Kaden | ✓

part five ♚ dilapidated

I couldn't meet the girls the first day they were at the palace.

Coincidentally, that was the day that I would be going to the Players' Place to watch Emmaline perform. Emmaline's last letter had explained that they expected people to be dressed nice enough and they liked darker colors, so I shrugged off my dark gray suit jacket in my room and left it on a chair.

Eadlyn gave me a disapproving look when she saw what I'm wearing. "Seriously? A black shirt and gray pants? Could you get any more boring, Kaden? At least wear a nice color!"

"They prefer dark colors, Eadlyn, and I was already wearing this." I unknotted my tie and tossed it aside, and then I undid the top two buttons of my shirt. She grabbed my sleeve and started tugging it up like she meant to roll it up, and I rolled my eyes but did what she wanted anyway.

She let out a sigh and handed me a small bag. "The money for your entry fee. Don't get yourself killed, Kaden. Losing one brother was enough." Ahren. Eadlyn's twin, who had left in the middle of the night with no warning to marry a French princess that he had fallen in love with.

"I won't, Eadlyn. I promise." I stuffed the bag into my pocket and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She sighed. "Just be careful."

"I will, Eadlyn. When am I not?"

♚

The room was completely dark except for the candles on the tables and the lone spotlight on the stage. Emmaline was on stage, pouring her heart out through her violin, dressed in a simple and modest one-shouldered black gown. Her hair, carefully tied back, was threaded through with black and silver ribbons.

The room was filled, most tables holding crammed groups of eight or nine. I sat towards the back at a table for two, completely focused on her. I almost didn't notice when someone sat down across from me.

"Hello." The woman's voice was low and sultry, smooth like honey. I looked up. Dark hair spilled over her shoulders, modestly covering the not-so-modest neckline of her red dress. She leaned forward over the table towards me, and if I were looking, I knew that I would've been given a clear shot down her dress.

"Hello." I looked back towards the stage.

"I've never seen you around before," her red painted lips curved upwards, "what's your name?"

I wasn't really paying attention. "Sorry, I just--she's amazing, isn't she?"

"Yes, sure. But I wasn't talking about her. I want to know about you."

"Um, sorry." I said. "But I'm kind of here for the music." The last notes of Emmaline's song rang out, and everyone started to clap. I did too, and the girl looked vaguely irritated.

Emmaline made her way around slowly as the woman continuously tried to get me to tell her my name, and by the time she glided over to me, I was just about to get up and excuse myself. She cast a curious look at the girl. "Carrie? I didn't realize you would be here tonight."

"Well, I wasn't going to." Carrie set her eyes on me. "But then I saw him..."

Emmaline set a hand on my shoulder and slowly slid it up and down my arm, and I wasn't going to lie and say it didn't make me nearly shiver. "Kade? Sorry, he's taken." I saw that she was playing a game, and that she needed me to play along. She smiled down at me, and I smiled back.

"By you?" Carrie snorted. "Yeah, okay."

I pulled Emmaline down onto my lap and pressed a kiss to her jaw. "Actually, that would be the truth." We smiled at each other like we shared a secret.