Well, here is the other half of my (sadly) chopped in half chappie. Don't worry, stuff happens in this chapter, and it's nessescary to the plot, so if ya don't like it, live with it. or you could check back in a few days, when the next chapter is up and running . . .

King's Banquet and Ball

Kel and Neal flew bolt upright from their reclining positions on the pillows in the litter when they heard Edward's voice. A heated, mouthed, comical-looking conversation followed (complete with wild gestures) but it was cut off abruptly when Edward flung back the curtains and said, "Come, friends! We must not be late!" He offered Kel his hand, and she stepped down from the litter without having to grab at his shoulder.

When Kel had a chance to look around, her breath caught in her throat. To begin with, they were inside an absolutely gargantuan courtyard. It seemed that the people of the Copper Isles all built their buildings along the same lines, with a useful courtyard in the middle, the building in a U shape around the courtyard, with a long barricaded wall along the perimeter.

The Palace of the King of the Copper Isles was a bigger building than anything she had ever seen before. The Tortallan Palace was dwarfed in comparison. It was built out of thousands of tons of marble, but with trim and inlay of other costly stones. The very top spiral tower seemed to touch the clouds. It was becoming fairly obvious that Copper Islanders placed a lot of value on appearance.

"Come, come — We must away!" called Edward gallantly as he strode toward the gate to the inner palace, dragging Helena along with him. "The King waits!" Kel and Neal hurried after him, aware of the two royal guards that dropped into place behind them and in front of Edward.

The man walked around the left side of the Palace structure and headed alongside the giant walls. Kel and Neal followed. After turning the corner, they were surprised once more by what they saw.

The back section of the barricade wall was nonexistent. It opened on a picturesque view of the Emerald Ocean, tapering off over a rounded horizon. Close to ten minutes of fast walking brought them to the back of the Palace, where they saw the reason for the missing wall: at minimum, there was a four-hundred foot high cliff face, disappearing into the clear depths of the ocean.

At the back wall of the Palace itself, they were met with a set of double doors and two guards on duty. The guards merely saluted Edward and motioned for him to go on through.

"Faster this way," explained Edward. "Don't have to mess with all the people in the halls of the Palace, just have to go around the outside."

They followed Edward, who obviously knew where he was going, through another set of convoluted corridors. After walking for a short while, they came upon a door intricately carved with what looked like some sort of language. Edward halted in front of it.

"The Throne Room. That stuff on the door — Ancient language — Old Islespeak, I believe it's called. Been lost for centuries, though," Edward explained briefly with a motion at the door. "Can we be admitted?" he continued, his comment directed at the doorman.

"Just a minute, milord. The Lord and Lady Pagladine are still being greeted." The doorman replied. Mere seconds later, the door swung open into the room, and an overly dressed couple strolled out, looking pleased.

"Go on in, milord," said the doorman. Edward inclined his head in return and strode through the already open door with Helena on his arm. Kel and Neal followed behind, taking a good look at the Throne Room.

There was a long, royal purple carpet leading to a raised platform in front of them. On the walls were tapestries of battle scenes, but they were woven in shades of violet. The King and Queen's throne were both intricately carved, and glazed with a deep shade of violet that reflected light from the balls hanging on the sides of the room. Both thrones were occupied, and both occupants wore purple velvet cloaks.

On a chair slightly to the left of the King and Queen sat the famously intelligent and stunning Lady Katharine, surrounded by at least a dozen of extremely attractive young men.

Haha. Haha. No.

On a chair slightly to the left of the King and Queen sat a middle-aged man with gray, balding hair. He stuck out miserably, dressed as he was in feeble neutrals, as opposed to the extreme violet coloring of both the room and the King and Queen themselves. Kel thought it odd that such a man would be welcome in the room. However, the man was put out of Kel's mind when the King began to talk.

"I bid you good day, and welcome to the Palace, my Lord and Lady deGrindemark. It is an honor to have you here. My Gala commences tonight, at the hour of nine and the minute of thirty, at a formal dinner in the Banquet Hall, and the King's Ball soon after. We hope you can join us." The King spoke quickly, rushing words together and ruining the effect that such an impressive speech was supposed to have. His voice was slightly impatient, and as soon as he had finished the last sentence of his discourse, he said, "My dear Edward! I must say that I didn't expect you to join us this year, what with last year's pie fiasco. Do you remember?"

It was clear from the look on Edward's face that he did, but the King didn't leave him any time to answer. Nor did he take the time to inform the other people in the room what the "pie fiasco" was. Instead, he continued to talk at Edward for the next few minutes. He persisted in asking questions about apparent mutual friends and then leaving no time for Edward to answer them. The two Tortallans were blown away by his informal manner.

Finally, the torrential flow of words stopped, and the King turned to Kel and Neal. "Ahh, Edward," he said affectionately. "What disillusioned youths have you picked up this time?"

A little note: I'm not quite sure what disillusioned youths are, or if Kel and Neal are even close to being them, but I like the ring of the words, and I've always wanted to use the phrase in a story. So I did. And if it doesn't make sense, I'm sorry, but I like it that way. Read on!

Edward bowed. "Please meet Lord Gabriel and the Lady Madylene, from Carthak."

Neal bowed, and Kel tried to curtesy, but she lost her balance, wobbled, and almost fell over. Thinking rapidly, she smiled ruefully and spoke.

"You must excuse me. I'm still a little unbalanced from the ride here."

"Not a problem, not a problem," said the King. "I'm delighted to have you here in time for my Gala — You must be there tomorrow, I won't take no for an answer!"

"We'll all be there, my liege," said Edward. Kel and Neal nodded emphatic agreement.

"Very well, very well! I won't keep you and longer — Edward, I know you have a lot of catching up to do, and I'm sure more people are here for me to greet. Promise you'll come speak to me at the Gala — it gets mind-numbingly booooring after a while."

Edward acquiesced, and they were ushered from the Throne Room. There were three couples waiting. The doorman nodded at them as they passed, and could be heard saying, "Go on in, milord," to the next in line.

"To the rooms, please," Edward said to the guard, an he nodded and led them off down a corridor. "What did you think?" he asked Kel and Neal.

"It was very . . . " Kel trailed off.

"Purple," supplied Neal.

"Yes, that does seem to be the major impression most people get of the Throne Room. There's good reason for it, though: purple is the royal color, and the King wants it known that he is most definitely royal. Purple dye is also expensive, since it has to be imported, and that means that everyone knows the King is wealthy."

"I see —" began Neal, but he was cut off as Edward continued.

"Also, amethyst is the stone of the Copper Isles, and as you should know, amethyst is purple as well. And, as it turns out, the King adores amethyst, even more than other more precious stones. Yet another reason why purple is so popular inside this palace. Actually, the King is so fond of amethyst that he used three tons of it to create the walls of his treasury. And it was only three inches thick! Imagine such a large room. Of course, there is more reason than that to use amethyst as a lining for something as important as the King's treasury. I'm sure you've been told before that it's impossible to spell anything covered by amethyst – one of those properties that no one quite knows why it's there. The King is just a little paranoid with his money, even if he doesn't look it. The treasury is underground anyway, I don't know why he'd take all that precaution – nowhere for a thief to spell the wealth to! He'd just end up in the middle of the Palace, even if he did manage to get it past the walls of the treasury. But there's the King for you, planning for the worst. Ahh, here we are. Thank you! I believe your rooms are on the left – Helena and I will take the ones across the hall. We'll come by to at about nine for the banquet, how does that sound? Good. Have a nice rest!" The door slammed behind Edward and Helena as they entered their rooms.

Kel blinked. Neal rubbed his ears.

"A bit of a talker, that one," said the guard. "I'll be off now. Have a nice night." He walked away and turned a corner, leaving Kel and Neal alone.

"I have no idea how that man can talk so fast and walk so fast without passing out," said Neal.

"If you can do it, he should be able to," retorted Kel. She opened the door to their rooms and they stepped inside.

The rooms were about the same size as the ones they resided in at deGrindemark Manor. Their saddlebags had been unpacked, and the contents placed on their bed. Kel looked at her one remaining clean dress. It was pink.

"There is no way I am wearing that thing tonight," she began.

"No need," interrupted Neal smugly. "Helena asked for your measurements yesterday afternoon. She was obviously concerned with the state of your wardrobe after bushwhacking, so I gave them to her. She said that her seamstress was going to work nonstop to make something suitable. I assume this is the final product." On this, he gestured to a dressmaker's stand, upon which was a green . . . creation.

Kel gasped, horrified. "I can't wear that!" she wailed. "It's . . . it's . . ."

"Stylish?" suggested Neal.

"No! It's –"

"Pretty?"

"NO! Shut up! It's awful! I can't wear something like that!"

"If you don't, you'll have to wear the pink one."

Silence.

"The pink one is . . . well, pink," reminded Neal.

Silence.

***

"Kel! They're here!" shouted Neal from the outside room. "You have to come out now!"

"No," Kel protested, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Open. The. Door." Neal's voice was low. "If you don't, they'll think something's wrong. And what could be wrong when all you're doing is getting dressed?"

"Fine!" Kel flung open the door and stalked out into the main chambers without looking at Neal. "Let's go. I just want to get this thing over with."

"Whoa." Neal's voice from behind her brought her to a dead standstill.

"'Whoa,'" she angrily mimicked, spinning around. "What does that mean?"

"It means . . . I like that dress is what it means," Neal said, looking impressed.

Kel looked down. She was wearing a creation made out of green satin that rustled when she moved. It was tight around the bodice, floating out to a full, floor-length skirt all the way to the floor. The gown had a low-cut, square neckline that emphasized her chest, and it had long fitted sleeves that clung to her arms. There was a slit in the front that revealed a pale green skirt underneath. It laced up the back.

"Whoa," Neal said again.

Kel stuck her hands on her hips. "Are you done?"

Neal slid up to her and slipped an arm around her waist. "I like this dress." He kissed her cheek. "Let's go."

Kel pushed open the door to find Edward and Helena standing outside, looking impatient.

"Ahh, there you are," said Edward. "We were just about to send in a search party!"

Helena looked approvingly at Kel. "I knew that dress would look magnificent on you!"

"Your seamstress is marvelous," Kel said hesitantly.

"Shouldn't we be going somewhere?" Neal put in.

Edward jumped. "Of course! We'll be late!" They hurried down the long twisty corridors to the Banquet Hall.

For the second time in as many days, Kel and Neal forced their way through a formal meal. This time, there were over ten courses, and by the end Kel could barely force down another bite. Than there was wine, and an hour for talk. The Greater Court spent the whole time conversing about the war in Tortall. It was revealed that a dozen more fiefs were taken, and that the opposing forces were within fifty miles of Corus.

Kel wished she could block the talk from her ears. The Greater Court spoke at length about how evil the Tortallans were and how wonderful it was to see them fall. She felt like throwing up, but instead, she had to go to a ball!

The whole Greater Court migrated to the Ballroom at half past twelve midnight. Kel was asked to dance by three men, and she graciously accepted them despite her full stomach. After that, Neal interceded on all following dances, refusing to let anyone else dance with her. She was a little put out, but more flattered.

Kel and Neal escaped the ball at the first possible time they could – three in the morning. All around them, the crowd was going strong, fueled by victory and strong wine. They slipped away through a side door and promptly got lost. Neal had to use his Gift to help them find their way back to their rooms.

It took Kel a full ten minutes to fight her way out of her dress. Picking it up and setting it on the dressmaker's dummy took another five. By that time, she was yawning non stop. Finally, she fell into bed, where Neal's breathing beside her lulled her into a peaceful slumber.

Do they have clocks?

AHH. AHH. HOW. People already have LADY KNIGHT. AHHHH. AHHH. HOW. I am going to implode. Can't wait six days. Can't. Can't. And yet, can't ask for spoilers. Can't. Can't. CAN'T. All right, here's the deal. NO ONE MENTION THE BOOK. Yes. no one mention it. that way, I won't be reminded that other people have it and I don't, and I won't go insane with anti-K/C anxiety. (please, god, no. please, please, please. ahh. Mustn't think about that possibility. Mustn't. mustn't. okay, now I have to go read my OWN K/N STORIES to fend off this debilitating fear.

Ahh. Much better. NOOO! NO K/C!!! damn.) and if all of you other people don't mention the book, I won't go insane because OTHER PEOPLE HAVE IT AND I DON'T. urgh. Too much stress. I'm must go make cookies.