But by grabbing her by the upper arm, he guided her through the crowd, searching for Ivar among the revelers. There were too many people. Their masks blurred together into an amorphous mass. Snaking their way through the crowd, he kept glancing over his shoulder, waiting for a scream, or worse, the guards to come and arrest him.
Then two men stepped in his way: one he recognized as the magenta lord he’d rescued the redhead from, but the other he didn’t know. Erich attempted to navigate himself and Greta around them, but they stepped in his way once more.
“And who’s this? I find you with another woman already?” The magenta tsked.
“What is he talking about?” Greta asked with confusion.
“Go and find your father; tell him we must leave right away.”
Greta’s brows furrowed as she glanced between Erich and the two men.
“Yes, run along, girl. We need to have a chat with our friend here,” the man in the starry mask said, with a cold sneer.
Taking the hint, Greta scurried away, leaving him alone with the two men. He hadn’t anticipated the magenta lord returning with backup, but he wasn’t afraid of them. Erich’s eyes flicked past them to the dance floor, where the empress and her consort were still twirling about without a care in the world. What was Fritz doing…
“I’ve been asking around, and no one seems to know who you are.” Star-mask sneered.
“Isn’t that the point of a masquerade: anonymity?”
A hand grasped his shoulder, and Erich pivoted, hands up and ready to fight, but he held back just in case.
“Let’s talk, shall we?”
Then, grabbing him by the elbow, the lord escorted Erich out into the hall. He calculated knocking them both down and making a run for it. As far as he could tell, they weren’t with the Midnight Guard, but if he fought them, it would alert the guards. Better to play along until an opportunity to escape presented itself.
“You had something to say?” Erich crossed his arms and squared his stance.
There was no one in the hall but the three of them, and he scanned it for exits; the best way out was behind them.
“Duke Licht informs me you’re Princess Liane’s suitor. I wasn’t aware she was being courted,” Star-mask said.
Princess? Trinity help him; of course it’d be a princess he crossed paths with.
“And you are?” Erich gestured toward him.
“You’ve an ill manner of speaking that displeases me. You are clearly a foreigner to not recognize your future emperor.”
“Emperor consort.”
“Pardon?”
“You wouldn’t be the emperor. I may be a foreigner, but I know that Princess Aristea is the future empress, and you must be her consort.”
Ivar warned him to stay away, but trouble had a way of finding him, it seemed.
Prince Consort Heinrich cleared his throat. “Enough. I order you to reveal yourself.” Spoken in a tone that was not accustomed to disobedience.
“I’d rather not.” Erich backed up a step, a cold chill swept over him, and the hairs on his arms stood on end.
Though it was faint, he felt a twinge of magic in the air. Had Fritz made his move? If so, the entire palace was about to erupt into chaos, and he’d rather not be here when it happened.
“Remove that mask, or I will remove it for you.” Heinrich seethed, and as he jabbed a finger into Erich’s chest, he smelled his sickly-sweet breath.
Erich took another step back, but the magenta lord got behind him and grasped onto his shoulders, holding him as Prince Consort Heinrich inched closer to tear the mask from his face. Erich clenched a fist, ready to swing, when a guard stepped out into the hallway, and he hesitated. They looked both ways, noticed the three of them, and strode over. His entire body tensed; Erich prepared to run, but the guard did not glance at him for more than a second before addressing Heinrich.
“Your majesty,” the guard said.
“What is it?” Heinrich asked, with an impatient scowl as he lowered his hand to his side.
