When night came the kingdom of Valencia lit up with a golden glow, as lanterns illuminated the sky. Everywhere, from the capital of the kingdom—Ashteria, to the outskirts of Bronts Village, golden lanterns could be seen floating across the sky.
Mary and Aziliah stood by the pond in the town square. Their lanterns already lit and ready to be released. Ryan sat on a bench not too far from them enjoying the view.
They set the lanterns free and watch as the golden orbs floated upward. A small smile graced Aziliah's face watching them.
"Isn't it beautiful?!" Mary said awestruck.
"Hmmn it is," Aziliah answered, her eyes glued to the sky.
Ryan watched their little exchanges and trained his eyes at the sky too. He occasionally looked at the girls by the pond too. Beauties were everywhere, and so were couples who couldn't help but show off their love a little too much.
He rolled his eyes at a couple who were rubbing their noses together, and gagged at a couple kissing passionately by a tree not too far from him.
"Oh my single heart..." He muttered clutching his chest. "This is another reason I love being in the capital at this time...sigh."
In the Capital, he could hook up with a random vampire girl. Since over there this night was a war of hormones and ladies with no mates loved to mingle.
But over here, since a lot of people had gone to the capital, only the lovers were left, and they were killing him with all their affectionate display. He cringed
He decided to keep his eyes on his bestie and Mary. He noticed that Mary had left her alone to go get something, So he got up and walked over to her.
Aziliah looked so serenely beautiful, completely different from her everyday self. He was surprised earlier when she came downstairs wearing a dress. A Dress!!. He had rubbed his eyes a few times to be sure he wasn't seeing things. In fact, he hit himself and asked Mr. Rogers to pinch him cause he taught he was dreaming, but it was all real! He hadn't seen her in a dress in a really long time, and it threw him off.
"You seem to be having a good time Zee. I'm glad..." Ryan said as he stood beside her. His hands clasped behind him.
"It's not that bad actually." She said. Her eyes never leaving the lanterns. "But I still prefer being in the capital though."
Ryan grinned and looked at the reflection of the lanterns on the pond. The golden lights were bouncing off the clear pond. The lights made the butterfly engraved on Aziliah's mask glow a bit. It was pretty and the dress was making her look like a delicate damsel, despite it being different from the bright colors others were wearing, she still stood out like a lone star or a lily in the midst of dandelions, utterly beautiful. 'Too bad no one could enjoy the full view because of her mask' He thought to himself.
Aziliah looked at him and said "Ryan remember, we're leaving at dawn tomorrow..."
He nodded
"Have you prepared everything we'll need?." She asked.
He smiled and pat her head. "Don't worry... I've prepared everything. You just need to pack when we get back home."
She smiled "What would I do without you?"
A smug smile appeared on his face "Of course nothing. I'm your life line after all." He said, and she laughed rolling her eyes at him.
"Mmm hmm. Keep telling yourself that," She said with a smile.
"Oh wow! Ryan the great finally decided to join us! Here I was thinking he was going to sit there all night," Mary said as she approached them with some fried pastries.
Ryan sighed "That was the initial plan.... but those lovey-dovey couples over there said otherwise, I felt like I was being oppressed," he murmured, running a hand through his hair."
"Well you won't be feeling that way if we were together now would you," Mary said. She handed everyone one pastry each and casually tried to hook her hand with Ryan's, wanting to stay close to him only for him to skillfully dodge her which made her stomp her feet and Aziliah laugh at them.
"In that case, I'd rather continue feeling oppressed and single if that was the only solution," He retorted. Mary gasped and started chasing him.
Its not like Ryan doesn't like Mary, he only sees her as his sister but she is not giving up on her advances no matter what!
The rest of the night was spent with them endlessly teasing each other, Mary trying and failing to flirt with Ryan, Aziliah bickering with Ryan and them snacking on a lot of food. Later, Ryan carried a sleeping Mary back to her house. They wished the family good night and head to their home.
The night air was cool and refreshing, softly blowing through Aziliah's hair as Ryan and her walked home quietly. The lights from the lanterns had faded as most of them had floated far away, but the silver glow of the moon still brightened the sky, making it easy to see.
When they got home, Ryan lit up the fireplace, while Aziliah prepared some warm tea for both of them. The living room glowed softly with a golden tint as Ryan left to make his bed. He changed his clothes and met her sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, she had taken her mask off revealing her soft fair cheeks, long curly eyelashes, beautiful amber eyes, pointed nose, and the cute little mole below her right eye. Every part of her face that was hidden behind her mask. A beauty beyond compare.
Ryan sat next to her after taking his cup of tea. He glanced at her side profile noticing that she was lost in thought. The light from the fire made her amber eyes glow a little. He knew what she was thinking about but kept quiet.
"Could it be that there is war coming? or maybe he wants me to join his elite warriors? or maybe there is a dangerous mission and he thinks I'm the only one capable of carrying it out?" Aziliah spoke in a soft voice, her eyes never living the fire.
Ryan took a sip from his tea and relished the taste before speaking. He thought about the possibilities of the request too but couldn't come up with a plausible reason why she was being summoned. "To be honest Zee....I don't think the king would summon you like this if it had something to do with war," He said thoughtfully. "He would have most definitely have them inform you directly or hand a letter to his carrier eagle to give you like he usually does. So what ever this is..... " He paused, his hand rubbing his chin in meditation, ".....it most likely had backed him to a corner with no way out and since he didn't even tell those men it seems like its something he can't trust anyone with except you."
Aziliah sighed. She had also come to that conclusion. She couldn't help but wonder what it is that had back the great king to a corner. "Ryan... what if it's not what we're thinking," She began , her tone very serious as she faced him completely. He looked at her curiously, a brow raised with interest.
"What if its something silly and embarrassing like wanting me to train his men or worse help him find a bride for the prince.... or better yet becoming a royal bodyguard?" she said. The room fell silent for a few seconds then they burst out laughing.
Ryan wiped a tear from his eyes still doubling with laughter, "Well, it is a possibility though... but we'll only find out when we get there," he said
"Hmmn yeah"
"Anyways, you should get some sleep... we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow," Ryan said as Aziliah stretched her arms obviously sleepy.
"I know," She said standing up and heading to her room. "Goodnight Ryan.."
"night Zee" He said just as she closed her room door. Ryan sat there still smiling and replaying her words "'helping him find a bride for the prince' how ridiculous," he muttered to himself as he took the mugs to the kitchen and made his way to his room.
If only they knew it was going to be one of those very silly reasons.
Author's note❤️: At long last this chapter is finally finished!! How can a chapter so simple take me this long to write?😭. That's why they said 'Imagination and Motivation' are two separate things!!😭. I've finally written it. Take that writer's block!!😎. And thus the author continues her tale of Aziliah and Xavian with 'blood sweat and tears' and a whole lot of music (dramatic music playing in the background). See you next time my lovelies😘😘❤️❤️
P.S. I'm going to skip Xavian's part in this chapter and cut to the very first day of the tournament because the events of the festival of flowers aren't that important and just contains Aziliah's journey to the capital but I'll just touch it a little after-all this is a slow-burn story😊