The Lost Life of Laraine

Chapter 43

Harken had never knew such fury.

He overheard Flontina teasingly point out that Lara was dancing with a handsome boy and Harken could feel his blood boil. His eyes were darting through the dancers, landing upon the dark-dressed pair gracefully flowing on the dance floor.

They looked so good together, with their matching black and red themed outfits. Despite the slight contrast between her pale skin and his deep olive tone, their outfits similarly complimented their appearance.

But what really boiled over Harken's blood, is that her dance partner was Bazen Corpronal. The bastard nephew of the king, who earned his noble status of marquis by leading his nation to victory against invaders when he was merely 15 years old. Though it seems he did not achieve the same valor and remained simply a baron. The title given to his commoner family to save face for the royals.

He knew of Lara's and Bazen's relationship in the past, given he was a focal point of one of her last missions of freedom before their marriage.

He didn't care for the details of her whereabouts, only really knowing that she managed to recover many villages that were destroyed by the dragon and helped the kingdom gain back some power before coming back home.

But Bazen had visited their home so many times it caused Harken's reputation to falter. His own wife was allegedly committing adultery with a noble from another nation.

Ironic, right?

He and Bazen had even clashed once, with Bazen being overwhelmingly stronger in his control of fire but Harken made up the skill difference with his swordsmanship. They were pretty evenly matched until Laraine broke up the fight, banishing Bazen through tears from their home in the North.

The next time Harken saw Bazen was the day Lara died.

Harken was lost in the past, only snapping back into reality when he noticed Bazen had taken Laraine somewhere.

"Where did they go?" He asked aloud, mostly to himself.

"Not sure," Yolanna came up behind him with a wine glass in hand. She watched as jealousy took over Harken in amusement. She wasn't interested in romance for herself whatsoever, but watching others' lives like a soap opera brought her much pleasure.

"Can you find her?" Harken snapped at Yolanna, making her eyes widen in surprise only to squint at him in annoyance.

"I can but you're gonna have to be nicer to me," she took another sip of wine, staring at him expectantly in silence.

Despite his adventuring party consisting of 16-18 year olds, drinking alcohol was legal for to partake at the young age of 13. Most don't start drinking till they are 16.

Clenching his jaw, Harken dialed back on his anger, mumbling through his teeth a clear, "Can you please find Lara for me?"

Smirking in satisfaction, Yolanna took a very deep breath, closing her eyes to listen intently at the air spirits that decorated the palace.

In the meantime Folkner had approached the pair, his tiny plate piled to the top with various finger foods.

"This stuff is amazing," he grumbled with a full mouth, only to take in the scene and swallowed hard, "What's going on?"

Opening her eyes, Yolanna picked up a mini-quiche-looking food from Folkner's plate and was about to eat it, only to pause to look at it.

"Is this a bug?" She questioned.

"Most of it - I think - is made of bugs," Folkner confirmed, going to eat more.

Shrugging her shoulders, Yolanna popped it in her mouth and chewed vigorously before swallowing with an indifferent expression.

"Well, where is she?" Harken urged, annoyed at her.

Taking one more sip of her wine, Yolanna replied, "The garden," before going for seconds of Folkner's food which he moved closer to her.

With that Harken hurried out of the ballroom in search of the garden.

"So what do you think of them?" Yolanna asked after Hakeen disappeared.

"Of who?" Folkner replied, following her gaze to the doorway Harken exited through, "Harken and Lara?"

"Yeah."

"They are both really strong."

"No, I mean as a couple," Yolanna rolled her eyes.

"Honestly," Folkner sighed, " Don't tell anyone I told you but Harken really likes her."

"Uh huh," Yolanna monotonously agreed, like that wasn't obvious already.

"But I don't think they suit each other," Folkner added which caught Yolanna off guard.

"Really? Why do you think that?" Yolanna was now invested.

"Well, they are so similar yet so different," Folkner gestured awkardly, unable to put this thoughts in exact words, "Harken's feelings for her feel more obligatory or like, guilt-driven. Lara seems to only see Harken as a brother, and she seems to hold a lot of secrets for him despite them knowing each other for years. I just think they wouldn't work out as a couple. You know?"

Nodding her head in agreement, Yolanna finished off her wine just as Folkner cleaned off his plate. The pair putting their respective empty dishes on a nearby table.

Soon a silence fell between them and both just began listening to the party music.

When a new song started, Yolanna was surprised to see a hand in front of her.

"May I have this dance?" Fokker asked cheesily.

Chuckling, Yolanna took it giving him a short, "Sure, why not."

Neither of them have ever done a proper ballroom dance, but the upbeat nature of the song made it feel like it was a party at the guild and the two couldn't help but dance like it was.

Unashamed of their dancing and ignoring the sneers of the nobles, many of the other attending adventurers saw this as permission to dance as they saw fit.

Free.

Wild.

Exciting.

Fearless.

The two were facing circles around each other, grabbing onto one another and doing various spins. Smiling, laughing, changing up partners.

They were just two best friends having a great time.