"Leader, are you okay?" Sara asks, a worried look on her face.
"I'm fine, I just remembered something," Helios replies, clenching his head with his hand.
"Greetings, Your Highness, the Sun of the Kingdom," a man with red and black hair says in a mocking tone.
"You're late, aren't you, Patriarch Vaelthorne?" the King says, his golden eyes glowing with authority.
"Is he a Seeker?" Helios asks Sara in a questioning whisper.
"Yes, he is. Half of the people in this room are Seekers," Sara replies in a calm, steady voice.
"Are all members of the royal family Seekers then?" Helios asks, his voice becoming even more coarse.
"No, only the King is a Seeker," Sara says.
"Why is that?"
"Nobles have inherited artefact summons that they can contact," Sara explains. "Only the current head of the family can use the summon. When he dies or abdicates his position as family head, his successor inherits the summon. No one else in the family can obtain their own because of the contracts their ancestors signed with their summons. In exchange for this power, the summon belongs strictly to their bloodline."
"Why can't they just get their own summons?" Helios asks.
"They can't," Sara says. "The contract makes it an inherited summon. Because of this, no one in the family can use other summons. However, there are special cases where some members can contract their own. But Seekers... Seekers' clans don't have inherited summons."
"That's interesting," Helios muses.
"You know the rules, Vaelthorne," the King says, narrowing his eyes at the man and the woman beside him.
"Sorry, we just forgot," the woman next to Patriarch Vaelthorne says with a dismissive shrug.
"Who is she?" Helios asks, his eyes lingering on the woman who looked to be in her thirties.
"That's the former Matriarch of the Vaelthorne family," Sara says, her gaze fixed on the woman.
"She retired early?" Helios asks.
"No, she is almost a hundred years old," Sara says, looking directly into Helios's red eyes.
"Almost a hundred? She looks like she's in her thirties," Helios whispers urgently into Sara's ear.
"Seekers age slower than normal people, Leader," Sara reminds him.
The old Matriarch approaches Helios and leans in to whisper in his ear. "We are all Seekers. Don't forget we have heightened senses, Blackthorn Leader."
Helios's face turns a deep shade of crimson from embarrassment. Realizing she heard every word he said about her, he quickly looked away.
"My, you look like someone I know... if only you had silver hair," the Matriarch says out loud, her voice carrying across the immediate circle.
The crowd begins to stare intently at Helios, whispering amongst themselves as the Matriarch walks away with a knowing smirk.
That old woman... did she just do that to put all the attention on me? Helios thinks bitterly.
The King ascends the stairs, followed by the Queen, as they move toward the two golden thrones.
"Let the party begin," the King declares, raising his wine glass while keeping his sharp eyes fixed on Helios.
Sensing an opening, several nobles gather the courage to approach.
"Greetings, Blackthorn Leader. My name is Viscount Brian; it is an honour to meet you," one noble says in a fawning, flattering tone.
"Greetings," Helios says, his voice icy and completely uninterested.
"I heard about all the great things you have done—securing the crown and creating a Seeker alliance with all twelve great Seeker organizations!" the nobles chirp, gathering closer like a swarm of flies.
One of the nobles asks, "What is the name of this organization?"
"We haven't come up with a name yet... but we might call it the Obsidian Court," Helios says. I just said a random thing, he thinks to himself, annoyed.
The nobles ignore his dismissive attitude and immediately start trying to force connections. They are too much. I feel like killing them all.
"You should really just think of killing everyone you know, that is the human way," Circlet's voice echoes mockingly in Helios's head.
"Shut up," Helios snaps in a cold voice. Some of the nobles flinch and stop talking, while others continue to chatter mindlessly.
"Leader, why don't we go and dance?" Sara suggests, gracefully putting her wine glass down and reaching for Helios's hand to lead him toward the floor.
"Thank you for taking me away from those idiots," Helios sighs as they find a space among the other couples.
"You're welcome, Leader," Sara says with a charming, radiant smile.
Helios feels his heart skip a beat and starts blushing. In his sharp red suit and Sara in her flowing, snow-white dress, they begin to move in sync with the music. As the orchestra plays a sweeping melody, the tension of the room fades away. Helios places a hand on her waist, and for a moment, the political schemes and mocking Seekers disappear, leaving only the rhythm of the dance and the warmth of Sara's hand in his.
As the orchestra swells into a sweeping waltz, the oppressive atmosphere of the ballroom finally begins to fade. Helios, still slightly flushed from bieng near Sara, he finds his rhythm as he rests a hesitant hand on Sara's waist. Her snow-white dress flares out like a winter rose against the dark fabric of his deep red suit, creating a striking contrast that draws the eyes of every noble in the room.
Sara moves with a fluid, predatory grace that reminds Helios she is a warrior first, yet in this moment, she is all elegant. She leans in slightly, her scent of mountain air and jasmine grounding him against the intrusive whispers of the crowd.
"You're a better dancer than I expected, Leader," she murmurs, a playful glint in her blue eyes that makes Helios blush even deeper.
"I'm just following your lead," he admits, his icy exterior melting under her steady gaze. For a few minutes, the political schemes of the Vaelthornes and the weight of the nobles are forgotten. In the centre of the gilded hall, surrounded by enemies and future allies alike, there is only the synchronized beat of their footsteps and the quiet, shared warmth between them.