The Swan Ball

The seventh episode of Tremontaine.

## Synopsis

Diane awakens from a dream the morning of the Swan Ball. In her dream, the ball was going marvelously, but her triumph was interrupted by a noise only she could hear, a rattling that became a carriage with two girls, one a maid, one her mistress, apparently enjoying their ride until the horses rear and there is a fight among men with swords, and there is blood everywhere.

Late in the morning, a letter arrives at the Balam compound with disastrous news. The Batab's latest wife, a mere third daughter of the Cocom family, has won enough favor with him that the Cocom are petitioning him to cancel the Balam monopoly on the Land and to open the trade routes to that family. Worse yet, a Kinwiinik woman in Tultenco got involved with a Tullan noble and killed him in a dispute. She was executed by the Tullan, who then sent a delegation to Binkiinha. The delegation is demanding reparations and talking about war.

Vincent has attached himself to a noble family so that he can attend the ball and learn more about Reynald.

Rafe decides not to wear the clothing William had made for him and instead wears his scholar's robe. He insults William, who is confused, as this comes out of nowhere, as far as he can see. He stalks off, deciding to flirt with an unnamed red haired guest, and William follows him.

The Duke of Karleigh, Frederick, and his wife, Helena, arrive, despite Diane's fond wishes. She pretends to be delighted to see them both. Frederick is wearing an atrocious doublet that only he finds attractive.

Micah is thrown by the number of people at the ball and the noise, so she hides behind a window curtain.

The Balam arrive in a mix of Local and Kinwiinik styles. Diane recognizes Kaab even though Kaab pretended to be a servant at their first meeting. Kaab recognizes the locket Ben showed to Tess on a bracelet Diane is wearing. Diane again gives herself away to Kaab by chattering.

Diane's conversation with Kaab is interrupted by Frederick loudly insulting the Kinwiinik. Diane excuses herself from the Balam contingent to silence him. Kaab finds herself liking Diane even as she notices an unusually clumsy servant.

Diane finds an ally in Helena, and both work to keep Frederick from causing a scene by leading him to the iced cakes. Diane also points Sarah, Lady Perry, at Frederick, hoping that she can distract the duke with discussion of matters genealogical. Diane is also delighted to see that Sarah looks terrible in the clothing that Diane made fashionable for the season.

Andrew the clavier player and Jack the violinst talk to each other while they play, mocking the violist, because Jack walked in on him having sex with their neighbor and Andrew has had his eye on Jack. Rafe flirts with the redheaded man while Basil Halliday keeps old Lord Horn, Asper Lindley's father, from molesting a servant. Rafe slips away as William catches up, ignoring the redheaded man to pursue Rafe.

Micah ventures out from behind the curtain and learns, to her surprise and relief, that the two sentences Tess taught her really are enough to get her through conversations at the Swan Ball. Micah breaks off the conversation when she sees the Balam party because she wants to speak to Chuleb about the mathematics of conversation.

Micah tries to get Kaab to bring her to Chuleb. Kaab refuses, not wanting her family to know of her carelessness in letting slip secrets of navigation. However, before she can try to prevent Micah from persisting, Lord Horn grabs Kaab's arm and makes progressively cruder advances. She frees herself, but finds herself forced to flee, as stabbing him for his presumption would be looked upon unfavorably.

The redheaded man catches up with Rafe as Frederick vents about traders and his doublet, which Rafe finds as hideous as Diane does. Rafe continues his flirtation, wondering why he isn't interested in it.

Diane tries to punish William by making him jealous by flirting with Gregory, Lord Davenant, the Dragon Chancellor. William doesn't even notice.

Diane's conversations with Gregory and Chuleb are the same as the ones in her dream. This unsettles her enough that she is grateful when Frederick appears, giving her something to focus on.

The Tremontaine Swan, made of red wine and blackberries, is carried in. William is still pursuing Rafe. Micah is pursuing Chuleb, pursed herself by Kaab, who is, in turn, pursued by Lord Horn. Vincent spots Reynald and starts to move towards him, causing Micah to swerve.

Kaab trips Micah. This causes several people to fall on top of her, including Kaab. Kaab's dagger flies out and hits Andrew on the back of the head. He kicks to keep from falling, and his foot collides with the clavier. The clavier collapses, causing one of the men carrying the Tremontaine Swan to release his hold on it.

The Tremontaine Swan falls on Frederick, staining his coat. He loses his temper, insulting the Balam in general and Kaab in particular. Saabim has the last word and leads the Balam out of House Tremontaine. Diane does the only thing she can to salvage the evening: She faints.

Saabim is pleased and explains to Kaab that it is useful to them that Diane was embarrassed at her own party and because the presentation of the Swan Ball--the food, the candles, the silverware, the servants, and so on--confirm her suspicions that Diane needs money and that this is why she approached the Balam. This means that there is no hidden agenda of which the Balam must be wary, so they will accept her suggestion of an alliance.

Diane and Gregory have sex after the Swan Ball. Diane tries to get Gregory to agree to lower the chocolate tax as a way of apologizing to the Kinwiinik. However, Gregory says that the idea is unworkable, because of Council politics. He advises her to ask William about that. Diane pretends he has convinced her to drop the subject.

William and Rafe have sex after the Swan Ball.

## Timeline

The letter that reaches the Balam compound must have been written at least three months earlier.

It's only been a few weeks since "the last time" for Rafe, which presumably means "sex with someone who isn't William", which means it's been a few weeks since Episode 3.

Diane awakens from a dream the morning of the day of the Swan Ball.

Kaab and family learn disastrous news in the late morning.

The Swan Ball is in the evening, followed by the aftermath.

## Arc / Plot Points

Diane's dream of the Swan Ball ends in a carriage ride for a maid and her mistress. This ends in men fighting with swords and blood.

The family of the Batab's latest wife is petitioning him to end the Balam monopoly on the Land and open trade routes to it.

A Kinwiinik woman in Tultenco got involved with a Tullan noble and killed him in a dispute. She was executed by the Tullan. This seems to be very similar to the story of Kaab's disgrace, as far as that has been revealed, but since Kaab is alive, is not the same story. The Tullan sent a delegation to Binkiinha, demanding reparations and talking about war.

The clothing Rafe refuses to wear to the Swan Ball was chosen for him by William and matches the clothing William wears at the ball.

William chose his own clothes, disregarding Diane's advice to wear a pastel.

Diane recognizes Kaab.

Diane is apparently wearing the locket Ben brought her at the Swan Ball, in full view of everyone. There is no explanation of why she is doing this, whether she hopes to learn if Kaab or anyone else recognizes it, whether she is arrogant, or whether it isn't the actual locket but a close copy. Kaab recognizes the locket.

Basil Halliday is a generally decent person.

Diane's dream of the Swan Ball seems oddly prophetic, apart from the odd bit with "Valerian" Lindley.

The Duke of Karleigh has neither tact nor fashion sense. He is extremely conservative.

William ignores guests, obligations, and wife to pursue Rafe.

William is utterly oblivious to his wife's fury and to his house's financial situation, although, to be fair, Diane spends a great deal of effort ensuring that oblivion.

Frederick offends the Balam, but this actually pleases them because it gives them an advantage in dealing with Diane.

The Balam realize that Diane needs money and has no deeper agenda in her dealings with them.

Diane takes Gregory, Lord Davenant, the Crescent Chancellor as a lover, hoping to make William jealous and get the chocolate tax reduced. She fails to achieve either objective.

Rafe reconciles with William and they have sex.

## Cultural and World Information

Bikiinha's chief temple is large enough to hold several Tremontaine House entry halls.

The letter that arrives at the Balam compound is written on fig tree paper.

The Batab is the Ruler of the Territories and either has multiple wives or has recently remarried after a previous wife's death.

The Batab can grant or cancel monopolies on trade.

Losing a war with the Tullan Empire means being enslaved or slaughtered on the sacrificial altar. While everyone in the Territories knows that the gods must be fed blood, "no one in the civilized world seemed to believe them quite as undernourished as the Tullan."

Xanamwiinik food is bland by Kinwiinik standards.

Kaab, at least, considers the Xanamwiinik music to be noise.

## Anomalies

* Asper Lindley is misnamed in Diane's dream as Valerian Linley.