If only there would come a day when you would not turn from me...

[lone_must_stand]

[ n a m e ; ]	Aeriel
[ c a n o n ; ]	The Darkangel Trilogy
[ g a m e ; ]	in transit and transition

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[lone_must_stand]

It leaves her too stunned even to blush. Were all his questions leading to this? She should not have answered so boldly, perhaps. Aeriel is not wholly a fool; she knows other women pursue him, knows that some have gained a little ground-- knows most of all that there is precious little ground to gain, that Oriencor does not let him stray far. He has never tried to stray far, to the best of her knowledge.

But she hesitates a moment before she pulls away, because he is beautiful, because he has surprised her in too many ways already, and she wonders what he would say if she said no.

"You have a seige and a banishment to attend," she reminds him instead.

[and_warrior_arise]

He shakes his head a bit. "I think I have interest in laying my own kingdom, rather than entertaining another's."

She is blushing and it makes her skin rosy, it makes her look young, and perhaps he is for someone young, someone more his age now, someone who will not torment him when he finds himself busy, someone who will love - or like - him at both their paces, not at simply hers.

"Are you busy tonight?"

[lone_must_stand]

"I am,"

she says, and while it is true she could postpone her plans-- the papers she needs to write, the letters home and to Ravenna-- but there is a suddenness here that unsettles her too greatly. If he is serious-- and she can't fathom how he would be, except perhaps that he is looking for a reason to leave and she could be an excuse-- then she would do him no favors by letting herself drown in his eyes, by trading work for him and him for work.

"Perhaps another night, if you intend to renounce your throne..." she adds, keeping the metaphor so he can brush it aside as a joke if he wants to.

[and_warrior_arise]

He tips his head a bit, and smiles then, a softer smile than usual, a smile that is less flash and more honest. "Another night. If you like."

It's a sweet, quiet moment, and he releases her, taking a step backward.

and then Oriencor poisoned all of Aeriel's fish and slipped her advisor laxatives...

[lone_must_stand]

She smiles in return, pleased that he doesn't press the issue and oddly thrilled at the possibility that they might speak again. Perhaps he is only being polite, perhaps he will change his mind, but for a moment surely it is harmless to wonder.

"Good luck," she says simply. With Oriencor, he's bound to need it.