Interlude [h.s]

twenty-three

The night of the celebration Alouette starts getting ready early.

She showers and makes sure her hair is perfect before putting on makeup to compliment her eye colour, staring at herself in the mirror and smiling at the person she sees on the other side. She's never looked as good as she does now, before. She doesn't look constantly exhausted like she did in the Revolution, and she feels almost pretty. It's an unusual sensation, and it makes her feel warm inside.

She puts on the green satin dress and a pair of high heels. She finds the perfect earrings and necklace for the night in her jewellery box, and then she's good to go.

The first thing she sees when she gets to the celebration room is that it's chaotic.

There are people standing everywhere in their beautiful dresses and suits, and she has to mentally thank Evie for picking out the perfect dress for her: beautiful, but similar enough to what everyone else is wearing not to make her stand out too much.

She walks inside, and smiles as soon as she sees Jayden standing close to the door, just where he'd told her he'd be. He waves a hand as a greeting, but he seems to be busy scanning the crowd for any eventual dangers, so Alouette decides not to bother him. He's there as a guard, and she's pretty sure Harry would have her head if something happened because she distracted one of his soldiers.

She walks to a random table, but before she can reach it a hand falls on her shoulder.

"You're sitting with me."

She glances in the direction of the voice, panic washing over her when she realises that none other than Harry is standing next to her. He's wearing one of his usual black suits, but this time it's paired with a black bow tie instead of a normal tie. Alouette finds the sight way more attractive than it'd be acceptable for it to be.

But his beauty isn't enough to wash away her fear— if she has to sit next to Harry throughout the whole evening, it means she also has to keep up her act for hours. She's never done that before, and it scares her. What if he picks up on something?

Of course, though, she doesn't complain, and Harry directs her to his table, at the very end of the room.

When they get there, she discovers that Evie and a man that she recognises as the head of security are already there. Some others join the table only minutes after, but she doesn't know much about them, if not their name when they present themselves.

Alouette sits down and Harry sits right next to her, and she clenches her teeth out of stress when she notices how close they truly are. It'll be a miracle if she makes it through tonight whole.

The dinner starts, and it surprises Alouette to find out it doesn't seem to be as bad as she thought it'd be. Harry and some of the others talk about work in riddles only they know, an empty conversation that doesn't tell much to anyone but them, and Evie and her end up chatting about other things.

Harry seems to enjoy being a bit touchier than ever before, not wasting an opportunity to graze her arm or her leg, every time making her lose her train of thought and letting out a quiet chuckle only she can hear when she stammers to get back in the conversation. It confuses her a bit and puts her on edge, but surprisingly enough, it doesn't make her uncomfortable, differently from what she'd thought it'd be like if he ever made a move on her. It feels like he's toying with her, and it makes her want to play with him too, even though she's scared of what she might unleash if she does.

It's towards the end that things take a dramatic turn.

All of a sudden Alouette hears some screams.

She looks up, and widens her eyes when she sees a man walking towards them, a firearm in his hands. He's wearing the black uniform of the guards, but his comrades seem to be as shocked as everyone else is.