The Inaugural Harvest Ball

For the briefest of moments, Ember worried that maybe the raider girl wouldn’t back up her lie and they’d both be screwed, but thankfully the shrewd pup picked up on Ember was doing and swiftly joined in the ruse, assuring Artorias that she had indeed been invited, hamming it up a bit more than the Carpathian princess would have liked, but it seemed to be doing the trick. Artorias seemed to regard both girls with confusion, then a bit of suspicion, his eyes lingering on Ember while the girl gave her father a sweet smile and a wag of her tail to sell the facade. Whether he truly believed her or not, he still relented and allowed Siduri to enter properly. "Thanks, Dad!" cheered Ember, following Sid off into the Great Hall and into the party proper when the pale girl ushered her away. It took all of Ember's self control to not look back at her father as the girls walked away to see if he was watching them, not wanting to appear more suspicious than she already was.

Once they were inside the hall and around the doors where Artorias couldn't see them any more, Ember breathed a sigh of relief. They had pulled it off and she (maybe) wasn't going to get in trouble at the end of it. Siduri thanked her for bailing her out and expressed surprise that "castle folk" were capable of lying. Ember wrinkled her nose up and raise a brow at her. "Of course we can lie, silly. Just because my family's all about doing good doesn't mean we're all uptight about it." Besides, Ember enjoyed bending the rules and seeing how far she could get away with things before she got in trouble. The next question Sid asked brought a small frown to Ember's lips, the girl turning blue eyes up to the other girl as if regarding her a bit warily. Did she not know their packs didn't get along? "I don't think my dad doesn't like you. He wouldn't've let you stay for the bonfire or the party if he didn't like you a little bit. But you're a Raider, and he says our packs aren't friends. I think he gets worried that your pack might do something to us if you're here." In truth, Ember didn't really know the full story behind the bad blood between the Hallows and the Raiders. She'd just always been told by her parents that Raiders Hollow and Insomnia were to be considered dangerous.

The Raider girl asked her name and introduced herself as Siduri. Ember shared a sweet smile back to Sid and gave a wag of her braided tail. "Nice to meet you, Sid. I'm Ember, Ember Carpathius." Sid asked where her mother was and Ember scoured the growing crowd with her, unable to see her mom's telltale antlers anywhere in sight. "Uhh, I don't think she's down here yet. She should be any minute now though. Do you wanna get something to eat until she shows up?" Ember tilted her head towards the tables filled with veritable feasts of raw and roasted meats, fishes, fruits and vegetables, and spiced ciders. Now that Siduri had cleared her dad's security checkpoint, Ember didn't feel the need to babysit the Raider girl.

"Ember"