Betrothed To Your Enemy

Starlight

Cassandra rested her elbows on the balcony, the breeze blowing through her hair.  The night was clear and she could see the moon and the starts were twinkling.  The sound of Varian's doors opening made Cassandra look his way.  He rested his arms on the banister.

"Good evening, m'lady."

She rolled her eyes, but not out of annoyance.  Chucking, she raised a brow.  "Well enough I suppose.  How about you, my lord?"

"Ooooh, I'm your lord now?"  Varian teased.

"It was a joke.  Don't read into it," Cassandra deadpanned.

"Right," Varian laughed.  "You know, we haven't really had the chance to go and do something that we want to do.  It's mainly been hanging around the castle and preparing for our wedding."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't even gotten to ride Fidella much."

"What are you suggesting?"  She asked.

"Well... let's go on a ride. Just you and me, under the night sky."

"Like a date?"

"Uh... do you want it to be like a date?"  Varian inquired.

She chuckled.  "Won't we get in trouble?"

"Since when have you abided by the rules?"

"True, but when have you not?"  Cassandra teased.

He laughed.  "I only pretend to play the perfect part.  I have a lot of secrets.  So, do you want to go on the night ride?"

She smirked.  "Well, I could use a little air away from here."

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Two silhouettes of riders on separate horses galloped across a field with a few tress and some random black rocks.  Dust was kicked up from the horses feet as they raced up the hill.

Cassandra was in the lead.  She would ride with her father and the guard whenever she could.  Of course it would always end when her mother noticed it, but she didn't find out all the time.  Varian kept close on her tail, urging Max to wait until they were closer to the end of the race before he gave an extra speed burst.  In the end, Cassandra only won by a hair.

"Ha, I won this one."

"Na-huh!  That was tie," Varian teased.

"Is that so?"  Cassandra raised a brow as the horses trotted, circling each other.  "I mean, we could settle this the old fashion way..."  she cracked her knuckles.

Varian laughed.  "Alright, you win, m'lady."

"That's what I thought."  She gave an innocent (fake) smile.

"The stars are pretty," Varian began as Max and Fidella slowed to a walk.

"Changing subject."

He shrugged, as he looked in her eyes.  Cassandra notice how he was looking at her and turned her head away.  What was wrong with her cheeks?  They felt so warm and flushed while everything else felt cold from the chill the night had brought.  Was she blushing?  She hadn't done that in a while.  At least, not like this.

"You're eyes are an interesting color.  They're not quite green and they're not quite brown.  They're an in between.  Sometimes they look more green and other times it's brown.  Does you eye color change?"  Varian inquired.

"As always, you're observant.  Yes, I suppose it's the lighting, but my father's convinced that my eye color depends on my mood."

"I don't know if I've ever heard of something like that before.  They're pretty," Varian remarked.

Cassandra looked at him, slightly surprised.

"Oh, sorry.  I forgot, but I wasn't saying it to flatter you."

"So.... you actually like me?  It's not for show?"

"If I didn't like you, I wouldn't insist on calling you Cassie and I wouldn't tease you... and I think I'm starting to more than just like you..."

"It's only been two weeks," Cassandra whispered.

"And we're getting married in another two.  We've got nothing to lose, Cassie.  You're not going to lose me, and you know this has nothing to do with money."

"But what about duty?"

"Duty is our fate, so we can make it our destiny," Varian replied.

Their horses were standing next to each other.  Varian's leg brushed against hers and she began to inwardly panic.  He didn't seem to notice her panic or that his leg touched hers so it wasn't on purpose.  She couldn't believe it, but she was slowly falling for this dork beside her.  It should be a good thing, right?  Then what was she so scared of?

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Fun fact: I have hazel eyes like Cassandra, so that whole conversation is what my eyes are like.