They sat there in silence.
Luarcus looked at them awkwardly. He looked around waiting; unsure of what to do.
He cleared his throat, "So um, it will be tonight. The party I mean. Please be ready by sunset, you are all our honored guests after all."
He walked out of the medical ward, the group continued to sit in silence.
None of them have spoken a single word to each other after the events that transpired. They simply rested in silence.
Dania looked at herself in the mirror, her hand tracing to the newly formed scarring on her face. She had three diagonal slashes going down her face. They had healed quite well due to a nurse having a healing blessing, although she had sustained the injury too long to have it fully healed.
The scar blended almost perfectly into her skin, but it was still noticeable.
The rest of the group were relatively unscarred physically.
Lykos looked over at Dania and kissed her cheek, breaking their unspoken vow of silence, "You look cooler with that."
Dania shook her head smiling sadly at Lykos, "Don't lie to me I know it looks bad, but I don't mind. I should have expected something like this to happen."
Lykos stayed quiet and nodded. He brushed her golden and green hair with care, trying to make her feel better.
Adriel stared blankly at the wall before he finally spoke, "Are we actually gonna stay for the party?"
He looked around. Zahira nodded and so did Lykos and Dania. He looked over at Iaceo who seemed indifferent.
"At least we're getting celebrated for all the shit we went through." said Zahira.
"Yeah but remember we weren't the only ones who suffered. They all had their village slain. We can't keep pitying ourselves." explained Lykos as he finished up Dania's hair.
Zahira shrugged.
Adriel got up from his bed. He began to walk out of the room.
"Where are you going?" asked Zahira.
"To see if they have any nice clothes. My tunic and pants are shredded and soiled. If we are going to a party I want to look my best especially if we are the honored guests or whatever."
Zhaira got up and walked towards him, "I'll also go then. Anyone else wanna join?"
"Dania and I will go later." replied Lykos.
"Brother?" asked Zahira.
Iaceo grunted, "I don't give a shit how I look."
Zahira rolled her eyes and grabbed Adriel, pulling him, "Hurry up come on!"
Adriel stumbled trying to keep up with her.
They walked out of the Luarcus's castle and walked down the street.
They were impressed with the reparations made. After being in the medical ward so long without any way to see outside.
The place looked completely different when they first arrived.
The streets were bustling with people although it was still quite empty. Many of them were helping repair the last few buildings that had been destroyed.
It didn't take them long to be recognized as they were swarmed by a crowd of villagers praising them.
Zahira and Adriel tried their hardest to be nice, but they were irritated by such interactions just wanting to simply relax.
They heard a familiar voice of a young boy, and Zahira's heart skipped a beat.
"Zahira!" yelled Yarell as he pushed himself through the crowd, "Zahira!"
Zahira smiled and picked him up, "Hey! Did you find your family?"
He nodded and smiled, "Yes thank you so much!"
"Yarell!" yelled an older feminine voice.
"Yarell where did you go?" said the voice again as a woman enraged from the crowd, "Yarell! There you are!"
She looked at Zahira who was carrying her son. She began to cry.
"Hey is everything alright ma'am?" asked Zahira as she put down Yarell.
The crowd made space as the woman cried groveling at Zahira's feet, "Thank you! Thank you so much! All of you!"
Adriel looked down at her. He started to feel good. He was upset and sad being locked up in the medical ward, but it finally dawned on him.
His suffering and pain saved their lives. He had helped them. He had finally done what he craved most.
The mother of Yarell looked up into Zahira's eyes, still on her knees, "Is there anything I could do for you? Anything at all?"
Zahira looked at Adriel who shrugged unsure of what to say.
She smiled at the mother, "You could tell us where we can get some nice clothes for the party."
Her eyes lit up and she nodded frantically. She dragged her through the village. Adriel had to jog to keep up.
The mother held Yarell in one hand and dragged Zahira with the other.
They arrived at a shop a short time later. It seemed like this was one of the few buildings that were destroyed and fully rebuilt.
The wood and stone looked freshly cut and the techniques used were more modern than the previous building they had seen that remained intact.
They entered inside and were greeted by an old man. The mother pushed them in before closing the door, taking Yarell with her.
"What can I do for you two?" asked the old man as he walked up to them. His hair was a small grey patch on the top of his head. His face was covered in wrinkles and wisdom. He examined them for a while.
"Oh I see you two are those knight folk the village has been talking about. You must be here for the party."
He walked into the backroom of the hop before coming out with a white dress and handed it to Zahira.
"Here try this on young lady, the dressing rooms are right over there." He pointed at an isolated door on the back wall.
She walked into the room.
He then gave Adriel a long sleeved tunic and pants.
Adriel took them and thanked him, but didn't try them on.
Zahira comes back, dress in hand, still wearing her other clothes.
"Thanks, this fit perfectly sir!"
They made their way back to the castle and waited for the sun to set.
The sun had set.
It was growing dark as they all began to change, except Iaceo who wore his usual tunic and pants.
Adriel saw Zahira in her dress. Her black hair was straight, her eyes glowed a bright jade green.
He looked at her up and down as the white puffy dress hugged her curves from the upper half. She looked more pretty than her usual intimidating self.
She smiled at Adriel and straightened up his tunic.
"You look handsome like that. You should dress this way more often." said Zahira as she took her hands off him.
Adriel blushed as he watched her walk out of the room. He followed suit shortly after.
They entered the grand hall. It had been fixed from the battle that had taken place.
Luarcus was sitting on his throne as tables were aligned with servants bringing a constant supply of food.
When the five knights entered, applause echoed through the hall as it drowned out the musicians playing.
They walked down past the aligned tables to five seats that had been set next to Luarcus and his table.
They looked up to see the brightly lit chandeliers of fire. The massive hall was littered with them illuminating the room.
As music played they ate and talked.
Soon enough people began to dance at the center of the hall.
Dania took Lykos down as they began to dance with the rest of the crowd.
Iaceo got up and found a stranger asking her to a dance.
That left Zahira and Adriel sitting awkwardly next to Luarcus who was cheering on his villagers while they danced.
"Hey so um…" Adriel looked at Zahira awkwardly, his cheeks slightly pink, "Wanna go dance?"
Zahira shook her head, "Um, no sorry I don't know how to dance."
"I can teach you!" blurted out Adriel without thinking before his face turned bright red from embarrassment.
Zahira smiled, "Sure!"
Adriel was surprised with her agreement.
Zahira took his hand and dragged him down.
She waited impatiently, as she stared at him, waiting for him to start, "Go on, show me."
"Ok so I guess we will start slow." Adriel reached out for her hand.
Their fingers interlocked as they both blushed awkwardly.
Adriel moved her hand onto his shoulder and he slid his down to her waist.
Zahira let out a subtle moan from his touch.
Adriel became flustered as he stuttered, "O- ok s- so um… right," He took a deep breath and began to guide her though the motions of dance following the beat of the song that played from the musicians.
"Take a step. Now again. Again." He kept guiding her.
She began to pick up fast as they began to sway and move gracefully.
Adriel was impressed by her talent. He spun her and she adapted fast going back into his arms as he picked her up before setting her down.
They both spinned and slowly began to take over the floor as they held each other closely.
"You're really good at this. Hard to believe it's your first time." praised Adriel.
"What can I say, I'm just the best." said Zahira smirking.
They both danced for a while. They soon stopped as the rest began to leave back to their seats, being one of the last few.
They sat back down. They talked a little longer.
Zahira and Adriel ignored the rest as they spoke, laughing at each other and telling stories of their childhood.
The party ended and it was late. Both of them were slightly inebriated.
Zahira and Adriel went to bed. He held her close.
This was the first time Zahira had felt the passion of love.
Their lips locked, and fingers intertwined as they became united that night.
The passion radiated in the air. Their actions left them breathless.
Adriel held her close when they finished. He was tired.
Zahira smiled at him, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." he responded.
She buried her face into his chest. He stroked her hair unitl they both succumbed to their exhaustion.