Nights of Fire & Ash

Chapter 12

A few hours and many exuberant complaints later, Echa had me prepped and ready for the ballet. I told her that we should come up with some reason for me not to go, but she promised that when I returned that there would be an absolutely filthy, romantic book awaiting my return,
"You look beautiful as ever." Tatiana commented as I arrived in the hall where her and the boys were awaiting my arrival.
"Thank you." My cheeks warmed as she looked and so did Makiel. Zathrian started talking to Tatiana, and Makiel approached me.
"You do." I stared up into his eyes.
"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"You do look beautiful, you know?" I lowered my gaze and shuffled my feet a little. My stomach tightened, and all of a sudden, I felt very small.
"Um, thank you." My cheeks were bright as tomatoes now. There was no way that I looked nearly as pretty as Tatiana or any of the other High Fae. They were perfect, and I was just me. "You look... nice?" I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. Makiel went to grab my hand before we heard someone clear their throat. Both of our heads whipped around to stare at Heldius.
"I thought we were going to some dumb play or something." He huffed. "Or else, would you guys like to sit here and play googley-eyes all night?"
"I thought you told me that he wasn't going to come?" I asked Tatiana.
"Well, he has a date with one of the guys from the city." Tatiana explained. "He is only tagging along to get a ride because one of the lead actors is going to take him out for dinner tonight." Heldius wriggled his eyebrows at me.
"Or, maybe he's my dinner." He winked at me.
"You're such a pig." Tatiana scoffed. "Come on, he's right. We are going to be late."
The ride to the city was typical, almost boring. Tatiana and I talked a little bit about the day and where her dresses came from. It turned out that when she didn't go shopping in the city, she had befriended a dress maker who made her the most beautiful dresses and gowns.
As we arrived to the theatre, I had been sent into a state of shock and awe at all of the beautiful fairy lights and music floating through the streets. The streets were filled with vendors and females and males alike gossiping about their acquaintances. Plenty of them stopped to stare at the Summer King's general and inner circle. Zathrian, Makiel, Heldius, and Tatiana didn't bat an eye at the attention that they received.
We made our way into the theatre where we were lead to high balcony with private seats. A grey skinned fairy brought us flutes full of champagne and plates of tartlets and truffles. I had never had such delicious bites of food. By the time the opening music started, I was in such a trance that I was almost dancing in my seat.
~
I watched Raeva as she sipped on champagne and practically mowed down three plates of tartlets. Any other person, Fae or human, probably would've disgusted me, but in these last few months, I had started to really fall for her. I knew that night in the human woods that I found her alluring and somewhat of a distraction, but I started to really become fond of her. I liked making her smile. I liked it even more when she was smiling at me. It made my heart beat out of my chest.
She sideways glanced at me, and her cheeks warmed. I returned a smile at her. Heldius questioned why I was falling for this human girl, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. I couldn't' stop staring at her. In these last few months, she became part of my every day routine. We would go for our walks every evening at the beach, and until supper time, we would poke at each other, have fun, and just be ourselves.
By the end of the play, I hadn't even payed any attention to anything besides her. I watched her as she stared at the stage. All of the emotion that was flooding to her face reminded me of a time when I felt those emotions as freely as she did now. She stood so quickly, well quickly for a human, and gave a standing ovation. I watched as a single tear fell from her cheek. I stood and rose with her.
"That was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I have never heard anything like this." Her smile wavered a little bit. "I could come back and listen to this every night." She turned and smiled, that beautiful, full smile at me.
I would bring you back and let you, every night for the rest of our lives.
Later, we walked down to the veranda that overlooked the city. Tatiana and Zathrian had said that they were going to go for a walk in the city, but Raeva said that she would like to see something else.
"So, you liked the ballet?" I attempted to make any sort of small talk with her. It felt forced even though we had spent plenty of time alone.
"Oh, I loved it. I wish that music sounded like that at home. I think it sounded lighter almost. It sounded like floating on the wind." She gushed about the evening's musical event. I smiled and watched her as she told me about the ways the music varied, and I swear a time or two she almost exploded from excitement. "I'm sorry. I'm rambling." Her cheeks turned into a dark ruby color.
"I love the way that you express yourself. I love how you have so much feeling in a fleeting of moments." I smiled at her. I was practically gushing at the way that she danced and galloped around the room. She stopped, and I made a small hesitant step towards her. I had an overwhelming urge to kiss her right then. I wanted to know how her lips would feel on mine. How her skin would feel pressed up against mine. I reached for her hand. She took another step towards me. Then, in another step, the distance between us was almost closed.
We stopped for just half a second, and stared into each other's eyes. Her eyes were a light green color today. Some days, they were dark, almost emerald. Other days, if the light hit them right, if she was truly happy, she had almost blue eyes. It was something that was marvelous to watch. I had never seen a human's eyes change so easily.
"I just love looking into your eyes." She said. I was shocked. She never really paid me any real compliments. The most she said was 'Oh, you look nice.'
"I love looking at you." I breathed. I couldn't help myself anymore. My whole body was screaming to touch her. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I knew that I couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it unless she wanted me to. "Will you dance with me?"
She hesitated to take my hand, but when she did, I pulled her closely into my body. I loved how perfectly she fit into me. It was like dancing with the other half of my body. We slowly swayed and spun to the music that floated in off the street. For those few moments, she was all that was in my world.