Across the Midnight Sea

Chapter 1: The Party

"There you are!" an enthusiastic voice that Adira knew so very well had her smiling and turning just in time to meet the vigorous embrace of her best friend Lillia.

"You came," Adira sighed into her best friend's shoulder and returned the hug.

"Of course I came," Lillia responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Lillia pulled back beaming.

"Look at you! Look at that dress!" Lillia gushed and grabbed hold of some of the loose fabric running it through her fingers. "This is gorgeous..."

Adira shifted uncomfortably.

Her mother had insisted she wear the gaudy dress this evening. Adira couldn't understand why. She was still a month away from her second name day and becoming an adult in their society, which meant she was still a month away from being marriageable. The dress she was wearing was clearly to get attention for just that. It was lower cut and heavily embroidered with heavy glass beads.

The gown was the exact opposite of the thin, simple, flowing fabrics that Adira would choose for herself.  It weighed her down.

And it itched.

"If you want it when this is over you can have it," said Adira "I hate it."

Lillia rolled her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised?" she shook her head and then gestured around them. "Everyone is looking at you."

"No, everyone is looking at my dress," Adira corrected pulling her best friends waving arm down so as to not draw even more attention.

  Adira knew better than most that she was nothing special to look at-her mother told her so all the time. She knew that she wasn't ugly. She also knew that she was not a beauty like her mother. She wasn't even pretty like Lillia, and that was okay, she would rather be plain than stand out.

As the daughter of someone who was now, thanks to her marriage to lord Warren, practically royalty she didn't have much choice in whether or not she stood out. Her mother was doing everything in her power to mold Adira into a miniature version of herself. It would never work though, Adira had neither the looks nor the desire to climb up the social ladder. If she married, she wanted it to be because of genuine affection not just so she could please her mother and step-father and make everyone 'proud'

She wanted their love and respect. She also wanted to be free.

"You look lovely too you know," said Lillia softly taking her hand. Lillia always knew how Adira was feeling. While Adira usually did a good job of keeping her emotions hidden from public view Lillia always seemed to see right through her masks. It was uncanny how well the girl read her given the fact that Lillia left nothing hidden. She lived passionately free. As the youngest of six in a well-to-do family, she had that luxury.

"Thanks," said Adira, though her heart was not behind the words, though she did appreciate the sentiment, Adira didn't want compliments on her looks-not when they always felt so hollow.

"Have you seen Sebastian yet tonight?" her friend asked changing the subject. The hope in her voice an almost palpable thing.

Lillia had been mooning over Sebastian for years and while he was nice, he had never paid much attention to Lillia until this past year. Lillia was several years younger than Sebastian, and while their families had always been close, he had treated her more like a little sister than a romantic interest. That was until Lillia's debut. She had looked like a goddess walking down a dress in shades of pink and white. Lillia had turned every head in the house, including Sebastian's. No one had expected the bouncy girl they knew so well to seem so...regal.