Chapter 264: The Night Before the Hunt
The banquet hall in the main house opened at the ninth bell.
The courtyard celebration was still going for those who preferred the open air, but the formal dinner was being held inside, in the same grand hall where the morning briefing had taken place.
Long tables had been arranged in a wide horseshoe, with Lord Edmund’s seat at the head. The suitors and their main representatives occupied the two sides, while family members and other guests filled the curved section at the back.
Alex sat about halfway down the left side.
Lucy and Riya were seated along the curved section, close enough to keep an eye on him but too far away for any real conversation. Nathan had somehow managed to find himself a spot near the base as well.
As tradition required, Lord Edmund was the last to enter.
He wore a formal coat of deep blue silk, the McCoy crest embroidered in gold over his chest.
And walking beside him was Evelyn.
She looked nothing like the woman Alex had seen at the morning briefing.
Her formal blue dress was gone, replaced by a deep ivory gown with delicate gold embroidery around the sleeves and collar. Her dark hair had been left loose, falling in soft waves past her shoulders, with a single ornate pin holding part of it back.
She had always been beautiful. There was no denying that.
But tonight, she looked breathtaking.
Alex noticed immediately.
He would have had to be blind not to.
Riya noticed him staring as well.
She let out a quiet huff. "Someone seems rather restless."
She said it to no one in particular, but the way her fingers tightened around her wine cup told its own story. She lifted it and took a slow, deliberate sip.
Lucy did not need to ask who she meant.
She glanced between Riya and Alex, read the temperature of the situation in about half a second, and decided that the pattern on her porcelain plate was suddenly very interesting.
Evelyn made her way through the hall, greeting guests and exchanging polite words with the various suitors’ families. She smiled warmly whenever someone addressed her.
Then she reached Alex’s section.
Her steps slowed ever so slightly.
Her eyes flicked toward him ....just for a breath ...before she continued on.
Riya caught it.
Of course she did.
She set her wine cup down and leaned slightly toward Lucy.
"She’s quite pretty indeed," Riya said casually. "I’m almost jealous."
Lucy looked at her carefully.
"Yes. Miss Evelyn is considered one of the most beautiful women in Ironhold."
"Oh...More than me too?"
Riya turned toward her, one eyebrow slowly rising.
Lucy immediately realized her mistake.
"Of course not, she is not nearly as beautiful as you are, Big Sister!"
"Hmm."
Riya’s expression softened.
Whether she was genuinely satisfied or simply decided to spare Lucy, no one could say.
"You’ve always had good sense, Lucy."
Lucy quietly exhaled. For a moment, she felt as though she had just narrowly survived death.
Across the hall, Evelyn had reached the other end of the horseshoe. She paused to take one last look around the room before finally taking her seat beside her father.
The banquet continued well past midnight.
As the night wore on and the wine began to flow more freely, the stiff formality of the evening slowly disappeared.
Some of the suitors were laughing louder than they should have been. Others had gathered in small groups, speaking in hushed, conspiratorial voices. A few simply looked like they were counting the minutes until they could finally leave.
Alex had stayed in his seat for most of the evening, exchanging only the occasional word with the suitors around him.
Eventually, boredom got the better of him.
With both hands hidden beneath the table, he quietly pulled out his phone and started playing a game.
Riya spotted him from across the hall.
She stared at him for a moment before silently mouthing two words.
Really? Now?
Alex happened to look up and meet her eyes.
He gave the smallest shrug, then returned his attention to his phone.
Riya pressed her lips together, fighting back a laugh.
Lucy followed her gaze.
The moment she realized what Alex was doing, she covered her face with both hands.
"Brother Alex has no shame," she whispered.
"None whatsoever," Riya agreed. She paused, then added, almost fondly.
A couple of seats away, Nathan was having his own problem.
He had gotten deeply involved in a conversation with a merchant’s daughter sitting nearby. The girl had apparently only wanted someone to help her pass the time, but she had made a terrible choice.
Because Nathan simply would not stop talking.
The girl’s smile had long since frozen in place. She repeatedly glanced toward Lucy and Riya, silently begging for rescue, but Nathan remained completely oblivious to her distress.
Lucy nudged Riya and tilted her head toward them.
"Should we rescue her or let her suffer a little longer?"
Riya glanced over.
Nathan was laughing a little too enthusiastically at something the girl had said.
"Let her suffer a little longer," Riya replied. "Consider it a lesson in choosing one’s conversation partners more carefully."
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The banquet finally began winding down.
By the time the last guests started filtering through the main doors, most of the suitors looked more exhausted from hours of forced conversation and smiles than they would have after an actual hunt.
Alex stood, slipped his phone back into his pocket, and joined the others near the entrance.
They stepped outside into the cool night air.
Ironhold had become almost completely quiet. The crowds from earlier had disappeared, leaving only the occasional bark of a stray dog and the soft creak of wooden shutters in the distance.
Alex tilted his head back and looked at the sky.
The stars were bright and countless, untouched by the haze and light pollution of Mumbai.
A sky like this simply did not exist back home.
He stood there for a moment with his hands in his pockets, letting the quiet settle around him.
Tomorrow, these same stars would be fading into the first pale light of dawn by the time the first suitor entered the hunting grounds.
"Beautiful, isn’t it?" Lucy said softly, following his gaze.
"Yeah."
Alex watched the stars for another moment.
"It really is."
Then he looked away, straightened his clothes, and started walking.
Not noticing the fellows following behind him.