Vazia looped her arm through his and walked with him towards the courtyard, where the main celebrations were to be held. She could feel the warmth radiating off of him this close to him, as if the flames he wore were real.
For a few minutes Vazia was sure she was hallucinating this, that the void was playing tricks on her mind; but no, Villam was very much real beside her, his arm solid against hers. When he spoke, she was finally certain it was real.
She looked up at him, mildly surprised. So then was his nervousness excitement instead? Or rather was it both?
"Me too," she replied, returning her gaze ahead once more. Since he had asked her at Carvyre's 'party', she had been unable to stop thinking about Villam or his offer unless she had her stone gripped tight in her hand. Only when she was alone had she dared to set her stone down and let her mind awaken, in a way it hadn't truly done since Homecoming.
Better to have thoughts of Villam, even if they were anxious, than to have screams painted red dancing through her memories.
Villam Regis
Those two words were perhaps the first time that Vazia had shown any real enjoyment in his presence. The two of them had been spending a fair amount of time together but much of it was silent. What was said, was direct and to the point, conversations that were held in brief back-and-forths that left little to the imagination. Admittedly, there had been times Villam wondered if Vazia merely
tolerated him.
He wouldn't have blamed her, oftentimes he found he was barely tolerating himself.
That she had been looking forward to this brought a strange relief to the weight he felt resting on his ember-clad shoulders. Unknowingly he'd placed it there, traveling to assumptions in his search for answers in the blank, emotionless void of her eyes. Tonight though, her gaze was not so empty. Somewhere, deep behind the
iris, there lay truths he'd yet to see.
As the two of them ascended the long and winding road leading up to the shimmering Tower atop the hill, the fountain surged with purple light once more, the bright font of color colliding with Villam's blazingly red suit and making him appear more magenta, if only for a moment. Even this far up the hill, they could hear the music of the Chamber band playing from the entryway.
There were several folk mingling about the courtyard, few that Villam knew, and even fewer he wished to mingle with tonight. The presence of
Lale Carvyre irked Villam especially; He knew well Vazia had somewhat suspected that Villam had only asked her to join him to draw Lale's ire. For him to once more parade Ferreira in front of his once-friend would only serve to make that seem the truth.
"Come, this way."
Villam turned off of the road, pulling Vazia gently with him down a side path, marked only by a naked strip of dirt among the grassy hill that the Tower rested on. He would
not allow Lale to ruin this for him, nor would he allow anybody to be a distraction to what he wanted out of tonight. The path they took wrapped around the hill, eventually leading the pair to a smaller, dimly lit pavilion. Vines grew on its sides, and the lanterns hung from it were dim with age.
There was, however, a stellar view of the city from this vantage point, unobstructed by the Tower, while still allowing the music to cascade down from the courtyard to grace their ears. Yes, this would do nicely for now. Villam slipped his hand from around Vazia's arm to rest against her palm, his fingers locking with hers as he turns his body to face her.
"May I have this dance?"
Vazia Ferreira