The three noble women sipped their tea without a word - it was expected of women to be close to silent at these sorts of gatherings. They had picked out a table along the sidelines of the dancefloor, not interested in being in the eyes of the judgmental lady chaperones. Their mother's sharp gaze was enough for Briar Blythe and her twin sister, Nesryn Blythe. The men around the social gathering had very different standards for themselves. They laughed loudly amongst each other, usually at their own snarky comments. Enjoying the eyes of women that wanted suitors like them to ask for their hand. Briar wasn't one of them.
This was Briar's very first season and she was sat beside the very respectable Lady Abigail Blythe, her mother, and her sister. They all wore similar fashions of the season, though their dresses were made with pale and muted colors. Her light brown hair was thick with natural waves and, unlike other women, she preferred to let it fall over her shoulders instead of pinning it up. It was simply too much work for every other ball. Though that wasn't all that set her apart. Briar had two different colored eyes entirely. Her left eye was beautiful sky blue while her right eye was a chestnut brown. She shared none of these traits with her twin, as they weren't identical.
Her sister had moss green eyes and straight brown hair that resembled their mother's almost like a clone. Nesryn tended to be similar to her mother in attitude too, being another of the hopeless romantics that swooned over the lovesick dancers. It was one of the reasons that their mother was okay with them not marrying in their first season. Abigail hoped her children would be bound in a marriage that would make them happy in the years to come. Her sister wore a smaller skirted, bright white gown that men appreciated far too much in Briar's opinion. Not that her sister didn't look absolutely stunning in it, but because the males decided that white was a symbol of purity it was seen as much more appealing to them.
"Miss Blythe?" All three women placed their teacups back down onto their saucers, then down on the table top after that. Briar hummed as she was ripped from her thoughts, all eyes turning over to where a man was approaching. She didn't recognize him in the slightest so she thought he was someone that may have been courting her sister, but he was a rather dapper gentleman. With his electrifying blue eyes and wild black hair, he was given good genes. He was looking at Briar though she made no move to start a conversation. "May I have this dance?"
He stretched out his hand with the offer towards her. This was fairly surprising. It was made fairly clear that she was being courted by a highly valuable man. A man that had cleared most of the suitors from trying to approach her in any manner. She didn't even have the time to decline the offer, as someone had come behind her and settled a hand to the back of her chair. With this new entrance she decided to start drinking her tea again. This stranger's eyes weren't on her anymore anyway.
"Lord Henrik, I suggest you find other free matches. This woman is committed to another." The man's voice came through gritted teeth. Her eyes turned up to Henrik over her teacup with amusement glittering in her mismatched eyes. Her blood cooled as a small bit of fear ran through her veins. This wasn't her own emotion. She knew what fear was and this was nothing of the sort. Instead, it seemed to be Henrik's, which had slowly spread over into her own person.
Briar was an undiagnosed empath. The woman was able to easily pick up on the emotions of those around her and her body would then interpret them as her own. She had to get used to knowing the difference of emotions of others' compared to her own when she was very young. It would have consumed her otherwise, since she was stubborn in not letting others know of this little trick of her's. Maybe it was her fear of being thrown into the looney bin that had her keeping her mouth shut.
Her savior took the empty chair beside her with a pout in his lips. Lord Mahlikai Leucos was a dazzling gent that Briar was lucky enough to catch the eyes of. He had a long face with strong features. His eyes were a forest green that she could look into for days on end without a hint of getting bored. Something she would never admit to another. His smile would brighten up a room with sharpened canines and usually brought one upon her own expression due to the intensity of it.
"How am I to ever leave you alone at such social events?" A small smile graced her lips as she continued to finish the tea. He had settled into the fourth chair at their table after a small bow of his head as he greeted the Blythe matriarch and the other Blythe sister. When he was done addressing them appropriately, he gave Briar his full attention as he usually did. It made her feel powerful to have such a man looking at her and only her.
"I apologize, my lord. Though I don't see how this could possibly be the fault of my own." She dragged her eyes away from the captivating man only to meet her sister's gaze. She had her brows raised in a rather suggestive manner - one that Briar chose to ignore.
Her family didn't know much about her suitors or the extent of their courtships. Nesryn had her own men to tend to and her parents never broached the topic. They were never ones to push for such things, so it didn't come up often. Not to mention, her friends were always talking about men and that just had Briar shutting down any conversation that surrounded the topic. It was just a topic of conversation that was overdone to her. When it came around to her turn to contribute to the conversation she'd often talk about her favorite hobbies. Like gardening.
Her eyes slipped back into the lush forest hidden in his eyes as she pulled herself from those silly thoughts. A genuine smile rested on her lips now, "How might your day have been? I hear you were quite busy, running around town and such." She had heard about it from passing ladies. They had been wondering rather loudly why there was a social event that Briar didn't have the suitor at her side. They seemed pretty enthusiastic about the man losing his love for her and the potential of them having a chance to get the man's attention. Then they had the audacity to come up to her to ask about him.
People would come to her to hear things about the suitor. He had no family around the city, so they looked to the next best thing. His interest in her made her that person, not that she ever said anything when they questioned her. She respected his privacy enough that she didn't ask the questions they wanted answers to. In the event that she knew the answer, they were never something important enough that she would need to hide it.
"Tiring," he groaned. However, she felt no exhaustion or annoyance from the suitor. The two younger women giggled as Mahlikai admitted that he wanted to sink in his favorite chair and let it swallow him whole. "And, if these men keep looking your way, Miss Briar, it will only become worse." Briar knew he exaggerated, most men interested in her already knew that she didn't share those feelings. "Will you honor me with a dance?"
She placed her cup to the floor with a light hum as she thought over his offer. Finally, she decided to accompany him since she was feeling slightly restless. He stood as Briar did and offered his arm for her to take. She happily locked their elbows. The pair curtsied to her mother and sister, then they joined the barrage of dancers.
"Every time I come by, your sister acts as if she forgot I even existed," Mahlikai said, though his expression stayed light. Briar didn't say anything for a moment as she tried to keep up with his near-perfect footwork. Even her eyes were set on the pair of dancers beside them to make sure she knew what she was doing.
When she felt confident enough that she knew what she was doing, the woman sighed. "If you are so bothered by my sister not giving you a spot in her mind, then why did you decide to dance with me?" It wasn't that she was nervous about him wanting another. She simply didn't want someone who was already searching for a mistress - especially not when that mistress would be her sister. Briar also had some trust in this suitor that his eyes were solely on her.
"It isn't like that, you know that, Miss Briar." He gave her a scolding look. She smiled at the furrowing of his brows and the frustration she felt building within her. Not her own feelings, of course. "Though I think my future sister-in-law should know I at least am on this plane of existence."
"She has her own interests, but I'll make sure she hides the fact that she doesn't recognize you next time. How does that suffice?" Her head shifted to the side as her gaze found his once again. Some of her dark curls, which had been pushed back for the dance, fell in front of her shoulder again. Ready to blind her in the next spin or dip. "Last I spoke with her of you, she remembered your name starts with an 'M'," it was an exaggeration. One that he could see in the mischievous glint in her eyes.
He subtly moved a gloved hand forward and brushed her wild waves back into their usual place. Her freckled cheeks turned a light pink at how careless his action seemed. Anyone that saw that would know how scandalous he was being in public and wonder how he could be in private. Many of the women around town would like to fill their fantasies with that kind of knowledge, but Briar wasn't too keen on letting any of them find out. "Oddly, that does make me feel a little better about my place in your life." Briar giggled at the silliness of it, gaining herself a victorious look from her dance partner.
The dance eventually came to an end, leaving the pair to abandon the dancefloor. Even if it was pretty clear that the pair would eventually become husband and wife, they had to conform to societal norms. More than one dance in a row was seen as scandalous. Multiple dances in a night - whether they were one after the other or not - was walking a dangerous line. Her mother warned her of this again and again, so she wasn't going to play that game. Mahlikai didn't care for the norms but she would do anything she wanted if she asked. At least that was what it felt like.
He escorted her back to her mother and sister, only letting the woman take her arm back when she went to sit back in her own seat. He took the seat beside her as well, taking his time in adjusting to his seat unlike Briar. "It is odd that you have yet to propose, my lord. Seeing as you continue to scare off my darling sister's suitors," Nesryn commented which finally took the man's eyes off of his favorite Blythe sister.
Nesryn, though technically the younger sibling, always felt the need to protect her sibling. Briar simply rolled her different colored eyes at her twin's antics. Nesryn didn't often speak up about things but, if she did, it was always something like this. A tad bit of jealousy started to creep up the empath's spine, though there was nothing to be jealous of. As stated, Mahlikai was promised to her - engagement ring or not - and she would notice if anything changed about his emotions towards her.
"Oh, yes. I suppose that is up to your sister, Miss Blythe. For I have asked for her hand and she expressed that she wanted more time to make her decision." Nesryn pouted at his confession and turned to look at her twin with an incredulous expression. It was only then that she had ever felt silly about that decision. Mahlikai only shrugged away the questions brewing in the sister's mind. "Though it's not much of a problem to someone such as myself. As long as men still understand who still has a claim to all that she is, what's to worry a few more weeks or months over?"
Nesryn's eyes widened even further at the new, even though they had already been too large the moment before. She turned back to see how Briar was reacting to this sort of information but her face was set into a neutral expression while she took a sip of her tea. This was a common occurrence. At first Briar had worried that there was something sinister about him. Though, as time went on, she realized that it was just his way of showing his commitment to her. He would never do anything to harm her.
"That reminds me," the man interrupted her thoughts. His body was facing her again when she came back from the inner workings of her mind. "I have something I need to discuss with you when you have a moment. Preferably in a more private area?" She nodded in agreement to her favorite suitor before she glanced over at her sister.
A prideful grin stretched along the woman's looks at her sister's awed expression. "I have snagged myself a rather nice catch, huh sister? He's one of the few that believes women should speak freely. He's happy to give me such choices in life." During Briar's less-than-subtle bragging, the suitor in question began tapping his foot beneath the table. Anxious butterflies began to flutter within her stomach as she fed on his emotions.
"Would it be such a scandal if you were to share, sister?" Briar snorted at her sister's idea and a toothy grin stretched on her face. It wasn't often that she felt the emotions from her mother, but it was clear she was just as jealous as Nesryn was. Though their father didn't care for their marriage prospects, he was a firm disbeliever in women speaking out of turn. Abigail still rolled her eyes as if to hide her feelings and instead expressed herself being unimpressed with their joking.
Briar turned to her suitor, who was staring down at his bouncing knee. This was a drastic change from the man they were talking to moments before. It was as if he had completely forgotten that he needed to talk to her until it was brought up. "Mahlikai, do you wish to go to the terrace and speak of whatever is making you so anxious?" His beautiful eyes met her's at the sound of his name, but he didn't seem as bubbly as he had been.
He nodded, having the pair stand once again. Briar gave her mother a kiss on her cheek this time around to try taking away the frown that was setting on the older woman's face. Then she followed him away from Abigail. People split ways for him as they passed, which honestly felt empowering to the woman. Mahlikai had explained this to her by saying that his family had been unofficially in power around these parts for decades. He promised they wouldn't dare go near or against him and, in turn, her either.