Stars in the Night Sky [NOCTIS X READER]

CHAPTER 4 - BORROWED TIME

The party at the Caelum Villa was in full swing and the delegates from Niflheim hadn't even arrived yet.

Fireworks peppered the sky in an impressive display that Tredd was spending more time watching than actually doing his job. You and Nyx were stationed across from each other at the aquarium and you couldn't help but watch the fish twist and turn amidst the backdrop of the goddess Etro.

When the Imperials finally did arrive, Aldercapt made a great show of complementing the party and the city, mentioning tomorrow's coming treaty and the ceremony that would be signed with it. King Regis was amicable, but you saw the way he was shifting uncomfortably. He wasn't any happier about the treaty than the Kingsglaive. If only most of the members could see that.

Gentle piano music swayed over the assembled crowd, a soft violin accompanying it as you turned your attention to Nyx to make sure he was doing alright only to see him engaged in a tense conversation with Lady Lunafreya. He reached into his pocket to pull something out of it - a golden hairpin encrusted with a diamond - and you felt your heart skip a beat. Lunafreya awkwardly accepted the gift, smiling at Nyx a little sadly. He must have told her about Crowe.

You sighed. You wanted to ask Nyx how he was holding up, but abandoning your post now with Drautos so near and on such a high alert would have been a terrible idea unless you wanted to get reassigned to somewhere even more boring than the Citadel. Instead, you satisfied herself by watching the partygoers, looking for any concealed weapons or possible threats, every nerve on edge with the enemy so close. You could see Pelna on high alert down the stairs while Tredd was shamelessly not at all paying attention, head directed up to the fireworks dancing above their heads.

"Hello there."

You just about jumped out of your skin. Doing your best to remain as stoic as possible for the sake of your Glaive training, you craned your neck to look to your left. Beside you stood Lunafreya, smiling delicately with the hairclip firmly fastened into her golden hair.

"Hello, Your Highness," you said with a terse nod.

"Pardon my intrusion," Lunafreya said. "I couldn't help but notice you while I was talking to your comrade over there. Nyx Ulric, correct?"

"That would be him," you said, scanning the perimeter of the party one more time. Another firework exploded above your heads. Aldercapt was talking as loudly as he could about the majesty of Gralea, and King Regis, as the obvious person to be listening, was wearing a very strained smile. "I hope he didn't offend you at all."

"No, no offense, he merely..." Lunafreya's fingers brushed against the hairclip nestled firmly in her braid. "Offered me what one of your own could not give me. I am...sorry for your loss."

"She died a Glaive," you echoed Nyx's earlier words. "No better honor than that."

"Perhaps," Lunafreya murmured. Her eyes were searching and you couldn't help but feel like you were being examined under a microscope. Lunafreya looked and felt like the type of person it would be impossible to hide anything from, and yet she would judge you for none of it. Truly, the grace of the Oracle that you had heard stories about lived up to the legend. "You are...particularly young," Lunafreya murmured. "I can't help but see that."

"I joined young," you said, keeping your gaze forward and fixed on the party.

"And yet there is still so much ahead of you," Lunafreya continued, sounding wiser than her years.

You couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped you at that. Maybe it was the agony of losing Crowe finally bubbling over, or the events of the past few days finally coming to a broil, maybe it was just how open Lunafreya was, but you couldn't help but let your dauntless grasp on your emotions falter. Just the once.