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Fiction » Fantasy » Corruption Surmontant font: B s : A A A . width: full 3/4 1/2
Author: Sorceress Myst
Fiction Rated: T - English - Adventure/General - Reviews: 4 - Published: 12-13-03 - Updated: 02-13-05 - id:1470770

Chapter 3

His Iola! He couldn’t stand the thought. He asked her to wait for him only to find her becoming a priestess. Zane hadn’t even realized he was clenching his teeth and gripping the sides of the bench until Kendrick cleared his throat.

“It’s safe to say Zane knows her…” he commented before everyone quickly faced the front.

“He’s angry. Not good,” Cecile squeaked softly as Zane glared back at them.

“I can understand why he is upset,” Mary whispered quiet enough so Zane couldn’t hear, “but considering that she must at least be 21 years old and the fact that she is a noblewoman, she couldn’t really wait for him for very long.”

“Are you talking about that dumb law where women must be married by their 21st birthday?” Nyx wondered while glancing at the priestess.

“Yes,” Mary nodded, “Zane probably wanted to marry her, but since he never sent letters to prove that he was still alive, she must’ve been placed under a hard decision to either marry, live the life of chastity, or die.”

“Too bad she couldn’t run away and join the resistance like we did,” Cecile sighed as Zane calmed down.

Despite how careful Mary and the others had been, he still heard everything. What they said was true. It wasn’t Iola’s fault. But even if she knew that he was alive right now, would she really be willing let the whole town down and not become a priestess? Zane frowned. He should have let her run away with him back then. But even if he had, she would have been too worried about her parents to stay with him. Plus, the resistance wouldn’t allow her to join since she had no fighting skills or any useful abilities.

“Well, too bad Zane’s relationship with that girl isn’t as strong as ours,” Carl said as he managed to slip his arm around Nyx’s shoulders. She wrinkled her nose and pinched his arm in response.

“What relationship?” she inquired darkly as she resisted the urge to hurt him. Carl wore a genuine smile and a happy glint in his eyes as he faced her. Even Kendrick was paying attention to them when Carl gently grabbed her hand.

“You know …our strong prankster and favorite victim relationship. We have one that can never be broken,” he said in a teasing tone before he started laughing at everyone’s reaction. The two girls surrounding them released their baited breaths.

“Oh boy, I feel so honored,” Nyx muttered monotonously as she pulled her hand away.

“For a second, I thought he was going to say something else,” Mary commented in a relieved tone as she placed her hand over her heart.

“I did too,” Cecile added, “and it kind of scared me.”

Cecile always wanted her sister to find somebody to love while Mary wanted Carl to settle down with a girl and stop being immature, but they could never imagine Carl and Nyx together. They could see Nyx beating him up into a frothy pulp after he tripped her rather than them holding hands and being happy together.

“Well either way, at least we know who the Ikaika is, right Kendrick?” Thomas said as he glanced at his leader.

“Right,” he slowly responded before turning away from Zane, “And girlfriend or no, she still is a priestess sworn under Ornella so she might be an enemy.”

“I doubt it. Nadezhda practically dies without a priestess and would gladly make up confessions to get one. Plus, Iola is good at lying through her teeth if it was for a good reason,” Zane defended as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, a clear sign that he was offended by what Kendrick had said.

“If that’s true…” Mary paused as she thought carefully about how to word her question, “Then why did it have to be her? You said that she had always been pressured into becoming one, but it doesn’t seem the townspeople even know what an Ikaika is. So how did they know she would be the perfect candidate?”

“…It’s because of her Siren voice…”

“A what?” Cecile asked, almost a little too loudly.

Nyx looked disappointedly at her sister. As a Zimri swordfighter and as a musician, she had to know everything about music, choir, and scores composed by the legendary Sephiroth, a long deceased man who has been called a saint as of late. Before the Xenocrates disaster, she’d always tell her family about what she had learned from her mentor and her constant topic at dinner was Siren voices. Nyx let out a sigh as she realized that apparently no one in the family had been paying attention to her… Well no one except their little brother.

“A Siren voice is the rare ability to sing with multiple voices. Anyone with that ability can manipulate spells and, in some cases, control people.”

“Oh,” was Cecile’s simple reply, earning an eye roll from her sister.

“Hah! You were right about the ability to sing with multiple voices, but they can’t manipulate spells or that other stuff you were talking about. They only enhance the power of spell music,” Carl unexpectedly scoffed.

Nyx delicately raised her eyebrow, “And how do you know that?”

Carl was about to respond until it suddenly became quiet in the Cathedral. The new priestess walked before the altar and slowly faced the people.

“People of Nadezhda… I…am honored by your cheers. I will try my best to pull us out of near exile and protect your souls from the unknown evils that surround us,” she started as she allowed a small smile to form. Her smile brought reassurance to the crowd, but Zane knew better.

Now he knew that she really didn’t want this, but it didn’t prove that she felt the same way about him that he felt for her. This was why he had asked her to wait for him. He had been too afraid to tell her that he loved her and had given her a locket in hope that she felt the same way and would not get married before his return. Of course he knew that the message he had left behind was a little vague, but he was sure she would know what he meant. After all, Iola knew more about him than his late parents. Zane blinked as he realized he had managed to daydream through the whole speech.

“Now I shall end the pre-festival liturgy with the second hymn,” she finished and waited for the organ to start playing.

The walls soon echoed her voice as she sang in an ancient language. After each verse, another voice in a higher octave would join in until it sounded like a choir of angels. Everyone was captivated by the soothing sound, except for Carl who only slumped in his seat with a bored look on his face. But when Iola reached the second half of the hymn, it seemed like her mouth stopped moving and a new group of voices sang in a harmony behind the melody. Not only did this catch Carl’s attention, but it also made both Nyx and him to sit up on the edge of their seats in surprise.

“How did she do that?” they both whispered to Zane in unison.

Nyx thought he was mimicking her and pushed him back against the bench, “Stop it, I’m being serious.”

“So am I,” he retorted, catching the attention of some of the people in the row in front of them, “I don’t know who your teacher was or what you know, but the only way a Siren voice can be split like that is by mastering reflection or shadow puppetry.”

“Wow, it looks like Carl knows more about Siren voices than Nyx,” Thomas commented as Cecile shrugged.

“I still have no idea what they are talking about,” she whined, “But I’m sure Nyx will not like the idea of Carl knowing more than her.”

“I know that you twit! That’s why I’m asking,” Nyx snapped at Carl, oblivious to Thomas and her sister. Thomas noticed more eyes were turned towards them so he leaned over Cecile to get Carl and Nyx’s attention.

“Um…how do you know she isn’t using those skills?” he inquired, hoping to calm them down.

“Because there are no mirrors around-”

“And priestesses can’t have dark elemental powers,” Carl interrupted.

“Zimri swordfighters…” Kendrick moaned as he raised his line of sight to the ceiling and shook his head.

“Okay, okay you guys!” Zane whispered frantically, now that they had half of the church people’s attention, “When I was six, a master puppeteer came by and taught Iola ventriloquism.”

“So it’s another form of puppetry?” Nyx muttered as she finally faced the front. Carl was also satisfied with the answer and settled back down to his slouching position so he could pretend to listen to the priestess. …At least until he decided to try to get on Nyx’s nerves again.

“It’s not a form of puppetry, it’s a skill. Shows how much you know…”

Before Nyx could react to his taunting, Mary placed her hand on his shoulder, “Stop arguing you two, you’re going to catch everyone’s attention if you keep… Oh never mind, it’s too late now.”

The team hadn’t even noticed that every eye was on them or that the priestess had long since stopped singing. Zane squashed his embarrassment to give everyone a silent apology. As his gaze traveled over the shocked faces, he found himself frozen still when his eyes landed on Iola. Her astonished stormy grey eyes were staring directly at him.

The priest eventually broke the stunned moment to say, “Er…Let the festival begin!”

Only the children cheered and ran out since they were getting tired of the staring game the adults were playing. But soon the adults started to mumble amongst themselves and slowly made their way outside while glancing at Zane and the others.

“It doesn’t seem that they are angry at us, but don’t push your luck. I don’t want to be kicked out of town before nightfall,” Kendrick commanded as he stood up and walked past Zane. The others followed Kendrick’s example and followed him to the door. Just as they were about to leave, a timid voice stopped them in their tracks.

“Zane? Is that you?” the priestess softly asked.

“I-Iola?” Zane stuttered before he cleared his throat, “Long time no see.”

“Zane, I missed you!” she cried before she pulled him into a bear hug that could rival her mother’s if she didn’t have such a small frame. He was stunned at first, but then he slowly wrapped his arms around her as he recovered.

“Awww…” Cecile cooed as Nyx remained nonchalant. Carl started gagging while Thomas blushed at the public display of affection. Mary and Kendrick only watched on as Iola’s parents approached them.

“Zane!” Rosalie called out as she ran up to hug him as well. Iola snapped up at the sound of her voice and quickly backed away before she was caught between a rather lethal, but loving bear hug that had Zane wheezing for air.

“She has very good reflexes,” Kendrick pointed out as the mentioned priestess let out a sigh of relief.

“It must be from being a master Nadezhdan dancer. I recall Zane having quick reflexes as well,” Mary reminded him.

“Quick reflexes, Ikaika powers, and priestess powers…,” Thomas listed, “She would be a perfect addition to the resistance.”

“So you’re thinking the same thing as me, eh?” Kendrick mused as he looked back at Thomas.

“Yes, sir. You said before that people with blue hair are water elements and if memory serves, Ornella is a fire element which means we’ll have someone she’ll be weak against.”

“I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but if she fought Ornella, then it would be a fifty-fifty chance she would win because even though Ornella is weak against water, she in return would be weak against fire,” Mary added.

“Point taken. If that’s the case, then we’ll just have to get our elemental sorceress to protect her, won’t we?” Kendrick answered with a small smile as he cast a sideways glance at her. Mary felt a blush forming on her cheeks as she realized that he recognized her as the group’s elemental sorceress. Everyone else seemed to think she was only a bossy worrywart whose purpose was to make sure everyone behaved.

Once Rosalie finished her assault on Zane, Iola immediately reattached herself to his arm. “Where have you been? What did you do to your hair?” she backed away from him slightly, “And this is for not sending a letter, bonehead!”

Suddenly, Zane cried out in pain and arched his back as Iola smirked evilly. It almost seemed like what ever she did was magic because she hadn’t moved an inch.

“What did you do to him?” Mary inquired in a worried tone.

“I pinched him in his weak spot,” she explained before she walked over to shake Kendrick’s hand. “You must be from the resistance, right? It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“No, the pleasure’s mine. I’m Kendrick, your bonehead’s leader.”

She chuckled at his response as she switched from him to Mary, “Is that so? I hope he’s been the perfect soldier, because I’ve know him to whine a lot.”

“Oh no, he’s been well behaved. He stopped whining after his second week with us. By the way, my name is Mary.”

“I do not whine! Stop embarrassing me Iola!” He yelled, earning a snicker from her. She then faced Carl as he eagerly held out his hand to her.

“Hello, the name’s- Hey!” Iola completely ignored him and shook Nyx’s hand.

“I’m Nyx, nice to meet you,” she said before bowing respectfully. Cecile couldn’t wait for her turn so she grabbed Iola’s free hand.

“And I’m Cecile!”

“Are you twins?” Iola asked as she stared at both of them.

“Uh huh! Oh, and this man is Thomas. He has a different color hair streak too!” Cecile replied bubbly as she dragged her to him. He glanced from Cecile to Iola in shock before bowing politely.

“Uh, pleased to meet you milady.”

“Hair streak…” she whispered to herself, “How did you get that? Did it appear suddenly one day?”

Before Thomas could respond, Carl suddenly shouted, “Hey! Why did you ignore me?”

“I’ll think about shaking your hand when you remove the buzzer,” Iola said without even turning to face him. Carl stared at his hand with fake innocence before Mary harrumphed and tore the mentioned toy from his hand. As soon as the buzzer was gone, Iola immediately grabbed his hand and sent a jolt though his body.

“Ah!” he called out as he jerked his hand away.

Iola giggled as she raised her hand to reveal another buzzer in her hand.

Nyx glanced at Carl with a smirk on her face before turning to the young priestess, “Thank you.”

“Hee, hee, my hero!” Cecile squealed as Iola ran to Zane.

“You must have fun all the time with an easy target like him,” she chirped.

“Uh, yeah. Carl you just met the queen of pranks so you might as well give up for the day,” Zane explained while rubbing the back of his neck.

Rosalie sighed as Bob shook his head.

“It looks like she’s back to normal,” her mother commented as her husband slowly guided her outside.

“At least she’s happy,” was the last thing heard from Bob as the doors closed. Iola gave Zane a mischievous glare.

“Give me a hug!” she giggled.

“W-what are you doing?!” He backed away as she drew closer, “Don’t try to hug me when you still have that buzzer on you!”

Zane quickly ran out of the cathedral with Iola chasing him. The remaining people either chuckled, rolled their eyes, or shook their heads as they followed them. Once Thomas and Cecile had left, Carl started digging in his pockets.

“Damn!”

“What is it now?” Nyx wondered as she paused at the door.

“My spare buzzer is gone! That priestess took it! She ain’t a priestess, she’s some kind of…anti-priestess or something.”

Nyx only blinked and continued to walk out, “Suuuure Carl…the priestess stole it. It’s a conspiracy.”

“You don’t believe me?” Carl cried out desperately. When he received no answer from the raven haired girl, he chased after her, “Nyxie!”


“But she must’ve taken it, I mean Nyx or Mary wouldn’t do such a thing!”

“Yeah sure Carl,” Cecile said sarcastically before sipping her glass of water. Thomas sighed, already tired of his accusations.

“It’s rather rude to say that someone of a high and noble status would do such an act. Besides, didn’t Mary take one of those buzzer toys last week?”

“Yeah, but I took it back while she was off bathing…” Carl trailed off when he heard a gasp behind him. Mary pulled away from her conversation with Zane to glare at the white haired man.

“You went though my things!?”

Carl scratched the back of his head nervously as Zane rolled his eyes.

“Okay, Carl. You know that in order to perform a prank, one must have the necessary tools to do so. Which means that even if Iola stole your buzzer, it was for a prank and is not considered ‘stealing’, Zane held back a chuckle as he continued, “If you want your buzzer back so badly, go ask the queen of pranks, but don’t expect to get it back easily.”

“Um, could you get it back for me Zane ole buddy?” Carl asked timidly.

Cecile blinked twice before turning to Thomas, “Carl is afraid? Nyx should see this!”

“I ain’t scared! …I just want my buzzer back the quickest way possible,” he muttered quietly.

“And lose it the quickest way possible because I intend to take it again!” Mary snapped.

“Ah, you’re no fun!”

The Nadezhdan festival covered the whole church yard. There was food, music, dancing, laughter, children playing silly games, and plenty of gossip. Zane couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering across the grounds until they froze on a certain priestess’s dancing form. Iola was teaching the new students a simple dance while a fast beat village song played. He could have stayed there staring at her for the rest of the day if a red haired woman in green robes hadn’t come into his line of sight.

Carl and Mary ceased their argument when Zane visibly paled and muttered, “Oh no…”

“Oh great! Lord Zane is back,” Lilac grumbled with a mean look on her face.

“Eh, hee, hee, hello Lilac. Don’t worry. I’m only visiting,” Zane managed to say as he slowly backed away from her. Carl was the only one not stunned by the strange girl’s stare. He just simply continued to look back and forth from Zane to Lilac.

“Hey Zane, who’s this? Another girlfriend?” Zane looked horrified at the thought as he jerked his attention to Carl.

“Uh! NO! Lilac is the evilest-” he paused when he remembered she was still there, “I-I mean the sweetest and most caring woman. Just like Iola…”

Carl snickered at Zane’s misfortune before he realized Mary was now vulnerable enough for him to reach into her pocket and reclaim his buzzer. Zane had always been there to help him with pranks in the past so Carl thought it was time to repay him. He quickly, but discreetly put on the buzzer and held his hand out to Lilac only to have his arm pulled down by Zane before he could even open his mouth.

“Don’t Carl. It’s not worth it. She is ten times more painful than Nyx and is under no obligation to not kill you,” he warned.

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Lilac shouted in a shrill demonic tone that made everyone flinch. Thomas gently cleared his throat.

“Oh look, Cecile, the food table. Would you like to accompany me?” he asked with a plastered on smile as he held out his arm to her.

“Why yes, Thomas. I’d love to,” she answered with an identical smile and took his arm. They then walked away as fast as they could.

“Wait for me guys!” Carl started, but was held back by Mary.

“Not until you apologize for what you tried to do,” she whispered harshly. Zane was stuck under the harsh gaze of Lilac until he heard an angelic voice coming their way.

“Zane! Come dance with me!” Iola said as she tugged on his arm. He took one glance at her and then at Lilac who looked like she wanted to burn him alive.

He didn’t really want to dance with Iola because Carl, and possibly even Thomas, would make fun of him and it would make Lilac even angrier at him. But …he couldn’t resist that face and Lilac shouldn’t have time to beat the living daylights out of him if they left first thing in the morning.

Lilac quickly abandoned her threatening glare for a more gentle expression as she turned to Iola, “Why trouble him with something he has most likely forgotten? Let’s go talk Lady Iola, I just heard some interesting stories about that Landerkand boy.”

“But Lilac, I haven’t seen him for six years. I need to spend time with him before he leaves again. Besides, …he promised me a dance before he left,” she pouted.

“Okay Iola. I’d never forget a promise…or how to dance,” he said, earning the same glare he received earlier.

He then grabbed her hand and calmly led her to the dance floor until he heard Lilac growl with fury. He took this a sign to run as fast as he could with Iola in tow. Another fast paced song had begun when he reached the middle of the dance floor. After no more than sixteen notes played, they were already gaining the attention of the whole town with their complex moves. The members of the resistance couldn’t help but notice that their dancing seemed similar to fighting in a battle.

“Are you and Lilac really friends now?” Zane eventually asked after he spun her around.

“Not really, I just wanted someone to talk to and she just wanted a friend in a high place,” She explained as they started moving in a fast waltz.

“So that’s why she was so hostile to me. She must’ve thought I came back to take Iola away.

Back where Lilac, Carl, and Mary were standing, Lilac brushed off Carl’s half-hearted apology that he was forced to make and stormed off while muttering something about how she could dance better than Zane.

“Yeash!” Carl huffed as he watched the pretentious woman walk away, “Its women like that that make me appreciate Nyxie’s unintentional ladylike personality.”

“What was that?” A voice called from behind. One glance behind confirmed that Nyx was walking towards them. Carl noted that she was holding a glass containing a blue colored sugary substance that was normally served to children before he remembered that she had just heard what he said about her.

“Today must be a bad day. That’s gotta be it. Why else would so many people manage to sneak up on me in one day…”

Nyx rolled her violet eyes and turned to Mary as he continued ranting. She seemed to be debating whether to hurt Carl for once again using his nickname for her or to tell Mary what ever it was she came to talk about. Mary wondered why she was holding back this time. Usually Nyx never hesitated to hurt him at least once a day. Carl began to pace while ranting, revealing that his other cheek had been slapped. Mary figured that he must’ve already called her by that nickname again and Nyx found out that hitting him wasn’t stopping him.

Maybe later she could help Nyx figure out a peaceful way to get him to stop calling her that, but right now, there must be something important that needed to be discussed, “What is it Nyx?”

Nyx snapped out of her inner battle at the sound of her calm voice and straightened up, “I overheard a conversation between Kendrick and Lord B-” she paused when she remembered that Carl was still in hearing range. She glanced behind her and sure enough, he stopped his rant to listen in with a cheesy grin, “Lord Robert.”

“Yes, go on,” Mary encouraged as Carl shrugged and continued his ramblings even though he knew no one was paying attention to him.

“It seems that not even the new priestess knows why she has a blue hair streak. Her father confessed that he realized what it was after he met Thomas.”

“But hasn’t she seen her spirit? Thomas received his hair streak right when Miltiades had awakened and appeared before him,” she wondered and then realized it suddenly got quiet. Carl finally decided to shut his mouth.

“Yeah that’s what Kendrick said, but this Iola girl said she hasn’t seen anything unusual. It’s almost as if her body has awakened, but her spirit was never there. Lord Bob says that she is seldom left alone so she couldn’t possibly be keeping any secrets,” Nyx clamped her hands over her mouth when she realized she said the ‘B’ word in front of Carl. This time, he didn’t react to it, he only looked back at her with a serious expression on his face.

“I see…” Mary said while staring at the ground, “I’m going to go talk to Kendrick.”

With nothing more said, she left the two Zimri swordfighters alone so she could go search for their leader. Nyx sipped some of her drink before she decided to leave. If she was going to keep her promise to not kill Carl, then it was better to stay away from him. But as she was about to move, she felt a weight on her shoulder and hands wrapped around her arms.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked dryly when she found that it was Carl’s head leaning against hers.

“Oh Nyxie,” he purred in a sing song voice, “Could you do me a favor?”

She flinched at her new nickname and tried to get out of his grasp. Unfortunately, he had a good grip on her so she had to use the only weapon she had available to her. She quickly twisted to the right and threw the contents of the drink at his face, but Carl anticipated it and moved with her as the odd colored liquid flew past his head. He twirled Nyx until she faced him and then pulled her closer. Thanks to that move, they both unexpectedly found themselves dancing with the other villagers.

“Let me go!” she demanded as she tried to break free.

“Not until you do me a favor.” He dipped her when she was about to successfully break away and made her loose her balance. Carl easily steadied her and resumed dancing.

“What do you want?” she finally asked, dreading that it was to help him with a prank or be pranked.

“You know that nice music piece you played on the piano, last week?”

“…Yeah,” she hesitantly replied.

“You made a violin part for Cecile right?” He smirked evilly, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

“Yes, why?”

“Could you get Cecile and Thomas to play it for everyone? I really want to hear it again.”

She was surprised at his request, but didn’t think it was such a bad idea. Every time she played her songs, he would sit there and behave until she stopped playing. If she granted his request, then the team wouldn’t have to worry about his causing problems. But it was unusual for him to request someone else to play something, which made her wonder if he was up to something. During times like these, she would read people’s eyes to find out their true intent, but with Carl, it was next to impossible. He could keep a straight face even if everyone in this town suddenly belched…if he wanted to that is.

Nyx sighed and prayed to Sephiroth that all he wanted was to hear a song, “Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Alright!” He lifted her up and spun her around, shocking her completely. When he put her down, he leaned close to her face, almost as if he was going to kiss her, but then froze. He shook his head with a disgusted look on his face before running off. Nyx was left on the dance floor stunned and wide eyed.


The festival lasted for the whole day and seemed it was going to continue into the night. The sun was beginning to set as some of the villagers rushed to light the torches. Zane sat by himself on the balcony, facing the ocean as the musicians continued to play. Nadezhda was at the southern most tip of Desmond and built on top of a cliff. A wall was built along the edge of the cliff to protect the people from accidents, but behind the church, there was an opening that led to a balcony. This place was perfect for watching the sun set over the southern horizon and the perfect place to pray.

“We haven’t sat here together for a while,” a voice said softly behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. He only watched silently as Iola sat next to him.

“That girl…Nyx was it? She writes beautiful music,” she added.

“Yeah, that’s a Zimri swordfighter for you. They always have to be surrounded with music,” Zane said as a small smile formed on Iola’s lips.

“You know, your leader wants me to join the resistance. Kinda strange to hear that after being told by you that I ‘wouldn’t even be noticed by the leaders’,” she muttered dryly. Zane faked a cough and faced the other way.

“They only want you now because you’re a priestess, besides, you would only worry about your parents if you left.”

Iola stared at her hands folded in her lap, “I wouldn’t have worried back then, but now I would since there has been a sudden increase in bandits.”

“If that’s so, then why isn’t the crystal doing its job?”

“I don’t know, I’m going there tomorrow to see what’s wrong and while I’m there, take the test to join the clergy.”

Zane cringed at her answer. Right now, she was only priestess in title and is still free to travel the world, but this time she will have to be married by the age of 30. If she were to join the clergy, she wouldn’t be allowed to marry and be bound to the church. If she was able to activate the crystal, then she passed the test. He closed his eyes. He was here now and she still had the option of quitting, but she still wanted to continue. Maybe she didn’t love him after all. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw that she was playing with a silver object around her neck. He felt of jolt of surprise and excitement run through his body when he realized that she still had the locket had given her. And she was wearing it.

Iola slightly glanced at him and noticed where he was staring. She took a deep breath before she finally asked a question that had plagued her for six years, “What did you mean when you said ‘wait for me’?”

He was taken back from her question. He thought she would know, “What do you think it means?”

There was no way he was going to tell her now. If she really didn’t know, then he didn’t want to ruin the relationship he already had with her.

“I had an idea of what it meant and I thought I was obeying it. But then I thought I could have had the wrong idea. After all, I’m not you. I can never truly know what you are trying to say unless you say it.” She was starting to look a little agitated from his stalling. What could he say now? He didn’t know how she felt about him and he didn’t want to make a wrong move.

“Well Zane? Are you going to tell me? Remember, there are no secrets between best friends,” she pressured, further discouraging him from answering.

Zane planned a speech of nonsense in his head so he could avoid the question and run, but was instead saved by Gilroy as he cleared his throat behind them.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?”

Zane gratefully shook his head as the butler bowed, “Oh, no. It’s nothing. What do you need?”

He was pained more when he caught Iola’s hurt glare in the corner of his eye.

“I was sent to tell you and Lady Iolanthe that dinner is served,” Gilroy announced before leaving. Iola was the first to stand.

“We’d better go. Dinner will get cold,” she replied coldly as she left him to mentally berate himself.


Character Bio

Iolanthe (Iola) Drake

Age: 21

Hair: Black with blue hair streak on right side, shoulder length

Eye: Grey

Birthplace: Nadezhda

Weapon: Nadezhdan dancing, water spells, and pranks



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