The Offering

Chapter Nineteen - Aeris

"You're late" Alvaryn says as I take my seat beside him.

"Looking this flawless takes time." I reply looking down at the room of tables set out, Lords and Ladies taking their seats and talking.

Another court event before we have to make our selection. My eyes start searching for Daella, I had missed that fiery spark in her and her sharp tongue.

I find her seated at a table and she looks up and smiles, only she isn't smiling at me, she is smiling at my brother. I turn to him, finding a return smile on his face.

"Why is Daella smiling at you, and why are you smiling back at her the same way?" I ask trying to understand when that changed.

He looks at me and shrugs innocently sipping from his wine glass.

"Dae and I are friends now."

Dae? He was calling her Dae? When did that happen?

"What do you mean friends?" I ask, struggling to keep my irritation to myself, I school my face into it's usual mask.

"I know it may seem difficult for you to understand because you would rather spend your time with quick lays, but a friend is someone you talk to and have things in common with." He replies smugly.

Usually his snipe would just roll off my shoulders and I would come back with something equally as snarky but this time felt different.

"Are you fucking her then?" I ask and he looks at me like I just asked if he was fucking our mother.

"What? No! Of course you would automatically assume that! We are friends, that's it. Why are you so upset about it?" He replies. I know he isn't lying and I don't want to think about his question but it bothers me as well. I don't bother trying to deny I am upset about it, he would be able to tell I was lying before I manage to finish the sentence.

"Welcome honoured guests," Our father begins and I drink from my cup, gulping the wine down.

I find Daella again and see her watching the King as he speaks, welcoming everyone to yet another High Court event. The audience claps and then the meal begins as servants start setting down plates of food at our table.

Daella turns then, and I catch her eye, staring at her as I grip the cup in my hands. She doesn't smile like she had with Alvaryn, she just stares back unblinking.

"Stop glaring at her like that, she hasn't done anything wrong." Alvaryn says, nudging me in the shoulder. I pull away from him, setting my empty cup down and planting a smile on my face.

"Of course not, I wasn't glaring, I can't help it if she's mesmerised by me." I reply holding up my empty glass to get a refill.

Dinner ensues with it's usual rigmarole of dull conversation. I don't bother paying attention to my brother's. My eyes linger on Daella as she sits in her pretty dress with her pretty smiles. I couldn't stop thinking of her and Alvaryn spending time alone together because obviously they must have. How else would they become so called friends?

I could be her friend. Was that my original intention? No. She had been a pretty thing with a fiery spark in her that had caught my attention. So different from all the other females that always hovered around.

Was that it? Was that what it would take? Making her my friend. Then she would want to spend time with me. And then what? Would I just get bored of her like all the others? I suppose only time would tell.

Alvaryn laughs at something beside me and it only pushes my plan further into place.

I wait until the dancing has started then make my way down to the floor, weaving my way around the throng of fae until I find her.