The Arcane Rebellion- The Arcane Series #1

Chapter 41

Xavi

The time of the King's ball was nearing and the four of us were as nervous as we were excited. For weeks we have been thoroughly planning everything and we were pretty much ready. Uriah had... acquired enough invitations for all the former mages in the Sanctuary and Amir and I have made enough feature potions and their counterparts.

Orin, now our errand boy, had gotten us new clothing that we were going to wear. I was in the suit I was going to wear and Layla was currently trying on the dress that Orin bought. It was a deep burgundy color, the color of our kingdom, with wide sleeves that reached the middle of her forearms. A belt rested low on her hips.

She looked like a dream. She was gorgeous and she was glowing with happiness. "Zip me up?", she asked with a beautiful smile on her face. It reached her eyes and it was quite unusual to see her so happy, but I was glad she was.

"Of course.", I smiled back, putting down my drink and going over to her. She turned around so I could zip up her dress and after I did, I put my hands on her waist and I turned her around, pulling her up into a kiss. Her lips tasted of the cherry wine she had previously been drinking and of honey, most likely from today's dessert.

She put her hands around my neck and her fingers tangled into my hair. When we pulled away from the kiss, a content sigh left her lips, making me chuckle. "You look beautiful.", I whispered to her and her cheeks immediately reddened.

"Thank you.", she murmured, taking the necklace I had given her some time ago into her hands and fidgeting with it.

"You still wear it?", I asked and she hummed in response.

"Of course I do. You gave it to me.", she replied with a smile. I was overjoyed knowing that she treasured that necklace as much as I do and I knew I made the right decision by giving it to her. "Does the dress look okay?", she asked, adjusting the bottom of the dress and playing with the sleeves.

"More than so. It looks perfect on you, little raven", I whispered and her cheeks went red.

Suddenly, Amir and Uriah walked into the room in the suits they were going to wear to the ball, looking more formal than I've ever seen the two.

"We look like formally dressed toddlers compared to the two of those.", Uriah whispered to Amir with an offended expression on his face.

"Don't be silly, you both look good.", Layla told them with a chuckle.

"Not as good as you, boss.", Amir said with a sweet smile on his face. Layla playfully rolled her eyes as a light chuckle left her lips.

"I should change back, don't wanna get the dress dirty before its' time.", she said, quickly glancing at me, most likely wanting me to meet her in her room. "Please excuse me, gentlemen.", she said and left the room, going up the stairs. In hopes of being subtle, I stayed behind a couple of minutes, chatting up Uriah and Amir, which wasn't a hard task.

After about ten minutes or so passed, I excused myself, slowly making my way up the stairs, following Layla's trail, my excuse being that I should also change into something less formal. I waited a few moments to make sure Uriah or Amir weren't behind me before knocking on Layla's bedroom door and cracking it open. I walked into her room and saw her sitting before her dresser, still in the dress.

I went over to her, hugging her from behind and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. She brought her hand up to my hair, playing with it and running her fingers through it, before turning her head just enough so she could kiss my lips. "Help me out of the dress?", she whispered against my lips.

I eagerly nodded, earning a soft chuckle from Layla. She got up from her chair, turning her back to me so I could unzip her dress. I pulled the zipper down and it went as low as the bottom of her back. I put my hands on her shoulders, pushing the fabric of her sleeves down her arms and she let the dress slip off of her completely. It met the floor with a quiet thud and the rustling of fabric.