Heir of the Underground

Chapter 22: Aurelia (continued)

It was like something out of a storybook, out of a romantic's wildest dreams. There he was, in the midst of the crowd, and yet her eyes went straight to him, and he looked straight to her.

Suddenly, walking into the sea of people didn't seem so frightening. It seemed easier now that he was there: a lighthouse, her north star. And there was a moment of knowing between them, a silent exchange. "Meet me here."

On eager feet, she descended the stairs, while Kassius made his way through the crowd. It parted for him as he neared, people bending like grass in the wind.

By the time Aurelia had made her way down the marble stairs—successfully too, with no trouble from her heels—he was there, his palm outstretched and pale as ever.

She took his hand and smiled up at him. Even now, with her shoes giving her an added boost, he towered over her. It wasn't intimidating though, not like it had originally been when she first met him.

No, now she found their height difference humorous. Not just that, but the fact that they were there, holding hands in the Underground humored her. He was a Fey, she was half-Fey. And now she was holding his hand in a sea full of fancy people all while wearing a dress unlike anything she'd ever worn before.

It was this realization that got her laughing. Just suddenly laughing, completely unwarranted.

He gave her a confused look, raising a brow in befuddled contemplation. "Is something the matter?"

Aurelia sucked in a breath, letting her body calm itself down. "Sorry, I just..." she trailed off, trying to find the words amid all of the noise and all of her feelings. "This is different."

That seemed to be her word of the night, the word that she was falling back on. But it was true. This was different. Though so was she. She wasn't the same person that she was the last time she had been at a ball.

Kassius was on her same level though. Perhaps it was his magic, but it didn't seem to be. He just knew. He knew what she meant, how she felt. "Yes, we've come a long way, haven't we?" A smile bloomed on his face, warm and genuine.

"We have."

He studied her for a moment, his eyes flitting back and forth between the dress, in all its golden, patterned glory, and her curled, shortened hair.

"You look lovely tonight," he said finally.

"So do you. You look very dashing," Aurelia grinned. She looked Kassius up and down. He was dressed in pants, a button-up, a vest as usual, with his hair slicked back save for one stray curl hanging in the front. His vest was black in color, unsurprisingly, though it was covered in a silvery leaf pattern. The stitchwork of the leaves looked like it had been done by whoever stitched the tree on her dress.

It was almost like their outfits completed one another.

"Yes, well, thank you," Kassius murmured, though he seemed to shrug the compliment off, too humble and shy to take it. "But you—look at you. You're golden. Like the sun and honey and... a deity. You look like a deity." His eyes had that same shimmer as Fallon's, just an hour before.

"If only that were true," Aurelia snorted. It was her turn to shrug his kind words away. "Unfortunately, I'm just Aurelia."

Something within his gaze shifted, growing fonder, fuller? "And I'm just Kassius." He squeezed her hand ever-so-slightly, reminding her that they were still joined there. She had almost forgotten. "Would you like to dance? I'd offer you my hand again, but that would make this less charming."

Aurelia rolled her eyes but nodded all the same. "I'm not a very good dancer, remember? So I'm counting on you to lead."

"Lucky you for then," he smirked, starting to guide her off, leading her into the chaos, into the fit of twirling and spinning. "I'm very good at leading a dance. Though, as I recall, you were very good at following along."