Behind the Lace and the Lies

1 - Broken Vows

I'm going to tell you a story. But before I can begin, there two things I must make clear. Firstly, I am telling the true account of what has happened, while we can't ignore my biases, I can assure you that they don't affect the story much. And secondly, I'm not the villain, despite what people say, despite what you might initially think about the events, those recounts of the story aren't quite true; they're missing all the important parts and exaggerating the moments that make me look bad, it's all been blown out of portion. It was never my intention to hurt her.

Now, finally, it all began with a party.

I could vaguely sense that something was wrong, but I couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what. Was it my hair, or my dress? I glanced at Atticus sitting beside me. He straightened his tunic before sensing my eyes upon him; he turned to me, flashing a smile.

"You're beautiful," he said.

"Thank you," I replied politely, smiling in return. The dress, the smile, the words – all of them were wrong.

"Everyone will be stunned to see you, it isn't often that we encounter a new Alkira." He reached forward to cup my cheek, "they'll all be jealous." He grinned, and I humored him with a smile. We both had our reasons for going with each other, and neither of them involved liking the other person.

I turned away, breaking free of his grasp. I pulled out a small mirror from a compartment within the carriage, carefully inspecting my makeup. My eyeliner was perfect, my hair okay, and the scar on my neck was covered quite well.

A bit of doubt wormed its way in. I wondered if they would know. If they would look at me and instantly know. And everything would fall apart. I pushed those doubts down – Atticus hadn't suspected a thing, and while he wasn't the wisest, his utter obliviousness was promising.

The carriage slowly pulled to a stop. With each clatter of hoofbeats against cobblestone, I could feel the pounding of my heart. Breathe. They won't know, they can't know.

I brushed out imaginary wrinkles on my dress. A servant knocked, then pulled open the door, bowing deeply as he stepped aside. Cold air rushed in, igniting a trail of goosebumps on my exposed arms. Atticus slid out of the carriage, and in that brief moment he was gone, I glanced inside my bag yet again. The dull shine of iron and faint sparkle of red sand greeted me.

"Karianne?" Atticus questioned. I quickly looked up and slammed my bag shut.

"Of course," I replied with a smile, sliding out of the door and taking Atticus's outstretched hand. I need to make it look real. Arms intertwined, we walked on the stone path leading up to the castle.

The unsteady neighing of horses and chatter of servants was rapidly replaced by the steady hum of conversation. We walked through a towering gateway and into a large courtyard, flanking on two sides by the castle, and by the dark gardens and orchards on the remaining two. The sweet smell of apple trees drifted through the air, along with some I couldn't quite place. Incana trees, maybe?

As I stepping onto the softer gravel covered courtyard, my legs trembled, whether from fear or the loose footing, I didn't quite know. The space was filled with little tables and flocks of people. Streams of incana bulbs hung overhead, casting a warm yellow light.

"Atticus! So good to see you," a man called out, stepping forward from the shifting crowd. "I thought you were still up north."

"Ezra," Atticus greeted, releasing me at last to give Ezra a half-hug. "I just returned a week ago, you know, before the autumn storms start to worsen."

Ezra took a step back, eyes raking across my body before settling on my face. He turned slightly to Atticus, "and who's this? It's not often I see a new face at an event like this."

"Karianne Linrea," Atticus said, before I could. I closed my mouth, feeling the slight sting of annoyance before convincing myself it was for the best. I don't want people to remember me.

"A pleasure to meet you, Karianne," Ezra smiled, stepping just a bit too close for comfort, I shifted backwards. "I'm Ezra Teinwalker. A Spyte."

"An Alkira, I assure?" he questioned, once again directing the question towards Atticus, who nodded in response. "With those beautiful eyes, though, I would almost think you're a Spyte."

Go away. Leave me alone, I thought. Instead, I smiled coyly, murmuring a quiet thank you. "Come with me," Ezra insisted, grabbing my arm with his gloved hands to drag me to a clump of people. I resisted the urge to flinch, but barely could protest before we had already arrived. "This is Mauve, Lucas, Marie, Brandon, and Erik Crimson," Ezra said. "Everyone, this is Atticus, an old friend, an Alkira, and his date, Karianne, also an Alkira."

I politely smiled at the group of unfamiliar faces as Atticus circled around, greeting of them. With their high cheekbones and gloved hands, they must have all been Spytes, with the exception of Erik, who – with his scaled cheeks and glaring eyes – was clearly dragonkin. I couldn't help but to glance around the courtyard. I saw no ornate ceremonial robes or fiery eyes.

One of the girls – perhaps Marie – caught my eye. "Looking for the last of the seven?" She asked, a playful smile gracing her lips, "she hasn't come out yet, and won't be introduced till the performance."

I smiled sheepishly. They can't know. "It's just so amazing, that at last, she's here," I said.

The conversation had turned to us. "I know, right." The other girl joined in, adjusting her belt of silver dragon scales. But they couldn't be, they were so expensive.

"I think it's going to begin, people are heading inside," Ezra interrupted. Groups of people had slowly began moving into the open back doors of the castle. Yellow light streamed out, dancing among the moving figures.

The group pealed away, joining the crowd, and I quickly followed Atticus, who whispered something to me. I nodded along, barely listening. I was going to see her, the one who would save us all.