Chapter 156: The Birthday Banquet (III)
{Third Person}
As the evening progressed, the atmosphere inside the banquet hall gradually relaxed.
The formal speeches had concluded, the initial courtesies had been observed, and guests were now free to leave their tables and mingle.
Conversations sprang up throughout the hall as nobles, ministers, and foreign guests moved between groups, taking advantage of the opportunity to socialize.
For the first time since arriving, Amara found herself able to properly look around the room.
Almost immediately, her eyes landed on three familiar figures standing together near one of the large windows overlooking the palace gardens.
Hazel, Rachel, and Davina.
Finally, their eyes met, and they simply stared at one another from across the hall.
A sudden lump formed in Amara’s throat. It had been months since she had heard their voices without the distance of letters separating them.
The urge to abandon all decorum and run over to them was almost overwhelming, but she restrained herself because of the hundreds of eyes watching, and she could not forget her position.
Instead, she simply smiled.
The reaction was immediate. Rachel pressed a hand over her mouth while Davina looked as though she could not decide whether to laugh or cry. Hazel’s expression softened visibly as relief washed across her face.
A few minutes later, after the guests had spread out further throughout the hall, the three girls finally approached. They stopped before Amara and offered proper curtsies.
"Lady Amara."
The formal greeting lasted all of three seconds. Then Rachel leaned forward slightly and whispered, "You look ridiculously beautiful."
Amara laughed before she could stop herself.
Davina immediately pointed at her. "See? She’s still the same."
"Of course she’s the same," Hazel replied, although her eyes never left Amara’s face.
She seemed to be reassuring herself that Amara was truly standing before them and not merely existing in letters and memories.
"We missed you," Hazel quietly said.
The simple words carried more weight than anything else she could have said.
Amara felt her chest tighten. "I missed you too."
Davina immediately folded her arms. "Do you know how many times Rachel cried while you were gone?"
Rachel gasped in outrage. "I did not."
"You absolutely did."
"I was emotional."
"You were dramatic."
Hazel sighed heavily. "You were both dramatic."
Amara laughed again, and just like that, the awkwardness disappeared.
The conversation flowed naturally afterwards as they spoke about home, mutual acquaintances, the journey to the Werewolf Kingdom, and countless small things that would have seemed insignificant to anyone else.
Several times, Amara caught herself smiling so much that her cheeks began to hurt.
Not far away, Torin found himself looking in their direction far more often than he intended. Every time he forced himself to focus elsewhere, his attention inevitably drifted back toward Amara.
He watched her laugh with her friends, smile freely, and carry herself with a confidence he did not remember seeing before. She looked happier than he expected. Far happier.
The realization settled uncomfortably in his chest.
No matter how hard he tried to focus on the conversations around him, his eyes kept returning to her.
Unfortunately, someone noticed.
Lila.
By the third time she caught him looking, irritation had already begun building inside her. By the fifth, it was becoming difficult to hide.
Following his gaze, she immediately found Amara standing with her friends, laughing and receiving attention from everyone around her.
The sight alone irritated her, but what annoyed her even more was how naturally Amara seemed to fit into her surroundings.
Nothing about her suggested hardship. Nothing suggested she had been abandoned or cast aside. If anything, she looked more confident than before.
Lila looked away with a frown.
The evening was rapidly becoming less enjoyable than she had hoped.
Across the hall, Barron stood beside Alexander with a glass of wine in hand. For the past several minutes, he had been quietly observing the Human delegation, or more specifically, two particular members of it.
Eventually, he leaned slightly toward Alexander and inquired, "Which one is Torin?"
Alexander’s gaze shifted briefly across the room before settling on a young man standing near Lila.
Barron followed the look. "That one?"
"Yes."
Barron studied Torin carefully for several moments before glancing toward Amara and then back again. A slow smile appeared on his face.
"Interesting."
Alexander did not ask what he meant. He already knew.
Even from across the hall, it was obvious that Torin could hardly stop looking in Amara’s direction.
Barron took a sip of wine. "I must admit," he said casually, "I expected someone more impressive."
Alexander remained completely unmoved.
Barron glanced sideways at him, hoping for some reaction, but there was nothing. Not the slightest change in expression. The lack of response only amused him further.
His attention soon shifted toward Lila. The more he watched her, the less he liked her.
She watched Amara too closely, reacted too strongly whenever attention shifted toward her, and every now and then something unpleasant flashed across her face before she quickly concealed it.
Barron quietly filed the observations away. The more he watched, the more he understood why Alexander had concluded that she was responsible for the anonymous letter.
A short while later, another figure approached Amara’s group.
Princess Elowen.
Davina was the first to notice her. "Oh no."
Rachel immediately turned and straightened her posture. Hazel looked as though she had forgotten how to breathe entirely.
Amara already knew what was coming.
Elowen stopped beside them and smiled warmly. "Hello."
The three girls curtsied so quickly that it was almost impressive. "Your Highness."
Elowen blinked once before laughing. The sound was warm enough to ease some of their panic. "Why do all of you suddenly look terrified?"
Nobody answered, and that only made Elowen laugh harder.
Amara pressed her lips together in a failed attempt to hide her own amusement.
Within minutes, Elowen had inserted herself into the conversation as though she had always belonged there.
To the girls’ growing surprise, the princess was nothing like they had imagined. She was approachable, friendly, endlessly curious, and completely incapable of maintaining the intimidating dignity they had expected from royalty.
By the time the conversation was in full swing, even Hazel had relaxed.
For the first time that evening, Amara found herself forgetting the tension that had surrounded the past few weeks. She was with her friends again.
They were safe, they were together, and for a little while, that was enough.
