The King and Prince's Arrival

Kim wished that she could be the one to dance with Elin, but she doubted that she would be able to, primarily because she suspected that this was more ballroom dancing or other older, more traditional dances that probably had set steps rather than modern dancing at clubs and other venues.

However, she still enjoyed how lively Elin seemed to be. She certainly was enjoying herself and Kim wondered if she should try to get Elin to teach her some of the dances she knew, so that they could dance together at some point.

Yet, as Elin was lost in her dancing, Kim noticed others looking Elin's way, and while she didn't detect any hostility in their gazes, she still found the way they looked at Elin unsettling. Almost like they were looking at Elin like she was some sort of strange creature or something.

While she wantedt to go over to ask what it was about, she didn't want to distance herself from Elin, just in case things went south, but even Lance seemed to start looking at Elin strangely. As such, Kim couldn't help but feel that there was something they were missing. After all, Lance had been very respectful towards Elin, so it had to be something that they just weren't aware of.

Kim looked at Elin, and it was clear she was blissfully unaware of the looks she was getting. Dancing seemed to be an activity that she loved and probably had done whatever had drawn the strange looks towards her through her sheer excitement at being able to dance.

Though, before she could say anything, the music for the dance was interrupted by trumpets blaring by where the guests entered. Kim was certainly startled, largely because no one else had been announced with such fanfare so far.

Then as the sound of the trumpets died down, the herald called out, "His majesty King Chase Marshtipath and his son Prince Edward Marshtipath!"

Kim turned to look and saw what looked to her like a father and son walking in. The boy was clearly a kid and looked unsettled to have so much attention focused on them. Kim suddenly couldn't help but wonder where Jonas was. If he was correct and this duke, or some of his people, were involved in the assassination plan to kill the king, this would certainly be a good time for it.

Which meant that Jonas would probably have seen the king enter. Howeer, as soon as she had that thought, she stopped herself. Guy had told them that the king wasn't the one who usually brought his son, but rather his brother, who used to be the crown prince.

So, unless the plan had forced the king himself to come here, which Kim doubted would be so simple, then there wouldn't need to worry about it. It would just be an unexpected occurrence that couldn't have been accounted for.

Yet, she still couldn't help but feel like there was something she was missing. Something that she should be aware of, but just couldn't put her finger on it for some reason.

She looked back towards Elin, who looked appalled that the dance ended so suddenly. Kim couldn't help but smile at her crestfallen expression. Elin wondered if Elin's favorite subject had been dancing and if maybe that had been used as motivation to help her in some of her less favorite subjects.

Kim started walking over to Elin, to offer some consoling words, as Kim couldn't bear to see Elin look so forlorn. However, she became aware of someone else making a beeline straight for Elin as well.

Kim felt her hand move to the hilt of her sword until she realized that it was the king. At which point, she moved her hand away from her sword. Though, she also noticed that the king's bodyguard also doing the same, while looking at her.

Kim couldn't help but give that guy a wry grin. Both were merely doing their jobs protecting who they were supposed to, but it had created a momentary misunderstanding when there was a moment of confusion.

Kim was about to relax when she saw something catch the light behind the king's bodyguard. Then before she knew it, the hilt of a dagger or other small weapon appeared in the bodyguard's back, an expression of surprise showing on his face.

Kim felt her body react before her mind could even process what just happened. She saw another flash of light from something coming through the air and drew her sword to block it. Though, she only saw one flash of light, she blocked two daggers that had been expertly thrown through the air.

"Elin, help him!" Kim called back, as the guests were starting to pick up on the fact that something was happening, but before panic had started to descend on them.

She wasn't sure who exactly had attacked them, but with the corridor outside the room dark, she couldn't be sure if it was just one person or multiple. Not only that, but she couldn't tell if they were still where they had been when they threw the daggers.

She heard Elin move to help the king's bodyguard, though she didn't let her guard down at all. She was certain this wasn't over.

For one thing, you didn't attack the king once and then scram before your identities were found out if it failed. You stayed until it was complete. Otherwise it was going to get harder and harder to kill him.

Kim closed her eyes and took a deep breath, allowing her other senses to take over. Her hearing, while apparently not as good as Jonas' right now, could still detect slight movement, especially from directions she wasn't looing in. A skill that had been handy when she was testing out the security at various places before she'd been pulled into this world.

She heard the bodyguard groan as Elin healed his wound. Kim had no idea how close that blade had come to taking the bodyguard's life, but wouldn't be surprised if it was close.

No other attack was coming, but Kim stayed vigilant. She was sure whoever was trying to kill the king was waiting for them to lower their guard. Which meant that she merely had to out wait them.

The only problem she faced was that most people were quick to assume something was over when it wasn't. She could already tell that the guests who had been alarmed when Kim blocked the thrown daggers with her sword were already starting to move around as if it was merely a show for their entertainment. She also suspected the herald was closing the doors, as if nothing had come through there.

She could even feel the king behind her start to move around as if what happened had been dealt with. Kim opened her eyes, confident that there wasn't going to be another immediate attack, but just as confident that something else was about to happen. She couldn't say where it would come from, only that it was probably going to endanger everyone in the room.

"Elmo!" Kim called, not caring to locate the kid first. She needed him to be there right then.

"Yeah?" Elmo came over, holding another of his sandwiches that he'd made from the refreshments available.

"Get ready to use your magic to protect the guests here. I don't think this next attack is going to be so simple," Kim told him.

"Kim, what do you mean?" Elin asked, looking around, apparently having finished healing the king's bodyguard.

"I mean that the next attack isn't going to be so small," Kim answered. "I don't think whoever is behind this is going to try something that can be as easily deflected. I'm pretty sure everyone in the room is in danger until we deal with whoever is behind it."

"Should we send someone out for Jonas?" Elin asked.

Kim couldn't help but smirk. Somehow she felt like she knew him better than she should from just spending about maybe a month around him. Almost like she'd known him for years already. Just nothing came to mind when she tried to think of why.

"If Jonas isn't on his way already, then we're not going to be able to find him," Kim merely answered. "Though I'm sure he's already somewhere in this place, so looking for him where we'd left him would be rather pointless."

"Who are you?" the king asked.

"Lady Elin's bodyguard," Kim merely replied, as if she thought that answer would be good enough.

Maybe it was for the moment, but Kim was confident that he'd want a more detailed answer when this was over. Not that Kim was really surprised. He seemed rather intelligent, for a man, and struck her as one who actually might have a brain. Not that she really held out much hope on that front.

When the attack came, Kim couldn't help but be surprised herself. It wasn't just a bigger attack, it was on a bigger scale. Almost like whoever was attacking was trying to assassinate the manor itself rather than just the king.

Through the windows came casks of something that had a burning piece of cloth attached. Kim couldn't help but think of them as an old style Molotov cocktail. Though, not all smashed as they landed.

Some did and spread fire through a larger area while most of the casks stayed in one piece. Apparently the casks were more sturdily built than whoever threw them, or launched them, expected. Of those, more than half of the cloth merely burned out. The rest blew up like a small bomb. Causing fire to spread even more than where the casks had broken open.