Lia still had the same expression on her face as they went down the stairs, glancing over her shoulder.
"Purple it is," she said to herself, her smile deepening. She seemed thoughtful after that.
"so pink, and purple, and blue. hmm...maybe I should take white." She stepped off the last tread of stairs, landing on the floor with Aramith in tow. She spun, about to say something, when she saw Mozrael miss a footing as she stepped down. She quickly pulled her hand out of Aramith's and raised both reflexively. Aramith turned, hearing her squeal, and saw her coming at him. He had no time to react before she bumped into him, moving him a step back. He held her, and prevented their fall, then looked down at her, only seeing her dark hair, unable to see her face buried in his chest.
"Are you okay? Mozrael?" She raised her head to look at him, slightly dazed.
"You're not hurt, a-"
"I want a hug too!" Lia cut him short, seeing how close they were. Almost as if she now realized it, Mozrael sucked in her breath, and quickly pushed herself away from him. She averted her eyes from him.
"so-sorry" she blurted out, ashamed. Aramith looked at a certain shy kid and looked at Lia as if he could feel her eyes on him.
"What's with that look on your face?" he asked
"hmpf, you're ignoring me."
"Like that's even possible. Come on, let's go find mom before it's too late"
"Hey..."
"Come on now." He ignored her and turned to Mozrael who stood silently to the side, watching them. He grabbed her hand again and started to walk off.
"You..."
They made their way out into the open, the three of them walking shoulder to shoulder under the bright morning sun.
"Aramith? Hey...Come on?" Lia was getting frustrated at his ignoring her again. He'd let go of Mozrael once they got out, but said nothing, and that unnerved Lia [can't she understand silence?]. She tried futilely once again to start a conversation, and he responded with silence. As they made their way into the garden, passing a few maids and servants that worked on the flowers, she moved ahead and turned to face him, walking backward to keep up.
" Hey, what's wrong with you? You're not even smiling." just then, Aramith's face lit up, and he pointed in a direction to the side.
"Can you see that? Is that a dragon?"
"Where?" Lia looked in the said direction. She focused hard on the spot but saw no dragon.
"There's no dragon, I can't see it." She turned to complain, but saw them not, and figured Aramith might have dragged Mozrael to move on ahead, and the truth is told, she saw them ahead moving faster than usual. She chased after them.
"Why are you trying to get away?" She asked, arriving at his side, and taking note of Mozrael who was being pulled along by him and looking nothing other than a complaisant. "There was no dragon, you tricked me."
"You didn't see it?" "Liar, you're running away from me." Aramith smiled naturally.
"Me? I wasn't running, you're just slow. I'm walking right here, and you saw I'm running. Can't you see?" She was back to walking backward before him again.
"You're doing it again, aren't you-ah," she grunted as she hit something. She looked up to see a face looking down at her. The dark-green eyes bored into her, and the thin lips were curved up into a friendly smile. The sun's rays picket at the edges of his brown, cropped hair, giving them a golden color.
"oh sorry!" Lia apologized in a panic and rushed to hide behind Aramith who was holding Mozrael's hand again. Aramith looked at the man in the light-green robe that stood before their company with one slender hand hanging to the side, and the other, holding up a bright yellow flower that had red at the edges of the petals, and a purple color in the center. a lone green leaf with white veins running through it was attached to the slim, green stalk.
"Well, isn't this a lovely sight for a morning," Aiden said in his lovely tone. His voice as always sounded like he was now turning twenty, not the mid-twenty man he looked like, making his smile more natural-looking, and his whole self a more likable person.
"You all look just like a nice group of siblings moving around like that, beautiful." He smiled at them, and Aramith felt Mozrael tighten her hold of his hand, and lower her head, an act which confused him. Was she shy of this man, or what? Aiden looked at Lia, then Aramith, and finally at Mozrael, his smile deepening. Aramith's brows furrowed at that.
"Your otherworldly eye never ceases to amaze me, as blue as the waters far-off." Mozrael lowered her head even more, and Aramith, noticing that, pulled her behind and stood before her protectively. He frowned at Aiden, a frown that would send shivers down the spine if one were to see the glint that flashed in his purple eyes which now looked brighter in the sun.
"Just a compliment to the little princess," Aiden bowed slightly with his friendly smile still on his face. Aramith's glare was more evident now, and his eyes started to turn darker, but stopped abruptly, returning to their original shade as he looked to his right, feeling the tug at his sleeve. He saw Lia looking at him with a rarely-seen expression of worry. She let go slowly and stood there still looking at him.
"I..." Aramith started.
"Let's go," Mozrael said from behind him, and they walked past Aiden. Aiden watched as the three figures left with an amused look.
"Children," he said, "always suspecting, but not knowing that which should be suspected, and that which should not." He raised the flower to his face and scrutinized it. He brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply.
"Just perfectly ripe." He whispered with a chuckle as he turned around to walk off.
"Have the wines been checked?" Asked the entrancing voice of the queen as she walked gracefully in her beautiful red dress that highlighted her wonderful figure. She let her fingers brush through the flowers to her side.
"Yes, my queen." The maid walking beside her answered respectfully.
"What about the children?" "That, if I have calculated rightly will be finished by tomorrow, but if it is required, we could finish it today instead, your majesty."
"That won't be necessary." "Noted."
"That would be it, for now, Eloise," Kethra said to her handmaiden, stopping. Eloise bowed.
"May I leave to see the preparations for breakfast then?" Kethra nodded gently, her every movement charming with perfection. She ambled on, her yellow eyes focused on nothing other than the beautiful flowers, and butterflies surrounding her. She stopped by a bench and sat down. She took her crown off her head, and set it beside her, then let her wavy hair over her shoulders, humming an enthralling tune to herself as she passed her slim, fair forefingers through her hair, undoing the braid. Her gleaming yellow eyes glowed within as she lifted her eye towards the mesmerizing sight of the garden that spanned out before her in squares, but getting towards the section with the trees, one would notice the circular pattern they were arranged in. She felt a hand slowly slip onto her shoulder but was not startled by the gentle, affectionate touch, for she had already noticed the gentle, slow steps that weaved through the garden towards her a while ago, and made no attempt to get the hand off.
"I guess my time is up then," she said.
"Am I disturbing your morning solitude then, my dear?" "Oh of course not. I just came here to think," she responded
"About me?" She heard the pleasant voice just beside her ear, the warm air from his soft breath tickling the back of her ear. She chuckled. "I think I might be a bad example of a queen to only think about my husband every time he's not with me, mm?"
"And who is it that would blame you, my love for missing your wonderful husband.?" "me," she answered quickly
" You made it sound like my presence was trouble when you said your time was up" "Then maybe it's because when you're with me like now, all I can ever think about is you. What was I supposed to say then?"
"Hmm, maybe a good morning with a kiss? That wouldn't hurt, would it?" This made a light laugh escape her mouth. "You could have had that, but you were gone before I woke up. If you want that then, you would have to earn it."
Henndar raised a perfect eyebrow at this, a bewitching smile worthy of causing chaos among young maidens blooming on his flawless face