Larger platforms with stone railings hewn from the gray rock were set at even intervals between the stairs. The seats belowwere already filled in, as were several other platforms. Raphael led me to one off to the right, with a couch set near the front to better see.
A rather narrow couch.
The three moons hung overhead, the low hum of chatter following us as we made our way to the balcony.
I took a seat, as far into the corner as I could manage without seeming childish.
Raphael said nothing as he took his seat in the empty space next to me. He didn’t presume to usurp two-thirds of the couch the way some males might, but…
It was a very narrow couch.
Raphael managed to seem completely oblivious to the audience members who were twisted in their seats, trying to look at us. I would have lied and told myself it was only curiosity about a foreign king, but there was no mistaking that several of the looks were directed at me.
The first human Raphael had turned in centuries.
Even the other balconies, no doubt holding dignitaries of high status, or at least other nobles in the city, were twisting their necks to get a peek at the foreign king’s new fledgling.
Larissa and Demos stood at our back. I felt bad they would be forced to be there for however long we were here. But, well, if I was given the choice between standing anonymously in the back or sitting in a plush seat with a hundred eyes on me, I’d embrace an aching lower back in a heartbeat.
A long low note pierced the echoing din. It reverberated, chasing all the chatter to no more than a whisper.
“How does it sound like that?” The question was more to myself than Raphael, but he answered anyway.
“The acoustics. Limanos is famous for this theater. They say if an actor stands in the right spot and whispers, it can be heard in the farthest box, even with mortal hearing.”
Fascinating. “Is it enchanted?” I didn’t sense the threads of magic in the stone.
“No magic unless you count arithmetic. Which, I suppose, a cunning philosopher could argue is its own kind of power.”
I kept my scoff quiet. “The philosopher must be a void.” The only magic that counted was what could be trapped in cards.
“Like you?” Raphael asked.
For a split second, I froze, unsure how to weave around this. I was spared trying to navigate through that question as applause exploded in the theater, ricocheting through the amphitheater as the performers took the stage.
All Raphael had told me was that I would enjoy it.
Eighteen took the stage, a mix of humans, vampires, and creatures I couldn’t confidently name. Seventeen of them carried instruments, ranging from a small silver flute to a double bass as tall as the spiky-haired fae. Someone came from the side and took a black cloth from the center instrument—a piano. The one who held nothing, a male with long spindly fingers, took his seat at the bench.
Someone emerged from the front, a final member of the troupe, with a long thin wand.
I studied their faces. Some of them—the woman with the flute, the man with the harp—looked familiar.
The conductor dipped his baton; they began to play, and a new world emerged in front of me. The performance began subtly, low tones interspersed with bright chimes form the upper ranges of the violin or the flute. Then, the disparate pierces began to swirl together. It was no longer so easy to hear where one note ended and the next began, the pieces moving in glorious synchronicity to weave a wordless story.
I leaned forward, etiquette be damned. A proper lady should seem appreciative but restrained. That went for anything, from a forward noble to a basket of baby chimeras, or a new toy, asmy mother had explained when I’d been too eager to open a rare gift.
But I couldn’t find any restraint in me, not as the pieces built and swelled to a crescendo ten minutes in the making. The movement ended, and the theater burst into a round of applause once more. I joined in.
Raphael did not. I glanced at him, surprised.
His eyes were shut.
How could he possibly be sleeping through this?
As the notes of the next piece began to stir, Raphael’s heels kicked out slightly, one over the other.
I elbowed him in the side. Discreetly.
