sparrow and lion

Chapter 20: i don't see you

Leo and Wren pretended not to see each other. It had been awhile since they actually had seen each other. They'd spoken, of course. Though their conversations had all been through doors and notes passed surreptitiously between servants. Their communication was becoming more awkward day by day. Tonight was the closest they had come to being face to face, but each turned their face away.

The party had, of course, been the lord and lady's idea. Wren would never have suggested such a thing and Leo would never have invited any of the people who now littered the garden. Especially not Aileen. Perhaps she was the one who kept Leo away. Or perhaps it was Leo's own betrothed and the gift he had brought to her. It was hard to say whether Leo was too busy looking away from Aileen or at her new puppy.

Not that it mattered. Things were set. Contracts were signed. Futures were planned. Aileen looked perfect on Wren's arm. She drew other members of the court to her. Which drew them to Wren. People who had mocked and struck him now treated him as an equal. Those who sought to flatter Aileen attempted to do so by flattering Wren.

Wren was awkward and uncomfortable. Aileen smoothly spoke for him. She tactfully steered conversations away from him. She charmingly promoted his virtues. It was all Wren could do not to turn red and stutter when anyone so much as looked at him. And then, somehow, it wasn't.

Not that Leo noticed, of course. She was far too busy to see the ways in which Aileen drew Wren out. She flitted around the gardens with her own betrothed tagging quietly along behind her. She delightedly displayed her new puppy to anyone who attempted to draw her husband-to-be into conversation. She laughed loudly at every joke and ducked quickly away from any conversation that proved too lackluster. Her beau rushed quiet apologies and then hurried after her.

Wren did his best not to notice. Being with Aileen was fun. It was easy. People treated him like an equal because she was at his side. Her laugh was gentle and warm and did nothing to drown out the desperate peals of Leo's own laughter. It felt like claws raking down his spine. It caused a strange sense of anguish to fill him. No matter where he went, Leo was not far behind. Yet she was too far away. He felt stretched thin. It was like he was being pulled between Leo and Aileen. His sense of duty was broken into two opposing pieces.

Leo had been banished to her suites for consecutive months now. It had been so long since she had seen sunlight that her skin had forgotten what it felt like. But she had never been alone. Wren had sat outside her door some nights, and she had felt comforted by his presence. If he was still here, it wasn't too late. If she hadn't driven him away, that was because he chose to stay. And so she hadn't given up. She couldn't.

Wren felt relief when he finally lost sight of Leo. The weight of his responsibility to her lifted off of his shoulders like pounds of stone. Conversation began to come more naturally. Aileen no longer had to carry the weight of every interaction. She smiled at him. Her grip at his elbow tightened encouragingly. She laughed at his jokes and Wren realized other people were laughing, too.

And then he heard something that wiped the smile from his face.

"Oh, you mean my cousin, Arthur? He's not in the King's Army anymore," someone said. "He was a mercenary for a time. But, last I heard, he became a bandit and Uncle disowned him." The speaker laughed. "Can you imagine coming across him on the road? I would be terrified."

Wren felt cold as ice. He remembered the last thing he had ever said to Arthur. It had been the night of the festival. He had left Leo alone in the brothel and pounded on his door. It was Wren's parting promise that had finally broken the engagement between Arthur and Leo for good.

He looked around to see if Leo had heard, but she was nowhere to be seen.