Ballroom

By G.H. Guzik

In the ballroom of the Kaesarian palace, a great celebration takes place, but not all of the invited guests are who they seem to be. A spy takes advantage of this special occasion to infiltrate the palace and reach the most hidden secrets of the Northern Kaesary. She is the best of the best and has a meticulous plan. The only thing lacking is good luck...

Dive into a thrilling adventure of secret passages, espionage and deadly pitfalls to discover the boundaries of human endurance in a world where success and failure are intertwined with only a crossbow bolt to separate them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: G.H. Guzik
• Release date: May 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9788365070029

G.H. Guzik

I am a bilingual writer writing in both English and Polish, thanks to being born in Opole, Poland and educated in Guernsey, Channel Islands. Later I continued my education on a university level in Warsaw School of Economics to start a career in financial services. I especially enjoy dark fantasy, steampunk, horror, and science-fiction, but I don't limit my writing to these genres. From my early days, I admired the power of storytelling to shape the world through changing people. Having read hundreds of books, watched thousands of films and played countless video games, I decided to start telling my own stories. Although I wrote my first science fiction story at the age of ten, pursuing the writer's path professionally took me more than a quarter of the century. Laboriously learning the ropes I hope to follow in the footsteps of the greatest, singling out Sir Terry Pratchett, Michael Crichton, and Neil Gaiman as my most influential masters. Avid gamer especially hooked on good video, card, and board RPGs, but not averse to strategy games and FPS's either. I also used to spend countless hours as a game master building worlds and stories for my friends. Finally, if time allows I like watching sports with a soft spot for football (soccer), NBA, and cycling.

Book preview

BALLROOM

G.H. GUZIK

ISBN - English EPUB second edition:

978-83-65070-02-9

Copyright © 2015 by G.H. GUZIK

https://ghguzik.wordpress.com

https://www.facebook.com/g.h.guzik

https://twitter.com/ghguzik

Executive Producer:

M.P. Steel

Edited and corrected by:

M.P. Steel

Cover design by:

M.P. Steel

COPYRIGHT & DISCLAIMERS:

The contents of this book are not to be copied, published or used commercially either as a whole or in any part, without a clear written consent of the author. The same applies to any public reading of this book or distribution of any audio–visual recording of its contents.

This book is a work of fiction and as such was not created with any intent to offend or ridicule any existing cultures, beliefs or religions. All the opinions and character attitudes depicted in this book are not necessarily those of the author and should not be used in any way to justify, support or encourage acts of violence, abuse or discrimination against anyone.

G.H. GUZIK

BALLROOM

To my one and only Magda

Also, to my godson Witek,

who is just turning four

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Above all I want to express my special gratitude to Ewa Stala who has made all of this possible by supporting us in every way imaginable.

As always I wish to thank my beloved partner Magda, who is also the aesthetic brains of this endeavour.

Having said all of that I must stress that any mistakes and errors that can be found in this edition are mine and mine alone.

PUBLISHED SO FAR:

TALES OF THE ION CONTINENTS:

(chronologically, according to the storyline)

• Gunpowder (first published Dec 18, 2014)

• Ballroom (first published Feb 11, 2015)

IN PREPARATION:

TALES OF THE ION CONTINENTS:

• Roadhouse

• Crossroads

• Snowfall

• Shipwrecked

• Night Cap

• Headlong

• Deep Woods

Against All Odds

WILHELM MOLL CHRONICLES:

• Singer's Machine

• (Extra)Ordinary Circumstances

OTHER:

• AOXD

• First Blood

Butlers, standing stiffly poised, in white-and-gold liveries, decorated with numerous applications of stellar metal, opened the heavy wings of ballroom doors in front of her and the chamberlain shouted above the noise, announcing her name, which she had adopted especially for this very occasion. Entering the Kaesar’s ball, Iskandriel was aware, that every woman walking down the stairs, thickly padded with a soft, red carpet, would be feeling special. But she also knew that in her case, it is not only a vain feeling. There was probably not a single woman more exceptional than herself on the entire continent, and maybe even on the whole planet.

Firstly, this evening she was really beautiful. Hours spent on make-up and styling had not been spent in vain, bringing out all her natural charm. Her hair, darkened to the colour of copper and worn in a hairstyle fashionable at the Kaesarian court, emphasized the delicate beauty of her face, which was a natural counterpoint to a bravely revealing, tight dress with a long slit along the thigh, which highlighted her alluring figure.

Secondly, she was an aurician, which in itself made her extremely special. Less than one in a hundred people could be proud of being aura sensitive, and of those, again only a few managed to endure the education long enough to achieve the level of mastery in harnessing its power. Most often their aura sensitivity was so minuscule, it was only sufficient to support simple juggling or magic tricks at local fairs. Of those who demonstrated enough talent to let them start truly learning the craft, the largest group discontinued their education, eventually becoming witchwomen or witchmen, healing people and preparing potions, ointments and concoctions with aurical assistance. Obviously, there were also those who lived in blissful ignorance of their gift, causing more or less dangerous, but always nonetheless amazing events in their vicinity.

Thirdly, she was a special forces agent. What's more, an agent of the best intelligence in the world, acting on behalf of the citizens of a truly unique place. She served the people of the Free City of Daelwynn, in which all cultures and goods of the known world mingled and intertwined. The town, placed in the middle of the continent, where all the unhappy and all the unwanted found a haven. The city in which everyone, regardless of their birth, had a chance to get to the summit of power and wealth. The place where everyone was equal. Of course Iskandriel considered herself to be one of the most equal of all.

At the foot of the stairs a tall man dressed in a blue-and-white uniform of the Kaesar’s Navy was waiting. He looked at them with a slightly absent-minded smile only when they were already coming down the last steps. He took off his triangular hat and bowed courtly, as he spoke to the man accompanying Iskandriel in a friendly manner.

- Welcome, Your Excellency. Let me be the first to say how glad we are to see that you were able to grace us with your presence in our humble abode.

- It is my pleasure, Your Highness. - Iskandriel was a little surprised upon hearing the ambassador’s words, as she did