Dance of illusions

Ishir smiled at his reflection in the mirror, getting his confidence up. The party he'd been invited to was about to start and if he didn't leave soon he'd be more than fashionably late. One last time his hand went through his hair to put a few imagined stray strands back into place before he left the mirror behind and made his way towards the party. He'd known the invitation would come sooner than later—who wasn't interested in the new guy in town?—, but he'd still been so excited when he got the message—his tailor had also been overjoyed at the bill he got to give Ishir for his new suit—though that feeling had quickly started to mix with nervousness as the event came closer. Ishir let his hands run over the suit he was wearing. The deep burgundy fabric was decorated with intricate details and fit him perfectly. Tonight needed to be flawless. This was his chance to socialise and insert himself into Alderrath's upper-class society and he wouldn’t let the opportunity slip away.

As soon as Ishir entered, a waiter came to take his coat and another one offered him a glass. He gratefully accepted and sipped from the champagne as he looked around the room; unfortunately, he couldn't drink like his nerves wanted him to—what would people think if he did that?—and he kept it to the one sip. A few faces in the crowd looked familiar, but he wasn’t interested in talking to any of them. For now, he stood to the side and took in the sight before him.

Reputation precedes me, in rumors I'm knee deep
I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me

It wouldn't be the Upper Ring of Alderrath if there wasn't some celebration happening every other day. Tonight's event was thrown by a family Penelope didn't know very well. But she knew of them, and moreover she was required to go. Of course the Villiers were required to go, her family was invited to every possible event. All so that their subordinates could stay on their good side.

As the event unfolded, Penelope found herself dancing with a young man that seemed to fawn over her every move. It was quite adorable, really, but not something she was particularly interested in. Still, she would never let him see that. Instead she just showed him her perfect smile as her eyes wandered around. Suddenly, a figure she had never seen ago emerged in the crowd. Dressed in burgundy, the man was sipping from a glass. For a brief moment, Poppy's gaze was fixed on him, before it returned to her dance partner. If she had never seen him before it probably couldn't mean much good. Like new money, which wasn't something she or her family were very fond of.

Gown

As he let his eyes wander across the crowd, Ishir noticed a young woman on the dancefloor looking at him. Their gazes only met for a brief moment before the contact was broken, but that was long enough to peak his interest. She wore a beautifully made pale blue dress and carried herself majestically; the young man that gravitated around her in the dance was insignificant, but with one look, you could see that she was someone important.

Though she instantly grabbed his attention, Ishir did not make his way to her right away. He disappeared into the crowd and shortly spoke to some people he’d already met before he made his way to the dancefloor. A new number was about to start when he spotted the woman and her dance partner. He placed his glass on the tray of a waiter that was passing by and made his way towards her. "My lady," he grabbed her attention. "May I ask for a dance?” he asked with a soft accent. He’d made the plan to come to the Upper Ring to get his revenge years ago and had been practicing a slight foreign accent all that time. He greeted her with a respectful bow as he awaited her answer; meanwhile the music was about to start playing again.