“With you?” Teo asked.

“Long story, but she’s on our side. We need to watch Bautix. I took care of his backup plan, but I wouldn’t put it past him to have another ten.”

As Raurie left, Mariya Okubo stepped forward and tapped her champagne flute again to catch the audience’s attention. The voices in the hall began to die down. Someone dimmed the lights, leaving the room dark except for the candles on the chandelier and a spotlight that shone down on the stage.

Okubo went on about how the Linasian princess’s visit was a sign that both countries were ready to move out of the past and toward the future, this alliance between them sure to hold strong for many years. She then announced Ryuu to a roar of applause. Ryuu stepped toward the plinth at the front of the platform with Okubo, Raurie, and the princess right behind him. Aina’s eyes flicked to Bautix. One of the guards had come up onto the stage and was whispering to him just outside the circle of light. Bautix’s face grew paler by the second.

Ryuu pulled a string at the top of the red box. It fell away, ribbons fluttering to the floor. A glass case was revealed, and inside it, the black diamond sat atop a silk pillow, so large she could see it from here. It glittered like the night sky with the spotlight shining down on it. A gold chain was laced through its tip to form a necklace.

The princess lowered her head for Ryuu to drape the necklace over her head. As the crowd applauded, the musicians picked up their instruments and played a new, upbeat tune.

“I think Bautix is finding out his prison isn’t as secure as he thought it was,” Teo whispered.

“Maybe they found Olaf’s body too,” Aina replied with a smirk.

Bautix nodded once to the Diamond Guard, then whispered something back with a scowl on his face. As the crowd applauded, he began to walk slowly, stiffly, off the stairs on the side of the stage.

“No,” Aina said under her breath, one hand going to her blowgun to fire a dart into his neck.

But Teo grabbed her shoulder and muttered, “Wait, look at Raurie.”

Aina’s eyes flicked to Raurie. She had pulled Okubo a little to the side and handed her a sheaf of papers. As she flipped through them, Raurie spoke in a rush, her eyes flicking to Bautix, who continued toward a door in the back of the ballroom with a small group of Diamond Guards surrounding him. Okubo turned to watch his retreat too, her mouth flattening to a hard line. As if sensing her gaze, Bautix looked back once, then walked faster toward the exit.

“Stop him!” Mariya Okubo shouted suddenly over the applause, the chatter, and the music. She pointed at Bautix, but most of the Diamond Guards hesitated. Okubo could command them, but as the general, Bautix was their highest authority.