A blade in the night? Must be good news.

Chapter 9

The ceremony was beautiful. The groom looked almost kingly and the bride... the bride was literally shining. And now all the guests were celebrating the newly weds.

Septimus was sitting by his sister's side silently observing everything that was going on in the hall. He noticed Val standing by the wall. She was right about the dress. It didn't really suit her. She was too flat in all the necessary places with her arms and legs being a bit too muscular. He could see a clear tan line where her shirt usually ended. To be honest, the only person he's ever seen to look more ridiculous in dress was Captain Shakespeare. But Captain was probably more comfortable in it.

Una took him out to talk about his further plans and when they came back the girl was nowhere to be seen. Celebration was getting more heated and the drinks were poured in improbable amounts. Septimus went to the balcony to get some air. The girl was already there, sitting on the edge, with her legs dangling through baluster, waving them in the air slightly.

"Too much leg" He expected to cause some impulsive reaction: startled jumping, covering her legs with a skirt, even blushing maybe. But she just turned her head and looked at him questioningly. He elaborated "You're showing too much leg"

"So what? You're not interested in my legs anyway and there is nobody else here"

He came near her and sat facing the entrance with his back leaning on baluster.

"I find your legs very interesting." He tried actually grabbing the one closer to him but the girl snapped his hand off. "Why are you so gloomy?"

"I'm a girl. I'm on a wedding. Put two and two together"

"Are you in love with Tristan?" he asked incredulously.

"Don't be ridiculous"

"Yvaine?"

"It's not about the wedding, it's about weddings in general"

"What, do you want to get married?"

"Why is that so surprising? I mean not now, sure. But one day it could be nice... Mind you, if you ever remind that conversation to me I will deny it but at days like this every girl wonder how she would have looked in a lovely white dress"

"White isn't really your colour"

"I wear white all the time!"

"I would have hardly called that colour white"

"Oh, shut up. It was white, one day... So, if not white, what is my colour then?"

"Don't know. Blue maybe? I like blue"

He lowered his glance and noticed a scar on her thigh peeking out from under the skirt. He started absent-mindedly tracing it with his finger pushing the skirt even further up. The girl didn't stop him or say anything and just looked at him curiously. The scar ended in the hip region.

"You do realise you're basically staring at my butt, right?"

He looked at her not quite understanding what she was saying. Then he abruptly stopped all scar-exploring activities. The girl was grinning widely, proud of herself for catching him. She finally looked normal, wild and ill-behaved as she was. Septimus felt sudden urge to... No, that wouldn't have been appropriate. Appropriate? Since when did he think of appropriate...? While he was having mental discussion with himself the girl turned her head to look in the distance and the moment was gone.

They were sitting in silence for a while. The night has already fallen and it was getting colder. The girl stood up and adjusted the skirt. She was barefoot and Septimus could see that her legs were covered in goose-bumps from standing on the cooled stone floor. She looked down at him.

"Is Your Royal Highness or whatever you are called now capable of getting on feet on his own?" She sounded sneering but Septimus felt that there was genuine concern behind the harsh words. She just wasn't really good with expressing her feelings. But so was he after all.

He stood up putting most of the weight on his left side.

"I've told you to call me Septimus"

"No, I can't. It sounds way too..." the girl searched for the right word and not finding better alternative went with "intimate".

Septimus thought of the first time they've met, when she tried to kill him. About a month has passed since then already. The girl was still unsure of herself, still a bit afraid maybe but still there. Standing in front of him with her head raised so that she could look him in the face, defiant and vulnerable at the same time. "Oh, to hell with appropriate" went through his head and he leaned forward to kiss her. One of his arms went to her lower back while the other settled at the base of her head holding her close. He wasn't sure how she would react, half-expecting her to hit him but instead she reached for his shoulders pushing herself even closer to him. He could sense her heart wildly thumping by his. The passion and longing that were slowly burning in her for all that time were now getting their escape. And all he had to do was not to let her go.

But everything must end at some point. The kiss broke and Val took a step back.

"What about now?" asked Septimus still slightly out of breath.

"What...?"

"Can you now call me by name?"

"I... I don't now. Maybe. Probably" she was visibly shaking.

"Damn you, girl, you're shivering. Let's get you inside before you freeze"

They went inside and soon the girl managed to disappear out of his sight completely. He was left to hope that she wouldn't use her avoiding technic on him again.