Amphitrite - Wilbur Soot

~thirteen~

After half an hour longer of sitting in the silence of the garden, I gained enough composure to reenter the wonderful, glamorous, totally not overwhelming party. It seemed like even more people had shown up somehow, and I saw the Queen laughing with a tall, greasy-haired man and what I assumed was his wife. Next to her stood Prince Technoblade, smiling in a conversation with Phil, Ranboo, and Melanie. It will never not be strange to see two of this world's fiercest warriors in such a domestic role. There had been no wars in seven years.

"Good evening," said a young man to me with a seemingly guileless smile.

"Good evening, sir," I responded politely, giving him a shallow curtsy. His smile seemed to grow at the sound of my voice.

"May I have this dance?" He asked, almost sheepishly. He couldn't have been over the age of eighteen. Six years younger than me. Wow. I felt like an old maid or something unbecoming like that.

"It would be my pleasure," I said with good manners like I had seen woman after woman do already.

There was hardly a dance where I wasn't being asked by one duke or lord or prince of somewhere or another to join them on the dance floor. By the time the Queen and her Prince made their debut in each other's arms, my feet hurt and I was ready to get out of the pointed-toe shoes Thetis had bought for me. With some strange shade of confidence, I meandered over to the refreshment table where Wilbur was standing all alone, a glass of wine in his hand.

"I see you've lost your entourage," I said, standing next to him, feigning interest in the elaborate desserts on the table. He looked down at me with a strange glint in his golden-brown eyes. I met his gaze. I watched as the look in his eyes changed to something like shock, or surprise.

"I've been trying for the past hour," he said softly, not daring to break the eye contact we held. It was strange seeing him on edge like this, but I can't say I didn't like it.

"You mean you don't enjoy the attention?" I asked. He finally looked away. "I've been told you're quite a... What's the word?" I also directed my gaze away from him, instead focusing on getting myself a drink.

"Rake." There was a vague hint of hurt on his face.

"Yes, that's it. Apollo likes that about you, I've heard," I said, taking a sip of the wine in my own glass.

"Would you like to come to the garden with me? I'd much rather speak about the gods where they can't hear me," he suggested with a slight chuckle.

"Thetis has ears in the garden thanks to a stream," I said. He thought for a moment before setting his glass down on the table. He took mine from my hands, his fingers grazing mine, and set it down as well.

"Do you trust me, Lorelai?" He asked. He met my eyes again.

"About as much as any other man I've known," I said honestly. He smiled slightly, as if it had been a kind of joke.

"I'll take it. Would you please follow me?" He said, offering a hand to me. It would be so easy to refuse. But, like the fool that I am, I gingerly placed my hand in his. He led me through the castle, taking several turns and twists that I knew I wouldn't be able to remember until we reached a door. It was a surprisingly simple and unassuming door, only adorned by a gold portrayal of the sun. When he opened the door, I was startled to see that he had taken me to his bedroom. I dropped his hand as he entered the room.

"If any of the castle staff saw us go here, you'll be ruined," I said. He shrugged and beckoned me to enter the room as well. Hesitantly I stepped towards him, just enough so he could reach around me and shut the door.

"I'd prefer this rumor to the bestiality charges they tried to press on me last summer," he said with a slight chuckle. He sat in an armchair by the fireplace. "Come, have a seat." I obliged, choosing to sit on the couch farthest from him.