Open Chronicles The Valenntenian Masquerade Festival

[Saskia Kerraelas]

Saskia frowned, or pouted, she couldn't tell what he expression was doing as she watched Alaric at that moment. How crestfallen he became, how... dejected.

"Wulfy?" She needed to know before the wine could touch her lips.

"Do you... have feelings for me?" Now, she was glad her voice came to a softness, her face now changing to match. Gentle, kind, and understanding. "And I ask you to be honest with me..."

Because now... it made sense. It was all making sense. The dancing, the music, it had distracted her, confused her, but in this lantern light, Alaric now looked everything that a romantic knight dressed for an evening ought to look. Her cheeks burned again, unsure of where that thought had came to be, but her heart raced at the silence he left her in before he could answer her.

"I will know if you are being dishonest!" She added, staring steadily into his eyes with her amber hues.

 

[Alaric Wulf]

Oh boy, this just kept getting better. Alaric ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes searching for an escape route. Finding none, and preferring not to be a coward, he downed his drink instead.

Her voice was soft though, and he found his eyes meeting hers briefly. She had affected a different tone, an unfamiliar one. Gods she was beautiful. His azure eyes skittered away again, remembering the question.

"Aye, and I think I have for a while. I just don't think I realized it for what it was until now."

He knew he couldn't get away with a lie, not that he really ever wanted to lie to her anyways. She knew him to well.

Alaric was feeling about an inch tall at this point, the wind taken from his sails. He was realizing that perhaps loving your best friend wasn't the best idea, but at the same time, it's not like he could help it. "I'm sorry if I upset you, I shouldn't have ambushed you like that.." He trailed off, his lips still tingling from their kiss.

Saskia Kerraelas

 

[Saskia Kerraelas]

"Alaric." Saskia frowned, setting her drink down and forgetting it as she now grasped one of his hands in both her own. "You need not apologise. I... used to fancy you when we were squires, but after a while, I figured you were not interested and I prided out friendship the most. It is just a shock to me, because I do not know... what it means to me right now."

And so she put his empty glass aside and wrapped her arms around him. They were the moon and the sun, coming together in an embrace. She rested her chin on his shoulder, smiling. "You know me better than anyone else. Remember when we were Sworn into the Order, I always found myself walking back towards the squire dormitories for months? It took me time to adjust, to remember, as I am sure exploring this with you will take time."

She pulled back enough to look up at him, studying his face. He was handsome, her handsome. Her constant friend and confidant over the years. It was no wonder now that she did not seem fazed by other handsome faces, not when she had her Alaric there with her.

"How about, once we return home, you can pick a day or night and well... let's call it a courtship. It's worth a try, is it not?"

 

[Alaric Wulf]

She took his hand between hers and he looked down at her, he had never seen this side of her before. Yes she had been a source of comfort in the past, but not sweet and intimate like this. It was new, and it made him care for her even more.

He had no clue she had looked at him like that as squires, but he could be pretty oblivious. He was trying to grasp at words to respond, but he was failing miserably. How was she so good at this?

Alaric held her tightly as she embraced him, one hand pressed against the back of her head, the other wrapped around her waist. He could have held her forever, breathing her in.

Finally he found his voice, though it cracked with emotion. He loosened his embrace, allowing her to step back. "I understand what you're saying, and I am willing to wait while you take time to think things over. The last thing I want to do is be pushy, or ruin what we already do have." He drug a hand down his face, an embarrassed grin on his face. "Thank you, for speaking with me like this. It means a lot to me Saskia." He had hope for their future, one that would allow him to love her. "I'd like to explore that with you when we get home, at whatever pace you determine."

Saskia Kerraelas

 

[Saskia Kerraelas]

Well shit, he made the idea of kissing seem so natural in a moment like this. She had nothing else to say, caught up in the way he looked right now and how he look at her.

"Right... then should we uh, get more drink and food before we go back for a dance? We should really finish a dance before we call this night over."

Extracting her arms from him, she turned to where she left her wine and took the chalice again for a sip of the sweet wine.

Alaric Wulf

 

[Alaric Wulf]

Alaric let her depart from his arms, feeling much better about how things had gone. He may have made himself look quite the fool, but her gracious responses had him floating again. They really had grown, the two of them.

"A drink, and a dance sounds ideal to me. I do think we should snag a bunch of goodies for the travel back, just don't tell Roki." He smiled as his wine was refilled, drinking it at a much slower pace. It really was sweet wine, different than what they had at home. Perhaps Faramund would appreciate them bringing a bottle back.

The thought of hone and even Faramund seemed to have suddenly dropped weight on his shoulders, grounding him once more. This time though, he hid it from Saskia. These were different worries. Worries that home may fall to forces to dark to imagine. The Everwatcher was the omniscient fear that plagued him, he knew he could not keep all his fellow knights safe. It was unreasonable in the first place. Still, they hadn't found Syr Margot yet. The cultists still assaulted them, their numbers never seeming to dwindle...

He pushed himself away from the table, smile hiding the fear in his heart. "Let's get that dance, show the Vallentenian's how it's done." Then, they would leave, together. A part of him longing to stay and keep her here, keep her safe just a moment longer.

Saskia Kerraelas

 

[Lyta]

"I do not require a guard tonight, Mikko," Lyta said, her smile at his earlier stumble over his words turning shy and she bit down into her bottom lip as though debating whether her words had been too forward for a lady. The music was still playing but Lyta brought them to a stop and took his hand in hers instead.

"I believe I have heard the young Cadets call it Ditching. Come on," the last she said in a conspiratory whisper as she tugged him away from the dance floor and off into the crowd.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Oh, Ancients.

Lyta almost made him stumble, made the beating of his heart pause, but he would not have minded the interruption to his being. Something inside him begged and begged, but Mikko knew how he had wanted this to go. The romance of the night and festival would not compel him to stop her there and take her lips in a kiss. No, he had a risk of being pulled back to his post, and if he was to kiss her now and be taken from her, he'd be dreaming of her instead of his duty.

And so, Mikko pulled her back in against him, half pulling her into a stairwell used to go up onto the battlements and away from prying eyes. Voice whispered at her ear, "You may not need a guard, tonight Lady of Dreams, but I will always lay down my sword and duty to you." He would pledge to be there for her, to be her warrior and protector. Her confidant, her friend...

"Lyta..." He released her now, smiling at the conspiring Guardian. "Oh, Ancients. Alright..." Mikko chuckled, running a hand through the curls he had brushed to one side. "You were dragging me somewhere? What trouble have you planned?" Cendrillon needed to stop getting in his own way, to let this beauty of a dream take him away from here, far from his ancients-damned duty.

Lyta

 

[Lyta]

Lyta raised her brows when he pulled them up short and into a secluded stairwell. Her mind flashed back to the forest they had spent their first night together on the road, when he had nearly kissed her but had chosen not to. She had not been ready then - was not sure if she was now - yet this time found herself less terrified at the thought. Tonight they were not a Guardian and Vanguard out on a mission, tonight they were just Lyta and Mikko. So she was glad when he finally relented and decided to leave behind the cloak - metaphorically speaking.

A giddy grin spread across her face and she once more turned and tugged him on into the press of bodies.

"To the harbour - I have always wanted to release a lantern."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Who was he to deny Lyta anything at this moment?

He did little to fight her gentle tug as they came away from the veil of quiet and privacy. She told him once to stop thinking about himself as two different beings, and slowly he became more accepting of his true self. Lyta seemed to do that to him a lot...

"This way." He tried not to rush her, not when she wore such elegance. They were free of the Tower's gates, and now they could see how lit and full the streets were of colour and people. Mikko knew shortcuts that would give them stairs than the decline of the main street of Old Town that serpentine the elevated area. He may have robbed Lyta of seeing the view of the celebrations, but soon enough he had brought her out to the harbour.

Sure enough, small boats were being rowed out into the calm waters.

"Lanterns over here! Small, big, pretty, and plain! I've got them all!" Yelled a peddler.

Lyta

 

[Lyta]

The back way meant very rarely did a citizen stop them for a blessing and they made good time to the harbour. Usually at these balls, Lyta spent her whole evening in the central square outside the tower as most guardians did. Occasionally she would catch sight of the harbour and the lanterns and wonder at how it might be to spend the evening out on the water instead. She had just never met a person she would like to spend so much alone time with.

"This is beautiful," a whole market had taken to the harbour and people rowed their boat alongside food sellers, lantern sellers and more. She rocked onto her tip toes to get a better view.

"Should we rent a boat?" She asked even as she eyed up a stall of lanterns that they passed.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Lyta's presence was infectious, and her delight and curiosity almost left him grinning like a fool.

"We can once you pick out two lanterns for us." If Jas was here, watching him be patient with Lyta, he would not hear the end of it. Lyta was a welcome change in her perpetual routine as a Vanguard; she was a breath of air he did not realise he desperately needed. They were not pressed for time, many lanterns were selling but many more being made to keep up with demand. Some even painted names of lovers onto their lanterns, reminding him that this was very much a romantic activity.

Perhaps he was glad for a mask this time.

"Write your wishes! Write your wishes here and tie it to your lantern!"

Hm, that's a thought.

Mikko fished for a coin in his pocket, dropping it into the box before taking ink to a thin length of parchment.

I wish to be myself and not let the true side of me die.

 

[Lyta]

"And you, Guardian Lyta?" The man looked hopefully to the Guardian offering quill and parchment out to her, but Lyta merely smiled and shook her head.

"Wishes are the purest part of Dreams, it would not be right," the man nodded solemnly and moved on to asking another couple who had approached his stall. Instead, she left Mikko to write his with a wink and wandered a little way down to see what lanterns were on offer. It seemed to be a personal thing from what she observed of others buying them, choosing a lantern that appealed to their innermost self. She saw young girls choose flowery lanterns, and a young guardsman choose a lantern adorned with a scene of a man shooting an arrow. Her fingers trailed over different ones until she found one adorned with butterflies, very much like the one she had attempted to dress herself as tonight.

"Lady Lyta! Would you Bless our lanterns please?" a voice called before she could purchase it.

 

[Roki]

Roki blinked.

"A knife?" he sounded as the yellow and orange fox stared at him. Large and full of knowing.

What she knew. He did not know. Could not fathom.

"The port?" he replied. Saw how her eyes fixed onto his circlet. Bright with its luck. His brows knit some. And he recoiled from her curious gaze. Childish in his greed.

The circlet was his. A gift. What did this trader of secrets want with it? Nothing he was willing to give, he was-

"Noi," he seemed captured by the absence of an end. Or was it her strange stare? Or the overall- "Wait, what?" he peered down her overly large sleeves. The darkness there in.

Lead by the supple line of flesh was- His eyes went wide.

There at the pit of the darkness. Just past her elbow.

A single eye. Wide and all seeing.

He gulped. "A knife," he agreed. Slowly rose his head and saw her again, behind her yellow and orange mask. Nod. Nod faster. "I'll get you one," he assured. Glanced about.

Any number of festival goers danced around, drunk in their merriment. More than a few were tender in there embraces. His staff felt heavy-of-a-sudden, and he rolled its weight against his shoulder. That the blue koi had hid away from the eyes was lost upon the young squire, so wrapped in the mysts of it all was he.

"Knife," he thought aloud, and squat low. Though his staff remained tall, and the lantern aglow. Rest against the hewn and shaved elmwood. "Knife, knife, knife," he went on. Saw the jostle of a knife on one man's hip. His eyes went large with promise. "Knife~" he said with impish grin. Let go of his staff, as it went on standing in place, and he crept towards the prize.

Noi

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Lifting his head, he saw Lyta had drifted to lanterns depicting butterflies. Fetching his coin pouch, he gave the merchant the coin to cover the purchase. "Go on, bless their lantern if you wish. I should find myself a lantern and boat to charter..."

"Can I interest you in the robins, good man? To compliment the colours of the butterflies?"

Mikko shrugged, smiled, and nodded. "You sold me." He fetched more coin and the merchant instructed him that they hired boats out down on the docks. With both lanterns in hand, after fastening his wish to his lantern, he moved to where Lyta had been flocked by others and politely excused the Guardian from her blessing duty.

"It is time the Guardian of Dreams takes part in tradition. Please, excuse her." He smile from beneath his mask. Some audibly wondered who he was, as he most certainly was not Brom.

"Quick," he mutterd to Lyta, "before they start trying to figure out who I am and we are burdened with their questions."

Lyta

 

[Lyta]

Upon seeing the Guardian was offering out her blessings, a steady line of hopeful citizens had begun to form. Lyta politely did each one whilst throwing Mikko apologetic looks. She was relieved when the Vanguard finally came to her aid and banished the rest of the crowd. She knew that soon she would need to grow the confidence to say no herself but at least it did not have to be on this occasion.

Taking his arm Lyta gave a relieved sigh once they were away, relaxing once more into the version of herself Mikko knew.

"At least they cannot approach us on the boat - oh!" she finally spotted the butterfly lantern Mikko had purchased and took it from him to examine it better then cast her eyes to the Robin one he had purchased. "Perhaps next year we can match our costumes," her cheeks heated at the presumption of what that might mean.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

"Next year?" It brought a disarming smile to his face. "I will be sure to not volunteer to patrol that night." He laughed, leading her towards the small boats. "Any ideas?"

He would dress as a jester to her princess if that is what she wished them to dress as.

Coin exchanged hands, and Mikko went first into their hired boat, both lanterns set aside and out of the way. He turned, smiling up at Lyta from beneath his mask. Hands took each of her own, and the Vanguard helped the lady descend into the boat easily. She was light, beautiful, and now joining him for a few moments of quiet out in the harbour.

Men on the dock helped them on their way, pushing the small boat out. Mikko had taken a seat and looked to Lyta before grasping the oars eitherside and softly rowing them out to a spot not many loitered by.

"You glow in the lantern light, Lyta." He commented as they came to rest, watching the woman bathed in the warm lighting of the lit lanterns floating above them.

Lyta

 

[Lyta]

"I shall think on it," Lyta murmured as he helped her into the small boat. She took care to arrange her skirts and wings so they did not obstruct his own half of the boat, nor the view. With the lantern sitting in her lap they were off.

It was hard not to look up as lantern after lantern joined the stars above. Some folk preferred to set theirs adrift on the seas and sometimes they bumped against the boat before continuing on their journey. The result was an almost endless stream of light coming from above and below. Like they were surrounded by... well, by magic.

She was so caught up in her wonderment she almost jumped at Mikko's voice.

"I think it is the crushed gems," she smiled and picked up a bit of the fabric of her dress. Every time it hit the lantern light it sparkled. Her eyes turned back to the lanterns. "It has always looked so beautiful from afar, I knew it would be so to be here but this... is beyond words. I cannot believe I have lived here all my life and yet I still find so many new things to amaze me."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

How long had he been in the Vanguard when Lyta was made Guardian?

How long until he had met her, seen her up close, and had the pleasure of speaking to her that first day training her? He had existed so long before she changed him slowly, made him aware that there was something more in his life he wanted part of.

"You amaze me the most." He found himself saying.


Mikko chuckled, lifting the candle that had been lit behind him, and held it between them to assist Lyta in lighting her own lantern. "I mean... you have made me see more of Valenntenia and the world outside it in the Steppes. You are a beauty I needed to make me realise that I am more than just a Vanguard and duty... more than the legacy of my own family's name and history. I want to be a man that is there by your side and help you flourish, to lean on each other and celebrate a future..."

Lyta

 

[Lyta]

Lyta's cheeks bloomed with colour. Everywhere his skin touched hers set butterflies off inside her chest as he carefully helped her light her lantern. Task done, they sat blazing between them ready to be released. She was loathe to move in that moment however. Something electrical hung in the air between them, like this was a fork in the road that might decide their future. If she moved she feared she might break it.

"You did that all yourself Mikko. I merely... offered the suggestion of how to look at it," she was quite proud of the different man he was to the one she had first met that day on the mat. Her path had taken her away often since their mission together but each time she had returned he had seemed more confident in himself, worn his skin like he knew who he was.

 

[Noi]

The eyes were right: he quickly administered aid with a few truths to settle his heart. Sometimes, an ally was needed, especially when a secret was as heavy as this, and Noi did not have strong arms. Another pair could help her carry this burden.

While Roki slunk around, finding the knife that Noi needed, she stood by his staff and inspected it with as much indifference as a child would to a blade of grass among many. She went to touch it, wondering where the blue fish had gone, but didn't consider finding the fish to be of much importance to her currently. Before her grubby little fingers could touch the wood, she paused. What if, by touching it, she made it fall over?

So what if she did?

---

The knife had been gifted to Cathal Utsler from his father, Aidan Utsler, who had it passed down from his father's father, Oscar Utsler, who indeed had it because it had been passed down from his father, who had gotten it from his father and thus his father's father. The knife was a symbol of success and duty, graduation into the Vanguard, and the successful completion of the training and the rank all Utsler men had achieved.

Cathal's thick thighs were like tree trunks, somehow making the knife look smaller than it really was. It was a simple knife; nothing about it seemed spectacular if one only glanced at it. The blade itself was a work of art, true mastery imbued in every aspect of the blade. It was good luck: Ronan Utsler swore that in a scuffle with a pair of no-good raiders from Dornoch, this knife saved him not once but twice! To have this knife secure on his hip, its weight-- a reminder of what Cathal had earned and his son would someday earn-- made Cathal a jolly man tonight.

He was on his third cup of what was making him so jolly and red in the face. Cathal thought he ought to have a fourth, and why not? It was the first time he could enjoy the night and the festivities without working on it. Finally, he had gotten far enough to take tonight off and tomorrow so he could nurse his hangover by sleeping in and maybe spending time in the little garden his wife tended to.

The off-duty guard smiled wide, excusing himself from old family friends to find another drink and his wife. If they left together, right at this very moment, he could show her how young he felt. The drink was starting to remind him of when they first got married and how pretty his wife was. They both had been so busy the last couple of years, raising their three children, the youngest just now reaching thirteen. The rest of the night should just be for the two of them, they earned it.

Not only did Cathal fill up his cup, but he got another to fill up, just for his wife. He could hear her laughter, not too far from him. His smile got wider.

Roki

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

"You, Lyta Drømmer" he grinned, his hand not holding his own lantern reached for her knee, "made me see life in new colour." Because he could not look at a sunset the same anymore, not when the golden light made him wonder what Lyta looked like as she watched the sun set beneath the horizon. How he thought of her as the sky filled with the softest pinks and oranges after dawn, because it reminded him the first time he saw her at that hour and how he wished he had the time to draw her and kept that image immortal.

"When you return to Valenntenia, I would like to show you the places I have come to love. Show you the city the way I see it from my artistic eye. Special spots that remind me why I remain here..." He had seen her work as Guardian before, and she had met him as the Vanguard he grew to be. There was much more he wished to share with her.

 

[Lyta]

"Then that is what we shall do, the next time I am here," Lyta agreed. She wished she had the time tonight to see all those places but she had to leave tomorrow. It had not been long since the stones had parted and they chafed against one another even now to be so close and yet not re-united. It was her turn to leave whilst the others rested, as much as it pained her.

"Shall we?" she asked and held up the lantern full of butterflies, then looked up to the sky.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

With a smile, Mikko held his own lantern above his head. His wish swayed from the string it was tied with to the lantern, and the pattern on the lantern made him nod slightly, happy with what he had chosen. The robins were a smaller bird, but he also was not one to be fussed with image. The colours did compliment Lyta's butterflies, and in the glow of the fire lit inside each, it blossomed brighter.

"Ready when you are." He smiled, brown eyes watching Lyta. They released their lanterns together, and with a slow start, they began to drift higher and higher to become Valenntenian stars.

He watched them for a moment, fascinated with their flight before finding Lyta's face. Ancients, she looked absolutely gorgeous tonight. It would be worth whatever punishment he would get for leaving his station this evening.

 

[Roki]

From behind his mask, Roki watched the big man lumber about. Couple of cups in his hands made him an easy mark. Not that Roki knew all that much about marks. He just, knew how to tell when people weren't looking. How to measure the cast of their gaze, and get in... just the right angle.

So he steady stepped, as the crowd of merrymakers all went about. He held his breath and reached out. Fingers long and greedy. Eyes big as stars behind the red monkey mask. Tongue poked out by his tusk.

Just a little further. Just a scratch more. He reached. Saw the green about his wrist. How it shined and shimmered. Just like those little drakes. Twinkling between their breaths. Felt a bump at his back that near knocked him off his feet.

He stumble-stepped forward. Knocked right into the man with the knife and the wine.

A splash on the stone of the yard. And a clatter of Aetochan cypress there too.

Roki shook his head, hands clutching at his nose. "Owe owe owe," he sounded through his laced fingers. Huffed a breath and pulled his hands away. Bit of red there in his palms. "Eldyr's nuts, why is that man so thick?" he muttered. Wiped the blood off his hands and went to pick up his mask.

There beside it. A sheathed knife. He smiled wide, hand still mid reach.

Noi