A Song of Silence

Chapter 40: A Threat in the Dark

Dearest Lady Aerilynn,
I would be delighted if you could join me for a meal tonight.
From Azazel

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I smirked at Azazel's neat handwriting. An incorrigible flirt, that is what he was. And yet, I didn't seem to mind when he did it. Maybe it was the kindness or intense looks we would share. I had never really experienced flirting with anyone to this extent and it filled me with a strange rush of excitement. I still had to keep Azazel working for my forgiveness, even though he had already earned. Reluctantly I responded.
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Dearest Azazel,
Reluctantly I will have to decline your invitation for another evening. Duty calls after all.
Aerilynn

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Sending the note off with a servant, I got ready for the day and went off to find Karasi. She was in the art studio, a place I had learned existed only days before, drawing with charcoal. I cleared my throat to let her know I was there and sat down at the easel next to her. She glanced at me before going back to her drawing. Picking up a pencil, I began my sketch of the flowers displayed in front of us. Drawing a rough outline of the flowers, I let my mind wander.

Azazel would be irritated, or maybe humored by my act of rebellion by declining his invitation. It was hard to tell with him. We would surprise each other often, learning more and more about each other as we conversed and enjoyed each others company. With every conversation I found it hard to wish to leave and go back to my old life.

"What are you sketching?" Karasi asks, her ethereal voice breaking through my dazed thoughts. Looking at my sketch, I realized I had started to draw Azazel's sharp jawline. I had barely started drawing, but it was all there. Trying to disguise it, I added on a few more lines to try to disguise the first sketch and instead draw the case of flowers in front of me. Finally turning to Karasi, I sign, Oh, nothing. Just a vase of flowers.

Karasi gives me a look that says she doesn't believe that bullshit. Not one bit. Instead of letting it go like I prayed she would, she instead says, "Don't think we haven't noticed the way you look at each other."

Trying to play it off, I sign What? You mean with loathing and irritation.

Karasi chuckles before continuing, "Like the other is the only person in the room. No matter how crowded." I say nothing to that comment and instead let her words fade into silence. We don't look at each other that way, right? No. We don't. She must be confusing us with some other couple in the court. Finished with my drawing, I take out the watercolors and focus on the shades of the bouquet in front of me. Time passes with neither of us speaking a word, just enjoying each other's company while we sketched and painted. I had never been this comfortable with anyone. Not even Brynn.

Oh right, Brynn. I would need to pay her a visit soon to make sure she didn't say anything else about me to the court. I held little fondness for her now that I knew that she had only used me to get to the Capital city. She hadn't said it outright, but her ditching of me as soon as we got here and her telling the next blue ladies many of the secrets I had entrusted her with, all but proved my theory. I wouldn't be holding back now that I knew her true nature. I would simply threaten her and use my lighting a bit if she didn't cooperate. Easy peasy. She couldn't tell anyone about my lighting abilities, of course. I made sure of that, asking her to swear a blood oath to never repeat my true ability to anyone in any shape or form.