His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 87

“That’s good, move it along.” Raena nodded to the attendants as they waited in line for her to approve the appetizers before sending them out to the quests. She dusted her hands, ignoring the looks the cooks and their assistants gave her when they thought she wasn’t looking. Picking up the skirts of her gown, she stepped out of the way, checking each face as they moved past her.

After she had arrived early and had mingled for a few minutes into the banquet hall, she had slipped into the kitchen and announced she’d be tasting and checking everything that was going out of it. She had to admit that some of her people were cracking under the pressure and the end result was not as good as she knew they could make it, but currently, that was the least of her worries.

It had been over an hour since she had shown up in the kitchen, but nothing unusual had happened. She hadn’t heard of any problems in the hall either, just attendants complaining of this or that noble’s attitude.

“Um, Madam Lydia?” One of her managers, Jaehe, appeared behind her and she jumped. She hadn’t heard or seen him approach and being on edge this whole time, it didn’t take much to spook her. “l apologize. May I suggest you go and enjoy the ball? You’re dressed so beautifully and it’s a shame to spend the night here. I promise everything will be alright. “I’ll taste every plate if necessary, nothing will be below expectations.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Jaene, it’s just..” Raena sighed, trying to put her jumbled thoughts into words. This was her role in the plan, and she couldn’t mess it up.

Raena caught sight of an attendant with long blonde hair heading towards the door and called for them to stop just as Jaehe was saying something. The attendant didn’t stop, nor turned, just continued on as if she hadn’t heard her. Jaene cleared his throat.

“Fine, I’m going” Raena sighed, glancing towards the door where the attendant had disappeared. “Please keep your eyes open for anything suspicious and report to me immediately if you notice something.”

“Yes, yes.” Jaehe nodded impatiently, ushering her towards the door. “Have a good time and represent us well, Madam.”

Raena pushed the doors open, stepping into the corridor the attendants used to reach the banquet hall. A few of them passed her on their way back to the kitchens, some bowing their heads, others just averting their eyes.

She had done what she could. The food and the drinks were not poisoned and she had checked almost every attendant that was working tonight – as long as they had passed through the kitchen. She had not seen anyone even remotely resembling Zen, Elene, or Davin. If they were here and dressed as servants – or somehow, if they got in as guests, they would be in the hall. So it was time to join the show.

Raena stopped in front of one of the doors leading to the banquet hall, sleeking her hair and making sure her veil was in place before stepping in. It was strange, wearing the veil, when so many people knew her secret now, but it kind of gave her confidence too, like she was wearing a shield. She would have preferred an actual shield tonight, but that would have been awkward and kind of obvious.

She stopped a few steps into the hall, looking around for familiar faces. Her fame still garnered her a lot of attention, but without Marden, she was a bit lost since ‘madam Lydia’ was still a commoner who was only invited to such an auspicious event thanks to the Empress’s grace. If anyone asked the nobles in that room, her place was in the kitchen supervising her work, not mingling with the upper class.

“Are you lost?” A low voice whispered in her ear and Raena jumped, turning around in panic. Her eyes landed on Kassian and relief swept through her body. “Are you alright? You look pale.”

“That’s because you just scared the sh!t out of me,” Raena said through gritted teeth. Kassian raised an eyebrow, probably surprised by the coarse language, and she quickly looked around, making sure nobody else heard her. “Don’t sneak on me again. My heart can’t take it tonight.”

She noticed he was smiling and staring at her, almost as if he didn’t hear her. “What?”

“Sorry, I am imagining kissing you right?” He said unexpectedly and Raena laughed before she could stop herself. “Unfortunately, I can’t do it until this is over and it has been over a week since I last saw you.” He tore his eyes away from her, locking them on the people filling the hall that talked in groups, danced, or downed the champagne like it was water. “Were there any problems at.. home?”

“No.” She said quickly. “I mostly did paperwork, so there was no need to meet with Zen. And Elene was quiet and cold as usual.” She glanced at Kassian, only to replace his face stiff and jaw tight with annoyance. “What? Did you see something?”

She tried to follow his gaze, but he had – already turned his eyes to her.

“I don’t like how you say his name with such familiarity.” He said in a low, strained voice.

I’ve spent months wondering if there was anything going on between you two just because of this familiarity. All that touching, the smiles, the way you called his name and dragged him anywhere with you…”

“Well, what else should I call him if not his name?” Raena laughed. “At least I didn’t give him an endearing name. Do you want me to give you one? Dear? Darling? Love? Sweetheart? Baby?”

“Why would I want you to call me a baby?” Kassian frowned.

Raena was just about to say it was a joke when a loud crash made them both turn, searching the hall for the source of the noise. When her eyes landed on one of the nobles lying on the ground, her heart skipped a beat in panic, but then the man sat up abruptly, pushing the hands of the people trying to help him. He stumbled to his feet by himself, straightening his clothes and raising his chin as if nothing had happened. A few seconds later, he swayed again, and another man caught him, throwing his hand over his shoulder to keep him upright.

“Id!ot” Kassian muttered, his posture relaxing. He pulled his hand away from his sword, looking at the rest of the hall. “Some people just don’t know how to pace themselves.”

An attendant stopped in front of them with a tray full of champagne glasses, but Raena just waved him away. Her eyes returned to the crowd, gliding over the people laughing or talking in loud voices, over to the dancers swaying in the rhythm of the music – or rather out of it – and to the rest of the guests nursing their glasses or devouring the food. She had been to only one party in the Imperial Palace before, but this one felt different.

Something felt… off.

She looked at the soldiers that were standing still by the open doors leading in and out of the hall, but all of them seemed perfectly focused on their task, watching the guests and looking intimidating. The attendants didn’t stand out either, everyone moving quietly with a tray in hand that barely tilted as someone reached out to grab a glass or a plate.

Another crash followed, even louder this time, and Raena’s heart did a flip as she searched for the culprit again. To her surprise, it wasn’t another guest that had overdone it with the drinking this early, but one of the attendants – a tall, burly man with short black hair and dark complexion. He had fallen on the ground, his tray and everything on it shattering around him. He got on his knees but he was swaying so much, every time he tried to get up, he fell. Two of the guards left their posts by the door and strode to him, grabbing him under the armpits and dragging him out. Just as they passed by Raena and Kassian, she recognized the face of the attendant – she remembered him because earlier he had grumbled loudly about how nobody would dare poison the food and drinks tonight of all nights she had made him drink a whole glass of champagne just so they were sure there was no poison in it.

“Kassi…” she started, turning towards him just to notice him pinching the bridge of his nose and frowning. “Are you alright?” She asked, stepping towards him and catching his face, and forcing him to look at her. His face looked normal – from his freshly shaven cheeks to the pronoun cheekbones and clean, warm skin. “What is wrong?

He looked down at her, blinking a few times.

“Nothing. I just felt dizzy for a moment.” He said with a frown. “Maybe I should have eaten earlier, but there was too much to do. And now is not exactly the time to stuff my face with food.”

“Did you drink?” She asked, forcing his face back down towards her when he tried to look around. “Did you drink the champagne?”

“No.” He frowned. “Wait, I drank one glass earlier when I came. Everybody kept raising toasts so it couldn’t be avoided. But l am not lightweight, one glass can’t make me dizzy.”

Raena let go of him and strode to the nearest attendant, grabbing one of the glasses from his tray. He glanced at her with surprise, but quickly composed himself, bowing slightly. Raena raised the glass to her lips, taking a small sip. By the time she swallowed, Kassian was by her side.

“What was that about?” He frowned.

“There is something in the champagne,” Raena whispered, staring at the bubbly glass in her fingers. The liquid looked perfectly normal, and it tasted mostly the same, but she could not mistake the taste of the alcohol her own restaurant had been serving for so long. And this drink was different – it had a sweeter undertone, but as the taste lingered in the mouth it became bitter, almost making you want to wash it down with some more of that delicious sweetness. “It’s not poison, but there is something inside.” She added, looking at Kassian. “That servant just now – he was fine half hour ago when I made him drink a whole glass since he was being a smartass. And look at them,” she continued, glancing around, “don’t they all look a bit too tipsy this early in the evening? There is nothing that special happening yet they are having so much fun.” Raena glanced back at the drink then and put it back on the tray. “Like they are… high.”

“High?” Kassian frowned in confusion.

“Kassian, do you see anything strange?” She asked carefully.

“No, it’s just the spinning.” He said with a sigh, squinting his eyes. “But that might be because of your dress. It’s too bright.” Raena’s b***d ran cold as she looked down at her gown, then back up to him.

“Kassian, my dress is black.” She said, holding his gaze. He blinked in confusion. “I think you’ve been drugged. And so are most of the people in here. It had to be the drinks since I ate lot of the food and I am fine. Where is Gerrin? He is here, isn’t he? He is on duty, so he shouldn’t have drunk anything.” She looked around, her uneasiness growing as she noticed more and more people swaying or sitting on the ground and laughing. The music had grown louder so the cacophony was drowned in its sounds, but the whole banquet room looked like some distorted picture of people having a good time right before chaos ensued. “Stay here, I’m going to go replace Gerrin and Blaine. Don’t drink anything else.”

“No,” Kassian said, grabbing her hand. “We don’t know what might happen. I am not letting you out of my sight.”

“What if somebody attacks and you can’t protect me because it’s too bright, him?” Raena tried to reason since the hold on her wrist was so strong, she was more likely to break her hand again than to pull it free. “Don’t you want Gerrin to have your back and to help you protect me? I’m just going to replace him and come back to you. Look, nothing has happened yet, so we have time. I’ll be really quick.”

Hesitation appeared on Kassian’s face, but in the end he let go of her hand, squinting his eyes as if still blinded by her dress. He rubbed his forehead as if to deal with the dizziness, his body tensing.

“Hurry back up.” He murmured, putting his hand on the sword’s hilt and looking around as if to make sure there was no danger nearby. Raena did the same, taking a deep breath before venturing into the crowd. Her eyes kept checking on the guards that were positioned around the room – she noticed their expressions too, most were trying to hide it but they must have noticed the change in the mood in the room. Tension gripped their shoulders and their eyes kept darting left and right, but nobody moved from their posts.

Raena slowed down as a group of men fell in front of her, clinging to each other and wrestling for something. It took her a second to realize one them was holding a smoking pipe and everyone else was trying to get to it like a bunch of children fighting for a toy.

She circled them quickly, but she had barely taken two steps when her eyes caught the side of a figure dressed in black from head to toe, just as they were slowly stepping through the crowd. Nobody seemed to pay them attention, and the ones that looked at them quickly lost interest.

At first, she thought it was another attendant in their official black attire, but this person didn’t have the empire’s emblem embroidered in gold on their clothes and they were wearing a mask, too.

Raena locked her gaze on the face of the dark figure – it was mostly covered, save for the stormy gray eyes that stared at her with growing a mix of exasperation and amusement. Raena stopped in her tracks, her breath catching in her throat. No matter how he dressed and what he hid, she could recognize those eyes anywhere.

“Zen.” She gasped. Small wrinkles appeared around his eyes as if he had smiled, and a second later, he raised his hand and pulled his mask back, exposing his familiar face and silver hair.

Raena glanced at the guards, but none of them seemed to be looking in their direction. In fact, none of them seemed to know where to look, with all the shouts and laughter and loud voices coming from everywhere.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Zen said, taking a step towards her. “May I have your first dance?”

As if provoked by his words, the music suddenly cut off and somebody screamed – a long pained shout that made everybody freeze. A second later, the doors started slamming shut one by one, like a drum announcing the beginning of a march.

The sound of glass shattering echoed through the hall and several of the wall-high windows crumbled, showering everyone underneath in glass shards. The evening wind swept into the room, sniffing out the candles from the chandeliers hanging overhead.

Raena looked back at where Zen was standing, only to replace the place empty, with people running aimlessly in search of safety. She could hear the guards shouting for everything to stay calm, but that only seem to provoke more screams and shouting.

Raena cursed under her breath, picking up her skirts and preparing to run. She had to get back to Kassian, even if he was affected by the drug, he could still fight. And she had to tell him Zen was here.

She had barely turned when she ran into someone and almost fell back. They caught her by the elbows, fingers digging into her skin painfully.

She looked up, preparing to tell them to let go, but the words died down as she stared at Zen’s face inches away from her.

“Time to go, love. You don’t want to see what’s going to happen next.” He whispered, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.