Chapter 15 The Proposal #3
When Elias appeared with Celise at the bottom of the staircase, several people gasped and pointed. Katrina turned to look down at them. Celise watched her little sister’s face grow pale and her violet eyes widen. At first she looked horrified and confused. Then she quickly recovered.
“Celise!” she gasped. “My dear sister! You’re alive!”
“I am,” Celise intoned.
Katrina pointed a gloved hand at her. “But . . . but it was so courageous of you, how you sacrificed yourself for my safety! You drew the monster away and gave me a chance to escape. I was just telling everyone . . .”
“I thought you said the monster ate your sister?” a young man asked by Katrina’s elbow.
“Well, I thought so!” Katrina said defensively. “I thought I saw the beast eat her!”
“Then she saved your life?” another man asked.
“How heroic!” a young lady chimed in. Then, with some irony, “My sister wouldn’t do that for me, I guarantee it!”
Katrina looked furious as more and more guests took notice of Celise. Murmurs and questions began to spread through the crowd. Celise felt uncomfortable, but all she could do was glare at Katrina in disgust.
“Is that true?” Elias murmured into Celise’s ear. “Did you draw the daemon away from your sister?”
“Yes, I suppose I did,” Celise said, distracted. “But it wasn’t half as noble as all that. I didn’t have much of a choice.”
Elias glanced between the two women with a discerning frown. More guests arrived on the balcony to look down the staircase at them.
“Who’s that? A soldier?” someone called.
“Why, that’s High Commander Elias Blackwood,” another voice answered.
The gossip started up again.
“But how did he get into the gardens? He was just at the ball!”
“I thought he was dancing with Ambrosia?”
“Who was that man wearing the mask, then?”
Celise watched Old Blackwood, his steward, and the rest of her family—Lord Sebastian Dhastel, Marcella and Heather—break through the sea of guests.
Marcella gripped Katrina’s arm as she passed by and forcefully escorted her daughter down the stairs.
The group traversed the steps and stopped a short distance away, staring at Celise in Elias’s arms, looking shocked.
Celise waited for Elias to set her down, but still, he refused.
“You’re Lord Elias Blackwood?” Katrina demanded.
“I am.”
Her red lips parted. "Then who was I dancing with?"
Elias didn’t answer but gave a subtle nod to someone on the terrace. Celise’s eyes spotted a masked man hanging back near the ballroom doors. As she watched, he slipped over the side of the balustrade with an elegant leap and disappeared into the shadows at the side of the building.
The imposter duke was gone.
Old Blackwood pounded the flagstone with his cane, drawing their attention. "Never mind the ball! What’s all this about a creature in the gardens?”
“There was a daemon, Father,” Elias confirmed. “I’ve dealt with it, but there might be more. We should alert the guards posted around the grounds, and I will gather Kiran and his soldiers from the south wing."
“How did it get in? Where did it come from?” The old lord blustered.
“Questions for another time. Let's move the guests inside. I will go and assemble a patrol.”
“But it’s almost midnight! You can’t leave now.”
Elias finally placed Celise on her feet. Marcella made a grab for her arm, a snarl on her tight lips, but the High Commander shot the woman a stern look. The duke pulled Celise a step closer to his side as though to protect her. His hand remained firm on her wrist.
“You’re right, Father, it’s almost midnight, but we found a daemon loose on the grounds, and there are likely more wandering about,” Elias said to Old Blackwood. “What would you have me do?”
“Your duty to the crown,” the old duke intoned.
Elias gazed at his father’s furrowed brow, then at the Dhastel family, then down at Celise. She tugged on her wrist, alarmed that he hadn’t released her yet and no one seemed to care. Why wouldn’t he let her go?
Then Elias turned back to the ballroom. Taking control of the situation, he raised his left hand, the one not wrapped around Celise’s wrist, and channeled enough mana to make his arm glow like a beacon.
As his mana activated, Celise felt a shiver run down her arm.
The air around him crackled with electricity.
“Everyone, please go back inside. For your safety, let’s continue our celebration in the ballroom. I don’t want anyone wandering the grounds. The maze is off limits. If you notice someone missing, please report it to a servant, and we will search them out.”
The gathered guests on the landing began slowly and turbulently making their way back into the grand ballroom. The Dhastel family joined the rain-drenched crowd. Old Blackwood remained next to Elias in the rear, herding the guests along while also keeping a firm watch over his son.
“Enough gallivanting around!” Old Blackwood declared. “Midnight is almost upon us, and I’ve made our guests a promise. Before this wild goose hunt takes off, my boy, you have an announcement to make. Since you’re here now, and the dance has ended, you must choose your bride!"
The guests, who were all funneling back into the ballroom, glanced back at Cornelius Blackwood and then began muttering among themselves.
“You heard me!” the old duke roared. “Let everyone know to gather at the front of the ballroom for a special announcement. Dust or daemons, tonight my son will choose his bride!”
Excited murmurs spread through the gathered guests.
As Elias entered the ballroom, the finely dressed ladies and gentlemen all assembled at the front of the room, beneath the podium, waiting for his announcement.
Celise saw Ambrosia Verabon and her entourage all gathered around the cake table.
The ladies looked up in awe as she and Elias walked by.
Their eyes flicked up to Elias’s face—without the mask.
She saw many of them grow pale. Several turned away and raised their fans, unable to look at his scars.
Celise wondered if the young ladies realized they had danced with an imposter. Would they be able to reconcile the charismatic Elias with this brooding, tempestuous man by her side?
She darted a glance at the soldier next to her.
Before the scars, she imagined he was the kind of man who could make any woman blush, just like his doppelganger on the dance floor.
He had a classically handsome face: dark features, silken hair, angular cheekbones, and a masculine jaw.
She could picture him standing in a soiree surrounded by flirtatious young ladies, just as his imposter had done all evening.
But that wasn’t the man who walked next to her now.
With his grim visage, it was hard to imagine Elias entertaining, let alone flirting with, his guests.
He led her through the ballroom at a determined pace, her steps two to his stride.
She tried not to look like he was dragging her, but with her hair frazzled and ruined by rain, her dress ripped, and her bodice stained with daemon blood, it all looked a tad barbaric.
The musicians were quiet. The gas lamp chandeliers sparkled overhead. The perfumed air was thick with tension.
Elias climbed the steps of the dais up to the podium, which stood near the stage where the musicians were gathered.
Celise followed him up, her shoulders trembling.
From above, the gala’s guests all looked like a field of flowers.
Throughout the room, elegantly dressed women spread out in a rainbow of color.
She didn’t miss the handful of reporters and photographers setting up a wooden collodion camera on a rickety tripod to one side of the podium.
Two reporters were taking frantic notes on little pads of paper.
Representatives from several newspapers were in attendance, though how Celise had missed that before, she didn’t know.
She clutched the Starlight Dahlia to her breast like a shield. Her heart raced as she gazed out over the assembly. Hundreds of eyes looked up at her. She had never been more scared in her life.
A quiet hush fell over the room, punctuated by the pouring rain against the tall windows.
Celise glanced at Elias’s scarred face, just to find him gazing down at her. His gray eyes pierced her own. Then he turned to the crowd.
"You were promised an engagement, so I will announce one," he said clearly. "I give you Lady Celise Dhastel, daughter of Lord Sebastian Dhastel of Windhaven Ranch.”
Gasps rippled through the ocean of silk and lace.
“Let the Mother of Dust and Moon bear witness to my words—I let no act of courage go unrewarded. Celise Dhastel stood her ground against a daemon tonight—no easy feat for a young lady. That’s when I saw her heart.
Although she is small in stature, she is mighty in spirit: a woman of strength, fortitude, and striking intelligence.
My lady," Elias took her hand and spun her about as though she were on the ballroom floor.
When he finished, they were face-to-face, only a few inches apart.
Then he sank elegantly to one knee. His hand never left her own.
“Before the stars, by dust and by death—I choose you. Will you make your vows before Mother Valestra and join my side as the future duchess of Gravenmere?”
Celise’s jaw dropped open. How did such beautiful words spill from such a hardened, unforgiving mouth? She couldn’t speak. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
Elias stood up. He twirled her around again, then dipped her in his arms. He planted a chaste kiss on her lips. The crowd gasped and sighed.
When Elias straightened, he held up their joined hands before the assembled guests.
The ladies cheered, and the men roared their approval.
The cameras flashed and whirred in the front row.
Then, at a signal from Old Blackwood, the Plum Dahlia Quartet staggered into a victorious ballad.
The whimsical strains of a violin filled the dance hall.
The guests all looked pleased and excited and turned to each other to talk about the production.
Celise was stunned.
She hadn’t said “yes.” She hadn’t said anything at all.
What’s happening? Am I . . . am I engaged to the duke?
Elias placed her hand on his forearm, and she started down the podium. Celise allowed herself to be led because she didn’t know what else to do. She was quite overwhelmed.
This can’t be right, she thought, her head spinning.
Memories of Mordwen’s fortune-telling came to the surface.
No, this is Katrina’s fate, not my own! What about Valestra’s wand and the Abyssal Rose?
Wasn’t Katrina supposed to marry the Mad Dog?
At least, that was the story her younger sister had written for herself.
The Teacup Tournament was a promising sign—a gold medalist fencing star seemed like the perfect match for the Hero of the Realm.
This night couldn’t be any more surreal, she thought.
As they passed through the ballroom, the crowd parted before them. Celise was shocked by the number of smiling ladies who waved at her. “Congratulations! Congratulations, young lady!”
Elias leaned down to murmur into her ear, “Breathe.”
She sucked in a breath, realizing she hadn’t taken one in what felt like minutes.
“At least try to look happy,” he whispered
Celise straightened up a notch and forced a smile on her face. She waved back to the crowd. She tried to ignore the little strains of gossip that floated about in every direction.
“Who is she? I’ve never seen her before.”
“I wonder what The Lady’s Letter will say about this?”
“Just look at her ruined dress. How awful!”
“Another fiancée for the Mad Dog duke?”
“Do you think the daemon was a farce? It seems a bit staged.”
The reporters scratched down quick notes.
Several of them followed on Celise’s heels, hailing down the new couple, a hundred questions spilling from their lips, echoing the gossip already spreading through the ballroom.
Elias kept a firm hold on her hand and moved swiftly across the floor, taking advantage of the brief pause after his speech.
He seemed bent on making a swift exit before any more guests could approach him.
Celise passed by her father, who stood with Old Blackwood near the ballroom’s exit to the rear gardens.
Her father’s face was flushed with happiness, and his eyes were brimming with tears.
Celise didn’t think the happiness was for her future—more likely for the business contracts he would acquire through his connection to the Blackwoods.
The rest of the Dhastel family gathered at a table nearby. Heather was eating a piece of cake. Marcella was swooning against Lady Estoria’s shoulder while the old duchess fanned her face. Katrina looked angry enough to commit murder.
As Elias and Celise exited the ballroom, the bells of Gravenmere Castle struck twelve. It was perfectly midnight, the hour of fate and prophecy.
The engagement was sealed.