The Flame

CHAPTER 30

And they started their work with the plain unstitched beautiful silver silk. I never knew that they would have advanced so much in using magic since the last time I saw them, that they were now magically designing my dress on their own. I was dazed looking at them at work. There were needles and threads and scissors all mid-air, doing their work as instructed by Clarke, after a few minutes, they didn't allow me to stay there, as they wanted to surprise me with their final product, and so I was sent back to my room. It was almost dinner time when Merlin announced to me to enter the hall.

"No...No close your eyes", Merlin said, excitedly as soon as I walked out of the room.

"Okay," I said cheering. And so I closed my eyes. Merlin assisted me till the hall and then asked me to open my eyes.

I was speechless by what I saw. The dress was perfect; I didn't know that if I could have afforded a dress like that ever in my life. It was beautiful and elegant.

"I love it guys" I jumped in the air, pulling them all into a hug "Thank you, Thank you so much," I said, managing to swallow my tears back.

"Oh, Rose anything for you", Merlin replied back "Now go and try it on".

I ran towards my room to try it on. It perfectly fits me and complimented my figure by showing my curves, wherever needed. The long slit in the front of the gown ran right up to my thighs, the perfectly sequenced illusion neckline made me in love with it instantly. I ran out of the room to show them.

Clarke was too contended by her work. Alicia and Merlin too looked satisfied with what they have done.

"Oh, guys I feel like a Cinderella", I said laughing.

"Like what?" Merlin questioned, not understanding the reference.

"Never mind", I laughed foolishly.

The next day morning before getting ready for the party we met once more at the library (as we thought it was the last place Sonya would found us), to go through the plan one last time. It was decided that it would be Merlin who would lure her out of the party and bring her back to our room, where I, Alicia, Clarke, Adrian and Allen (Merlin's boyfriend) would be already present. After going through all the fine details once more, we split.

Sonya was not present in the dorm when we arrived. So we had the entire dorm for ourselves to get ready. There will be a definite commotion to be followed when there are four girls trying to get ready for a party. Clarke was happy to lend me one of her sparkly shoes. Alicia did my make-up and Merlin did my hair. It was funny how I was sitting there restless, solely trusting them for whatever they did, but I was more than satisfied with what they did. Merlin styled my hair into a side bun. It was doing justice to my deep back.

"You look hot", Merlin announced, while walking back to the grounds.

I didn't know what to expect from this great day of theirs. When I reached the grounds, I was dazzled as it was nothing like I remembered it to be. There were round tables everywhere surrounded by chairs, and there were balloons and ribbons and lightings everywhere and more importantly, there were hundreds and hundreds of people. As soon as I entered I realized that there were other people too, other than students present there too, for instance, they were all in white capes clearly marking them as graduates.

"Remember, we need to socialize with as many as possible", Merlin whispered. I nodded agreeing to her, and so we went on from tables to tables talking to as many people as possible. I saw many eyeballs turn towards me, studying me, especially from guys.

"Where is Adrian?" I asked the group.

"The place where he supposed to be", Alicia told me in a harsh tone, before I could ask the reason behind it, Olivia started addressing the crowd. I tuned in and out of what she said, as the murmurings from the crowd kept increasing until everyone started clapping collectively. Even on heels, I couldn't see the events following up ahead. I tried raking myself up to see Olivia put her hands up in the air. At that instant three digital displays appeared out of thin air, hanging mid-air. When the screen sprang into life, three men appeared on them, dressed in royal attire with robes and each wearing a crown. Immediately everyone fell down on their knees, showing them their respect. I clumsily tried to imitate the others. A show of hand from the man in the middle screen brought everyone back into their feet.

"We are all enjoying this freedom because of our ancestors who have created our own little world for us, thinking selflessly about their future generations. Today on this Rebirth day we honor the Eldar brothers who have given us everything we have today", the man in the middle screen announced. And without any further notice, everyone from the crowd started raising their arms in the air, releasing jets of sparks from their fingers into the sky. I was stupefied by the scene; it was like watching hundreds of fireworks collectively, it was beautiful. Then out of nowhere, four statues appeared ahead, whose only head, I could see from behind. At once, I recognized them to be the statues from the four corners of Olivia's office.

"Eldar brothers", I breathed.

"Rose, we have to get moving now", she whispered, before I could ask her why the crowd behind me started pushing me forward.

"But we still have time left", I said.

"They are going to start with the feast now", Clarke said, pointing at the crowd placing themselves in the tables.

"Yes, come on girl, let's fill our stomach first before doing some detective work", teased Allen stroking Merlin's cheeks to which she turned pink.

"Okay", she agreed blushing.

We took an entire table to ourselves and as soon as food appeared we started with the feast. There were certain dishes I have never seen or tasted before, but still, I welcomed trying them all. Allen played an important role in encouraging me whenever I hesitated before trying anything new. His huge appetite was something I couldn't stop laughing at. When we were having our desserts finally, I asked them: "So how did you'll get together? I mean I knew that Merlin had a crush on you already", I asked him.

"Oh, Rose you won't believe how they got together", teased Clarke. "Their love nest was the library, they both visited the library on regular terms in the hope of meeting each other", she continued.

"So they both are nerds, you say?" I laughed out loud.

"Yeah, we can say that", Clarke and Alicia laughed collectively, to which Allen and Merlin looked embarrassed.

Loud music started to play, and people started moving towards the center to hit the dance floor. Merlin and Allen immediately moved towards the center. Alicia and Clarke started mingling with others. I was anxious about the mission ahead, so I told them that I would be going back to the room and come back in a while.

The school was empty, not a single person I could see on the corridors, so the walk towards the dorm was quite easy. I opened our dorm room to already find one occupant present inside, someone who brought a smile on my face instantly.

"Adrian? I was searching for you down there, Where were you?' I asked walking towards him. He was dressed not in his usual style, but in some designer suit which fit him perfectly and screamed money, and he was looking devastatingly cute like always.

"I..." he stopped mid-sentence looking at me as if noticing me for the first time. "You look...You look beautiful" he said hesitantly walking towards me, he stopped so close to me that I could technically see the grey in his eyes, those deep grey eyes did something to my insides, something I failed to explain off. The music played down on the grounds now changed, and all of sudden Adrian knelt down and raised his hand forwards asking me for a dance. Without giving it a second thought I accepted it.

I slowly moved along the beats, being careful of where my foot moved. I was paying too much attention to the dance, that I didn't notice him looking at me admiringly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked meeting his gaze, which sent chills through me of different sorts.

"I'm wondering how much make-up you had to put on, to look this breathtaking", he said teasing me. I couldn't help blushing; I made a mental note of never looking up at him again. The music outside stopped and yet we were moving slowly, dancing to our own beats.

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