Shade hesitated, but decided to tell the truth:
"It's not as though I always spend the night alone. Princess Leisha invited me to the opera tonight. We'll be in a private box."
The girl in the headscarf raised an eyebrow:
"Speaking of that princess, I still don't understand why Dorothy agreed to share you with her."
She could not discuss the matter in public:
"Have a pleasant evening. I hope that poor princess remembers to bring the Youthful Immortality Leaf."
She fell silent, because Shade's expression had suddenly turned serious.
The Outlander looked toward the stairway again:
"Someone else has appeared."
"Who?"
Luvia did not look over. Too many glances would make a perceptive Ring Arcanist wary.
"How interesting. They're from the Apna Library. Don't tell me they're here for Miss Pawo too? In that case, they'll need a larger table. There are three of them in all. I don't know the first, I met the second while helping Old John receive a shipment, and the third is Guiding Moon?"
"What Guiding Moon? You know someone with a nickname like that?"
Luvia asked with a smile. Only after Shade confirmed that the three newcomers had sat at the table beside Miss Pawo's group of four did she turn slightly to look at them.
She watched them for about half a minute before turning back with an eased expression. She lightly tugged at her headscarf, making sure Shade could not get a clearer look at her strangely made-up face:
"I've finally found him."
"Found him? Found what?"
"Of course, the person I came here to find."
Luvia said, her fingers painted with strange purple nail polish tapping against the table:
"What else could it be?"
"A Chosen One has really appeared? Which one?"
Shade was immensely surprised. He had never expected