I had tire of the civilities after an hour or so, my classmates having gone to watch as the band of Trinity took to the floor a few minutes after the third song, the elegant Flower as graceful a dancer and surprisingly well-accompanied by the Weather Beast who was no stranger it appeared to the art of it as well.
They looked like a very dreamy couple. Even the little Eminence was versed with it, leading away ladies to the floor to dance with. He was beyond cute. I felt left out. Everyone else seemed connected to the celebration, even those other friends of mine who had been wallflowers with me earlier. They were enjoying it.
I could not. I had too much on my mind.
Instead I chose to stray into the gardens, seeking the silence of the sheltered greenhouses under the moonlight, ears listening to the sound of nocturnal creatures straining their music to join the natural cacophony of the evening, the murmurs of the fountains far removed from the noise of the inner halls and the brutal wintry chill outside.
Here was peace, the stars glowing bright even if it was to backdrop one of the four Lunas we call Eons in the Kingdom, their spray of constellations a relief to my soul even if I was just looking at them through the panes of glass, the midnight flowers blooming undisturbed, the arbors decorated with vine, with shadows and with the warmth of quiet.
Best place to be, cold as the winds may blow elsewhere, harsh the Season that came.
"Enjoying the view?"
My reverie broke.
A sudden intrusion to my solitude that I scowled at before realizing it was just another Denizen who gave me his smile and a quick "Sorry" for disturbing my meditation.
He made a bow of his head, another gentleman, as he asked what it was I was doing outside by my lonesome. I don't know why I began answering his questions.
"I don't do well in crowds," I shrugged. "I wanted to go back to my dormitory but the carriage won't be back until another hour at least. You can say I'm stuck here."
He laughed lightly then.
"A kindred spirit," he offered, stepping into the light of the lanterns from the shadows where he had been hidden.
The first thing I noticed was that he was taller than I was, his build a good proportion of muscles, and with a standing similar to that of a noble.
He was perhaps a knight? The air about him, it was strong. I looked him from the bottom up, the simple set of formal clothes just making him dashing and -I paused, jaw this time dropping- I had just seen his face and now had just peered into his eyes.
"Anything the matter?"
His eyes! They were deep orbs of purple and clear, very very clear, the glint in them like a mirror to my reflection, delving pools.
Where have I seen them before? Where have I…
A decade ago in Begotten.
There was a Dragon Horde that had rampaged into the pens and had eaten their way half through the herds owned by the families there. I wasn't even a resident of the area. I was just visiting some relatives during the lean months to help my family. I had not suspected that I would be caught in the dilemma.
After the dragons had their taste of cattle, they seemed to change appetites and began running after the Denizens there.
The people of the town had done their best to duck and hide but there I was, the poor and naive urchin. I was not even conscious what the dangers were. The sandstorms had separated me from my clan. I got caught.
Trapped between the claws of the dreadful wyvern, I was attempting to scream, my crying muddled, unable to push myself out of its vice-like grip, its freshly bloodied teeth gnashing at me that in my child's mind I had already seen how my body would be torn into shreds by its canines.
I could see my death. Eaten alive by a scaly dragon whose breath smelt like sulfur and rotten flesh. Not really a very lovely way to pass on.
But apparently I survived that, did I not? Charge it to my more unconventional experiences. I still lived to tell the tale.
How? Someone saved me.
I actually did not know what happened. Memory didn't serve me right at times that's why I wasn't really seen as smart. But despite being held down the way I was, almost squashed to the ground, caged in talons that could crumble boulders with sheer force alone, something fell from the skies that rescued me.
It first got to the other dragons then to the one who wanted my head, smacking it aside so violently that it threw it off its feet and I was tossed back and over like a rag doll.
It was a scene played out in slow motion, but as I was hurled up and outward, I witnessed how the dragon roared in pain and without finishing its first chorus of howls was struck again by a curving ray of light.
I did not understand it, only that I was safely grabbed around the collar of my clothes and tossed even farther back to the waiting arms of my parents.
I could not say much about the landing, but when I looked up, at what was before us now, there…there *he* was.
I never knew his name, only partly recalled his face.
To me however, he was my savior, the coolest and calmest man I had ever seen. With eyes like colored ice or crystal, nay, they were gems.
Strong and determined gems that had planted a sudden beat into my heart, tugging at all its strings. He turned his back to me. I was too befuddled to stop him.
Yet I saw how well he fought. How he bravely clashed head-on and forward towards the invading fray and with bullets and an explosive dexterity no man I knew possessed even to this day, took down dragon after dragon with his group, clearing the small town of its troubles and saving the day.
I was in the crowd of those that had stared in admiration. I watched him carve his presence on the horde that dared disturb the disorderly peace of this herders' paradise.
Had I thanked him? I think not.
But he had smiled down at me and reached a hand to pat me on the head.
"Stay out of trouble okay?" that voice, it was the same voice. It held the same soothing lull and now I remember.
His face.
He had not aged a day and here he was again before me, after so long I scarce could recall.
"Keep out of trouble, okay?"
The same advice. The same smile.
Gods of Citadelia!
He had left as immense an impression as he had back then yet what had I done just staring at him while he was still there? Why did I not talk to him?
I should have told him that it was I. I was that child he saved!
I could have thanked him at last!
"I best be going."
With a respectful bow of his head, he turned his back to me again. This time I could not help myself.
He was someone I wanted to know more about, since that day I had always been curious of him, a hand reaching out unconsciously to stop him, to make him look at me again with those jewel eyes.
But he had already walked on.
"There you are!"
"Makia! What are you doing here?"
My friends had come.
I was distracted for a minute, and when I looked back the next thing, I found him gone. I turned to follow the path he had taken.
Where. Where was he?
I had been dragged back, to the ballroom, in a flow of arms and hands that seemed to not exist to me while my mind was transported to deeper thoughts.
Why now had I only realized these feelings had not changed, just lain dormant then like a fire bird reborn, renewed since the day he had saved me?
It had been locked away and perhaps had at some point been forgotten but the strings he had plucked in my heart had woven him a tapestry from my youth, and now wanted to brandish it out as a banner for him.
Will I ever see him again?
"Why did you have to bring me back in here anyway? I just want to go wait out the carriage."
"You're such a thrill killer. The dances just restarted."
They already knew I was not one for such gaiety. I had failed at this craft like I failed everything else on the Scholar's curriculum.
Yet I was here being led around. Ironically, I became thankful for it later on that day.
"There he is! Look Makia!!"
The excited pointing had me baffled.
I turned sharply about in annoyance and just...stared.
I froze.
I must have gaped again haven't I?
The man…*that man* was on the floor. My feet took a few steps forward, yet he had already taken a few steps towards someone else.
It was the lovely Iron Chrysanthemum. He gathered her to himself and pressed her closely, whispering with a gentle smile something that made her giggle, his arms melding her to him in such a sensuous fashion that my heart flickered.
Then they danced. But it was genuinely intimate that I felt angered, the color rising to my cheeks.
That was the first time I had ever felt jealous.
"Trinity Chalice Roan Averque," one of my friends supplied and I snapped in attention to her. "Gunnery Captain. Also known as the Czar of the Curving Bullets…"
Curving Bullets. Was that what he called the attack that he'd saved my life with?
So he was a Trinity?
That should have come as no surprise. Neither was the fact that he was a Council Minister and among the Heads of the Kingdom's Factions.
He had perhaps walked the red carpet closely behind the King without myself ever seeing it.
How clueless I had become that it frustrated me immediately!
After that night, I now knew which Faction I wanted to be part of.