Invited

Chapter 4: Sent

Judah turned the corner to suddenly be met with Basilisk leaning against the wall, silently whimpering, with eyes buried in a hand.

"What happened?!" Judah rushed to the other male, offering a hand.

"It's nothing, don't worry about me." Basilisk looked up, then behind them, grabbing hold of the offered hand, and helped himself up from the wall.

He found that didn't convince the other of leaving the topic, so Basilisk motioned for Judah to follow him into a different room.

Once they arrived out of the view of others, Basilisk showed his colored card to Judah. Bright yellow shone through the laminate film. Judah noticed in the corner of the card, a stamp of his family's seal.

"A warning? For?" Confused, Judah took the card and flipped it over. "Permanent Exile?!"

Basilisk nodded, taking back the card, and placed it in his blazer's pocket. "There's nothing I can do. She wasn't able to convince Layla of changing her mind about inviting Solice Aion. I was given this last warning for exile for that."

"Why? What does Layla's actions have anything to do with you?" Judah asked.

"She believes I am manipulating Layla into disregarding her orders."

"I'm going to talk to her."

"Don't. What's done is done. If it makes Layla happy to finally meet someone she's wanted to meet, I will take any punishment for her."

Touched, Judah reached out to hug the other. Basilisk, frozen in shock, reluctantly holding back from Judah. Instead, he raised his fist towards the middle, indicating a return.

Knowing that there were boundaries to hold, Judah chuckled with their forced formality, returning his fist to meet Basilisk's in the middle.

"I have a task for you, Basilisk." Judah shifted his gaze to the door, prompting them to leave.

The two of them made their way to Judah's office, with Judah quickly sorting through the papers on a nearby coffee table.

"Send these out first thing tomorrow morning. We finished the Council Selection. There should be nine in there." Judah picks up a sealed folder, handing it to Basilisk.

Basilisk pulls up the seal, seeing as there was really nine in there, looks to Judah for confirmation. "Nine? I thought she had eight."

"Saber and I added one more ourselves as a surprise to her. We invited Minerva."

"Minerva? Minerva Arcadia?"

"The one and only. Keep it a secret from Layla though."

Basilisk nodded in agreement. Happily, he tucked the folder of invites under his arm, proceeding to leave the office to prepare for his nightly duties.

While the two men conversed, Layla patiently waited in her room for Summer to return.

Summer knocked once on the door, knocked twice more quickly, knocked again, and finally knocked a last time.

"You may come in, Summer." Layla rose from her bed, walking over to the corner vanity.

The door slowly opened. Summer entered the room with her arms full of different fabrics. She placed them onto Layla's bed, straightening to show the items she brought in.

"I brought your dresses for tomorrow. I'll have the one you like ironed tonight." Summer said, as she continued to straighten the dresses. Dresses ranged in all colors imaginable.

Mesmerized by the array of colors, Layla took particular interest in a light orange dress laid closest to her. Summer noticed her staring straight at the dress, knowing her friend well, she picked up the dress and brought it to Layla.

"Want to try it on before your party?" Summer asked.

Layla smiled excitingly, running her fingers through the beautiful fabric before her.

"Yes!", she happily exclaimed, pulling out a drawer full of accessories out of the vanity behind her. "After we try it on, we can test out hairstyles as well. I have some headbands I haven't worn yet. We can match the color to the dress."

"Did Minerva send that much to you?" Summer laughed as headbands spilled out of the drawer, catching one in her hands.

Layla tried pushing the accessories back into their place to no avail. She looked to Summer in playful desperation. "I need a separate vanity to store these gifts, don't I?"

"I'll see what I can do with Basilisk on that." Summer jokingly replied.