The Prophecy's Champion(We Three Mages Book Three)

Chapter Fourteen: As Devin Winters (Part Two)

Esme Patel's eyes had grown red from crying. She had spent all day getting ready for the party she was currently hiding from. She had pinned up her pale silky brown hair and added a bit of glitter to give off the appearance that it was glowing. She wore her favorite blue ball gown with frills along the bottom. Her pearly white gloves were stained with tears. Tonight was supposed to be the best night of her life, but then one little thing went horribly wrong. A boy. A boy she had taken weeks to pluck up the courage to ask to her party.

He had said yes of course, it was the biggest event of the year and with the war going on it was exactly what everyone needed to put the pep back in their step.

"Excuse me, but are you alright?" A smooth voice came from behind her. It was obviously male from how deep it was but Esme didn't care.

"As alright as I'll ever be," she quickly wiped away her tears and did her best to fix her makeup before she turned around. The young man before her was tall and had an honest, genuine worried look on his face.

"Is something amiss? A young lady such as yourself out here by your lonesome, something must be wrong. Is there anything I can do to help?" he walked over to the railing. Her head came up to his chest.

"It's nothing that concerns a stranger such as yourself," Esme looked away for she could feel the tears coming back.

"May I ask the lady her name?"

"Esme, Esme Patel," Esme answered. While she was upset, she was her father's daughter and never forgot her manners around an unknown person.

"You can call me Cal," the young man offered. "But I think it's fair to warn you that that isn't my real name. For you see, names have power."

"Do they now?" Esme wished the man would leave her to her misery.

"Yes, like for example if you gave me the name of the person who has upset you, I could set his pants ablaze this very second."

"How did you know it was a person?"

"Because you just told me."

"If you must know his name is Logan Verkley. And he's in the ball room dancing away with some...girl." Esme gripped her dress tightly. "He was supposed to be my date but then last minute he tells me he had already made other arrangements!"

"Sounds like he planned that from the start," Cal offered his piece.

"Probably. I had heard rumors about his character, but he was just always so charming at school that I never paid any mind to them. Now I dearly wished I had."

"It's not like they were whispers. Whispers you see are very different from rumors because they have a spark of truth to them."

"How can you tell the difference?"

"The way the person tells it. There's something in the way they use their words that tip them off. Listen to enough gossip and you'll be able to tell the difference in no time."

"I see, well that must be pretty easy for a traveler such as yourself. You're used to hearing such words."

"How'd you guess I was a traveler?"

"Your very existence screams Cooronolia. And with this blasted war happening, the only reason you'd be in Trajare is if you were traveling."

"You're very perspective for someone of your age. You remind me of a very good friend of mine." Before Esme had a chance to respond, the music changed and she felt her whole world just crash.

"Oh gods, this song, I was supposed to dance..." she hid her face in her hands.

"You picked this song to dance with Logan Verkley didn't you?"