Verita - The Guardian of Darkness

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Just as she'd opened her mouth to let him know that, in fact, she usually stared at him for a much less flattering reason than what he was implying, Aetrian added: "I could come to think that you like my face."

Elanthin tried her best to hide her confusion with the expressionless mask she wore habitually. Where was he going with this? The uncertainty raised her guard and cleared her mind. If he was trying to test her or receive something else from her, she'd have to be careful around him. Nothing came to mind which she owned and he could want but that didn't mean it didn't exist.

"Is messing with me more fun than attending to urgent matters of state?", she asked cooly.

Aetrian understood the change in her mood instantly. The relaxed grin on his face faded, while he straightened up.

"It seems I forgot why you're here. Let's focus", he repeated her words from earlier.

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Even before that talk with Aetrian had happened, Elanthin hadn't been foolish enough to assume that there wouldn't be any opposition to their public declaration of the treaty. Still, the sight of six or seven hundred Gratians standing closely together on the borders of the mosaic-covered plaza, dressed in the opaque blue of Gratia's coat of arms, made her hair stand up. It wasn't difficult to establish their motif for this silent show of disagreement: none of those people wanted her or her fellow Veritans to enter the Eternal Barrier.

Elanthin clenched her hands into fists, while she inspected their grim faces in passing. Are you saying you're ready to damn thousands of innocents because of some rumors you've heard?

"Are you peaking?" Aetrian's voice was closer than what was comfortable when he bent over and rested his arms on his knees to imitate Elanthin's posture. She'd been pulling the bottom of the carriage curtain back a little to catch a glimpse of the noisy crowd they could hear outside.

There had to be even more people amongst the general crowd who shared the Grace's views but didn't want to stand out like they did. Not to mention the existence of her newest Veritan enemy, which she knew nothing about: the Children of the Deep.

Just as her eyes had settled onto the sky blue rose on one of the protesters' chests, Aetrian raised his voice again.

"Oh, they even went through the trouble of wearing their corsages today."

His carefree tone of voice seemed particularly out of place in this moment but Elanthin started to suspect that it was nothing more than a guarding mechanism to him. Whether it was through his humor or exaggerated defensiveness, as in her own case, they both had a habit of covering up their emotions.

"These fellows might look grim, but rest assured, the guards aren't allowing any weapons or magical objects on the plaza today", said Aetrian.

He smelled like spring and daisies and Elanthin took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I was worried about you, but you – are you smelling my hair?" Aetrian's question helped her snap out of it and she sat up straight.

"It can't be helped, you're like a walking bouquet of wildflowers."

"That's a surprising compliment coming from you but I'll accept it."

He sounded so smug that Elanthin regretted her comment immediately. If the past week had taught her anything, then that Aetrian jumped on every chance to prove his supposed silliness.

"Is it too much?" He raised a velvet-clad arm to sniff himself and Elanthin let go of a long sigh, making her indifference to the topic obvious.

"That's not important now, is it."

He frowned. "What do you mean? I don't want to be distasteful in front of our people."

Our people? Elanthin pressed her lips together, involuntarily tasting some of the lemony balm which the maids had administered. Was Aetrian – in earnest – not aware of how he came across to a Veritan like herself? If he'd wanted to appear modest and relatable, Aetrian had been failing continuously from the first time they'd met. But then again, how was he to know about the Veritans' standards?

Her eyes wandered over her own silver-embroidered skirts made of wine-red damask and ivory silk. They nearly filled half of the cabin's foot space, which wasn't small in itself.
Although she'd mindlessly allowed the Gratian maids to dress her for a public event, she started to worry now. What were her own people to think of her if they knew she was enjoying such luxuries? Wasn't she the one being distasteful? It made for poor consolation that the wide skirts allowed her two swords to be comfortably hidden underneath.

A sudden touch had Elanthin raise her head. Without warning, Aetrian had moved to cover her hands with his. It took her a second to understand that he must have mistaken her chronic tremor for nervous shivers.

"It's going to be alright. After all, there won't be any monsters on the main plaza – and what are a meager few rebels in comparison?"

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