Picking Petals:

Chapter 9: Sorry to go

 For some reason I was looking for a dress longer than it should have been. Every dress I looked at I thought of Gregory, then I thought of Rone. I remember him saying how beautiful white looked on me so I went with a simple white dress with a brown torso corset belt in the middle of the stomach, defining my waist. The dress fell behind me in layers of fabric. The sleeves fabric hanging down my arm. I looked in the mirror and couldn't help but feel beautiful. I felt like I could fly away into the night and dance in the beautiful night sky. Except it wasn't beautiful, the sky was dark, a pit of emptiness. I brushed out my long dark hair and let it lay against my back.

I sighed, wondering why I even cared what anyone thought of me. I'm still Nadia too stubborn, hotheaded and a little dysfunctional.

Smoothing out my dress, I knocked on Rones conjoined room door. He opened it taking in my choice of clothing, he wore a white dress shirt and blue jeans. He left two buttons undone so i could see his smooth strong relaxed muscles. "Oh wow Nadia." His voice was heavy, his eyes scanning every inch of my body. The dresses neckline was dangerously low, something Gregory had always loved about our Trax uniforms. "You look like trouble," he smirked.

I laughed nervously tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I think I'm in the mood for a little trouble."

"Alright, my lady," he let out his arm so I could spoon mine in his. I hesitated for a second but I put my arm on his, giving him a tight smile. As we walked down the stairs the Queen was standing in the main hall talking to an older gentleman, who paused mid conversation to gawk at Rone and I.

"Well look at you Rone, I think that's the most beautiful Fae I've ever seen," he said slapping Rones back. The Queen briskly watched us, her face holding no clue to what she was thinking.

"You two look lovely," she said pursing her lips, "Where are you two off to?"

"A party," Rone said, "Dont worry I have my bad ass warrior here to protect me," Rone teased, smiling down at me.

"No worries over here looks like you two are hitting it off as I expected." The Queen paused slightly, "You two have fun now."

Rone and I walked outside to the front of the palace where a brown carriage waited for us. "Who was that older gentleman?"

"My moms brother," he said. "Never liked him much he's kind of a dick."

Fair enough, "So where is this party?"

"In the dirt fields," he said helping me into the carriage. "Its far away enough from the people, we can make as much noise as we want."

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We rode in complete silence as the carriage took us to the party but every now and then I caught Rone glancing over at me. Rone wasnt in his usual snarky mood, oddly he was very quiet as if something was troubling him. Once the carriage stopped I could see the empty field already filled with many Trax walking around, circling a huge roaring fire. If I knew anything about Trax parties it was that they knew how to party. All night and all day, a nights worth of escaping those woods.

"Do you drink?" Rone asked putting his hand in mine. The instinct to reclaim my hand passed as I stared down at our intertwined fingers. I liked my hands in his it was different in a good way but since when was this a thing? And why did it feel so familiar?

"Of course I do," I said as he handed me a steel cup with wine in it.

Berella came running my way, her small face lit up as our eyes connected. "Well hello smoking goddess," Berella tilted her head slightly, her long red hair in a high pony tail.