the kiah

chapter 13: the second chance

ailith picked the paper and observed the musical notes before placing the paper back on the table.

she recognized the artist and which piece it was exactly.

"if your highness can play this piece of music then i would accept my defeat, given that i have indeed tried to play this particular part in the past, and failed" ailith spoke.

she was still calm and spoke without much emotion, but she had some tiredness evident in her demeanour and tone. she wanted these competitions to end before they grew outrageous. today seem like a good timing, given it was common knowledge that she was only average at playing flute and piano, in all of musical instruments, contrary to the traditions.

it were one of the topics ophelia and herself had a contrary belief on. ophelia believes that a lady should know music just as much as cooking while she only thinks it as a means to calm oneself and enjoy occasionally.

"my apologies for wasting your time your highness" ailith apologized and presented the two tokens to the second prince.

both the crown prince and second prince were shocked at the admission. usually the ladies were quite competitive, even if their skill level doesn't match they would boast about it. instead ailith accepted her shortcomings and her defeat. it caught them offguard.

"your highness, my sister lady ailith is not considered proficient in the art of music and singing, her music teacher even suggested that she focuses on dancing instead" nickoli spoke softly to break the awkward silence.

"it's alright, everyone have their own skills and things they are not good at" axelle spoke softly but ever since he had arrived he had barely looked away from ailith, while she had ignored his existence.

axelle wanted her to look at him, talk to him or even just acknowledge him at this point. when they met last time, ailith was wearing a veil, it had kept her face hidden. even then ailith had captured his heart. today, she was not covering her face and axelle finally saw the most beautiful face he had seen ever. other than his sister of course.

her buish grey eyes ignored him, while her long silvery white hair curled around her, flowing occasionally with the mild gust of wind blowing in through the window.

[they seem soft and silky] axelle was thinking about touching her cheek which still had traces of baby fat and run his fingers through her hair.

"ah!" aziel finally came out of his shock and grinned. his sudden exclaimation startled axelle who immediately composed himself.

"i won milady. you have to fulfill your end of the deal now" aziel was not as happy as he had hoped though. 

he managed to win, to make ailith give his brother a chance. but he suddenly felt empty. he wanted to continue competing with her, to spend more time together. 

but his carving for brotherly love was more intense and that kept him from showing his yearning.

ailith glanced at the second prince and remembered their deal. 

[give my brother a second chance] 

ailith froze pressing her lips together. she did not hate the crown prince, but she had her reasons to reject his proposal. that day, she even behaved cold enough to scare him away but due to the second prince she was back to square one. this time she can't even reject them directly.

[damn!] ailith suddenly had the urge to continue with the competition.

"milady, are you going back on your word?" aziel asked, frowning at her lack of response. though he held slight hope, hope that she would instead continue with the competition and reject his brother and accept himse-

aziel paused at that though and shook his head lightly to clear his mind. he can't carve his future sister in law.

"your highness, a lady never go back on her word" ailith took a deep breath and accepted the reality.

her eyes still on the second prince as she spoke

"i have had fun during our friendly matches, if in the future your highness finds it acceptable, then i would be delighted to challenge your highness the second prince in some activities" ailith spoke. she indeed had fun, it wasn't easy for a lady to find a friendly partner to compete and at the level of a war general.

aziel smiled, a genuine smile from bottom of his heart, suddenly feeling warm

"i would wait for lady ailith's challenge" 

ailith nodded and pressed her lips together again. it was time to deal with the crown prince and fulfil the deal. her eyes turned towards the person in question and met his blue ones.

the intensity of emotions, chaos going on in his eyes created an illusion of deep sea. as his black hair flew over his face due to the wind. his eyes stared at her, unblinking, wanting to be seen and loved.

ailith felt her heart skip a beat.

"if your highness, the crown prince doesn't mind, would you like to have a walk together? the garden in zosia estate are famous for the variety of rare flowers we have" ailith spoke, her tone contained a hint of uncertainty.

"it would be a pleasure, the gardens of house zosia also contain some rare breeds that were not available in the empire, from what i have heard" axelle smiled as he stood up.

ailith nodded as she began guiding the crown prince towards the garden after excusing themselves from her brother and second prince.

on the way she even asked some maids to arrange for tea in the garden.

"lady ailith, if i may ask, why do you wish to speak to me privately? you have been ignoring my existence" axelle asked curiously as they walked in the garden. his eyes still on ailith, as she observed the flowers nearby.

"his highness the second prince, set the conditions that if he were to win then i am to give your highness the crown prince another chance to develop our relationship" ailith spoke glancing towards the flowers.

they were silent until they got to the gazebo where the tea was ready with the snacks.

it was just a hexagonal shed made only of six pillars and a roof. slightly raised from the ground, it held a tea table and few chairs. completely surrounded by flowers giving it a eternal fragrance.

ailith being the lady was the first to get on the raised area, what she did not expect was for he crown prince to hold her hand and pin her to one of the pillars.

axelle stepped closer, placing his left hand above her head while his right hand went to her slivery long hair.

his fingers playing with her locks as his eyes held her's captive

"and? what else is the reason for you to accept defeat that easily lady ailith?" axelle wanted to know if that excuse was true or not and what ailith was hiding.