The Guardian

Chapter Six

Isodore Hamlin was the most disgusting human being I had ever met.

My mother had always told me to never call anyone worthless, nothing, replaceable or disgusting. She said that thinking that about people would ruin them, destroy them beyond fixture. And I believed her. But it was the only word I can think of as I stood at the edge of the ballroom, watching him dance with any noble girl who gave him a second glance.

I was wearing a voluminous sky blue gown, and pearls at my neck. My hair was held up in an elaborate twist of curls on top of my head. The top of my dress ran across my collarbones and exposed my shoulders, the white lace around the edge loose against the tight blue satin over my torso. There were many shimmering silver adornments from the hips of my skirt into the folds of my skirt, and this made it easy to disguise shiny daggers within the folds of my dress. The sleeves were tight to my elbows, with loose lace hems around my elbows and forearm. I must say, Isodore had excellent taste in women's clothes. Probably because he spent so much time staring and tearing it off.

He was despicable.

The song ended and he kissed the hand of the red-head stick he'd been dancing with as another girl approached, this one in Livingstone colours and a head of brunette curls. I couldn't watch this pair too closely for fear of her recognising me. I looked down at the tiles by the base of the carved Greek pillar I stood by. I don't even know why Isodore was throwing a ball. No apparent reason at all.

Just as I'm about to die from boredom, a pair of shiny black boots appear in my line of vision. I lift my gaze pass black pants, a deep green tunic with a shiny sword strapped around the waist and a shiny silver breastplate, before looking all the way up and meeting Damian's mossy green eyes. I smile and he smiles back. "Would you like to dance, Violette?"

I smile slightly, wanting to. "We can't, we're working, remember?"

"But we could just say that we're scoping the entirety of the room," he raises an eyebrow, tilting his head a little with a cheeky smile. He'd been trying to cheer my up since my visit to the Queen 2 weeks ago.

I let out a soft laugh. "Alright, but if we get told off, it was all your idea."

He smiles in victory and offers his arm. I take it and he leads me to the edge of the dancefloor as the song changes to a slow waltz. He puts a gentle hand on my waist, the same place that Isodore had grabbed me that night. I lay my hand on his shoulder and then we join our other hands and begin to spin in time to the music.

"So, have you been busy?" His voice is quiet, and he meets my eye before looking around behind us.

"A little, but he mostly lets me do my own thing since I cant stand to be with a mile of him," I shrug a little, looking at my distorted reflection in his chest plate. "So I just observe from afar and let him do his thing."

"Well, he's missing out on excellent company," he smiles down at me and I laugh, looking up at him and then at the surrounding area. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"And what have you been up too?" I raise an eyebrow, smiling a little.

"Nothing really, just the usual guard duties," he nods and shrugs, my hand rising with his shoulder.

"I see," I nod as he spins me around with the music and then back to his chest and we continue dancing in silence.

I glance over Damian's shoulder and see Isodore watching me past the head of some blonde pig he's picked up. She's currently giggling all over him as he watches me, those snake eyes sending venom into mine. I don't know why he seems so intrigued by me, the blonde appears to actually be interested in him and enjoying his company. I never did.