Aru Shah One-Shots

The Masquerade Part 2

Shah fell off the ladder she was on.

"Shah!" Aiden yelled, lunging so he could catch her. "I'll explain everything later, I promise," he whispered.

"You're marrying Kara?" Brynne asked.

Aiden nodded, blinking back his tears. He didn't want to do this, but his dad said it was for the greater good of the Archaya rein. He didn't want to disappoint his father— especially when he recently returned after his mother passed away.

"I called it!" Rudy cheered. "Pay up, Brynne."

"You were betting on who I'm marrying?" Aiden demanded. He then realized that Shah was still in his arms so he set her down. She looked like she had just seen a ghost—and Aiden didn't blame her.

"That's not important! Aiden, are you sure this is your decision?" Mini pressed.

Aiden gulped and took a reluctant breath. "It's... my father's decision. I told him that I want to marry Shah, but he declined and said that marrying Kara would be better for financial support during the Archaya rein," he turned and faced Shah, "I'm genuinely sorry that things turned out this way. You know how much I like you, and I would never do something like this to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"You pay up now, Rudy," Aiden heard Brynne whisper.

Shah didn't say anything for a bit. "It's not your fault. My dad has a bad name anyway. It's not like anyone would want to be married to someone like me."

"Shah, I don't care about your family status"—he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and waited until she met his eyes—" I care about you."

Aiden could care less if the whole world was watching them when he leaned in to kiss her...

"Lord Aiden!" He and Shah sprang apart. "I know it's not my place to interfere, but what will you do if your father finds out?" A servant girl asked him.

"I'll make sure he doesn't find out."

The girl, Emilie, smiled. "And let us take care of the decorations for tonight. You and your friends have some plotting to do."

She clapped her hands and the other servants went to work, while Aiden's group headed up to his room.

"So, um, that happened." Rudy said to break the silence.

"Yeah... it did." Aiden agreed.

The rest of the way up was silent except for their footsteps. Aiden was so damn close to kissing Aru... of course, Emilie had to ruin it. However, he wasn't going to hold a grudge against her for it. Once the gang made it to Aiden's bedroom, he turned around and faced them. "Before you enter, I just want to warn you that I've been pretty busy lately, and—"

"Who cares!" Brynne pushed past him and opened the door to his bedroom. "Woah," she breathed.

Aiden suppressed a sigh. "This is almost as messy as my room!"

Aiden could tell that curiosity sparked in Aru when she rushed into his room, Rudy and Mini doing the same. "Holy sh—" Rudy started.

Shah burst out laughing. Aiden then went into his shambled room and saw Shah and Brynne staring at a paper, trying not to laugh. His usually tidy room was a because due to all the preparations for the masquerade— guest lists, letters from other empires, etc.—so it wasn't his proudest moment.

"Kara is such a cringe writer!" Brynne laughed.

Aiden snatched the letter away from them and put it on his bed. "Oh Aiden, your eyes are like a summer night—full of stars and magical," Brynne mocked, making kissy sounds.