The music soared in sweet rhythm.
In the grand celebration hall of Velthorne Castle, laughter danced alongside strings and flutes.
Colored glass chandeliers cast soft light across polished marble, and petals—real and enchanted—floated gently down from the ceiling like snowflakes scented with jasmine.
It was a night meant for joy. A night of union.
In the center of the hall, nobles and aristocrats formed a circle as the younger guests took to the floor. It was a tradition—The Dance of Virtue, as it was called. Young men and women danced in rotating pairs, switching partners every chorus until only one couple remained by choice.
That couple, tonight, was the celebrant herself, Lady Seris of House Ilven—the birthday girl—and her partner, Prince Kael Viremont, third son of the distant Kingdom of Edrelmir.
