Bound By Madness Side Stories

First Meetings

He was spending another day entertaining the common people wandering the square, his fingers dancing upon the strings of his lute as he sang a cheerful song for them to enjoy. The people needed such things more than ever these days with the aftermath of the latest battle dampening their spirits. Of course, being the Fool of Spades, best Jester in the entirety of the Imperial City, it was the least Ellery could do to bring joy and light to the world-weary citizens of his home.

Smiling into the crowd, he saw a vaguely familiar figure moving around the back of those watching him, ducking around until they found a spot they could see from. Almost eagerly, he watched as long dark hair swayed to the side before the figure turned around and, yes, it was her! The mysterious young lady who had been joining the crowd in recent weeks! This time, he was determined to learn her name. It was bound to be a pretty name, something to match those almost luminescent pale grey eyes of hers!

Something about her seemed to catch his attention, even more than the young women who were often telling him how handsome he seemed, how talented they thought he was, how blah blah blah. It was just a never-ending stream of words at times, but even though he'd seen this girl appear at so many of his shows, not once had she come up to him to talk or flirt or even just call out a hello. She just wandered in, quietly found a spot she could watch from, and once the show was over she would smile and wave before walking off again to vanish into the crowded streets. But not this time. He would talk to her, even if he had to run to catch up with her!

Several minutes passed as he watched her whenever he could, his eyes tracing her face as he watched her react to everything he did. Her eyes would go wide when he danced about the area, her lips moving when he sang as if singing with him, and when he juggled and did flips she would look as astonished as anyone else, but somehow it made a warmth appear in his chest when it was her that was lacking when other girls did so. Her expressions seemed more... honest, more real than the rest.

When finally he was done, his entertainment over and done with, Ellery ignored the young women who tried to crowd close to him with flirtatious words and ran after the dark-haired young lady, barely managing to catch her before she vanished. Gasping for breath as he smiled at her, he finally managed to stand up straight again, chuckling slightly at the confusion on her face.

"I'm Ellery, Fool of Spades! I saw you watching! I mean, I've noticed you for a while now and I wanted to say hi to you this time before you vanished again. Umm, I'm Ellery," he fumbled with his words.

Seeing her lips turn up into a smile before she burst into silent giggles, he grew confused. Was she shy? Did she not like her voice? Was she just playing a trick on him? As he watched, she brought her hand up and pointed a finger at her lips before shaking her head, her smile slowly dropping into a sad frown. With a shrug, she reached out and up, stretching onto her toes to reach his shoulder and give him a gentle pat.

With a sad-looking wave, she turned and walked into the crowd as he stood frozen with shock, watching as she vanished like a ghost.

It was several days before he saw her again, watching quietly from the crowd as she clapped her hands when he did a new trick she hadn't seen yet. He wondered if he should tell her he'd learned it hoping to impress her, to give her a reason to stick around next time instead of running off.

Once again he went through his routine, adding in the new tricks he'd learned and showing the new dance he'd been practicing recently. Everything he'd learned, just in the hopes that this strange girl would stick around without him having to chase after her. And when the show ended and he turned to look at where she'd been, he felt his shoulders slump, seeing she had vanished from sight.

"Of course, why would she want to stay when she can't even talk to me. It's not like I would be good company for someone who I can't even hold a conversation with. Besides..." he mumbled before continuing inside his head where nobody else could hear his words. Besides, it's not like I'm good enough for a pretty lady like her.

Suddenly, he was stopped by a piece of paper waving in front of his face. Blinking and taking a step back, he looked to see the very person he'd been thinking of, bright grey eyes looking up at him with a smile on her lips. Slowly, Ellery reached out to take the slip of paper she held, looking down as the words on the page.

'Hello. My name is Valencia. It is nice to meet you, Ellery. Do you want to be friends?'