Balance of the Skies (bxb)

CHAPTER 17

The four friends turned round, only to find Ty and Rylan standing there. Everyone looked confused except Ty, whose eyes were blazing furiously, and Drey, who stepped forward looking equally angry.

"Are you here to serve the refreshments, peasant boy?" Ty said louder than before, attracting the attention of students and visitors who were in the vicinity.

"You can't seem to let it go, can you Ty? Get a life why don't you?" Drey said from between clenched teeth.

"What's going on?" Lorien asked dumbfounded. "Listen Ty, I really don't appreciate you speaking to my guests like this." Lorien was annoyed, yet he could not ignore the fact that his breath was getting shallow and he was beginning to feel cold. Oh no, he thought, not now. Please not now.

As if on cue, Koray appeared a few feet behind them. Ty however, had his back to him so he was unaware of his presence.

"I was not talking to you loser," Ty glanced briefly at Lorien before looking back at Drey, whose palms were now in fists. "So, peasant boy," he spat out again, "how about you get me a drink?" he smirked.

"Ty, are you out of your mind? What's got into you?" At the sound of Melia's voice, the young man froze momentarily only to turn towards her, angrier than before.

"Why? Is he another one on your list of interests? You deserve better, he's nothing but a peasant boy," he spat out again, not caring for the large crowd that had now gathered around them.

"Ty. leave. now," this came from Koray, who was very red in the face with beads of sweat glistening on his forehead. "Rylan, get him out of here before he makes an even bigger fool of himself."

Rylan tried to grab his friend's arm, but Ty just glared at Drey. "Want to take this outside peasant boy?" to which Drey almost replied. But Zana was quick to turn him to face her.

"Look at me, Drey, don't let him provoke you. We're here for Lorien, okay? Please, Drey," she had tears in her eyes now and Drey took a deep breath and pulled her into his arms. "Thank you Drey," she whispered, kissing him softly on his lips, not caring about all the people around them. In the meantime, Koray had grabbed his friend's arm and stormed out of the hall, leaving the rest looking at each other perplexed. It was then that Lorien felt he could breathe better as he looked around, seeing the crowd disperse. He also noticed Auryn and Wilford standing there awkwardly, together with Rylan who had not spoken a word.

"I'm sorry," Auryn said, her voice breaking.

"For what? You did not do anything. This isn't your fault." Lorien told her.

"I know, but still I apologise on his behalf. I – I don't know what got into him," she spoke again.

"Don't worry, it's a long story," Drey spoke. "Can we put this behind us?"

"Sure," Auryn smiled feeling Wilford's arm around her shoulder. "You must be Lorien's friends. I'm Auryn," she shook hands with them, even though her voice was a little shaky.

"So... erm... are we still meeting later?" Wilford asked. "We understand if you want to cancel -"

"No, no why should we? It's not your fault," Zana smiled at them.

"Thanks, you're so sweet," Auryn smiled at her, then turning to Melia, "Are you okay, Mel?" Melia just nodded before turning round to walk slowly towards her exhibits' area.

"I should go talk to her," Lorien said extremely worried.

"No, you and Auryn both have to concentrate on the exhibition. I'll talk to her. See you guys later." Wilford approached Melia as Auryn went back to her post. Rylan nodded awkwardly at them and moved away.