Chapter 24
December - The Dark Elm Ball
Lilian did not often allow herself to enjoy luxuries. The closest she’d ever come to a vacation was her parents’ graduation gift of a four-day trip to Chicago, and even then, they’d stayed at a Holiday Inn.
The lack of monetary riches in her life was one of the reasons she was drawn to her books, where there were balls, billionaires, and exotic getaways. She’d always dreamed of being on the other side of the page, of getting a taste of that life.
The Dark Elm Ball was exactly that.
Nestled in the heart of Kansas City, the hotel’s exterior lights climbed high into the pitch-black sky. Inside, black and gold tiles swirled across the main lobby floor. The ceiling arched into a high dome; when one looked up, they were greeted by a painted sky of gold and pastel blue.
A grand Christmas tree stood at the center of the lobby, glittering with gold and silver ornaments.
A stark reminder that in only a few short days, the holidays would be upon them.
The large tree added to the evening’s ambience, forest-like foliage, both real and artificial, guided guests toward the ballroom.
A sea of lush dresses and dark cloaks filled the main entrance as people moved toward the celebration.
The queen had made the dress code very clear, the bigger and shinier the better.
There would be no peasant dresses tonight, and by the looks of things, everyone was more than happy to pull out all the stops to comply.
“This is so amazing. Just like prom, but with nerds and more booze!” Margo said, adjusting the cleavage of her flowing, pink and purple ombre dress. Along with her already pink hair, she looked like a literal fairy princess.
“I skipped my prom,” Lilian said following the crowd. Prom at a farm school meant getting together at someone’s house to party while eating Taco Bell. But this…
This was what all those teen movies promised. This was something she would have regretted missing. She squeezed Margo’s hand, silently thanking her.
As they moved out of the main atrium, servers with masks shaped like woodland creatures lined the hallway, each holding a silver tray of champagne flutes. Lilian took a glass and continued onward.
The hall stretched before them, growing darker with decorated tree branches that blocked any sign of the hotel’s modern architecture. Only sparkling fairy lights, hidden in the plants, guided their way.
“This is incredible,” she whispered.
“Well, the queen did build one of the best faires in the country. Clearly, she can throw a real rager when she puts her mind to it.”
A light peeked out between two curtains at the end of the hall, and Lilian could hear laughter and music filtering from behind it. Her heart hammered against her rib cage as they inched closer and closer. When they pushed the heavy drapery aside, she froze.
Lilian had been to other winter balls before. Usually, they were in the standard hotel ballroom. A simple affair with dining tables, a bar, and a dance floor.
But this was something else entirely.
A dark green carpet stretched out in front of them, golden threads woven through it, shimmering beneath the room’s two massive chandeliers. The ballroom was larger than any place she’d ever set foot into. Even with the crowd of people in billowing gowns, there was room to spare.
Real flower arrangements lined the carpet, guiding guests toward a massive dance floor that looked like polished marble.
Beyond it stood a stage with an entire set built across the length.
She recognized it as the throne room of The Great Elm, marked by the towering window that showcased the three factions: Talon, Claw, and Stingers.
An orchestra occupied the stage, their instruments filling the room with a hauntingly beautiful melody as dancers began to move.
Around them, guests wore masks representing their chosen faction.
Some donned bird masks, hooded with dark crow feathers or soft brown owl plumes.
There were even a few fluffy white doves mixed in.
Others wore the faces of the Great Oak’s Claw faction.
There were even a few representing the insect faction, donning menacing masks with mandibles and delicate wings.
Her eyes blurred, forcing her to blink until the heat of tears disappeared. “This is incredible.”
“Thanks.” Margo put her hands on her hips and grinned. “I put a lot of hard work into it. All the art staff did.”
“You?” Lilian turned to her friend, stunned. She’d always believed in her friend’s talent, but this was next level.
Margo winked. “Well, they needed a creative consultant. One who actually knows the books. And I do a lot of papier maché with the kids. I know what I'm doing.”
Laughter bubbled out as she gave Margo a tight, one-armed hug. “This is not paper mache. Margo… this is professional level stuff.”
For the first time, a blush of embarrassment creased the kindergarten teacher’s cheeks. “Well, it wasn’t all me. I had a group of talented people helping. And Janelle gave us a lot of creativity with an unlimited budget.”
Unlimited was right. Lilian knew the faire made good money; Hawk implied as much, and every year they made new additions in structures. But she’d never imagined anything like this. No wonder he had been stressed. If this was what Janelle was trying to execute, it must have cost an arm and a leg.
It crossed her mind that maybe the ball was too opulent, that maybe Marcus or Hawk were the voices of reason that held Janelle at bay.
But she shook it off as quickly as the thought appeared.
Janelle was her own woman and owned the faire as well.
If she wanted to spend money putting on a ball like this…
well, Lilian would not be the one to say no.
If Janelle hadn’t taken risks, she wouldn’t have created the Ren Faire.
“Guys! There you are!” Alex appeared at their side, looking even more stunning than usual.
Gone was the pirate coat and ruffles. Tonight she wore a black velvet gown that pleated down into an impressive heart shape around her breasts.
The top half of her face was hidden behind a white rabbit mask.
If Tabitha Nightingale had written a playboy bunny, Alex would have been the living, breathing, embodiment of it.
“You look amazing!” She grinned before pulling them both in for a hug.
“You, too!” Lilian laughed. “That dress…”
“Oh, this thing?” She twirled, and as the fabric swirled, small fragments winked like stars in the black velvet. “Borrowed it from the costume shop. Now where are your masks? Come over here, let’s complete the outfits. Talon or Claw?”
“Claw all the way. I like the cute little animals. But can I be like… a sexy squirrel?” Margo asked.
Lilian followed her friends through the grand space as Alex led the way. The dance floor was taken over as people swayed and twirled to the music, each lost in their own dance, but somehow the scene looked like something out of a fairy tale.
Along the walls were several bars and tall tables, each lined with animal masks.
Lilian took in the impressive craft of the masks, which had extensive details.
Fur lined the mouse and fox masks, while soft feathers of every color represented distinct birds from the Talon circle.
Margo grabbed a white squirrel mask, but Lilian hesitated.
“In the books, Penelope isn’t allowed to wear a mask. ”
“Ah, yes.” Alex nodded. “She’s tragically human.”
Lilian smiled. “And so am I.”
“There you are, Ms. Bodice!” A gruff voice called out.
She turned and found Russ coming her way. Dressed in a well-tailored suit with a curvy middle-aged woman on his arm. Neither wore masks, and Lilian eased at the sight.
“Russ, I wanted to thank you for lending me the dress.”
“It looks lovely.” He winked. “I’m glad we ran into you. Allow me to introduce my wife, Sheila.”
Sheila stepped forward in the most glamorous dress of the night.
Not a ballroom gown like the rest of the room.
But a well-sculpted red dress with gold embellishments on the front.
Spider legs wrapped around her middle, giving the appearance of a corset.
Behind her, large transparent wings encapsulated the woman.
Compared to Russ, she looked dangerous. A living, breathing embodiment of what made the insects so terrifying in the book.
But when she smiled, it was a round-cheeked friendly grin.
“Hello, Ms. Bodice, I’ve heard so much about you. ”
“You’re representing the Stingers tonight?”
“Oh yeah!” She turned, showing off the full extent of her gown.
“Russ made this for me last year, and I’ve been dying to wear it at something besides a convention.
Not that I don’t like getting dressed up for cons, but the floor is always so sticky.
Anyway, when Russ told me about the theme for the ball, I told him we were going. No argument.”
Russ grinned, his eyes locked on his wife in pure admiration. “I was happy to oblige. The two of you wearing my dresses is free marketing. I’ve already got a few commissions.”
“You know I would model for you, too!” Margo pouted.
His answer was swallowed with the sudden cease of music. They turned toward the front of the room, where Janelle was taking to the stage beside the orchestra. A hush fell over the room, and as one, the crowd moved forward, their attention focused on the queen of the faire.
On stage, Janelle’s forest-green forest dress dazzled. The woman no longer wore the layers of Tudor-styled fabric or the casual sweater Lilian recalled from the farmhouse. She looked like a queen in every way.
“Welcome, Heartland Ren Faire and honored guests to the Great Oak Ball!”
“I’m so glad you could all join us for this special night, where we recognize the hard work from the year. I’d also like to thank those who did not work at the faire and still joined us.”
Cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd.
Lilian let her gaze drift across the room.
Familiar faces surrounded her, but there were just as many strangers.
Margo had mentioned they’d opened the ball to the public for a fee.
Judging from the turnout, the ticket price hadn’t deterred the more rabid Raven King fans.
“My son and our team put a tremendous amount of time and effort into pulling this event together in a few short months. And it was turning out so great I wanted to share the magic of the faire with everyone. So for the first time, we’ve opened our winter ball to the public.”
At the mention of Hawk, something tightened in Lilian’s chest. Her eyes swept the edges of the stage, half expecting to see him managing things from the shadows.
He wasn’t there.
She thought she’d feel relief. Instead, icy disappointment wedged itself deep in her heart.
“Hawk’s not here?” she whispered to Alex.
The pirate queen raised a brow at her. “He usually doesn’t come to end of year balls,” she said matter of factly.
“Yeah, but this whole thing has him written all over it. And he’s not here?”
“I thought you didn’t want to see him,” Margo whispered, joining in the conversation.
Lilian gritted her teeth. “I don’t.”
Her friends shared a knowing look that instantly made her regret asking. She focused back on Janelle and did her best not to put any more concern into Hawk.
“I think he’s not here because he’s considering resigning,” Alex said.
The words stole the air from her lungs. Her eyes snapped back to Alex. “What?” It was meant to come out as a whisper, but the pitch in her voice definitely bordered on hysterical. Two people in front of her turned around, frowning in disapproval.
But Lilian didn’t care.
“Like, from the faire?”
Alex nodded, lips turned down in a frown. “He told me during clean up.”
“But that will leave Janelle all alone.”
“Yeah, when the news about the Reject Woods came out, he felt responsible for not realizing it sooner. He’s been pretty down on himself ever since.” Alex’s eyes slid to her, filling in the blanks that maybe it wasn’t just the faire that had him depressed.
Lilian swallowed hard.
On stage, Janelle was finishing up her thank you speech as a man dressed in all black, wearing a wolf mask, walked toward her. His leather boots jangled as he held out an envelope.
Hawk? Her heart shook with hope.
But the hair was too short and the jawline dark with a well-trimmed five o’clock shadow.
Next to her Alex tensed, sensing her nemesis’s appearance.
Logan.
He wasn’t wearing the normal low-cut pirate shirt. Instead he’d exchanged it for a more formal, black silk button-down. Two buttons were doing the work of six to get it closed, resulting in an impressively deep cut that showed a chest glistening with oil.
Lilian would have rolled her eyes if it wasn’t so, unapologetically Logan.
“Well,” Janelle concluded, “all that is to say thank you! Now let’s get on with our awards so we can party the rest of the night. Yeah?”
A whoop of agreement echoed through the room as Janelle took the creamy envelope that Logan offered her. “First up is the winner for best food stall!”
Logan disappeared stage left, where a heavy curtain hid the behind the scenes work of the organizers. Nearly every woman in the room followed his departure, but Lilian found herself straining to catch a glimpse of what was happening backstage.
It was dark, too dark to see anyone. But as the curtain pulled to the side, she caught sight of a large metal clipboard.
Her insides froze. He’s here.
Before she could even take a moment to determine if she was nervous or angry, Lilian was moving.
“Where are you going?” Margo whispered. “They might say your name soon.”
“I’m just going to check on something, real quick.” She didn’t look back and kept pushing toward the edge of the crowd, moving toward a small stairway that allowed access to the stage. As Janelle continued to speak, Lilian followed the wall curtain to a doorway and pushed her way backstage.
To Hawk.