slight whimper. Chase shot her a look, almost as though to say "calm down".

The elder sister nodded, taking a deep breath as they resumed their walk, and entered.


Dancers twirled around on the ball room floor, and the sound of laughter and music echoed around the manor. Leila and the others took in the sights with wide eyes. They were surrounded by splendor and glitz, fine liveries, glittering gems, and beauty. The finest and wealthiest of Aravil surrounded them, young and old, men and women alike draped in jewelry and silks.

In the middle of the ball room, sitting on the throne atop the pedestal, was the leader of nearly the entire nation. Looking quite dashing in a deep blue tunic and cloak, complete with light blue leggings and boots, was Seldon Shanley.

As they neared his throne, where he sat gazing at the various people around the room, Leila could clearly see the family resemblance. He was very attractive for an older man, appearing to be just barely out of his twenties, despite being at least in his early forties. He had the same long, dark hair as Devin, and the same piercing coal-black eyes. He was paler than his son, and had a much thicker build.

A few people stopped to stare when they realized who it was nearing the throne. Whispers picked up almost immediately, every eye on Devin – and consequently, on Leila and the others behind her.

"Evening, Father." Devin greeted, jumping up on the platform.

Seldon's attention now turned to his son. His eyes lit up, and a broad smile overtook his strong, masculine features. "There you are! Thought you may have gotten lost in the woods again." He teased, lightly hitting Devin in the shoulder.

"Very funny. I've brought my friends to meet you." He waved his friends up, inviting them to stand on the dais.

Chase was the first to move, pushing her sister from behind and forcing her to step up. She ignored Leila's glare and offered a sweet smile to the Aravillian ruler.

"A pleasure sir. I am Chastity Ravencroft – this is Vo Spader, Robert Pendragon, Patrick Mac, Vincent Van Dyke, Loor, and my sister, Leila Avarosco." She bowed slightly, introducing her friends.

In the back of Leila's mind, something struck her as odd. For the first time in her life, Chase had not referred to them as the Tilton sisters. Rather, she had introduced both of them with their birth surnames. It was the first time she had ever purposely identified herself as a Ravencroft, and Leila as an Avarosco. While in Council meetings on Neeanyah, she had referred to herself as Lady Sayina-Ravencroft – but never in their roles as normal people, as just themselves, had Chase ever made this distinction.

It worried Leila for some reason she did not want to place.

Seldon froze slightly at the end of Chase's introduction, and his eyes fell upon Leila.

"Kaliska's girl…the last time I saw you, you were an infant." He whispered, reaching out and raising her chin to look into her eyes.

"You knew my mother, sir?" Leila managed to get out without stammering.

Seldon chuckled. "Kaliska Avarosco was one of the best friends I ever had. Tough woman – wasn't afraid to give me a thrashing if I stepped over the line, either."

Leila smiled. That sounded like the feisty side that her gentle mother showed from time to time. Suddenly, the tension and fear seemed to drain away. This man had known her mother – he was more kin than stranger now.

"I'm glad to know that my boy picked a good girl. I was worried he was going to be an old maid." Seldon grinned at his son, who covered his face in embarrassment.

"Father…please…" Devin groaned, face starting to flush.

"Oh alright, alright. Go on, children – have some fun. Eat, drink, dance, be merry. I hope you have a wonderful time. And feel free to check in from time to time and say hello."

They stepped off the dais, and noticed that everyone in the room had come to a dead stop to stare at them. Devin rolled his eyes, and held Leila's hand tighter.

"Good evening, my countrymen – may I help you with something?" he called out, clearly annoyed. No one replied. "I didn't think so. Now carry on."

Instantly, the room was in motion once more, the whispers now hissing throughout.

Chase cleared her throat. "Well done. Excellent technique."

Devin grinned. "Thank you. I've had much practice."

"So…um…let's dance!" Bobby suggested, giving everyone a pointed look.

The rest of the group got the unspoken hint, and scattered, leaving Leila and Devin standing alone together in the middle of the floor.

"They…just disappeared into thin air practically." Devin commented, looking around and seeing no sign of their friends.

"Yeah – they tend to do that." Leila replied mildly, as though she were commenting on the weather or the decorations. "So…um…I'm not much of a dancer…"

"Neither am I. I mean, I know how to, and I'm rather good at it, but I always feel like somebody's watching me."

Leila snorted with laughter.

"Did I say something amusing?" Devin asked, confused.

"No, not that – it's just, what you said, that was a line in a song, and it made me think of that, and it was pretty funny because it's a song that makes me laugh, and there's no way you knew that song before you said it, so you didn't even mean to be funny." She explained, still snickering.

It wasn't until seconds later, when she saw Devin's blank look, that she realized her error. He didn't know about the other territories, and that was a Second Earth song. If he questioned her about it, she would be in a bad position – Leila never lied, and the nature of Halla and the battle with Saint Dane was one of those "no-talk" type topics.

"Well, if it made you laugh, I'm glad I said it. Shall we go outside and get away from all this pomp and arrogance? There's a garden that we keep up by the lake." Devin shook off the strange behavior with ease, offering his arm to her.

She accepted happily. "Sure. Besides, I think Gunny and Patrick can handle babysitting my sister for a little while."

They shared a laugh at this, and slipped out into the night.


From where she stood on the dance floor with Spader, Chase saw her sister and Devin slip out onto the balcony, and then down the stairs into the night.

She grinned at Patrick, who was dancing with a very attractive noblewoman. He winked at her. Nearby, Loor and Bobby danced together. Bobby caught Chase's eye and grinned.

And Gunny, who had begun to dance with an older noblewoman who seemed quite charmed by him, also smiled warmly.

"She's finally got a guy to look after her." Spader whispered into Chase's ear.

"I know. I'm so happy for her. Let's watch after her and make sure they don't hit the same brick walls we did. Though as sharp as Leila is, and as stupid as we were – I think everyone learned something from us."

"Agreed. Well, at least now we're stupid together, eh?" he held her close.

"Yep. I love you." She nuzzled into his embrace.

"Love you too." Spader replied.

Chase crossed her fingers. Hopefully, by the end of this night, Leila would officially have a boyfriend. And hopefully, for once, they could spend a night out without some kind of disaster happening.