Elinor stepped down from the carriage with the help of Azeph and looked at Stella who was waiting for her by the entrance of her house with two lines of servants and two other people she believed were the count and countess.She stepped forward Azeph and Will following behind her as Noah and Alan slowly got down from the carriage and made their way toward them at a much slower pace.“Your highness, it’s an honor to have you visit our humble home,” The count said bowing to Elinor followed by his wife and Stella.“Thank you very much for having us,” Elinor said with a cool smile.She still couldn’t know where the count stood when it comes to his political opinion. Officially he was a neutral, but sometimes that tends to be a trap. Either way, Elinor was there to support Stella. After her mother asked her to come here, Stella once again invited her saying that she really wanted her to come to the ball.After a few moments of pleasantries, Elinor asked her host to excuse her so that she c

“Elin! Come over here!” Will called out to her as he dismounted from his horse and made his way toward her. She walked toward him nodding to her accompanying knight to stay away from her for now. “How was your tour?” She asked “Wonderful, the scenery here is amazing and the horses are well trained and kept. The count has great pride in his territory and horses. And with good reason too,” He told her with a fresh smile seeming to have enjoyed himself a lot. “I heard Stella is a wonderful rider. You should challenge her into a race sometime,” Elinor said and he grinned at her. “I’m not sure it’s safe to race her. If I lose there’s a possibility that she’s going to make me into her slave for the rest of our school years,” He said “Then don’t bet with her,” Elinor said with a laugh. “Nah, I prefer my quiet safe life over poking the dangerous bear,” He said with a shrug making Elinor laugh more. Will didn’t really fear Stella but he always acted as if she was the woman he was scare

As Will had said, Elinor realized how special Azeph had been treating her since the first day they met. Her heart squeezed as she remembered when he took her on a tour around the school attentively showing her everything as he engaged her in conversation. Back then he had even realized that she didn’t have a sense of direction. Then how he had helped her calm down on her first episode. How he followed her to Oreland when he suspected that she was going to do something dangerous. And then how he waited for her and told her that he would wait for her no matter what. Whenever she remembered that. Elinor had one though, she wanted to see him. She wanted to see Azeph and that need was tearing through her as if she was gasping for air. Stepping into the terrace, she finally found him there standing and watching the sunset as the breeze blew through his hair making his golden locks look like part of the color of the sky as he tilted his head back to look up. “Azeph,” She whispered and he

Azeph stood by the window watching the ball unfold beneath them noting a few of his acquaintances and noting the one that he should absolutely greet.“Bit Louis, marriage for such political reasons can only lead to ruin. Stella is such a wonderful person and she has a bright future too,” Noah protested and Azeph wanted to smile at Louis’ expecences but preferred not to raise another bickering with the man.He already had enough on his plate with Stella and Noah. Even Elin was giving him a break when she realized that.“I didn’t say that I would be standing in the way of her future, Noah. Marriage is a natural thing for us and this is not very unusual,” Louis said.“Marriage is a union between two people who care about each other. Stella is such a good person, I don’t want you to end up hurting her,” He said stubbornly and Azeph turned around to soo Louis’ face.Louis had a weakness for two people, Noah and Elinor. They were the only two people he could never cross or treat harshly. Fo

Elinor held her breath as her cousin and her friend stood among their guests holding their attention as the count stood in front of the guests waiting for them to settle before he began to speak. Elinor looked around the room looking for any sign of danger her eyes falling on her father who was twirling his glass of champagne around holding it with his fingers as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. “You seem agitated, Elin,” Her father stated and Elinor almost jumped at his voice. “I seem to have forgotten my clutch back in my room,” She answered, “Well it’s too late to go back and get it now,” He said, “You will have to wait until they finish their announcement,” Elinor nodded and looked at Azeph who looked at her with concern. They didn’t know if her father was going to do something now or after the announcement. She was pretty sure that he WAS going to do something but she couldn’t figure it out. There was no sign of a sniper or anyone like that. And everyone a