Private Tales Whispers Beneath the Battlements

[Talorgan]

Faye Valimir

Talorgan hadn't remained in the city for a period of weeks for a long time. He'd taken Biersys out for a trip in the morning to stretch her wings.

He had spent some time thinking. After the dance he had spent the night with Faye. Theirs was supposed to be a fake courting, even with him joining their evening activities.

Two days and he had missed her presence. And Talorgan didn't quite know how to deal with that. He didn't know how to pretend to court someone whilst he wrangle with his own feelings.

He was once again dressed smartly enough for being out in public. He waited a few minutes from the main plaza for Faye so they could attend together.

 

[Faye Valimir]

Her hand brushed against his arm, her silent greeting before her hand wrapped around his bicep and lured it to move so that her other hand could find his. Faye interlaced their fingers, softly and lazily. To any other, it would appear that they were indeed smitten with one another, that their courting was going well.

Talorgan would see it in her eyes, that this was merely an act.

What transpired between them some nights ago, Faye had resumed her distance. She had felt as if she bared too many cards about herself in one evening, but to her frustration, Talorgan had made it easy to forget her rules.

"Smile, dearest. Your mother and father are watching." Faye smiled at him, doing her best to appear delighted to see him.

Begrudgingly, it was not hard to.

Talorgan's parents nodded to her, turning their backs to attend the festivities. Once they were no longer being watched, she moved to link her arms in his, a far more casual action. "The end of summer already." She mused. "And come autumn in a few weeks." Faye liked the festivals that celebrated harvest and the change of seasons.

Peering up at Talorgan, she could not help but smirk. "Missed me?"

 

[Talorgan]

Talorgan felt a twist deep in his gut. It was two conflicting feelings stirring up into a storm. He didn't understand his own feelings so he didn't know how to express them.

He smiled back at Faye. They were one another's shields in the arena of public perception. He had gone from fearing these events to looking forward to them.

His parents were watching. He offered them a friendly nod and continued to walk with Faye. There was a fire pit for them to roast over but nothing was on the spit. There were wine stands and pastry stands. Decked in particularly colorful flags were various games.

Peering up at Talorgan, she could not help but smirk. "Missed me?"

His smile faltered, but he replied earnestly.

"I did. How have you been?"

 

[Faye Valimir]

His honesty struck her, but Faye did her best to let it not show. Her grey eyes looked forward, taking in the festivities and smiling at anyone that stared at them. Talorgan was a large man, muscled and a brute that preferred being in the wild, and to have someone of Faye's likeness of beauty at his side was going to cause a stir to even those not in the high social circles.

"Well rested." And she was being truthful. She always needed a day or two to recover from a night of participating in the activities of Juny's parties. "All my energy returned just in time to play pretend."

This courting... was going to be tough to navigate. They got along well enough, but Talorgan had a way of making her forget her own rules.

"Shall we stroll past the market stalls?" She suggested.

 

[Talorgan]

"I'm offended you feel well rested already," Talorgan replied.

In fact, it was the 'play pretend' remark that struck him. He didn't know how he felt. Talorgan was still working that out. The intensity with which he had needed her went beyond lust.

At least he enjoyed seeing some people perturbed by their courting, as fake as it was.

"I think we needed that," Talorgan said as they steered one another towards the market stalls. "Got through some tensions."

 

[Faye Valimir]

Faye held her breath for the briefest moment, letting it exhale in a shallow sigh as she stopped at the first stall. Trinkets were laid out onto the table, sorted into compartments by colour. Loose gemstones, pretty pieces of jewellery, and brooches of all shapes and sizes.

She pretended to look through them, digging for a good find. "I suppose. Perhaps a good idea so that there is nothing to distract us from as we court." Faye was hiding her guilt. She felt as if she had taken advantage of his curiosities, had strung him along when she had no true inclination of what she felt for him.

If it was fair of her to even have feelings.

"Keep you eye out for any opals. I have a commission upcoming that wishes for opal accents." She said, pulling him to another market stall.

 

[Talorgan]

I suppose

That hurt a little. It was acknowledging and dismissing what had happened in two short words.

"Of course," Talorgan replied. "No more distractions."

A lump welled in his throat, but he pushed it back down. He told himself that this was better.

He'd always wanted to see one of Juny's party. Now, through their convenient arrangements, he had.

But he wasn't thinking of the party. He was thinking about her quiet breaths as they laid on the broken bed.

"Which ones are opals again?" he asked with a laugh.

 

[Faye Valimir]

She could feel his discontent at her answers, but it only made her feel more inclined to not deviate from her own rules.

Talorgan was an honest man, someone of genuine heart and soul, and she did not deserve someone so good. Even if he was a spare, a noble son still held weight in this society. His family still had standing, and Faye was not right for such a life. The Valimirs were famous artisans, artists throughout the history of Thanasis. They dated back all the way to a city of arts and culture before her ancestors came to find a new home here.

Faye wanted to continue her family line. To teach her own children the art and the world she saw in all it's colours.

Clearing her throat, Faye swept aside her hair and pulled on the golden chain around her neck. Dangling from it, a pale stone polished to perfection and shaped into a tear drop shone. "This is an opal. It is commonly in these colours." It held the brightest green, it could be mistaken for yellow, and blue tones that ranged from soft to indigo. Faye flicked her gaze to look up at Talorgan, her stare not at all ashamed to be peering up at him. "It should be easy to spot."