The boys blinked for a long moment, silence descending about the balcony. The Empress looked over the assembled group and her eyebrows knitted together.

"Shay'Telnira, where is Zephon?"

"Oh, he got over duty."

The Empress' eyes widened as she inquired, "Why?"

"He dyed Ker'orin's hair yellow."

"You do that all the time. I fail to understand how that constitutes the punishment of over duty."

"It was with permanent hair dye."

The Empress was silent for a moment, then raised a hand to cover her mouth, obviously hiding a smile.

"Oh." She glanced over to see Kain had a raised eyebrow and was about to inquire just what exactly over duty was. The Empress shook her head to stop him.

"I'll tell you later."

At that moment, they heard a cough and turned to see Ker'orin walking toward them, holding a very scared, dirty, dejected, and burnt Zephon by the back of the metal design across his chest. Shay'Telnira quickly set down Melchiah and took Zephon from Ker'orin, noticing that he had fashionably wrapped a piece of cloth around his hair until the yellow wore out.

"If you'll excuse me, now," Ker'orin stated, bowing to the Empress and giving a nod of respect to Kain, "but I have to go kill something."

With a very stiff back, he walked back out of the chambers. Shay'Telnira had been biting her lip, but when he finally walked out of the room, she broke down in laughter. The Empress just shook her head as Kain indicated to his children that it was time to go.

"By the way," Raziel asked of Melchiah as they headed down the stairs, "how did you know that was Shay?"

"Because that's what Shay looked like in my dream," he responded happily. "And she was teach me to fly, and . . ."

It was a few weeks later when they returned, and all the vampires were surprised to see the entire city bustling about, seeming to get ready for some ceremony. Kain looked around, an amused expression on his face.

"What's going on?" Dumah inquired.

"It's gala night," Kain responded. At his son's blank expression, he sighed deeply, explaining, "It's a large celebration consisting of dancing and a feast, along with games and other entertainment."

The little vampire nodded in understanding and they headed up to the main castle to meet with the Empress and Shay'Telnira. For once, it seemed Shay'Telnira had known they were coming, as she met them in the Great Hall. The brothers blinked at her in surprise as for the first time ever since they had met her, she was wearing a dress. It stopped mid-thigh, was sleeveless, and was done in red silk in a sort of Oriental style. She immediately scooped up Melchiah and hugged him.

"Hello! I hadn't expected you boys to come here tonight."

"Well, here we are," Rahab stated simply. Shay'Telnira looked up as the Empress walked up to stand next to her daughter.

"And you're just in time, as well," the Empress added. "Come, come. The gala is about to begin."

The boys were separated from the maker, and quickly herded into a large open courtyard that looked like it could fit three creatures the size of Shay'Telnira's dragon form. Around the edges chairs and tables were set up for the guests and people of the city. The boys were given a table to the side, but near the front of the courtyard. At the front was a slightly raised dais and three throne-like chairs, two at the same height, one shorter and a little to the right of the left high throne. Shay'Telnira appeared and stood before the chair and stayed standing as Kain and the Empress moved out to the other two taller chairs. The Empress nodded once to Kain and they both sat simultaneously, then Shay'Telnira sat down. There was a murmur at this; the chair Kain sat in was the one usually reserved for the Emperor, and the way both sat in time indicated that the Empress found Kain an equal and worthy of respect. Again, it was a procedure that was more often observed between emperor and empress, rather than two political allies. Shay'Telnira raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing, and the feast began.

The vampire brothers sat around their table and chatted idly, rather bored with everything as a whole. Well, most were, anyway. Turel had vanished and was off chatting with several of the younger females, and Shay'Telnira noted by their laughter that he was doing admirably well. The rest of the brothers would have gone up and talked to Shay'Telnira, but they had been warned not to approach the royalty, which Rahab had stated was quite silly and strange, as they were the sons of one of the people up there. However, the dragons had held true to tradition and refused them access.

Finally the actual dances came. Raziel breathed in deeply, trying to gather the courage to ask Shay'Telnira to dance. Shay'Telnira, unaware of Raziel's thoughts, looked down at the situation through a deep-seated resentment of it. She hated the dances; it was when potential consorts would as the daughter or son of the Empress and Emperor to dance. If the royal turned down such offers, then it was a political and social penalty, as an indication they weren't acceptable. However, those that were accepted, meant that the royal had accepted their offer of courtship, which was a social merit and a huge honor. Shay'Telnira had been forced to already turn down one or two offers, but most of the younger dragons didn't want to risk loosing the standing they had gained. So she sighed, bit her lip, and swore to herself to make it through the night.

Then, as the first bits of music started, a young male from one of the houses stood, walked fearlessly up to Shay'Telnira, and bowed, holding a hand out, silently asking if she'd like to dance. A silence fell across the assembled as they waited to see what she'd do. The Empress looked down at the male, a raised eyebrow, and Kain glared at him through narrow eyes. Shay'Telnira took in the appearance of the male, putting a name to face. He was Tyrastan, the young son of the House of Glass, and he had been hatched about the same time she had. He had long brown hair pulled back, with bits of quicksilver highlights, and his wings and tail were the color of his House. They had been good friends as children, but had grown apart as they had gotten older and been given more responsibility. She found herself wanting to rekindle that old friendship, so she reached out and took his hand. He looked up and smiled dazzlingly at her as he pulled her gently from her seat and led her down to the main floor.

The Empress' eyes narrowed to match Kain's, and at the table, Raziel's claws clenched slowly in a growing anger. This was most definitely not how it was supposed to go. Dumah and Rahab looked over to see their elder brother's furious expression and exchanged a look.

"What's up, Raz?" Rahab asked.

"Him," the vampire hissed, gaze never wavering from Shay'Telnira and Tyrastan. Both brothers looked to the pair, confused. From next to Dumah, Zephon sang softly under his breath, "Someone's getting jealous." If Raziel heard, however, he gave no sign.

Tyrastan swirled Shay'Telnira round in the movements of the dance, holding her close enough for the dance to not look awkward, but not so close that she would be uncomfortably near him.

"It's been a long time, Shay," he stated simply, smiling.

"That it has, Tyr. What have you been up to all this time."

"Learning," was the reply. "Learning and experiencing life outside of the mountain. You should do it sometime, Shay. You'd be surprised what you can learn."

The dance continued, the music slowly creeping across the courtyard. Finally, it slowed, swirled up, and came to a stop. People around them were already whispering, as he was the first Shay'Telnira had ever accepted a dance with. Tyrastan looked over her shoulder, and his eyebrows knit together. Shay'Telnira looked over to see the vampire brothers, Raziel looking like he was about to walk toward them, with Rahab, Dumah, and Zephon all holding him back.

"That brat's baby-sitter had better go calm him down," Tyrastan stated bluntly. Shay'Telnira sighed.

"Be right back."

"What?" he responded in confusion and surprise as she walked away toward the vampires. As soon as she had walked away from Tyrastan, Raziel had stopped pulling at his brothers and just met her gaze, watching her walk toward him. Dumah, Rahab, and Zephon hesitantly let him go and breathed a silent sigh of relief when he didn't try to go storming off again.

"What's wrong?" Shay'Telnira asked as soon as she got there.

"Why him?" Raziel demanded.

"Why what?"

"Why him? Why did you dance with him?"

She sighed. "Because he's an old friend of mine who I haven't talked to for a long time. Why?"

"So you . . . care for him?"

Shay'Telnira blinked at him a moment. "This is very unlike you, Raziel."

Raziel shook his head as if to clear if. "Yes, yes, you're quite right. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Tyrastan walked over to them, and stood next to Shay'Telnira. Raziel glared up at the male, and the male dragon glared right back at him. Shay'Telnira sighed again, not seeing the staring contest going on, and turned to Tyrastan.

"I'm sorry to do this, but duty calls me now that the gala is over. I have to go."

"All right." He nodded once to her respectfully and turned and walked calmly away. Shay'Telnira looked around, quickly went and grabbed Turel away from the female dragons, and counted pairs of golden eyes.

"Where's Melchiah?" she inquired.

"Here," his voice rose from behind her. She turned and found him standing behind her. She reached down and picked him up.

"Where were you?"

He just shrugged in answer, and Shay'Telnira led her vamplings out of the courtyard. Raziel stood close to her, just behind her to her right shoulder, and from in the courtyard, Tyrastan glared after him.

"Vampires . . ." he hissed angrily.