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The music flowed around Inej like honey, the bass reverberating around the dome-shaped room.
While Wylan preferred to only invite those closest to him for such a personal event as his and Jesper’s wedding, he was still a prominent part of the Merchant Council, and thus, the reception was packed with seemingly upstanding citizens of Ketterdam.
Like most Kerch balls, everyone had donned their finest dresses and detailed masks.
Inej liked the masks. Not only were they interesting to look at, but they made it possible for her to stay by Kaz’s side all night without arousing much suspicion. To her knowledge, only a few people closest to her and Kaz could tell they were together. Unlike the other couples at this party who were dancing together, kissing against pillars, and sharing little appetizers, Inej and Kaz were simply standing towards the back of the room, quietly talking, their voices barely louder than the music.
Inej had docked a mere day ago, barely back in time for Jesper and Wylan’s rehearsal dinner. Now, though, she’d had hours to prepare for the wedding. Inej had tried to insist on wearing something simple, but Nina, who’d been back for a few weeks now, had given her a look that let Inej know that she really had no choice.
Now, she was wearing a deep turquoise-blue floor-length gown. The dress had a stitching pattern that looked like the ocean’s waves, and when Inej first saw the dress, she fell in love.
It seemed Kaz had as well, seeing as he had not taken his eyes off her in the past hour.
“Look,” Inej urged, pointing in the direction of the back entrance of the room where a girl was walking in, adjusting the delicate strap of her dress, then running a hand over the intricate curls of her hair.
Kaz hummed, his eyes moving to scan the rest of the room. “Ah,” he murmured triumphantly. “The main entrance.”
Inej’s gaze moved accordingly, finding a young man just entering as well. His face was slightly flushed, his tie just barely askew. Inej shook her head lightly, laughing.
“Did you see his finger?”
Inej’s brows raised as she noticed the gold band on his fourth finger. “Scandal.”
“It is, isn’t it?” He had that tone. That elated sort of tone, the one his voice took on when he got a good, evil, thrilling idea.
“Oh no,” Inej smiled. “What are you thinking?”
“Do you know his name?”
“I’m sure I could figure it out.”
-
Inej, as subtle as she could, joined a group of women huddled around one of the many bowls of punch. They were laughing and giggling, and Inej laughed along with them. Inej found the same man in the crowd and kept her gaze trained on him. Before long, and before Inej could really pick up on the conversation they were having, one of them turned to her.
“What do you think?”
She blinked obliviously. “What do I think of what?”
“Do you think Mrs. Hening’s dress is really as tragic up close,” a lady in a big, poofy, pink dress informed.
“Oh.” She looked back at the man. “I think nearly everything about her is tragic up close.” The girls let out scandalized gasps, then dissolved into laughter once more.
“What are you looking at,” one of the ladies asked, following her line of sight,
“Nothing, I-”
The woman gasped and smiled, grabbing the attention of the rest. “Mr. Williams? He is rather dashing isn’t he?”
Inej looked down sheepishly. “Unfortunately.”
The other girls murmured in agreement, all looking at the man as well now.
“Too bad he’s married.”
“Is he?” Inej asked. “What a pity.”
“It is, isn’t it,” one woman agreed, throwing a glare at her own ring. The girls all laughed once more.
-
“Mr. Williams.”
“You are brilliant,” Kaz smiled, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on it. “Now, Miss Ghafa, may I have this dance?”
“You may, Mister Brekker.”
As a new song began, Kaz and Inej took to the dance floor. They didn’t move in any way extravagantly--Inej was still exhausted from her recent voyage, and Kaz’s leg was not particularly favorable to such an activity, so they simply swayed with each other.
“So,” Inej started, just loud enough for the couple next to them to hear. “Miss Maria told me she saw Mr. Williams running off with some blonde girl.” Inej did not think she imagined the couple glancing over at them.
“Did she?”
“She did.”
“Hmm… He was rather incomprehensible when I saw him outside. Stuttering, glancing around, the whole nine.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Well, then I suppose Maria was right.”
“His poor wife.”
“Indeed.”
-
After the song ended, Kaz and Inej returned to their original spot and watched as the couple they’d been dancing next to spoke to each other, then to their friend, then their friend spoke to their friends.
“I feel evil,” Inej said when she saw someone informing the very girl Mr. Williams had snuck off with of the rumor of his affair.
“He shouldn’t have cheated if he didn’t want to suffer the consequences,” Kaz replied simply, taking a sip from his champagne.
“Hmm. At least I know I’ll never have to worry about you taking another lover, then,” she joked.
He looked over at her. “I hope you never have.”
She smiled gently at him. “Of course, I haven’t.” He seemed to relax. “You could never get a girl better than me, I’ve got nothing to worry about.”
He rolled his eyes but pulled her closer, his arm wrapping around her waist.
-
“You two did this, didn’t you?” Wylan asked, his eyes trained on where Mrs. Williams was screaming at her husband.
Kaz smiled.
Jesper groaned. “Why can’t you let us have one night of peace?”
“You refused to let him invite any of the Dregs,” Inej explained. “He had to have his fun.”
“Don’t act all holier than thou , my darling, you played a key role,” Kaz chided.
“I did no such thing.”
“You most certainly-”
“I hate you!” Mrs. Williams shouted, throwing a glass of champagne in Mr. Williams’s face, then storming off, the hard click of her heels the only sound in the room.
“What a night,” Nina said, awestruck.
“We’re awful,” Inej whispered.
“Maybe a little,” Kaz responded, grinning.